Reply to: England out of the world cup...

[quackhandle]

England will not go to the World Cup, the press will ramp this up, the government will make noises about wanting to talk to the FA then the team will pull out.

Will there be other countries that follow? I think Poland will do so, then they can pressure Germany and say they are not serious about European security. Germany have like 2 working tanks or something and will feel uncomfortable with the accusations.

Then there are countries with political oppositions that have links with Russian. If Macron thinks he can demonise Le Pen by pulling out then he will do it.

This is the official beginning of a new cold war.

No, just the one at the moment as they're waiting on a quote from Kwikvit on a new head gasket.



qh

[Jog On]

It's starting to take shape now:

So what else could the UK do?

• Expel senior diplomats, perhaps even the Russian ambassador, and known Russian intelligence agents
• Take some sort of action to bar wealthy Russian oligarchs from accessing their mansions and other luxuries in London, as suggested by Tory MP and House of Commons foreign affairs committee chair Tom Tugendhat. One way this could happen is through the use of Unexplained Wealth Orders, which allow government officials to seize assets including property until they have been properly accounted for
• A boycott of the Fifa World Cup in Russia later this year by officials and dignitaries - a symbolic move that UK allies are unlikely to emulate
• Taking Russian broadcasters such as RT (formerly Russia Today) off the air - broadcasting regulator Ofcom has said it will "consider the implications for RT's broadcast licences" after Mrs May speaks on Wednesday
• Pass a British version of the 2012 US Magnitsky act, which punishes Russians involved in corruption and human rights violations with asset freezes and travel bans. It is named after a Russian lawyer who died in custody after revealing alleged fraud by state officials. MPs have been pushing for a Magnitsky amendment to be added to the Sanctions and Anti-Money Laundering Bill now going through Parliament

Spy poisoning: How could the UK retaliate against Russia? - BBC News

As soon as I saw this story emerge I thought world cup sabotage. I did wonder what would be the next move on it after the FBI/FIFA thing went quiet a while ago. So we boycott the world cup and pressure other countries to follow suit.

And watching RT becomes a thought crime.

Looks like Jezza (love him or hate him) is the only one calling for dialogue and de-escalation and anyone opposing escalation of hostilities is a traitor and spy.

[minestrone]

England will not go to the World Cup, the press will ramp this up, the government will make noises about wanting to talk to the FA then the team will pull out.

Will there be other countries that follow? I think Poland will do so, then they can pressure Germany and say they are not serious about European security. Germany have like 2 working tanks or something and will feel uncomfortable with the accusations.

Then there are countries with political oppositions that have links with Russian. If Macron thinks he can demonise Le Pen by pulling out then he will do it.

This is the official beginning of a new cold war.

I think we can say it's looking more likely now...


@GuidoFawkes
15 minutes ago

Russian interviewee on #r4today calls Polish interviewee a "prostitute". Says UK government is behaving like Hitler. Lively.

[minestrone]

England will not go to the World Cup, the press will ramp this up, the government will make noises about wanting to talk to the FA then the team will pull out.

Will there be other countries that follow? I think Poland will do so, then they can pressure Germany and say they are not serious about European security. Germany have like 2 working tanks or something and will feel uncomfortable with the accusations.

Then there are countries with political oppositions that have links with Russian. If Macron thinks he can demonise Le Pen by pulling out then he will do it.

This is the official beginning of a new cold war.

[saptastic]

Harry Kane injured so even more pointless making up the numbers

[BR14]

England should just show a bit of moral backbone and boycott the Tournament.

That is what Scotland did...................makes you proud it does!!

and the netherlands, - solidarity old chap, - solidarity

[shaunbhoy]

England should just show a bit of moral backbone and boycott the Tournament.

That is what Scotland did...................makes you proud it does!!

[Jog On]

I think this whole thing is orchestrated to start sabotaging the world cup. If the Russian's wanted this guy dead he'd be dead and in a way that was a lot tidier than this without anyone else being exposed to the substance. This guy got pardoned in 2010 - so why now?

Skripal was pardoned and released from custody in July 2010 as part of a U.S.-Russian-spy swap, which followed the exposure of a ring of Russian sleeper agents in the United States.

Ex-Russian, MI6 spy Sergei Skripal critical from ‘poisoning’ in Salisbury shopping mall

If Putin is behind this it is a very stupid and unnecessary move - he may be a lot of things but I don't think stupid is one of them.

It's very sloppy and stinks of false flag IMO. We know that the yanks/our top brass don't want the world cup going ahead in Russia this year.

I've been wondering what their next step would be after the FBI-FIFA thing. Why would America's domestic police be so interested in exposing FIFA corruption? Other than the world cup being hosted by Russia this year.

[BoredBloke]

At least it would save on the build up, bigging up our average players, making out that they are suddenly world class and then failing at the first hurdle when they come a cropper with that tournaments Iceland.

If England were a premiership side they would be Stoke. A team that can turn in a performance every now and then, but one that the big teams can generally turn over.

[Paddy]

Spy's get killed - what's the story here ?

I'm sure we do exactly the same

If I wanted to get sanctions or actions against Russia - i would

1. Poison a double agent (no accident fire or car crash - poison so everyone knows)

2. Gas some citizens and blame the Russians

Job done, feet up and watch

Government muppets now blame Russia for the Georgi Markov assassination.
Why don't they check their facts?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Georgi_Markov

[Eirikur]

Uk will respond robustly:

https://www.theguardian.com/politics...a-poisoned-spy

I suppose we can expect the same robust action from the Uk government as after the shooting down by Russia of MH17 where 10 British citizen died and the assassination by Russia of Litvinenko on British soil

[Hobosapien]

Bozo and Trump. When is the circus leaving town.

Politicians need to avoid making sport political. Sport is more important than they are and history will remember it that way too.

If Russia really want to stop countries turning up they just need to drug test all the players.

[darmstadt]

Boris Johnson has told the Commons "it would be very difficult to imagine" that UK representation at this summer's World Cup could go ahead in the "normal way" in the event of any evidence of Russian involvement in the collapse of former spy Sergei Skripal."

Or at least that's how it appeared, until Johnson's "aides" - those who trail him around clearing up the mess, like the keeper to the elephant in the Blue Peter studio - clarified he was referring to "officials" and not the England team.

“He was trying to show the range of hard and soft power available to show our international displeasure,” the source said, suggesting a rather greater deal of thought behind the announcement than had initially been applied.

"It really would save a lot of time and hassle if Boris preceded every Commons appearance, media interview and memo by saying: 'Please take none of this seriously until my aides have confirmed if I meant to say it'."

[tarbera]

Spy's get killed - what's the story here ?

I'm sure we do exactly the same

If I wanted to get sanctions or actions against Russia - i would

1. Poison a double agent (no accident fire or car crash - poison so everyone knows)

2. Gas some citizens and blame the Russians

Job done, feet up and watch

[I just need to test it]

You cynics.

Russia has barely recovered from our robust reaction to the murder of Alexander Litvinenko. I don't for a second doubt Boris will have them groveling in the dirt by the time the World Cup comes around.
</daily mail>.