Markov/Litvinenko 2.0

Marv

I think TM being abit drastic expelling the diplomats and threatening to not send anyone to the world cup.

How about we be more diplomatic and send the Russians a sample of the nerve agent so they can test it for themselves and then work from there.

IronGiant

Would you send members of the royal family or notable politicians to a country that doesn't seem to know whether their stocks of Novichok were destroyed or not?  

Actually, don't answer that

Fred Quimby

Would you like a coffee Mr Corbyn, before your flight to Moscow

Marv

There's no harm in sending them a sample of it. They will either deny or confirm its origin.

IronGiant

If it's Novichok, then it's Russian (Soviet?) in origin, so we can take action regardless of them confirming it. But yes, I see no reason not to let them have a sample through proper channels. Which I suspect would be submitting them through the Chemical Weapons Convention rather than Russia?

tapzilla2k

France wants to see 'definitive conclusions' before it takes any actions against Russia. That should be a sobering dose of reality for those in Westminster who were not happy with Corbyn. The British Intelligence Services are suspect in the view of our allies when it comes to WMD's. This could be an opportunity to redeem the Intelligence services on the international stage, if May allows a full and frank disclosure of the evidence to our allies. We could say convene an expert panel under the auspices of the OPCW to review the evidence. If you are going to take on Putin, be damn sure you have overwhelming evidence against him and the allies to back you up.

Going off half cocked without providing definitive evidence to our allies, risks leaving us on our own against Russia (which if this is Russia could be part of whatever Putin is doing). Also I noticed May dodged the question when asked about selling Nuclear Material (which might include materials that could be weaponised) to Russia, which as I recall is in the process of updating and increasing it's nuclear arsenal.

The sobering thing to remember is that in the unlikely event of a nuclear exchange between the UK and Russia, we'd end up destroyed and Russia would likely be damaged but survive in some shape or form (assuming there is no NATO response). Even a conventional bomb dropped on Sellafield would devastate the UK. I'd expect to see Russian bombers buzzing UK Airspace around that area in the next few days.

IronGiant

Over reaction or what...

Cliff

Couldn't agree more. The spies used to play their games and Prime ministers did not stand up in parliament all guns blazing. Yes it was a terrible attack, but he was a double agent as I understand it. Not condoning it in any way, but during the Cold War many spies didn't make pensionable age on both sides and it was not in the public domain.

Bl4ckGryph0n

Just tuned into the debate on RT tonight. Blimey couldn’t be a more obvious propaganda machine if they tried.

EarthRod

No, not in the public eye at all back in the day. Only the occasional expelling of a few diplomats might briefly hit the news due to some misdemeanor, but that was it.

Still, it was a nasty attack on British soil and Theresa's speech today did give me some feeling of 'we are in this together' in my bosom (shucks!), something which made me pause and question the cause of why such a feeling came over me.

Just goes to show Theresa can hit my spot, if only momentarily.