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After Skripal Anti-Russia Hysteria Hits Fever Pitch

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This week John is joined by Professor of Propaganda Studies, Piers Robinson, to discuss the media hysteria surrounding the poisoning of Sergei Skripal, and how concerned we should be about the increasingly heated rhetoric between the UK and Russia of late.

The events of March 2018, in the wake of the poisoning of former Russian military intelligence officer and MI6 agent Sergei Skripal, and his daughter, in Salisbury, England — unleashing of rampant Russophobic hysteria — conjures a striking and chilling parallel with the march to war against Iraq in 2003.

Whether the Russian government and intelligence agencies were responsible for what is undeniably a heinous crime, one that placed the lives of British citizens at risk, the extent to which it has produced such intense anti-Russia invective from within the UK political class and across its mainstream media has been frightening to behold.

Though Russia has the capacity to carry out an attack of this nature — just as the US and UK have — it is incredible to believe that it would be reckless enough, given the circumstances. Whatever did occur in Salisbury, the sheer intensity of anti-Russia hysteria unleashed by the UK mainstream media, with its rush to judgement as soon as it occurred, blaming Russia before the investigation even began, getting at the truth on the basis of the evidence has only been made harder than it would otherwise.

Author and political analyst, Piers Robinson, joins us to explore the UK media coverage of the Skripal case and ponder its parallels with the media coverage in advance of the war against Iraq in 2003.

What does this incident and period portend for relations between London and Moscow going forward — relations that were already in a parlous state? More importantly, how can those relations ever be repaired amid such intense Russophobia?

Hard Facts is out every Wednesday. You can join in the conversation here.

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