Russian opposition figure Alexei Navalny has died aged 47. A statement just released by the Federal Penitentiary Service of the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous District in Siberia says that Navalny “felt unwell” after a walk on Friday, and “almost immediately lost consciousness”. R.I.P.
As news broke of a fast-moving coup attempt in Russia over the weekend, as is customary, the Shadow Foreign Secretary was offered an intelligence briefing with the latest updates on Privy Council terms as a courtesy from the government. David Lammy even thanked James Cleverly at the despatch box yesterday for offering “His Majesty’s Official Opposition” this intelligence. Guido couldn’t help noticing the ambiguity of that language. He didn’t say “thanks for providing me with that intelligence”…
There’s good reason for that: Lammy didn’t attend the briefing at all. Despite thanking Cleverly for briefing potentially the next government on crucial foreign policy matters, the Shadow Foreign Secretary himself wasn’t even there. He was, however, on his Sunday radio show for LBC, putting in the hard graft for the second job which has netted him over £60,000 since March 2022. David was on-air for three whole hours. At one point he even claims “there is nothing you can put between myself and James Cleverly, the Foreign Secretary, in relation to how we want to support Ukraine”. Nothing, apart from a cushty radio phone-in show…
Guido approached Labour for comment. They refused to be drawn on who attended the briefing, and pointed towards his ambiguous Commons statement. Guido hears Lammy wasn’t even in London at the time and had to speak to Cleverly over the phone – which would mean that any briefing would be in general terms only for obvious security reasons. It’s not clear which country Lammy was in, or what he was doing there. His radio show was done remotely…
The Leader of the Opposition will have noted the absence of his would-be Foreign Secretary from the briefing, because he went to it. Something for Keir to reflect on as he considers his forthcoming reshuffle…
As it happens, Guido notes that when the government hosted the Ukraine Recovery Conference last week, His Majesty’s Opposition’s most senior foreign policy voice was also missing in action. Despite receiving an invite, Lammy was busy in Glasgow, prioritising collecting an honorary degree.
Russian hackers who breached the payroll data of the BBC, British Airways and Boots have issued an ultimatum to the affected employers, threatening to publish the stolen data unless they make contact by 14th June. Data including addresses, national insurance numbers and other personal info…
The attack is now thought to be the brainchild of the infamous Clop cyber gang. Employers have been urged not to pay any ransom demands, and there is still no evidence they’ve accessed bank details. No figure has been given yet for Clop’s demands, either…
Since stepping back from front-line politics, Dominic Cummings has had time to get on with the important things in life. Like worrying about the possibility of thermo-nuclear war breaking out as a consequence of an escalation of the Ukraine conflict. Something he is concerned enough to tweet about frequently. Dom’s detractors point out this is also a Kremlin talking point.
Guido doesn’t think Dom is a patsy for Putin, he’s just genuinely worried about the risk of a nuclear war. As a result, Guido hears Dom has told friends he has bought an island retreat on Lindisfarne – chosen for its prime location in the context of a nuclear apocalypse, in the sense that it is far outside the likely fallout zone following an atomic blast over London. Always look on the bright side…
Guido’s own calculations back up Dom’s. Although nuclear fallout is difficult to predict – and often dependent on a range of factors – going by the radius from the Bikini Atoll test, which spread around 450 kilometres, Dom’s Holy Island retreat would be well clear of any burn zones and just about free from fallout. Guido prefers to stay on his own Insula Sacra…
Hat-tip: Nukemap by Alex Wellerstein
An interview with Boris from an upcoming documentary released by the BBC this morning reveals Putin threatened to kill him over the UK’s support for Ukraine. During a chat between the two of them “on the blower”, the Russian leader warned Boris “I don’t want to hurt you, but with a missile it would only take a minute”. Boris calls the chat “jolly”…
The European Court of Human Rights has demanded the UK government to respond to a legal claim made by Ben Bradshaw, Caroline Lucas and Alyn Smith over alleged Russian interference in elections. Yes, they’re still banging on about this…
Having fallen flat on their faces in the High Court in 2021 alongside Carole Cadwalladr – the judge ruled the case was “unarguable” and threw it out – the three MPs have now turned to Strasbourg to explain away why Remain lost in 2016. They’d previously claimed Boris had “unlawfully failed to act compatibly with his public law duties in refusing to establish a public inquiry” on the issue, and insist the government has now breached its obligations under the European Convention on Human Rights. Strasbourg now say the government has until the end of April to respond…
The ECHR did add that this request doesn’t yet mean the case has been found admissible. A Downing Street spokesperson said “I would point out this claim has been roundly rejected by UK courts.” Not that that’ll ever placate the likes of Caroline Lucas…
