UK responds to disputed Russia report

Amina Taylor

Press TV, London

It was an ill-tempered exchange between PM Boris Johnson and Labour Party leader Sir Keir Starmer in the final PMQs before Britain’s Parliament goes into its summer recess.

At the heart of the verbal sparring was the government’s denial that it had ‘fallen asleep at the wheel’ and had been ‘derelict’ in its duties in protecting the UK from alleged Russian interference.

Just hours before, the Kremlin had accused the UK of engaging in rampant Russophobia by suggesting Moscow was actively seeking to meddle in British politics as outlined in the 50-page dossier presented by the UK Parliament Intelligence and Security Committee.

As the fight for the upper hand in the information wars rages on, is the British rhetoric that seems to harp back to a tit-for tat style of diplomacy going to inflame an already heated geopolitical situation? Could this be a return to Cold War style relations between London and Moscow?

According to author and political analyst Chris Bambery, with a nudge from Washington, that is precisely what’s happening. As Johnson’s government attempts to walk the political tightrope of both using the report to undermine events like the Scottish independent referendum of 2014 but dismiss wider allegations like the Brexit question, perhaps the summer recess can’t come quickly enough for the Conservatives, hoping to see the back of this matter.

Moscow’s chief diplomat in London says his country is willing to move on from this chapter and maintain a positive relationship with London but some critics are already wondering if the damage has already been done.

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