Brown Vs Putin

[Pragmatopian]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/6902046.stm

 

A good way for Brown to stamp his mark on the premiership. Quiet diplomacy doesn't work with Putin's Russia, so best to go in hard and try to shame them into action. Not sure it will work, but Brown wins in either case:

 

(1) Russia stands firm -> Russia looks like a weasel

 

(2) Russia extradites -> justice can be served and Putin's authority is weakened

 

I suspect Putin will make his usual choice of (1), but you never know... it certainly makes me feel better that we're slapping him about a bit anyway.

[Albert Tatlock]

Double standards and headline grabbing - considering all of the Russians, including various oligarchs and asylum seeking chetchen terroists living in the UK and wanted in Russia.

 

I understand this guy has agreed to go on trial in Russia. Under the European Convention on Extradition, don't the Russians have the right to refuse the extradition of a citizen? The UK government seems all too willing to hand over its citizens to other countries for trial, yet with a couple of thousand suspected UK based terrorists plotting against us it refuses to expel them - many of whom are not British.

 

Call me cynical, but with all this Bush/Brown rhetoric on Russia, like in 'Lord of the Rings' I see the light from the tower being diverted from one area (the Middle East) to another area (the East). Us proles are like moths and go where the light goes. What else is there to spend a defence budget on once we are out of Iraq?

[Pragmatopian]

Rather a different situation. Here we're looking for someone who is alleged to have committed a crime on UK soil - not some spurious potential threat to national security as was alleged of Iraq.

 

It's true that the Russian's don't tend to extradite their citizens, but that's no reason for us not to push them hard to do it when we have justification. Given the high profile and political sensitivity of this case, I find it hard to believe that the DPP would recommend seeking extradition unless they had pretty damning evidence against the guy. Trials in Russia are like puppet shows.

 

Of course, the fact that Putin is a weasel means that it's difficult to hide my glee at causing him some discomfort. I'd rather the UK was asserting it's own authority on the world stage than acting as a lap dog for the US.

[bluemonday]

Intersting Russian response yesterday to the expelling of its diplomats. I believe they stated that their response may not necessarily be proportionate.

That'll please the cold warriors.

Gordon seems to have started well.