Facts

Sajid Javid was asked about Boris Johnson’s Tory Party Conference Speech, where he said: “I know that it's the instinct of the people of this country, like the people of Ukraine, to choose freedom, every time. I can give you a couple of famous recent examples. When the British people voted for Brexit in such large, large numbers, I don't believe it was because they were remotely hostile to foreigners. It's because they wanted to be free to do things differently and for this country to be able to run itself."

The health secretary responded: “I don’t think in any way he was connecting the situations in Ukraine and the UK, and if we want to know what the Prime Minister thinks about Ukraine and responding, I mean, we can see for ourselves in terms of the support that he’s provided, rock-solid support compared to any other world leader.”

He added: “I think it’s spurious to say that he was connecting somehow the UK and Ukraine in that way. I think most normal people listening to that wouldn’t have drawn that conclusion.”

Verdict

Javid’s claim that Johnson wasn’t “connecting” or “comparing” the two events is hard to understand.  Johnson contaminates all around him, including Cabinet Ministers such as Sajid Javid who sacrifice their own integrity in defence of the Prime Minister. 

We approached Sajid Javid’s parliamentary office and the Department of Health and Social Care to give him a chance to comment, but received no response.