British MP claims UK involved in Moscow concert massacre

Newly elected British MP George Galloway has accused the UK of being involved in last week’s terrorist attack in Moscow in comments quoted in a Kremlin-linked newspaper.

The Rochdale MP accused the US and the UK of lying about the involvement of Islamic State (IS) in the attack, which killed 139 people and injured 360, in quotes in Rossiyskaya Gazeta, a newspaper published by the Russian government.

In the month after his return to parliament, Mr Galloway has espoused conspiracy theories about the Princess of Wales being dead and likened Israel to Nazi Germany.

MPs slammed his intervention as irresponsible, reckless and playing into the Kremlin’s hands, while a Foreign Office spokesperson described it as “nonsense”.

In an article in the Russian newspaper, Mr Galloway is quoted as saying: “When the US, UK and others quickly tried to assure me that it was only Isis (banned in the Russian Federation) that committed this massacre in Moscow, I automatically realized that they were lying.

“And this is what I discovered: First of all, no one has explained the unannounced visit of former President Barack Obama to meet British politicians and security officials in Downing Street three days before this terrorist crime was committed.

“Researching even further, I discovered that Victoria Nuland (former senior US diplomat), this harbinger of death, this angel of death, who, if she approaches you, you can be sure that civil war is coming in your country.

“And she promised the Russians some unpleasant surprises in the coming weeks and months.”

The article says Mr Galloway claims to have “four pieces of evidence that lead me to believe that the United States, its Nato allies, and their puppet stump state Ukraine are, in fact, responsible for this massacre”.

A spokesperson for Mr Galloway declined to comment.

The new MP’s comments align with Russian president Vladimir Putin’s spurious claims that Ukraine is somehow responsible for the attack, despite there being no evidence to suggest this.

Western analysts have warned that Putin has a history of using terrorist attacks to justify wars of aggression, and is likely planning to do the same for the latest Moscow incident.

Despite trying to pin the blame on Ukraine, two days after the attack Putin admitted that radical Islamist terrorists were responsible for the killings.

But, he added: “Now we want to know who ordered it.”