A Woman's Place.

Is Clearly Not in Government.

On March 4th (4/3/18) Britain's foreign intelligence service MI6 poisoned Russian MI6 agent Sergei Skripal. In the UK city of Salisbury, Wiltshire.

Also poisoned in this incident was the man's daughter Yulia Skripal and a British police officer. You will notice though that the death toll from this little stunt stands at precisely zero.

This event was Britain's big set piece for the 2018 Winter Para-Olympics which opened in PyeongChang in the Republic of Korea (RoK) on March 9th (9/3/18).

The UK feels it has an outsized role within the Para-Olympics. For reasons South Korean NPC head Lee Ki-bum explained rather well in his speech at the games' Opening Ceremony.

Obviously in order to dominate global discussion for a period of three weeks the Skripal story had to encompass a number of issues. I think I covered them rather well in these posts;

https://watchitdie.blogspot.co.uk/2018/03/the-circus-continues.html

https://watchitdie.blogspot.co.uk/2018/03/a-small-town-in-wiltshire.html

https://watchitdie.blogspot.co.uk/2018/03/so-whose-crashed-party.html

From a British perspective one of the big issues going into the games was the June 2017 arson attack on the Grenfell Tower in London by the UK Labour Party. In this they murdered 70 people in an effort to overthrow the government which had only weeks before been democratically and lawfully elected.

More specifically the issue is Britain's continuing failure to prosecute the Labour Party over the arson attack.

On its own that is a morally dubious decision. Within democracies mass murder is not normally considered a legitimate campaign tool.

This moral failure also significantly weakens Britain as a nation. It denies it a majority government under Conservative Party Prime Minister Theresa May.

At a time when Britain is facing the most important period in its history for at least a generation. Negotiating its exit from the European Union (EU). The so-called; "Brexit."

Rather as in the John le Carre spy novel; "A Small Town in Germany" British politics has been infiltrated at high levels by individuals with extreme nationalist, borderline fascist beliefs. This is particularly true of the Conservative Party.

These are the people who continued to seethe at the fact Nazi Sweden was defeated by Russia during the 1939 Winter War. Their default position is hostility and aggression towards Russia.

Led by individuals like the Conservatives Thomas Tugendhat and Dominic Raab this group have been pursing efforts to seize assets from opponents of certain Russian oligarchs under what has been dubbed the; "Magnitsky Amendment."

In reference to the US the US Magnitsky Act passed in 2012 by former President Obama. As part of his package of support for Islamist terrorists in Syria and beyond.

Supporters of the UK Magnitsky Amendment have been actively pursuing this idea since December 2016. Significantly before the events of March 2018 in Salisbury.

It almost goes without saying that these extreme nationalists also hold some strong views on the Brexit issue.

As such the Skripal poisoning serves a very public test of Prime Minister May's leadership. In the Brexit era.

Is Prime Minister May a strong leader capable of staying the course. Or is she a weak leader who is buffeted by the winds and ultimately beholden to the extremists within her own party.

Yesterday (12/3/18) we got Prime Minister May's test results.

In front of the UK Parliament she disregard what we all know to be true. She blamed the Skripal poisoning on Russia.

This comes after particularly Tugendhat had engaged in several days of what is termed; "Foghorn Diplomacy."

He has appeared on a host of TV news and politics shows demanding and creating an expectation that Prime Minister May blames Russia and takes strong action. By which he means the Magnitsky Amendment he has long fantasised over.

Prime Minister May has no doubt found a way to convince herself this will improve relations with Russia. Ahead of the March 18th (18/3/18)  Election Russian President Vladimir Putin certainly doesn't mind being accused of this type of thing.

However in failing to stay the course Prime Minister May has trashed a number of complex British diplomatic positions.

For example the Skripal poisoning is said to have occurred at an Italian restaurant. On the same day EU member Italy was holding an election which has resulted in complex coalition negotiations.

Even under the pro-EU centrist-left government of Matteo Renzi Italy has strongly opposed the US and UK's hostility towards Russia. Every time sanctions have come up for renewal Italy has opposed. The populist parties set to replace Renzi's government are even more opposed to sanctions on Russia.

So if the UK tries to conduct Brexit negotiations while demanding more sanctions on Russia Italy is going to seek to punish it. And punish it hard.

Then there is the fact that Skripal was recruited for MI6 by an officer who now works in the private sector. For a company run by Christopher Steele. The man at the centre of US Democrats efforts to rig the 2016 US Election.

So there is absolutely no possibility that Tugendhat, Raab et al's anti-Russian agenda can be pursued. It's a threat to British national security. Anyone pursuing it will have to be eliminated. Rather like Jo Cox was eliminated.

However that is not the extent of Prime Minister May's failure. Not only did she lie to Parliament about Russia being responsible she set herself a deadline of midnight tonight for further action to be taken. Action which she cannot take.

So in trying to avoid being viewed as a weak leader by frankly idiots in her own party Prime Minister May has put herself on a timetable to be revealed as what the public will now believe is a leader weak on Russia.

Prime Minister May will have to publicly and formally apologise.

After all if we were going to bring down her minority government we would only need to look at corrupt payments between feuding Russian oligarchs like the Lebedev brothers and Conservatives like Tugendhat.

It's as if he's trying to line his own pockets at the expense of the nation.

12:05 on 13/3/18 (UK date).

Edited at around 16:25 on 13/3/18 (UK date) to add;

To defend the Conservative Party's position Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs (Senior Foreign Minister) Boris Johnson gave a widely distributed media interview.

In it Johnson cited the support of the UK's allies. Specifically US Secretary of State (Senior Foreign Minister) Rex Tillerson.

The problem is that Rex Tillerson isn't the US Secretary of State.

While Johnson's first act of the day was to claim the support of Tillerson the US', some four hours behind, first act of the day was to fire Tillerson.

The timing of this announcement was chosen for maximum effect. To coincide with UK Chancellor of the Exchequer (Senior Finance Minister) Philip Hammond's Spring Statement.

The UK Secretary of State for Trade (Senior Trade Minister) Liam Fox is a prime example of the corruption within the Conservative Party. In 2011 he was forced to resign from Secretary of State for National Defence (Senior Defence Minister) over an influence peddling scandal.

The fact that Fox is back in government rather than in prison is testament to just how weak Prime Minister May's position is.

However Tillerson's departure has been a long time coming. Although he has faced extreme challenges - such as the Parkland shooting - he has very much underperformed in the role.

For example when confronted with questions about the Parkland shooting in Lebanon on February 15th (15/2/18) Tillerson was visibly shaken and unable to provide a coherent answer. A Secretary of State should never appear  unsettled and incapable of providing an answer.

Then there was the March 9th (9/3/18) announcement of a HOGS level meeting between the US and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK). This had been suggested and endorsed by the RoK.

However Tillerson was so unprepared for this he had to cancel official engagements in Kenya the following day citing illness. These engagements included paying tribute to victims of the 1998 Al Qaeda bombing of the US Embassy in Nairobi.

Tillerson's personal failings reflect wider failings within the State Department he led.

For example on March 2nd (2/3/18) Deputy Secretary of State John J Sullivan visited Ukraine to celebrate the fourth anniversary of the US overthrowing the Ukrainian government.

Meanwhile in the RoK people celebrating the fourth anniversary of the 2014 Winter Olympics and condemning the US' attempts to disrupt the event by overthrowing Ukraine's government.

Ukraine itself was expelling Mikhail Saakashvilli from their country. A key figure in the US overthrow of the Ukrainian government. Also a major figure of fun in the RoK as the man who entirely faked a Russian land invasion in an effort to rig an election.

This direction has left State Department Spokeswoman Heather Nauert resembling a mentally ill woman screaming at passing traffic in the street.

It gives the impression of a department just as utterly detached from reality as it was when it was run by Hillary Clinton.

Tillerson's replaced is Mike Pompeo. As the formed head of the CIA he is certainly better versed in the work of the intelligence community. And the games that they play.

16:55 on 13/3/18 (UK date).