The PM must take the hard steps on Ukraine – not just the easy ones

Editorial: If Johnson wishes to lead the world in helping Ukraine, he will need to go a lot further and a lot faster on the ever-toxic question of immigration

Johnson himself has, as far as possible, shied away from expressing the anti-immigration sentiment on which his party has depended for its power (AFP/Getty)

Boris Johnson seeks to establish himself – and with some success, so far – as Ukraine’s most important ally, but he will not succeed unless he is willing to take the difficult decisions as well as the easy ones.

The prime minister’s “six-point plan” is good. It includes more humanitarian support, more military support (in the form of weapons and equipment), and more “economic pressure” on Russia, with demands for Europe to “wean itself off Russian oil and gas”.

In the early days of what may yet be a long and intensely miserable war, these are the areas in which the UK has, to an extent, led the way. On the question of military support, Mr Johnson is in some respects fortunate to have a much-admired defence secretary in Ben Wallace. The idea that this appalling outrage could have occurred on the watch of the previous defence secretary, Sir Gavin Williamson, is horrifying to consider.