UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson has stated that he will not stop providing military and other assistance to Ukraine in an interview with the BBC. He added that he would rather resign than adhere to any potential ministerial requests to halt Ukrainian funding due to the costs being too great for the UK.
The prime minister, who recently faced a confidence vote over violating his own COVID-19 restrictions and taking part in Downing Street parties, insisted that morality was "of course" part of his leadership.
BoJo, who was grilled by the BBC concerning demands for him to resign over his personal misconduct, stated that "psychological transformation" is not something that is "going to happen" in light of the recent scandals. He went on to dismiss the criticism against him as “not matter[ing]”.
"As a leader, you have to try to distinguish between the criticism that really matters and the criticism that doesn't matter," he stated.
The head of the UK government went on to claim that voters don’t care about his personal shortcomings, but were more concerned about practical issues that his cabinet is reportedly tackling. The prime minister opined that UK citizens were "fed up with hearing conversation about me".
Johnson went on to allege that the top three issues on the minds of most Brits are rising costs of living amid decades-high inflation; a strong economy; and the UK's help to Ukraine.
The recent vote of confidence that Johnson survived by a thread is also of little concern to the prime minister. During the interview, Johnson suggested looking at the vote, in which he was only supported by 60% of Tory MPs, as a renewed mandate for him and not a sign of lack of confidence in his leadership. He promised to "continue to deliver".
The vote came in light of an independent probe that found Johnson complicit of violating COVID restrictions on several occasions by taking part in multiple parties that had been held at 10 Downing Street during strict lockdowns across the UK. He was also heavily criticized for allowing the parties to happen in the first place, while his office was scolded by the investigators for excessive alcohol consumption.