British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has come underneath hearth after evaluating the plight of Ukrainians preventing Russia's invasion of their homeland to Britain's vote for Brexit.

In a speech on the Conservative Occasion's spring convention on Saturday, Johnson mentioned Ukrainian individuals have been selecting freedom, simply because the British individuals had within the 2016 vote to depart the European Union.

"I do know that it is the intuition of the individuals of this nation, just like the individuals of Ukraine, to decide on freedom each time," he mentioned.

"I can provide you a few well-known current examples. When the British individuals voted for Brexit in such massive numbers, I do not consider it was as a result of they have been remotely hostile to foreigners, it is as a result of they wished to be free to do issues in a different way and for this nation to have the ability to run itself."

The remark sparked criticism from politicians within the U.Okay. and Europe, together with some from Johnson's personal occasion.

Man Verhofstadt, the European Parliament's chief Brexit negotiator, mentioned Johnson's remarks have been "insane."

"Brexit was about undoing freedoms and leaving the EU...Ukrainians need extra freedom and to hitch the EU!" Verhofstadt mentioned on Twitter.

Donald Tusk, who previously served because the president of the European Council, mentioned Johnson's feedback have been offensive to Ukrainians and Brits.

"I can nonetheless bear in mind the passion of Putin and Trump after the referendum," Tusk tweeted. "Boris, your phrases offend Ukrainians, the British and customary sense."

Conservative MP Tobias Ellwood, the chair of the defence choose committee, additionally tweeted criticism of Johnson's remarks.

"Evaluating the Ukrainian individuals's struggle in opposition to Putin's tyranny to the British individuals voting for Brexit damages the usual of statecraft we have been starting to exhibit," he wrote.

Ed Davey, the chief of the Liberal Democrats, branded Johnson—who has resisted calls to resign following a collection of scandals in current months—"a nationwide embarrassment."

Boris Johnson
Prime Minister Boris Johnson delivers his keynote speech through the Conservative Occasion Spring Convention on the Blackpool Winter Gardens on March 19, 2022 in Blackpool, England.Ian Forsyth/Getty Photos

"His buffoonery contrasts with the brave management of President Zelensky," he wrote on Twitter. "To check a referendum to girls and kids fleeing Putin's bombs is an insult to each Ukrainian. He's no [Winston] Churchill: he's Basil Fawlty."

The U.Okay.'s finance minister, Chancellor Rishi Sunak, defended Johnson in appearances on Sunday morning applications.

In an look on the BBC's Sunday Morning, Sunak mentioned: "I do not suppose the prime minister was making a direct comparability between these two issues, clearly they don't seem to be straight analogous."

Sunak added: "He was making some basic observations about individuals's want for freedom."

However the Labour Occasion's Shadow Chancellor Rachel Reeves known as for Johnson to apologize for the remarks.

"It's completely distasteful and insulting to check the struggle for freedom and the aggression of the Russian state to the choice to depart the European Union," Reeves informed Sky Information.

"He ought to take again these phrases and apologize to the Ukrainian individuals and the British individuals for these crass remarks."

Downing Avenue has been contacted for remark.