CORBYN’S ‘WEASEL’ WORDS
JEREMY Corbyn was under fire last night after he failed to issue a direct condemnation of Russia.
Boris Johnson accused the Labour leader of ‘weaselly language’. Mr Corbyn had first caused fury in March when he appeared to question intelligence linking the attack to Moscow.
Yesterday, after Mrs May laid out the evidence, he said Labour ‘utterly condemns the appalling attacks’.
But despite receiving a security service briefing, he failed to lay responsibility directly at the door of the Kremlin. Mr Corbyn instead asked the PM how she would ‘secure co-operation from the Russian government’, prompting one Tory MP to shout: ‘Get real!’
Mr Johnson said MPs would note ‘the somewhat weaselly language ... in failing to condemn what is now, I think, incontrovertible, in the eyes of all rightthinking people, involvement of the Russian state at the highest level’.
Even Labour MP Stephen Kinnock attacked the hard-Left’s ‘conspiracy theory-driven worldview’.
AS many feared, this summer’s World Cup proved a highly successful propaganda exercise for Vladimir Putin. For both the fans who attended, and the millions watching on TV, Russia appeared to be a modern, wellrun and even Westernised country.
It was easy to forget that this is a corrupt and brutal gangster state, run by a despotic thug, which was responsible for a horrifying chemical attack on British soil. Yesterday, there was no escaping that bitter truth.
For while Putin and his cronies revelled in the limelight, 250 detectives were quietly and meticulously amassing a wealth of new evidence about the Salisbury attack.
Yes, we knew that the Novichok nerve agent used to poison Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia – and which killed an innocent Briton, Dawn Sturgess – was developed only by Russian scientists.
But now officers have identified two suspects, who travelled to the UK from Moscow on real Russian passports. They have traced their movements after arriving in London, and know how the poison was transported. The security services have concluded they are members of the GRU, Russia’s feared military intelligence agency.
But as Theresa May made clear in a measured and assured performance in the House of Commons, there is little hope of extradition. Indeed, if the murder of Alexander Litvinenko is anything to go by, these assassins are more likely to be handed medals than be brought to justice.
Truly, if there were any doubters left who questioned whether the Kremlin was behind this sickening Cold War-style assassination attempt, surely they are now convinced? But then up stood Jeremy Corbyn. Despite receiving a security briefing, he failed to explicitly make the link between Moscow and the attack or to condemn the regime. With shocking naivety, he even asked what Mrs May was doing to ensure the suspects were handed over. Does he think just asking nicely will work?
His disgraceful statement was an insult to the victims, and the thought that he could one day be in charge of our nation’s security sends a chill down the spine.
Thankfully, that grave responsibility falls to Mrs May, who has rarely been more impressive than in her response to Salisbury. In a diplomatic triumph, she has secured the expulsion of more than 150 Russian spies from 28 countries.
Clearly, she must now seek new sanctions. Pressure must be put on those of our allies – Donald Trump and Angela Merkel to name two – who are all too happy to cosy up to Putin. And, yes, police must redouble their efforts to combat crooked Russian money swilling around the City.
In coded remarks, Mrs May went further, hinting our security agencies and cyber experts could be used to disrupt GRU operations worldwide. In all this she will have this newspaper’s emphatic support.