If I may, I’d like to start this post by registering something upfront: I think it is quite possible that the Putin régime in Russia poisoned the father and daughter double-act of Sergei and Yuria Skripal. I have always thought this. But every sound observer of events in this Orwellian nightmare we inhabit is duty bound to follow – now more than ever – the golden rule of truth-seeking that I learned forty years ago in market research: by all means listen to what they say, but pay closer attention to what they do.
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This is the fifth time I have posted about this curious affair. Every time more information comes to hand, the analytical mind is led inexorably to the same obvious question: why is Britain trying to sex up the case?
I have watched the BBCNews channel on the subject. And France24. And Germany’s Deutsche Welle. And Bloomberg. And CNN. The unanimity resembles the way the victims speak in Invasion of the Body Snatchers.
But that uniformity of “information” is confounded time and again by later events.
Ten days ago in a British courtroom, a senior member of our judiciary said we “might know more after the autopsy” in relation to the Skripals themselves….clearly suggesting that their death was inevitable. Now Yuria is making, after a touch-and-go period, a rapid recovery. It is clear she is going to return to health.
The imputation from this is that the Judge had inside information designed to convince him – in the middle of a case involving nerve agents – that this was a ruthless attack involving certain death. Who had been whispering in his ear? And why did he listen?
A fortnight ago, we were told the attack had been undertaken in Moscow…by the authorities tampering with Yuria’s flight luggage. Then the police “were sure” nerve agent had been fiendishly fed into Sergei’s BMW auto air-conditioning system. Now it seems the agent was somehow sprayed onto the door of his UK home. To stop it happening again, two cops are currently standing next to the door 24/7….just in case those Russian bastards come back for a second go.
I mean, per-leeeeze.
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This is not going to end well for Theresa May, Boris Johnson, NATO, the EU or Washington. What are they going to do when Yuria leaves hospital….put her in an iron mask and give her a cell in the Chateau D’If?
The British behaviours so far in relation to contacting the broader membership of the Skripal family have followed the same pattern: a jigsaw of deliberate obfuscation.
The UK claims not to have received requests from Russia about the couple’s health. That seems odd in the extreme, and – according to my (and news) sources in that country – has been denied by their family.
In the High Court judgment I mentioned earlier from Judge ‘Big Ears’ Williams on March 22, he summed up as follows:
“Neither Mr Skripal nor Ms Skripal appear to have relatives in the UK although they appear to have some relatives in Russia….[but]…Given the absence of any contact having been made with the NHS Trust by any family member, the absence of any evidence of any family in the UK and the limited evidence as to the possible existence of family members in Russia I accept that it is neither practicable nor appropriate in the special context of this case to consult with any relatives of Mr Skripal or Ms Skripal”.
I’m sorry your Honour, but that is complete bollocks to sit alongside the bollocks about all those non-existent Salisbury residents who arrived at the hospital obviously suffering from a Novichok overdose. Various cousins, one mother and a possible granny have been interviewed by at least two different UK news outlets.
Viktoria Skripal, the alleged niece of Sergey and cousin to Yulia, was interviewed by the Sun on March 14 – before the Court judgment – and then later by the BBC.
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I offer for those who are awake the two most disturbing elements in these developments:
- There is clear circumstantial evidence here of collusion between the British security services and our Judiciary. The evidence is not nutjob conspiracy paranoia, it is timeline-related logic suggesting a perversion of justice.
- This investigative journalism has not come from the old media; it has emerged from sites like Craig Murray, Offguardian, Spiked and Wired – blogs and organisations peopled not by wild hairies, but by ethical individuals and diligent journalists who grew tired of having their stories censored on the dubious bases of Party ideology and national security.
The seriousness of these accusations is such that one is led towards a further conclusion: that as good internet reporting grows – and make no mistake, it is at last growing – the authorities (perhaps better described as The Authoritarians) will find an excuse to close it down. The Net Neutrality issue is central to this consideration….and we have already in the UK seen how egomanic MPs begin to demand such a process based on ‘hate speech’ in social media – the politicised term having been substituted for what real people describe as “calling power to account”.
I do not apologise in advance for my desire to draw the attention of single-issue causes I support to this real and present danger. In doing so, I am trying to raise their awareness of just how close we are now in the West to such causes being silenced forever.
But in the meantime, have a Good Friday.
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The Slog 