By Sammie Jones-
The British Government is preparing for punitive measures against Russia, after the Russian government indicated it will not respond to Theresa May’s midnight deadline to explain the nerve agent used in London.
Russia has refused to respond to the deadline without a sample of the nerve agent. Britain has not expressed any readiness to present the requested sample. Britain’s closest ally, the United States, has already expressed support of Britain on this matter, with president Trump accepting the finding in Britain that a nerve agent from Russia was used in Salisbury, London,as a ”finding of fact”.
OPTIONS
An array of options open to the UK include a British equivalent of the US Magnitsky Act, which would allow the freezing of assets of Russian individuals connected to rights abuses, a range of tougher economic sanctions, canceling the UK broadcast licence of Russian state broadcaster RT and withdrawing British dignitaries from this summer’s World Cup in Russia.
EXPULSIONS
A senior Whitehall official has suggested that the likely first step would be a “significant” number of diplomatic expulsions to “purge the embassy of its knowledge base and connections”. Such a step might be too far and would need proper justification, but if UK intelligence are sure the Russian government were involved in the Salisbury poisoning, the British government may feel it justified to go that far. It is still important for the UK to ensure its response is not excessive.
Ofcom, the UK’s media regulator, has expressed a willingness to revoke RT’s UK broadcast licence if London determined the Russian state had made an unlawful use of force since Moscow might no longer be regarded as a fit and proper owner.
