“Freedom and openness have always been the strongest forces of progress,” it says. But they were “never achieved by standing still”. A stronger economy must be created “because it is the basis of our strength abroad,” it said.

At the beginning of November, Sunak visited Kyiv to offer Ukraine further military aid in defense against Russia. He also assured Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of his country’s “permanent support”.

The UK is currently struggling with serious economic problems and high inflation. In mid-November, when the government in London presented its budget plans, the main factors for this were the effects of the corona pandemic and the “energy crisis triggered by Russia”.