With the country entering into a winter general election, it is fair to say that spirits are running high – dominated by Brexit and its eventual outcome the UK public have a key choice to make on December 12.
Brexit is the predominant factor on the ballot paper for many, but three years on from the referendum we are only nominally closer to a decisive outcome – whatever result that may be will be up to the electorate but one thing is clear; Russia has not been far from the headlines these past three years.
With Syria, the Skripal poisoning and the ongoing Ukraine crisis to name but a few thorny issues between Moscow and London, the latest ‘Russia Report’ and its failure to be published has been keeping many a Russia watcher & social media troll busy these past few weeks.
The publishing of a Parliamentary report is nothing new but even aside the delayed publishing schedule, the topic is in itself incendiary – Russian interference in all its machinations and malign influence. The title says it all, or does it?
In his own word the Prime Minister has stated that there is no clear evidence presented as to Russian interference in our domestic political affairs but dig a little deeper and the title, known list of ‘expert’ witnesses and its political cheerleaders give a hint as to what the conclusions will be. Frankly speaking what is needed is a variety of political opinions in matters of UK-Russia affairs and not simply the select few that will tell our esteemed MP’s what they wish to hear.
The report has been apparently approved by our security services but the decision to delay implies a potential financial embarrassment to the Conservative Party. It would be right to think that if there was anything of major importance it would have been either leaked or released – the fact that it has not would indicate a general reluctance as a result of questions over party donations.
Every political party has a right to receive funds from a clean, transparent and vetted source – the fact that these funds have been donated by people of Russian ‘origin’ but whom are UK citizens should be of no concern. What of donations of UK citizens of other national origins?
The report’s authors are coming to light slowly and for anyone that has been following UK-Russia relations these past years, the result and their conclusions will invariably be that Russia may well be guilty. From a PR angle the delay in publishing the report indicates something to hide and as such it should be aired and given proper non-bias scrutiny at the very earliest.
Whilst the Conservative Party has done little to support our efforts to promote ties – if the case is that the only issue of delay is a result of donations it would be rank hypocrisy for those who have criticised our efforts whilst accepting political donations. For those in Labour and the LIberals who are making political capital out our bilateral relations it’s also worth mentioning the point that any outside interference can mask an undesired political result.
Whilst this Brexit themed election is largely centred around one issue – the worrying thing is that none of the major parties seemingly have a policy to engage the largest country on the planet. Many feel that our parliament has failed us with regards to Brexit – be it initiating the debate in the first place which led to the referendum or the delay in delivering the 2016 result, the point is that we need to have a sustainable trade, political and social platform to engage with Russia within the established international boundaries.
So when all is said and done, we would urge those in authority to release the report so that we can get on in the business of promoting equitable ties – it is jobs and social ties that matter, not political gaming and hysteric social media trolls.
Sadly for many in our politics it is expedient to blame Russia for our ills – fine if clearly couched in terms of the Russian State but what of the hundreds of thousands of Russians living and working here in the UK? How do they feel about the level of debate around these issues? Well for those that we know and speak to they are pretty appalled – political games have real life consequences and our elites seem happy to continue the same narrative.
By releasing the report we can have a mature and frank debate about the right and real nature of our bilateral political ties – not simply state nuanced conjecture as fact.
If and once published, the result is that aside a few bots, there is no concrete proof of state backed interference– perhaps it is time that as a nation we accept the fact that our politics is in a mess, not as a result of a third party but by our own hand.
Nicholas Cobb – Chairman, Westminster Russia Forum
