Exclusive

'Get on with it': Boris Johnson rejects Sunak's claims it's 'not practical' to send fighter jets to Ukraine

8 February 2023, 17:22 | Updated: 8 February 2023, 19:30

Boris Johnson has called for Sunak to "get on with" sending fighter jets to Ukraine
Boris Johnson has called for Sunak to "get on with" sending fighter jets to Ukraine. Picture: Alamy

By Ben Kentish

Boris Johnson has rejected Rishi Sunak’s claim that it would not be practical for the UK to send fighter jets to Ukraine, with the former prime minister telling his successor to “get on with it”.

Listen to this article

Loading audio...

Speaking exclusively to LBC immediately after Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s historic address to Parliament, Mr Johnson insisted that the UK should agree to the Ukrainian president’s request for the UK to supply his country with jets.

Downing Street has previously said it is not “practical” for the UK to provide the planes because it would take at least three years to train Ukrainian pilots to fly them. But Mr Johnson dismissed that claim – telling LBC “it can be done”.

Praising Mr Zelenskyy’s “magnificent” speech in Westminster Hall, he said: “The important thing now is that his message is heard. What he’s asking for is the tools to finish the job – that’s all he wants.

“He just wants the ability to use the long-range missiles - the deep fryers as they’re called - to take out Putin’s positions and he wants the ability to keep his country safe with more tanks and planes. His appeal was very, very interesting for the focus he put on aviation and on planes.”

Read more: 'Wings for freedom': Zelenskyy thanks Britain for support as he asks for fighter jets in historic Parliamentary address

Read more: Zelenskyy taunts Putin as a 'nobody' as he's finally given Western tanks to fight back Russia and calls for fighter jets

Boris Johnson telling LBC he wants the PM to speed up the supply of military arms to Ukraine

Rebuffing Mr Sunak’s claim that it would not be “practical” to provide jets, Mr Johnson pointed out that during the Second World War, the UK trained Polish pilots in London in how to shoot down Nazi planes.

He said: “It can be done and the point I’d make is the faster we do it the better. The faster we do it, the bigger the saving in life, the bigger the saving in our defence expenditure. Ultimately once Putin is beaten in Ukraine, the world is going to be a much, much safer place, so helping the Ukrainians now is a massive down payment on future security.”

Asked if his message to Mr Sunak was to “get on with it”, Mr Sunak said: “Yeah. I think they are getting on with it but it’s clear from what Volodymr Zelenskyy was saying today that we need to do as much as we possibly can.”

Helmet of UKR pilot: 'We have freedom - give us wings to protect it'

An hour later, No10 appeared to shift position significantly, announcing that Mr Sunak had asked his Defence Secretary, to look into the possibility of supplying jets to Ukraine.

The Prime Minister’s official spokesman said: “The Prime Minister has tasked the Defence Secretary with investigating what jets we might be able to give but, to be clear, this is a long-term solution rather than a short-term capability, which is what Ukraine needs most now.”

“What we have not made a decision on is whether we send UK fighter jets. Obviously there is an ongoing discussion among other countries about their own fighter jets, some of which are more akin to what Ukrainian pilots are used to.”

More Latest News

See more More Latest News

More than 2 million drivers are set to hit the road on Good Friday.

Easter Carmageddon: Over two million drivers to hit the road on Good Friday after Storm Nelson travel chaos

Michael Gove has slammed the water firm as a 'disgrace'.

Thames Water bosses branded a ‘disgrace’ as Michael Gove tells firm ‘not to punish consumers’ for its failings

South Africa Bus Crash

Girl, 8, the sole survivor as 45 die in bus crash off South Africa bridge

A spokesman has denied reports the sausage dog could be banned.

The wurst news is over: Germany denies claims of sausage dog ban

Israel Palestinians Britain Aid

UN top court orders Israel to open more land crossings into Gaza

Greece Confidence Vote

Greece’s government survives no-confidence motion called over rail disaster

A council has had to apologise following the incident.

Fury as parents offered version of school class photo without complex needs pupils

Conjoined twin who shot to fame with sister on The Oprah Winfrey Show marries army veteran in private ceremony

Conjoined twin who shot to fame with sister on The Oprah Winfrey Show marries army veteran in private ceremony

Israel Palestinians UN Security Council

Russia ‘abolishes’ monitoring of sanctions on North Korea with UN veto

Firefighters at the scene of a bus crash in Limpopo

Bus plunges from bridge in South Africa and erupts into flames, killing at least 45 and leaving child, 8, as lone survivor

Music-Green Day UN

Green Day to headline UN-backed global climate concert

Exclusive
Starmer has vowed to resurrect Boris Johnson's 'Levelling Up' policy

Failure to ‘level up’ Britain would be ‘catastrophic’, Wes Streeting admits, as Starmer vows to resurrect Johnson policy

Border Force staff will walk out from April 11

Hundreds of Border Force officers at Heathrow Airport to stage four-day strike

Stephen Bear was ordered to pay Ms Harrison £5,000.

Disgraced reality TV star Stephen Bear ordered to pay £27,000 over revenge porn conviction or face nine months in jail

Sam Bankman-Fried

FTX founder Bankman-Fried sentenced to 25 years in prison for crypto fraud

Exclusive
Covid no excuse for death of Finley Boden who was murdered by drug-addled parents, child protection chief says

Covid no excuse for death of Finley Boden who was murdered by drug-addled parents, child protection chief says