Boris Johnson’s Ukraine kudos has been squandered as he goes too far with his Brexit demands

Boris Johnson

John Downing

Boris Johnson had been gaining a lot of kudos among the EU’s frontline Ukrainian war states via his tough stance against Russia. He was feted on visits to Finland and Sweden last week and the British union flag flew alongside national and EU flags.

After three years of Brexit-driven opprobrium, it looked like the “boy Boris” was back in favour. Then he launched his latest Brexit missile on Tuesday of this week, threatening to set aside large chunks of the deal governing trade in Northern Ireland, unless the EU revisits the fundamentals of the deal and delivers big concessions.