Global Geopolitical Series: Labor leader Jeremy Corbyn counters Theresa May’s absolute certain ‘Russia poisoned’ view

UK labor leader Jeremy Corbyn is taking a different and a more rational view of the ongoing diplomatic crisis between the United Kingdom and the Russian Federation.

The diplomatic crisis has broken out between the United Kingdom and the Russian Federation, where the UK has accused Russia of poisoning a former spy Sergey Skripal, who acted as a double agent for the United Kingdom using a banned chemical substance known as the Novichok, which was created as a part of the chemical weapons program of the former Soviet Union in the 1980s. The UK Prime Minister Theresa May accused Russia to be behind the attack and expelled 23 Russian diplomats from the country among other measures. The UK is coordinating with its allies to toughen the sanctions on Russia. Russia has also expelled 23 British diplomats in response and denied the allegations.

Since the allegations surfaced, Russia has repeatedly called on Britain to follow the rules of chemical weapons convention. The Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov has explained that the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) rules allow Britain, in this case, to send a request to Russia on the suspected Russian-made chemical weapon and expect a response within 10 days, and If the response is not satisfactory, Britain would have to file a complaint with the organization’s executive council and the conference of CWC member-states.  Russia has also asked Britain to provide a sample of the poison which was denied by the UK. Refused Russia pointed that since Britain was so sure that the substance was Novichok in such a short time frame, then it must have its own sample to compare with.

While the British Prime Minister Theresa May chose to accuse Russia and refused any coordinated investigation, the opposition Labor Party leader Jeremy Corbyn is taking a different view. Though he said that while he recognizes that Russia was the original manufacturer of Novichok, he called for absolute certainty on where the poison came from. He called on the government to provide samples of the poison to Russia, for which he has been heavily criticized by the Conservatives and within his own party.