Facts

When Rishi Sunak appeared on Sophy Ridge on Sunday he was shown the clip of Boris Johnson at the Tory Party conference comparing the UK’s Brexit Referendum to Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.

During his speech, Boris Johnson said: “It’s the instinct of the people of this country, like the people of Ukraine, to choose freedom, every time… When the British people voted for Brexit in such large, large numbers…it's because they wanted to be free to do things differently”

When asked about this the Chancellor said: “They’re not directly analogous but I don’t think that the Prime Minister would have said they were either.”

When Sophy Ridge asked him: “You wouldn’t have used those words though would you?”, Mr Sunak responded: “I don’t think the Prime Minister would either”.   

Verdict

Rishi Sunak was wrong to deny that Johnson was comparing Ukraine and Brexit. This was far from the first time Sunak has made false or misleading statements in defence of the Prime Minister.  Johnson contaminates all around him. 

We approached Rishi Sunak’s office to give him a chance to comment, but received no response. When we approached the Treasury for comment, a spokesperson questioned our credentials as a “bona fide media outlet.”