Russia Report

[elwaclaret]

Any Labour supporter who points to the seventies, frankly was not there. They had some of the finest politicians to ever grace the party... and consistently undermined them all. John Smith knew he needed to out the Militants.... to hit Labour middle ground. This great vision of Jeremy’s that they loved so much was little more than a cut and paste of what Barbara Castle presented... but he lacked the brains to make it viable unlike Castle. If the new leader proves too popular, the knives will come out for him too... and it is rarely Tory led when it comes.

[martin_p]

Any Labour supporter who points to the seventies, frankly was not there. They had some of the finest politicians to ever grace the party... and consistently undermined them all. John Smith knew he needed to out the Militants.... to hit Labour middle ground. This great vision of Jeremy’s that they loved so much was little more than a cut and paste of what Barbara Castle presented... but he lacked the brains to make it viable unlike Castle. If the new leader proves too popular, the knives will come out for him too... and it is rarely Tory led when it comes.

What’s that complete tangent got to do with foreign interference in elections?

[elwaclaret]

Most of those involved were proud members of the Communist party, which at the time was allowed in party rules..... no, sure the Russians had no influence on self confessed communists.

[martin_p]

Most of those involved were proud members of the Communist party, which at the time was allowed in party rules..... no, sure the Russians had no influence on self confessed communists.

Careful calling them Russians, Paul Waine will be down on you like a ton of bricks.

I’m not sure how the claim that Labour Party members were communists equates to electoral interference.

[dsr]

There’s zero evidence to support that statement. What Russian interference was there in the 1979 election just to pick one off the top of my head.

Was Militant Tendency an entirely national organisation, or is there a suspicion (amounting to near-certainty) that the USSR had influence with it? Militant Tendency certainly influenced the election, as (I think) still a secret cabal within the Labour party at the time.

[PutTheWheelieBinsOut]

So it turns out Putin had more influence on the referendum result than Corbyn did.... nothing to see here.... unless it was the reason Corbyn strangely didn't use his influence to affect the result.

More questions for Labour than the tories here.

[martin_p]

Was Militant Tendency an entirely national organisation, or is there a suspicion (amounting to near-certainty) that the USSR had influence with it? Militant Tendency certainly influenced the election, as (I think) still a secret cabal within the Labour party at the time.

No, there is no suspicion (other than yours) that Militant Tendency was directly influenced by the Soviets.

[martin_p]

So it turns out Putin had more influence on the referendum result than Corbyn did.... nothing to see here.... unless it was the reason Corbyn strangely didn't use his influence to affect the result.

More questions for Labour than the tories here.

So why haven’t the government backed the recommendation for an investigation like Labour have?

[PutTheWheelieBinsOut]

So why haven’t the government backed the recommendation for an investigation like Labour have?

When was the last time Labour didn't back an investigation in to anything connected to the government?. When will they have their investigation on why they lost votes in the North? I haven't heard anything about this, I know its only been 8 months, they have made zero effort to reconnect with voters in the North.

Let's stop wasting money on Labour's liberal elite friends that are already rich , the lawyers, professors, the judges. Wasting millions on these pointless people and their reports. Do you think the Russia report will change government policy? If not it was a total waste of money and time.

[Damo]

It’s nothing to do with Brexit. The referendum is just one of the alleged instances there was interference.

I'm sorry martin. I didn't realise you were the referee.
I'll try to only discuss the aspects of the report you feel comfortable with from now on pal

[Spiral]

When was the last time Labour didn't back an investigation in to anything connected to the government?. When will they have their investigation on why they lost votes in the North? I haven't heard anything about this, I know its only been 8 months, they have made zero effort to reconnect with voters in the North.

Let's stop wasting money on Labour's liberal elite friends that are already rich , the lawyers, professors, the judges. Wasting millions on these pointless people and their reports. Do you think the Russia report will change government policy? If not it was a total waste of money and time.

Utterly staggering and downright contemptible level of ignorance on display from you. The ISC was established in the 90's by the Tory govt. It inquires into threats of terrorism such as IRA and Islamist among other forms, the policies and practices of the different branches of our security forces, etc etc etc. It's an oversight body, not a pressure group. This Russia inquiry was started and the report commissioned by the Tory govt in response to Russia illegally annexing Crimea. In case the ramifications of that annexation are lost on you, that's a belligerent and expansionary totalitarian state gaining 365-days-a-year access to a warm-water port that doesn't freeze over in the winter, dramatically reducing its dependence on ice-breakers, within relative spitting distance of the Mediterranean sea and our natural allies in Europe. Look at a map, find the black sea. It doesn't require a great deal of imagination to understand why that should be a concern to Europeans, ourselves included. Select committees are the meat on the bones of governance. They're typically not partisan and are more inquisitive than anything you see in the public-facing Punch & Judy show of politics. The level of ignorance shown by you and so many others to mischaracterise those working within our security apparatus as being politically-motivated partisan hacks is itself a threat to our security. You're dangerously stupid and blind to obvious threats. You'd be better keeping your mouth shut than proliferating such nonsense.

[AndrewJB]

The government also refused to release a report into links between the Saudis and domestic extremism. Perhaps as long as money continues to roll into their coffers, our democracy and the lives of ordinary working people are not important. The Tory Party is the enemy within, serving their donors and shafting ordinary British people.

[martin_p]

I'm sorry martin. I didn't realise you were the referee.
I'll try to only discuss the aspects of the report you feel comfortable with from now on pal

Playing the man not the ball because you don’t have an argument?

I’ve not stopped you discussing anything, just trying to clear up your misconception that this Government requested report by a long established parliamentary committee is somehow ‘remoaners stamping their feet’. You’re wrong. In fact what’s most on show here is the utter hypocrisy of many of those self appointed ’defenders of democracy’. Those who got upset when British judges applied British law to the democratic process appear not to care about a hostile foreign government potentially meddling in our elections. It’s odd that they wouldn’t support a proper investigation. If it doesn’t find anything concrete then fine and we’ve nothing to worry about, but if it did surely it’s something we’d want to take steps to protect ourselves from.