Russia

Wednesday

James Forsyth

Corbyn’s Russia response could reignite Labour’s civil war

Theresa May has just told the House of Commons that there is ‘no alternative conclusion’ other than that Russia was responsible for the attempted murder of Sergei Skripal. She said that Moscow’s response to the UK’s request for an explanation of what had happened in Salisbury had demonstrated ‘complete disdain’. In response to the incident, the government will expel 23 Russian diplomats who it believes to be spies. The UK will also break off all high-level contact with Russia – so there’ll be no British dignitaries at the World Cup this summer – and pass its own Magnitsky act. This UK response is not small. But it is clearly designed

Ross Clark Ross Clark

Gavin Williamson was right to be paranoid about Russia

In responding to the Salisbury attack, Theresa May was in little danger of over-reacting. Her challenge was more to come up with a response which would not have Vladimir Putin laughing. As soon as the nerve agent used against Sergei Skripal and his daughter was identified as Novichok – a chemical developed by the Russian military – it became clear that there was going to be no chance of fudging the issue – of doing what the Labour government did after the death of Andrei Litvinenko in 2006: calling an inquiry which concluded the Russian state was ‘probably’ to blame. Unlike the Polonium used to kill Litvinenko, there is really

The Spectator

Theresa May’s Russia response, full text

First, on behalf of the whole House, let me pay tribute once again to the bravery and professionalism of all the emergency services, doctors, nurses and investigation teams who have led the response to this appalling incident. And also to the fortitude of the people of Salisbury. Let me reassure them that – as Public Health England have made clear – the ongoing risk to public health is low. And the Government will continue to do everything possible to support this historic city to recover fully. Mr Speaker, on Monday I set out that Mr Skripal and his daughter were poisoned with a Novichok: a military grade nerve agent developed by

Tuesday

Isabel Hardman

Trump to May: I’m with you ‘all the way’ on Russia

Theresa May has been continuing to call Britain’s allies today to discuss the poisoning of Sergei Skripal. She is expected to give a statement to the Commons tomorrow about Russia’s response to the allegation that the state was responsible for the attack, and has been seeking assurances that countries such as France, Germany and the United States are on her side. This evening, she spoke to Donald Trump, who told her that ‘the US was with the UK all the way, agreeing that the Russian Government must provide unambiguous answers as to how this nerve agent came to be used’, according to the Downing Street read-out. You can almost hear

Nick Cohen Nick Cohen

Brexit Britain: confused and alone

Here is a message Russian propagandists are sending to Western commentators. It is from Yuliia Popova of REN-TV (which was once an independent Russian station but sold its soul long ago) to David Allen Green of the Financial Times. Hello David, My name is Juliia Popova. I represent Russian state TV channel. Would appreciate it if Matt Singh or any other political analist [sic] could give us a short comment on the matter of the following. We will be happy to know why the British government tries to blame Russian government for the attempted murder of ex-Russian spy, why is it happening right now when even USA on behalf of

Freddy Gray Freddy Gray

No, Britain shouldn’t invoke Article 5 of the NATO treaty

Theresa May might regret using such strong language in her statement on the Skripal case last night. Saying that there had been the ‘unlawful use of force’ on British soil and that a response would be imminent has led to a lot of people invoking Article 5 of the NATO treaty – something mentioned in newspapers today. Lord Ricketts, a former UK national security adviser, is one of many to say that this ‘unlawful’ act warrants the use of NATO. For its part, NATO has released a statement saying ‘the UK is a highly valued ally and this incident is of grave concern to NATO’. May did not say ‘armed

Tom Goodenough Tom Goodenough

What the papers say: Corbyn’s foolish response to the Salisbury attack

Theresa May did not hold back in her Commons statement on the Salisbury spy attack, warning Russia it has until midnight tonight to explain why a Russian nerve agent was used in the incident. The Sun praises her reaction as ‘admirably tough’. But there is criticism for the Labour leader: ‘Never has the gulf between her and Jeremy Corbyn seemed wider’, according to the Sun. While Theresa May was right to rebuke Russia and ‘trust (that) the civilised world will unite behind us’, Corbyn misjudged the mood ‘hideously’. Instead, the Labour leader chose this ‘sombre national moment to advance Labour’s interests’. He started by ranting about ‘Russians “funding the Tory

Monday

Isabel Hardman

Jeremy Corbyn’s stance on Russia is bad for Parliament

Theresa May did a good job in uniting the House of Commons today, but someone who did an even better job in bringing together MPs to praise the Prime Minister was Jeremy Corbyn. The Labour leader’s partisan response to May’s statement on the poisoning of Sergei Skripal so antagonised Conservative MPs and so disappointed many on his own side that much of the session was about the failings of the Opposition, rather than the questions for the Government. He criticised Tom Tugendhat’s earlier comments about Russian aggression, telling MPs that ‘we need to continue seeking a robust dialogue with Russia on all the issues – both domestic and international –

Will Heaven

Will Theresa May invoke Nato’s Article 5 on collective defence?

There was a striking use of language in Theresa May’s statement to the House of Commons on the Salisbury nerve agent attack. Pointing an accusatory finger at Moscow, the Prime Minister declared: Mr Speaker, on Wednesday we will consider in detail the response from the Russian State. Should there be no credible response, we will conclude that this action amounts to an unlawful use of force by the Russian State against the United Kingdom. And I will come back to this House and set out the full range of measures that we will take in response. This is quite something. It suggests the government is treating this as far more than a

James Forsyth James Forsyth

Theresa May accuses Russia of an unlawful use of force against Britain

Theresa May has given Russia until Wednesday to explain why a nerve agent that it has developed was used in the Salisbury attack. She told the House of Commons that it was ‘highly likely’ that Russia was responsible for the poisoning of Sergei Skripal and his daughter. She said that Boris Johnson had summoned the Russian Ambassador and put it to him that were only two explanations for what had happened, one that the Russian government itself was responsible or that Moscow has lost control of its stock of deadly nerve agents. I think it is safe to assume that no explanation, at least not one that would satisfy a

Steerpike Steerpike

Jeremy Corbyn’s Russia hypocrisy

It’s safe to say that Jeremy Corbyn’s response to Theresa May’s statement on Russia has divided opinion this afternoon. The Prime Minister confirmed to the House that a military-grade nerve agent of a type developed by Russia was used to poison Sergei Skirpal, the former Russian double agent. She concluded that this meant it was either a direct act by the Russian State or the Russian government had lost control of this potentially catastrophically damaging nerve agent. So, what did Corbyn have to say on the matter? Well, the Labour leader was keen to use the opportunity to criticise the Tories for being too close to Russia. Corbyn complained that there had been

Saturday

James Forsyth

With 240 potential witnesses, were Skripal’s poisoners trying to send a message?

‘Any fool can commit murder, but it takes an artist to make it look like suicide’ the KGB used to say. But whoever put Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia in hospital was rather less subtle: police have identified 240 potential witnesses, according to Amber Rudd, and have extensive CCTV coverage to go through.  I write in The Sun this morning that anyone capable of getting hold of the nerve agent used was capable of killing him in a far more subtle manner – with no witnesses and nothing in CCTV. Whoever carried out the attack on Skripal wanted to send a message. They wanted to prove that enemies of

Wednesday

The Spectator

Vladimir Putin is innocent until proven guilty in the Russian spy case

The apparent chemical attack on a former Russian double-agent and his daughter in an English cathedral city could be straight from a cold war thriller. Unfortunately, though, the case is not going to be solved in 500 pages — nor will it be solved by June, when the Foreign Secretary has threatened to withdraw a British delegation of dignitaries, if not the English team, from the opening ceremony of the World Cup. It was inevitable, as soon as Sergei Skripal was taken acutely ill on a bench in Salisbury, that fingers would point at Vladimir Putin. He did, after all, pass a law to give the FSB, the successor organisation

Tuesday

Ed West

Will Britain stand up to Russia?

A Russian man convicted of spying for Britain has mysteriously been taken ill due to an ‘unknown substance’ – I wonder who could be responsible? Of course one can’t assume at this point, and the Russians will express bafflement as to why they’re being accused of poisoning Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia. No doubt the London Embassy’s perky Twitter feed will make light of western paranoia in that surreal way international politics is conducted these days. But then the Russians are suspected of 14 assassinations on British soil, the most bizarre case involving the expert who discovered the poison that killed Alexander Litvinenko, who himself died after apparently ‘stabbing

Steerpike Steerpike

Watch: Bercow bashes Boris

It’s safe to say that Boris Johnson is not having a good day. As well as finding himself in a row over whether or not he suggested England could withdraw from the World Cup in Russia, the Foreign Secretary has received a ticking off from John Bercow. The Speaker took issue with Johnson after he arrived late for an Urgent Question on the suspected poisoning of a Russian double agent. Johnson’s timekeeping led the Speaker to take a swipe at the Foreign Secretary for his comments last week comparing the Irish border to Islington and Camden – suggesting that just as there is no hard border between the two borough there could be

Nick Cohen Nick Cohen

Morally bankrupt sport fans will forgive any abuse

The death of Zac Cox is more than a horrible industrial action but a metaphor for modern sport: the scale of its corruption and the readiness of  its fans to tolerate the intolerable as long as we are entertained. Mr Cox was 40 and working on a World Cup stadium in Qatar when a catwalk collapsed underneath him. He fell 130 ft and didn’t stand a chance. To the authorities he was a nobody, and his death was an embarrassing inconvenience. A report into the accident was completed within 11 days, but the firms building the stadium did not pass it on to his family in Britain. One of the

Douglas Murray

What the suspected poisoning of Sergei Skripal tells us about Russia

We live in a strange era when it comes to Russia. On the one hand there are people who seem willing to insist that absolutely everything is controlled by the government and agencies of that country. They claim that Russia has the power to install an American President, to make the British vote Brexit and much more besides. On the other hand – as supporters of Julian Assange seem put on earth in order to remind us – are people who seem to think that the SVR and FSB are quiescent organisations whose erstwhile employees spend their days doodling pointlessly in their offices. Perhaps the appalling suspected poisoning of Sergei Skripal in Wiltshire

Thursday

Kate Chisholm

The spying game

Some of us grew up worrying about reds under the bed, which was perhaps not as foolish as all that if a report on Saturday morning’s Today programme on Radio 4 is to be believed. Amid a cacophony of weird-sounding bleeps and disembodied voices, Gordon Corera, the BBC’s security correspondent (always clear, calm and collected, no matter the brief), told us about the ‘number stations’ that proliferated in the Cold War and are now being brought back to life. Anyone can tune in to them, but only those in the know can understand what they mean, and although the source of the transmissions can be traced it’s impossible to pick

Friday

Steerpike

Caption contest: Putin in cold water

Next week at Davos, world leaders – including President Trump and Emmanuel Macron – will gather at the elite meet-up to flex their diplomatic muscles and prove how big a player they are on the global stage. Happily, Vladimir Putin has offered them an early lesson in how to show you’re a hard man. The Russian president joined millions of Orthodox believers in plunging bare-chested into icy water – with the temperature below -5C – in a Russian tradition marking the Epiphany. Captions in the comments please.

Friday

Nick Hilton

The Spectator Podcast: The digital inquisition

On this week’s episode, we examine Twitter’s mob mentality, get to the heart of PTSD, and look at how Russia is preparing for this year’s World Cup. First up: At the end of 2017 it would’ve be hard to guess that the name of everyone’s lips during the sunrise days of the new year would be Toby Young. But thanks to a government appointment and a series of ill-advised tweets, his brief stint at the Office for Students has dominated the news cycle. In the magazine this week, Lara Prendergast writes about how our digital footprints could come back to bite us, whilst Rod Liddle laments the rise of trial