I have been aware of Russian aggression for many, many years, since Putins rise to power . What puzzles me is why the British government and the public in general have been so ignorant of the way the Russian government (activists and secret service) have been operating.
It has (IMO) ranged from activists and paid Russian contractors taking part in online discussions (including comments on Portsmouth News web site) to election manipulation and cyber attacks.
The online trolling of discussions is a way of unsettling an enemy, similar techniques were used by the alllies in WWII to cause a level of chaos in the Nazi ranks.
I personally had some web site details stolen (from another site, fortunately only a username and password) and placed on a Russian server for everyone to view a number of years ago. The information probably wasn't stolen by Russians, but the attackers certainly felt that a Russian server was a safe place to publicly display the information.
I had a discussion with someone a few years ago in Waterlooville and for some reason the discussion took a detour to Russia Today (RT). I said that the channel was a propaganda outlet for the Russian government, but the guy was convinced it was all true, primarily because it gave an alternative view to US media. Even back then I had deleted the channel from my Freeview list. The channel was clearly deliberately trying to undermine factual information as well as any bias in the US media.
Today we see that John McDonnell is advising Labour colleagues not to be interviewed by RT.
Why did they think it was sensible to appear on the channel so late in the day?
The channel should have been boycotted by all MPs years ago.
I have to bring Brexit into this post (even if it seems irrelevant). I do think Russia is active in Europe and the UK. I strongly believe that Brexit will greatly weaken our place in the world and Putin wants that to happen. The EU, like it or not is a protective unifying entity that does a lot to keep the likes of Russia, China and even the US in check. With Trump edging further and further into the Nationalist corner of politics and using nationalistic trade barriers to protect old and failing US industries, the UK will only come out it the worse, either by having to do what ever Trump says or by suffering economically with trade protectionism.
Putin is winning the political battle, cyber battle and possible a future physical battle that is aimed at tearing Europe apart. Unfortunately some of our MPs are helping and have appeased Putin by feverishly making out that the EU is the enemy and bringing the public with them. In some respects our media is no better than Russia Today, in fact they are just as ideological and obsessive about the EU as RT is in promoting Putinism.
Bannon condones racism, how can racism ever be a badge of honour?:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/world-europe-43366657/bannon-let-them-call-you-racist
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