Well that investigation about the Salisbury poisonings seems to have been squared away nicely. We now have two suspects who look very similar to each other but comfortingly shady and Cold War spy-like. The PM conducts an emergency session to announce this and everyone looks noble, gravely concerned and wth furrowed brows ahoy.
A perfect opportunity for May to appear strong and like a leader. Why else have a parliamentary session to announce it?
And yet I find myself allowing for the possibility that in 30 years time there will be some vital fact that has been suppressed from the public – or that all is not what it seems. I am using a phrase now that I thought I’d never use. God help us if there’s a war – because I am sure I am not alone in being suspicious of official briefings and statements from this government and the PM.
The CCTV was incredibly good quality! If only every attempted murder had 250 police working on it.
Ooh conspiracy theories …
Yup – they’re all over twitter and Facebook already. Usual suspects like George Galloway and Craig Murray have all the answers. Because of course Russia couldn’t possibly do anything bad.
Probability suggests Russia.However not yet certain by any stretch and there are enough people inside and outside of Russia who would be happy to discredit Putin.
Surprising that foreign agents can be detected so easily and accurately yet burglars are rarely found. Odd that.
It took 250 personnel working full time for months. Those resources aren’t normally dedicated to your average burglary.
Disinformation innit?
The proximity to Porton Down – the only place on Earth where Novichok unmistakably exists – is one humdinger of a coincidence.
I am suspicion.
What I always like about the loons who genuinely believe this, is that they will accept that the British government will pour huge sums into developing this chemical, and the salaries of the people into planning the conspiracy, and then suddenly decide that they can only afford the fare for a seven mile bus trip to actually implement it.
Actually, when you put it that way…. it seems more plausible. Our government is just the sort to develop something and then not pay to have it delivered properly.
I don’t really see Putin personally ordering assassinations of this sort. Too crude and messy.
But as Russia these days is a de-facto kleptocracy, run by gangsters, I think it quite feasible that some reckless person or some rogue group at the GRU might take it upon themselves to bump off the people they have grudges against. And Putin might be wary enough of them and what they might do if they turned against him, to let it go by.
Nail, head. Clearly this has a Russian connection in some way or another, but why they would use a nerve agent that so obviously points the finger is very strange – if it isn’t just downright incompetency then it was a deliberate ploy by whoever did it, or if it was state sponsored they wanted it very clear who did it.
the use of Novichok isn’t strange – it is intended to send a message.
But if you just wanted to bump someone off with minimum fuss and no trail of evidence, why choose novichok? It didn’t even work on the Skripals. They are still alive. At least, that’s what we’ve been told. So the whole thing was botched.
I reckon a little cabal of Russian secret service types have been on the vodka while watching some of those Hollywood movies where rogue military and CIA conspirators start doing their own unsanctioned thing. They’ve had a few too many and thought “Hey! We could do some of that stuff too!”.
Their horrified bosses have probably had them all shot by now and are denying it was anything to do with them or anyone they’ve even heard of. Putin has dismissed it all as Western anti-Russian plotting, because what else can he do, marked a few cards in the GRU and at some future point, after the fuss has died down, heads will roll.
I can quite easily see the hand of Putin behind this. Election year in Russia, Putin needs to be seen as a strong leader. Needs Russian people to be reminded of threat from the West. Engineers an attack on a Western nation which will then generate a forceful diplomatic response, and in so doing tests the waters on a nation perceived as weakened and isolated by Brexit. Attack on Western nation done in such a way that finger points towards Russia, but done in a location where Porton Down link can sow seed of doubt. Britain powerless to do anything. Putin laughs up sleeve. Russian media flocks to defence of Putin. Putin seen as strong leader by Russian people. Hey presto, Putin re-elected against backdrop of conspiracy against Russian nation.
You think Putin needs something like this to get re-elected? Anyone who is brave enough to oppose him don’t tend to have a very long life expectancy which is only extended by a term in jail.
Even Putin needs to demonstrate some semblance of a fair election to carry the popular opinion
Er, isn’t Putin basically in charge one way or another for exactly as long as he wants to be, even if that’s for the rest of his life?
I would like to live in a world where I didn’t feel the need to give a flying one for anything to do with Russia, China, Japan, Iran, Syria, Israel, Saudi Arabia, Turkey or Pakistan. And that’s just for starters.
Good on ya for caring about human rights!
There’s nothing inconsistent with caring about human rights and what VV said, if you think about it.
How do you find any suggestion from my post that I think there is?
You must be so happy to live in a world with good old USA?
Load of tabloid fodder divergent ruskie bollocks.
Can anyone tell me how tall the spire of Salisbury Cathedral is? Asking for a friend.
404 feet. As an ex – tour guide, I’m a mine of useless information – some of it true.
Ref my comment above, I’m tending towards the ‘incompetency’ theory now. This new interview with the suspects was obviously mostly for internal consumption, but wouldn’t have been better to have just said nothing at all? The whole thing is risible – two guys fly over from Moscow for 2 days and stay in East London….to visit Salisbury Cathedral. First day they get there and give up because of the slush, so they come back next day….get a bit lost….then fly home. This is so obviously bollocks that no one will believe it, so why try? Much more sinister if they just kept laughing at us and denying it, but this is a hoot! Maybe they actually are a bit rattled over all this after all?
The nerve of those agents.
What’s Russian for “Are we gonna do Stonehenge tomorrow night?”
Basically this is the Russian remake of In Bruges, isn’t it?
It’s got a 123 metre f@#king spire! It’s the oldest f£&k!ng working clock of its kind in the world! How can that not be someone’s f+%£ing thing?!?!
– It’s an inert fucking nerve agent!
– YOU’RE AN INERT FUCKING NERVE AGENT!
SEDAGIVE???
Gift to comedians, this saga. We shouldn’t laugh, but…(click to see the rest)