First of all. it’s attempted murder so far. As far as we know they aren’t dead yet. Although it’s an understandable mistake as the Skripals have become somewhat secondary in this story.
The comparison to the WMD dossier arises from yet another Prime Minister making claims (actually Boris seems to have gone full potato today) based on information that we can’t independently check. Again the approach is, trust me, I know things. We now know that Blair’s statements on that were based on bullshit.
The police are undertaking a massive investigation gathering lots of information to try & establish exactly how the poison came to affect the Skripals. In time they may be able to ascertain whether the daughter inadvertently brought it with her or whether someone else delivered it to Salisbury. I’d imagine there’s a good deal further to go before they can piece together how it happened.
The material itself can doubtless be analysed at Porton Down & Boris said yesterday that they would eventually be submitting samples to OCPW. (Porton Down is an accredited OCPW facility) but of course it makes sense to get independent appraisal and probably that should have been done sooner rather than immediately jumping to conclusions about who & why.
What I’ve found interesting is how anyone who has the temerity to question the narrative as it’s being conveyed is immediately smeared as a traitor, a foil hatter, a lackey of Putin etc. It’s amusing but also quite frightening to see how readily it turns into a ‘you’re with us or against us’ situation & to hell with proper analysis or proper reliance on facts.
You get a decent proportion of legitimate news aligned with the mainstream that is not controversial. Thus they gain a level of credibility.
You mix that with the crap like tossers you mentioned who are pushing their wares. So they draw in everyone in the middle ground. Failed Tory’s get on. Any publicity is good for them. Labour keep off. Their job is being done.
So they gain an iota of credibility.
Then the propaganda creeps in. Further conversion to their agenda is the aim.
They are very good in what they do. Lots of sheep around I’m afraid.
No it isn’t.
I really don’t care if RT are banned and their licence revoked, the point is that more Tory MPs have made more appearances for more money than Labour MPs which would be good to remember when Johnson and co are lying through their teeth.
I would also like to know when the press will start delving into Russian contributions to the Conservative party.
They were fined £70K last year by the Electoral Commission and the former treasurer was reported to the police. Teresa May has been invited to make public the findings and where the money came from but has declined to do so.
What we do know was that the wife of a former Putin Deputy Finance Minister won an auction at a Tory Fundraising event and paid £160K to play tennis with David Cameron and other regular donations were made.
Her husband is now a British based ‘Investor’
The Russian Money laundering that has been going on through the City doesn’t seem to be in the news at all.
