British Defense Secretary Ben Wallace in a letter to The Telegraph stated that the United Kingdom government intends to create a "new generation defense" due to threats from the Russian Federation and the PRC. According to him, it is very important that the country is reviewing its foreign policy and activities in the field of security.
As an example of the "threat" that London sees as coming from Moscow and Beijing, Wallace spoke of a Russian test of a spacecraft that supposedly has weapons potential. Also, the head of the British department said that similar systems are being developed by China.
“This action only underscores the importance of the government's current overhaul of our foreign policy, as well as our security, defense and development policies — the most profound and radical overhaul since the end of the Cold War,” Wallace said.
"Russophobia in a fake cut"
Recently, a number of British and US officials accused Russia of militarizing space. In particular, on July 23, the commander of the space forces, General John Raymond, said that on July 15, Moscow had tested the Kosmos-2543 apparatus, which he ranked as an anti-satellite weapon. According to him, this object was conducting maneuvers near the American orbital object.
Moscow rejected the claims of London and Washington. The Russian Foreign Ministry called the accusations against Russia "propagandistic information stuffing" and caught the American and British authorities for once again distorting information about Russia's activities in space. As emphasized in the Russian Foreign Ministry, the tests carried out "did not create a threat to other space objects and, most importantly, did not violate any norms and principles of international law."
"According to information from our military department, the Russian" satellite inspector "conducted a close inspection of the Russian spacecraft using specialized equipment of a small spacecraft," the Russian Foreign Ministry said.
According to Moscow, with such accusations, the UK and the US are trying to discredit the Russian space activities and peace initiatives to prevent an arms race in extraterrestrial space.
As Vladimir Vinokurov, professor at the Diplomatic Academy of the Russian Foreign Ministry, said in an interview with RT, claims against Moscow about the militarization of space have become a new pretext for the spread of anti-Russian hysteria in British society.
The accusations of the United Kingdom authorities fit into the outline of a powerful Russophobic campaign that London launched in mid-July, the expert emphasized.
Recall that on July 16, British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said that Moscow "almost certainly" tried to interfere in the 2019 parliamentary elections through "the online distribution of illegally obtained and leaked government documents." The alleged leak concerns negotiations on a new trade deal between the UK and the US.
- British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab
- Reuters
- © Hannah McKay
In November last year, copies of these classified documents were presented at that time by the leader of the Labor Party, Jeremy Corbin (he is not currently in this post). The politician accused London of being too compliant in negotiations with the Americans.
It is noteworthy that even before the publication of these documents, US President Donald Trump called Corbyn's possible election victory "a very bad option" for Great Britain. In an interview that the American president gave Brexit leader Nigel Farage on LBC radio, Trump said that if Corbyn became prime minister, he would "lead you down a bad path and lead you to very bad places." Then he spoke in support of the current Prime Minister Boris Johnson. In response, the then Labor leader accused the head of the White House of meddling in the British election campaign.
Experts interviewed by RT stated that the ruling elite in the United Kingdom ignores excessive American influence on the country's internal affairs and continues to promote the topic of "Russian intervention" using formulations like the famous highly likely.
So, on July 21, the UK parliamentary committee published a 50-page report in which it accused Russia of cyberattacks and dissemination of disinformation. In particular, the RT channel and the Sputnik agency, which allegedly biasedly covered the referendum on Britain's membership in the EU in 2016, came under suspicion of the kingdom's authorities.
The Russian Foreign Ministry called the report on "Russian intervention" a manifestation of "Russophobia in a fake cut." The official representative of the department, Maria Zakharova, noted that the document is "an empty waste". According to her, there is neither evidence nor concrete facts in the report. The Kremlin also denied accusations of cyber attacks and attempts to influence political processes in Great Britain.
The very next day after the publication of the parliamentary report, British shadow minister of culture, digital technology, sports and media Joe Stevens asked the executive director of Ofcom media regulator Melanie Daws to reconsider the issue of granting RT a license to broadcast in the country. According to RT editor-in-chief Margarita Simonyan, we are actually talking about the deprivation of the TV channel's broadcasting license.
The rise of spy mania
Vladimir Vinokurov believes that the growing volume of accusations against Russia contributes to the spread of spy mania in the British society, which faded somewhat after the scandal surrounding the case of the poisoning of ex-GRU employee Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia.
On July 25, citing sources, the British newspaper Daily Mail reported that Boris Johnson plans to radically change the legislation in the field of treason and the fight against espionage. Also, according to journalists, a register of foreign agents of influence operating in the country will be formed.
- British Prime Minister Boris Johnson
- © Andrew Milligan / Pool via REUTERS
According to the newspaper, referring to the report on "Russian intervention", currently only 4% of the resources of the British security agencies are focused on confronting "hostile" foreign states.
“Great Britain is constantly looking for pretexts to slander Russian politics, be it space or espionage. However, these accusations and the growing spy mania cannot lead to positive consequences either for the United Kingdom, or for Russian-British relations, or for the collective West, which is losing its monolithic character, "Vinokurov emphasized.
According to the expert, in the current situation, the Johnson government needs to focus the state's efforts on combating the coronavirus pandemic, and not on searching for a "Russian trace" in the problems that the country's political system and intelligence services are experiencing.
In turn, Pavel Feldman, Deputy Director of the Institute for Strategic Studies and Forecasts of the RUDN University, drew attention to the fact that Russophobia and spy mania are a convenient reason to increase funding for the intelligence services and the British military department.
“The British are acting according to a completely understandable algorithm. Some kind of external threat is invented, and through regular statements and publications in the media, its importance in the public consciousness is overestimated. As a result, a favorable ground is being prepared for the allocation of additional funds for far from the most necessary things, "Feldman explained in a commentary on RT.
The expert drew attention to the fact that in recent years the discrediting of Moscow's policy has become a "factor in the internal British political life." In addition, London is trying to use the anti-Russian discourse to strengthen its positions in the international arena and demonstrate loyalty to the US "allied duty".
“Great Britain is striving to acquire a qualitatively new role in the system of international relations and to become the second flagship of Western civilization after the United States. This is also one of the reasons for the aggressive Russophobic rhetoric. In response, Moscow is acting coldly, strategically clearly, with an understanding of all threats and challenges, ”Feldman summed up.