UK Economy Getting Crushed A Price “Worth Paying” For Freedom In Ukraine: Johnson

“In the UK, the price level for goods other than energy and food has risen by 8 per cent over the past two years,” FT writes of soaring prices at a moment of the West’s no holds barred push to ‘punish’ Russia over the Ukraine invasion. Inflation in the county has hit a new 40-year high of 9.1% as of last week,.

To nobody’s shock or surprise, and in a message that echoes previous statements from Biden, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has said while attending the G7 summit in Germany it’s a price “worth paying”. 

“In terms of staying the course, imagine if you didn’t,” the prime minister said in comments made to BBC. He stressed that if Putin should get away with achieving “violent acquisition of huge chunks” of another country, then “the lessons for that would be absolutely chilling in all of the countries of the former Soviet Union.”

And that’s when he emphasized that even if there’s “long-term instability” in Western and global economies, it’s ‘worth it’, as The Guardian recounts of his words:

Boris Johnson has argued that continued international support for Ukraine is a price worth paying, saying that to let Russia prevail would be “absolutely chilling” for nearby countries and usher in a period of global anxiety…

“In terms of the economic effects, that would mean long-term instability, and anxiety across the world.”

Overall, the prime minister argued, “the price of freedom is worth paying”. He said: “Just remember, it took the democracies in the middle of the last century a long time to recognize that they had to resist tyranny and aggression. It was very expensive.”

While Johnson tries to play the part of throwback ‘Cold Warrior’, the UK Misery Index is the worst it’s been in 30 years:

Johnson further stressed in the BBC comments that what’s needed is “strategic endurance”, but that as the war drags on he expects “the economic impacts on the UK will start to abate.” He likened this to the type of post-WWII stability and economic growth that occurred after the defeat of the axis powers. His perspective hinges on the words:

“I think that sometimes the price of freedom is worth paying.”

This as G7 leaders apparently swapped jokes about the government private jets that brought them to Bavaria…

First they joked about who had the bigger jet, then they joked about going shirtless a la Putin. The folks in passport office lineups will be so amused. #cdnpoli https://t.co/lTAO7XtDmP

— Bob Mackin (@bobmackin) June 26, 2022

And some “shirtless Putin” banter while citizens are being told to shut up and “make sacrifices”…

AS UKRAINIAN MEN SUFFER 1,000 CASUALTIES PER DAY, G7 LEADERS MAKE FUN OF PUTIN FOR RIDING HORSEBACK WITHOUT SHIRTpic.twitter.com/TWNOqmN39s

— The_Real_Fly (@The_Real_Fly) June 27, 2022

On the other side of the Atlantic, Biden and the Democrats have appeared to agree with this kind of citizens must “sacrifice” at the pump and grocery store in order to “punish” Putin and save Ukraine, consequences at home be damned.

Meanwhile, in but the latest non-attempt at “bringing down inflation”, Biden at the G7 summit has issued a proclamation on increasing duties tied to Russia, Bloomberg reports:

U.S. INCREASES RATES OF DUTY TO 35% ON CERTAIN RUSSIAN PRODUCTS NOT ALREADY PROHIBITED -WHITE HOUSE PROCLAMATION

So it seems the strategy for now is – more “sacrifice” among working class Western populations, with Putin and his military still not blunted or deterred even in the slightest in Ukraine.