Theresa May was under great pressure to take some action against Russia for the alleged use of nerve gas against the ex-Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter. She acted by expelling 23 Russian diplomats and imposing sanctions. One wonders whether the think tank had thought about the reaction, which has now come like a sting of a scorpion.
The Russian reaction is much more severe and not only have 23 British diplomats been expelled but the British consulate in St Petersburg is closed and the British Council stopped from carrying any activity in Russia.
The BBC has reported that the Russian reply is much more severe and shows that Russia is in no mood to play the second fiddle in the world of power stakes.
Boris Johnson
Another man who has queered the pitch is Boris Johnson, the Foreign Secretary. This man has stated that it was "overwhelmingly likely" that the nerve gas attack was authorized by President Putin. At the same time, his statement is just not backed by any evidence and one wonders whether his intent was just to grab headlines.
Though the EU nations have backed the UK, the fact remains with tortuous negotiations going on Brexit, the EU nations like Germany and France are not all that warm to the UK. Even Trump has not condemned Russia and asked for facts to emerge.
Johnson made a grave mistake by directly accusing a head of state of a crime without publishing any corroborative evidence.
A spy
The British reaction is perhaps an attempt to deflect from their responsibility for failure to provide adequate security to Sergei Skripal. In the world of espionage, a spy who betrays a nation is always hunted down and a look at the annals of the CIA, one can come across many cases.The fictional character James Bond created by Ian Fleming, a British author mirrors such actions.
The Russians have responded to the allegations by Johnson vociferously. Putin's spokesman has referred to the allegations as "shocking and unforgivable". One tends to agree with the Russians for Boris Johnson to make allegations without publishing proof is tantamount to a grave lapse.
British record
The British themselves do not have a clean record and when they ruled India they executed nationalists like Bhagat Singh in the dead of the night against the jail manual published by them.
At that time Britain got away as an imperial power but now the UK is a shadow of its old self and to try and make a pretense of being a great power is not the best thing to do. It will be in Britan's interest to scale down the confrontation with Russia.
