Sputnik spoke with political commentator Jon Gaunt in the wake of Theresa May's speech in parliament. May announced the expulsion of twenty-three Russian diplomats from the UK, whilst Jeremy Corbyn criticized the decision saying it was made hastily, with a lack of evidence. He was met with jeers from the Commons.
Jon Gaunt: I think it's an overreaction at this point. I never thought I'd agree with Jeremy Corbyn, but I think the request by Russia to actually see the nerve gas is perfectly fair. We should let them see it, and then we should make a decision from there. I still think Theresa May is being a bit preemptive, I think she's winding it up, and I don't think this is a situation that needs winding up, I think it needs cool heads. Clearly, if we expel these people, then Russia will get involved with a tit-for-tat and expel people from Moscow. I don't see how this helps the matter at all.
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Jon Gaunt: That question hasn't been answered because they (Russia) have asked to see the nerve gas. Therefore I don't think there anywhere further down the line to say anything. I still don't understand how she can link this directly with the Kremlin.
Of course there has also been this other Russian man who has died and was discovered yesterday, I still think there's many questions. So, until we get those questions answered I think she is wrong to ratchet this up. I don't think she should have given herself that very short time frame anyway. I am a great believer in this great country of ours, I believe in Law and Order. I believe in twelve good men and true, and I believe in innocent until proven guilty. I find it odd that we are suddenly saying that it was definitely Russia. I think we can say that the nerve gas was developed in Russia, and we can say why and how it has been used. Then if it was indeed on the direct orders of the Russian powers that be, then we should condemn that, we can't possibly allow that to happen. But we don't know that yet! I would urge caution, and I always thought that Jaw Jaw is better than War War. So I think that ratcheting it up like this is the wrong approach, in my opinion.
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I don't think the public are that stressed about this story. I think the public are more stressed about the fact that we've got 'Muslim rape gangs' in Telford, and probably the worst case of child sex abuse in 40 years. That's what people really want to talk about. They want to talk about Brexit. This week and a half of James Bond theories, 'he got it from the car handle', 'he got it from the flowers', and ‘he got it from the meal'. All of this is nonsense!
I think it's all to do with the election, and I think it's frankly ridiculous to say that England will pull out of the World Cup. Absolute nonsense. I don't think that will be supported by most of the English people. Some England fans would say at least the team wouldn't bother travelling, because they normally come back straight away anyway, but that's a separate point! Now I think that's garbage. I think we do need to clarify the situation. I think at the moment it's a bit of a feeding frenzy in the commons. I thought Jeremy Corbyn made a very valid point, and I think the nerve gas, if they want to have a look at it, let the Russians have a look at it, and then get some answers! We need the answer to this. We can't be left hanging in the air so to speak.
Views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the contributor and do not necessarily reflect those of Sputnik.
