This article is from the source 'guardian' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2016/oct/12/stop-the-war-coalition-protest-russian-embassy
The article has changed 5 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
| Version 2 | Version 3 |
|---|---|
| Protests at US embassy as valid as at Russia's, says Corbyn spokesman | Protests at US embassy as valid as at Russia's, says Corbyn spokesman |
| (about 3 hours later) | |
| Labour believes protesters concerned about atrocities in the Syrian civil war have just as much reason to demonstrate outside the US embassy as the Russian one, Jeremy Corbyn’s spokesman has said. | |
| Foreign secretary Boris Johnson has called on the Stop the War coalition to stage protests outside the Russian embassy in response to the bombing of Aleppo, to increase pressure on Moscow to negotiate a ceasefire. | Foreign secretary Boris Johnson has called on the Stop the War coalition to stage protests outside the Russian embassy in response to the bombing of Aleppo, to increase pressure on Moscow to negotiate a ceasefire. |
| Corbyn’s spokesman, speaking to journalists after prime minister’s questions, agreed with the need for a negotiated settlement. He added: “People are at complete liberty to protest outside not only the Russian embassy, but all the other intervening, participating powers, and there are a number of them.” | |
| He said Corbyn condemned the Russian bombing “as he has condemned the intervention by all outside forces in the Syrian civil war”, adding: “The focus on Russian atrocities in Syria sometimes diverts attention from other atrocities that are taking place. | |
| “Independent assessments are that there have been very large-scale civilian casualties as a result of the US-led coalition bombing. There are several cases of large numbers of deaths in single attacks, and there hasn’t been as much focus on those casualties.” | “Independent assessments are that there have been very large-scale civilian casualties as a result of the US-led coalition bombing. There are several cases of large numbers of deaths in single attacks, and there hasn’t been as much focus on those casualties.” |
| Stop the War said protesting outside the Russian embassy over actions in Syria would only increase the “hysteria and jingoism” being stirred up against Russia by politicians and the media. | |
| Chris Nineham, vice-chair of the campaign group, said the government was fuelling anti-Russian sentiment in an attempt to justify an escalation of British military intervention. | |
| His comments followed those of Johnson, who in an emergency Commons debate on Tuesday called for demonstrations outside the Russian embassy in London and asked why leftwing protest groups seemed to lack outrage over Russian conduct in Syria. | His comments followed those of Johnson, who in an emergency Commons debate on Tuesday called for demonstrations outside the Russian embassy in London and asked why leftwing protest groups seemed to lack outrage over Russian conduct in Syria. |
| In his frontbench debut, Johnson appeared to reject calls for a no-fly zone over areas of Syria, but called directly on Stop the War to stage protests over the continued attacks by Russian warplanes on Aleppo. But Nineham said they would not do that because the organisation’s focus “is on what our government is doing”. | In his frontbench debut, Johnson appeared to reject calls for a no-fly zone over areas of Syria, but called directly on Stop the War to stage protests over the continued attacks by Russian warplanes on Aleppo. But Nineham said they would not do that because the organisation’s focus “is on what our government is doing”. |
| “There’s a very good reason for this, because we can make a difference to what Britain does, we can make a difference to what our allies do to a certain extent and we have done,” Nineham told the BBC Radio 4’s Today programme. | “There’s a very good reason for this, because we can make a difference to what Britain does, we can make a difference to what our allies do to a certain extent and we have done,” Nineham told the BBC Radio 4’s Today programme. |
| “But if we have a protest outside the Russian embassy it wouldn’t make a blind bit of difference as to what [Vladimir] Putin does because we are in Britain and were are in the west. And, not only that, a protest outside the Russian embassy would actually contribute to increasing the hysteria and the jingoism that is being whipped up at the moment against Russia.” | “But if we have a protest outside the Russian embassy it wouldn’t make a blind bit of difference as to what [Vladimir] Putin does because we are in Britain and were are in the west. And, not only that, a protest outside the Russian embassy would actually contribute to increasing the hysteria and the jingoism that is being whipped up at the moment against Russia.” |
| He added: “What we are saying is there is a hysteria which is being organised by politicians and the media against Russia to see Russia as the only problem in Syria.” | He added: “What we are saying is there is a hysteria which is being organised by politicians and the media against Russia to see Russia as the only problem in Syria.” |
| Nineham said Johnson’s calls for demonstrations were “characteristically trivialising”. Johnson, however, insisted he was not leading an anti-Russia campaign and said Putin was in danger of turning his country into a “pariah nation” with his continued support for the regime of the Syrian president, Bashar al-Assad. | Nineham said Johnson’s calls for demonstrations were “characteristically trivialising”. Johnson, however, insisted he was not leading an anti-Russia campaign and said Putin was in danger of turning his country into a “pariah nation” with his continued support for the regime of the Syrian president, Bashar al-Assad. |
| “It is the UK week after week that is taking the lead, together with our allies in America and in France, all the like-minded nations, in highlighting what is happening in Syria to a world where, I’m afraid, the wells of outrage are growing exhausted,” he said. | “It is the UK week after week that is taking the lead, together with our allies in America and in France, all the like-minded nations, in highlighting what is happening in Syria to a world where, I’m afraid, the wells of outrage are growing exhausted,” he said. |
| “There is no commensurate horror, it seems to me, amongst some of those anti-war protest groups. I’d certainly like to see demonstrations outside the Russian embassy. Where is the Stop the War coalition at the moment? Where are they?” | “There is no commensurate horror, it seems to me, amongst some of those anti-war protest groups. I’d certainly like to see demonstrations outside the Russian embassy. Where is the Stop the War coalition at the moment? Where are they?” |
| Sir John Sawers, the former head of MI6, told BBC Radio 4’s Today that Johnson should be wary of calling for demonstrations in London. He asked him to recall the storming and ransacking of the British embassy by protesters in Iran in 2011. | Sir John Sawers, the former head of MI6, told BBC Radio 4’s Today that Johnson should be wary of calling for demonstrations in London. He asked him to recall the storming and ransacking of the British embassy by protesters in Iran in 2011. |
| He said: “I don’t think that would happen in Moscow, but you have to be careful about the consequences of what you call for.” | He said: “I don’t think that would happen in Moscow, but you have to be careful about the consequences of what you call for.” |
| Johnson has angered Russia by claiming that its forces may have been guilty of war crimes when air strikes hit a UN aid convoy near Aleppo last month, bringing to an end a fragile ceasefire brokered by the US secretary of state, John Kerry, and Sergey Lavrov, the Russian foreign minister. These accusations, the Russian defence ministry said on Wednesday, amounted to “Russophobic hysteria”. | Johnson has angered Russia by claiming that its forces may have been guilty of war crimes when air strikes hit a UN aid convoy near Aleppo last month, bringing to an end a fragile ceasefire brokered by the US secretary of state, John Kerry, and Sergey Lavrov, the Russian foreign minister. These accusations, the Russian defence ministry said on Wednesday, amounted to “Russophobic hysteria”. |
| The press secretary at the Russian embassy added: “The jihadists keep terrorising the civilians and fighting, rejecting ceasefire and humanitarian aid deliveries. | The press secretary at the Russian embassy added: “The jihadists keep terrorising the civilians and fighting, rejecting ceasefire and humanitarian aid deliveries. |
| “Britain’s logic implies putting an end to fighting terrorists and their allies. Our logic is different. Fight on to destroy the jihadists, sparing the civilians.” | “Britain’s logic implies putting an end to fighting terrorists and their allies. Our logic is different. Fight on to destroy the jihadists, sparing the civilians.” |
| Very unusual call from the Foreign Secretary to hold demonstrations in front of the Russian embassy. New form of British diplomacy? pic.twitter.com/rzxUkGyyrQ | Very unusual call from the Foreign Secretary to hold demonstrations in front of the Russian embassy. New form of British diplomacy? pic.twitter.com/rzxUkGyyrQ |
| During the Commons debate, Andrew Mitchell, the former international development secretary, went further than Johnson by calling for a no-fly zone to protect the citizens of eastern Aleppo from a bombardment he compared to the Nazi attack on Guernica during the Spanish civil war. | During the Commons debate, Andrew Mitchell, the former international development secretary, went further than Johnson by calling for a no-fly zone to protect the citizens of eastern Aleppo from a bombardment he compared to the Nazi attack on Guernica during the Spanish civil war. |
| At prime minister’s questions on Wednesday, the prime minister Theresa May raised doubts over the safety and enforcement of a potential no-fly zone over Syria to protect civilians from Russian or Syrian airstrikes. | At prime minister’s questions on Wednesday, the prime minister Theresa May raised doubts over the safety and enforcement of a potential no-fly zone over Syria to protect civilians from Russian or Syrian airstrikes. |
| She told the Commons: “The scenes we see of the indiscriminate slaughter of innocent civilians are absolutely appalling. We want to see an end to that, but there are many questions about a no-fly zone that need to be looked at: Who is it there to protect? Would it lead to [President Bashar al-]Assad bombing people in the expectation that they would then move to that zone? Who would enforce that safe area?” | She told the Commons: “The scenes we see of the indiscriminate slaughter of innocent civilians are absolutely appalling. We want to see an end to that, but there are many questions about a no-fly zone that need to be looked at: Who is it there to protect? Would it lead to [President Bashar al-]Assad bombing people in the expectation that they would then move to that zone? Who would enforce that safe area?” |