I know the release of the new James Bond film, like many others, has been postponed because of the pandemic but if the British government has its way, there is not going to be much point in making any more.
Yesterday, as the Commons wasted the morning arguing over what the Russians have allegedly been up to, Home Office Minister James Brokenshire said foreign agents could be required to register in the UK in future and I presume that would be reciprocal.
Right, so next time we hear that famous line “My name is Bond, James Bond”, everyone is going to reply “yes, we know, you’ve registered...”
Surely the whole point of the espionage and spy game is to not get detected and had the Russians been tinkering with elections and poisoning people etc., and not got caught in the process, and I hate to say this on behalf of the fatal victims and their families, those tasked with the jobs carried out their missions correctly.
The government may well be facing calls to do far more to counter Russian espionage and subversion after Parliament’s Intelligence and Security Committee (ISC) said the UK was the main target after the US and Nato, but again, if the government or British intelligence don’t know what’s going on how can they prevent it and further more how can they investigate it?
What is more, it’s nothing new and the British secret service has plenty of skeletons in its closet.
What a farce.