Russian spy attempted murder - what should the UK do?

You are realising Grandad that some people dislike the government far more than they dislike Putin and the Russian state.They are so left wing that nothing that is done here ( if the government say it) is believed.Actually it is not the government but scientific experts, MI5 MI6 and counter terrorism people saying it.
None of that seems to matter to them in their mission to denigrate anything at all that Conservatives say or do.
Pathetic really.

Russia despises the west, she perceives us as weak, and frankly pathetic. Putin's attitude to this incident absolutely clarifies his attitude to us, his treatment of Mr Merkel (the dog incident) again illustrates his contempt for the west collectively. Appeasement is perceived as laughable, understandably, because history has proved that it is. Putin knows that even downing a civil aircraft only provoked squeaks of indignation from the west! He can do as he pleases, and 'we' can't stop him! But even though it's a flea biting an elephant, the UK has at least attempted to stand up to this dangerous bully, but which is more than can be said for the rest of Europe.

This of course is another problem lemon. How Putin must be laughing at our pathetic left wing and their fawning adoration of all things Russian.

I dispute the assertions above that by questioning our government we are somehow showing "adoration of all things Russian". This couldn't be further from the truth. I would dig deeper and ask why we have allowed so many wealthy Russians in the country buying properties and passports, many are not noble human rights activists we are giving sanctuary to by any means. Putin is the last person we should be fraternising with. I do support the government in trying to get to the bottom of this episode, but I am not blindly lapping up their every word. And what has our esteemed foreign secretary been doing?

Gerispringer, I also agree that questioning what the govt tells us in no way supports Putin. Contrary to what some people here seem to think, left wingers do not think highly of Putin or Russia - they are corrupt, have a poor human rights record and disregard democracy. However, the last time we were asked to unquestionably believe what govt and experts were telling us led us into the Iraq War which is why I feel uneasy about the current situation

nelli Who is Mr Merkel?

Obviously 'Mrs' and clearly a typing mistake!

I can't help it but I thought her Speech which I heard on World at One(Radio4) was very good. She sounded for the first time as if she was saying what she believed.
With Brexit she is always wrong footed as she voted Remain.
Putin is a real horror and I'm glad that steps will now be taken to rid London of a few of its wealthy undesirables

Some in this thread wish to "question further" the evidence of the Salisbury attack. I would reply to that, the evidence is in what our elected government has placed before this nation. The evidence is also in the response the Russian Government has given to this nation by way of the derision and mocking of those caught up and seriously injured in the attack

In the above, it matters not what has gone before, it is what has happened in Salisbury in the past few days and how a similar attack can be prevented in the future with the overriding possibility of mass casualties should the same agent be used.

There are always those who will look for the "conspiracy theory" and will forever require more evidence and when that evidence is presented will require to ask ever more questions, while inaction personifies while that questioning take place.

There are times in any society when the questioning has to stop and a united front put forward for in that is how a nation is protected. Today in the House of Commons we all have witnessed the above take place among our political representatives. The foregoing is necessary, for the use of a nerve agent to kill was a statement of action without care of responsibility in what devastation it may cause, or what the British government or other governments may say or do in the face of such action.

The attack in Salisbury is in my mind (and I feel in the minds of many) the most serious attack on this country since the end the second world war. In the foregoing, presenting a united front to those who carried out that attack is a major step in preventing another such attack taking place.

This is not the time for "quisling" words and endless questions.

This of course is another problem lemon. How Putin must be laughing at our pathetic left wing and their fawning adoration of all things Russian.

So where has anything like that been said Niggly. I must have missed it - either that or it is the usual attempt to attack all things left of extremely right-wing line, which is sadly a common factor on here. I feel that is pretty low in a situation like this to my mind.

We are in a very vulnerable position and the Russians, it appears, carried out this attempted murder in our country. It seems to me that the May has done what needed to be done and, this being a parliamentary democracy, Corbyn has done what the opposition needs to do.

The only people I could see behaving in an unparliamentarily way were the braying hoards on the government benches. This was not the time and nor did what Corbyn said deserve it.

They obviously thought that he did deserve it, and far from ‘braying hoards’ (sic) it was more today resigned murmurs of ‘shame’. Again today most Labour back benchers were full on, in their praise of Mrs May, and not in their own Leader and his words.He rarely gets it right.

I absolutely refuse to believe that the case against the Russians has been irrefutably proven after only two weeks. It hasn't. So let's have less of this 'quisling' talk please.

I think that May has, once again, opened her mouth far too early and put her foot straight into it. I'm sure that Putin is shaking in his shoes not

I do not see this situation as a left versus right situation. What Putin has witnessed from the Kremlin in recent times, is the United States becoming ever more inward looking and wishing to become detached from its long history of support for Europe and many Pacific Nations.

Along with the foregoing Putin has also witnessed the European Union become destabilised by mass immigration and the problem of Brexit. In that, the Russian Government undoubtedly sees the United Kingdom as the weakest link in a deteriorating situation for democratic governments worldwide.

In the above, the Russian government can see an opportunity to become far more dominant worldwide. The Salisbury attack is a step in gaining that dominance as it believes that the United Kingdom will struggle to find meaningful support from other governments.

In the above, should Britain demonstrate political divisions in a left versus right battle the gaining of that meaningful support from other nations will become far more difficult if not impossible. Thankfully, in the House of Commons today we witnessed genuine support for the government's position from across all parties.

The above bodes well for the future of international support for Britain, and in that marking a point in preventing further attacks of this nature on our soil.

In the above, the Russian government can see an opportunity to become far more dominant worldwide.

I really don't think they need to assert their dominance by murdering a former spy in the UK. They've already done extremely nicely with their social media campaigns in support of Trump and Brexit. And, by being allowed to buy up huge chunks of London with their rather ill gotten gains they have gained a significant measure of control which can be exercised just by threatening to withdraw their money and crash the London property market.

Quote[ MaizieD

I absolutely refuse to believe that the case against the Russians has been irrefutably proven after only two weeks. It hasn't. So let's have less of this 'quisling' talk please.

I think that May has, once again, opened her mouth far too early and put her foot straight into it. I'm sure that Putin is shaking in his shoesnot ] End Quote

MaizieD and others, there is an old adage that states "there are none so blind as those that do not wish to see"

Does it make sense?
Who stands to benefit?

durhamjen, I think that the bottom line in your link above is exactly what Putin wanted to happen. He is a person who believes in strength, and to him and those that surround him that is what they have demonstrated to a weakened fragmented world, or at least in their eyes.

It may not have been administered in a public area, it was just coincidence that the results of the nerve agent took effect as they sat in a public park.

My uncle in the 1950's was in MI5. He was Director of Intelligence for the Middle East at that stage. Previous to that at the end of the war he interrogated senior nazis. He said, quite openly, that they had been tortured. He was never allowed to go back to Germany again for his own safety. We lived in Africa at the time and he turned up once on 'business' and used to show us his revolver. He also managed to get the liner we were on stopped in the Suez Canal so he could pay my mother a visit. It seems to me that people like that have a lot of power and freedom. He also ended up comitting suicide.

And why shouldn't I 'wish to see', Grandad?

I don't know whether Russia was responsible or not simply because I am sure I don't have sight of ALL the evidence which has been gathered. There will be some evidence which cannot be released to the public for security reasons. Anyone not privy to that evidence is merely guessing as to who is or is not responsible.

durhamjen

Your link from the anti Tory site evolvepolitics yesterday 23.27 is part headed :-

'why the Tories are so desperate to ban Russia Today'.

I listened to Theresa May give the 'Salisbury Incident Statement' on monday live on t.v. So to bring some factual content to enlighten those who believe only in taking what they want from your links this might provide some balance as I knew it was indeed Labour MP's who made most reference to Russia Today during the Parliamentary Statement.

Snippets from Hansard :-

Labour MP Chris Bryant

"For that matter, can we just stop Russia Today broadcasting its propaganda in this country?"
---
Lab Co/Op MP Stephen Doughty

"On Russia Today, can I urge the Prime Minister to speak with the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport to look at reviewing Russia Today’s broadcasting licence and to speak to the House authorities about blocking its broadcasts in this building? Why should we be watching its propaganda in this Parliament?"
-----
Labour MP Phil Wilson

"In the light of her comments, which I commend, does the Prime Minister agree that there is no place for hon. Members on either side of the House appearing on Russia Today? It is a propaganda mouthpiece for the Russian state with which no democratic politician should engage, and they should think twice before doing so. We should not be engaging with and giving credibility to such a media outlet."
-

Thank goodness after watching the Statement I found once again it was the Labour back bench MP's who set the tone for the Labour response where as the Labour Leader went down like a lead balloon . As he did again today.

Whilst the far left shadow cabinet remained silent

thegreatcritique.wordpress.com/2018/03/14/more-on-the-russian-spy-poisoning-corbyns-questions-are-entirely-proper/

kittysjones.wordpress.com/2018/03/14/from-a-nerve-agent-attack-to-a-nuclear-threat-in-3-days-the-very-worrying-collapse-of-international-diplomacy/

Very worried about this, too.
British cyberintelligence does not seem to be the best in the world.
Someone managed to infiltrate our NHS records last year.
GCHQ is vulnerable to cyber attack. Nuclear weapons systems could be vulnerable, too.
Be careful what you wish for.