Give Putin World Cup red card Boycott by Nato countries would stick it to Vlad
THE MoD’s nickname for the Armed Forces minister is Bomber. Not because he bombs things, but because he’s Mark LANCASTER.
I MAY be a bit of a telly tart but I’ve never appeared on Russia’s English language propaganda station RT, aka Russia Today.
This may surprise you. You might notice I rarely miss an opportunity to get my fizzog on the box.
But RT hasn’t asked me and if they did I’d turn them down.
You may also be surprised I’ve never been asked to play for England in a World Cup either.
So you could take the view I’m illqualified to express the opinion that RT should not be expelled from Britain.
Ticklish
And our footballers should stay at home. Thirty-nine mostly Labour MPs have tabled a Commons motion suggesting RT should be chucked out.
They have learned nothing from Margaret Thatcher’s farcical folly in banning broadcasters showing Sinn Fein leaders speaking in the 1980s. Their voices were dubbed instead by actors.
In a land of free speech, RT should be left to speak freely and condemn itself out of its own mouth.
Theresa May is right to dismantle Russia’s spy operation in Britain by sending 23 of its spooks home.
MI6 will be less pleased the Russians are now doing the same with ours in Moscow.
To stop England taking part in the World Cup is more ticklish. And on its own an empty gesture.
But if Mrs May could persuade the likes of France, Germany, Denmark, Portugal, Poland, Belgium and Spain to also boycott the tournament that would really hurt Vladimir Putin. The EU is not the appropriate vehicle for this. Nato is. The cornerstone of the defence alliance is the principle that an attack on any of its 29 member countries is an attack on all.
It’s meant as a military response to military aggression, to deter Russia from bombing Montreal, Madrid or Montenegro. But Britain has been attacked by a military grade nerve agent so this could be stretched to enforcing sporting sanctions against the perpetrator.
If World Cup qualifying countries were now to pull out of the competition it would demonstrate the civilised world considers Russia to be a rogue state. I’d be disappointed, of course. Come the 2022 World Cup in Qatar I’ll be too old to be selected.