To be worried about the Russian retaliation?

[alligatortoss]

just think you don’t fuck around with them. Anything could happen

they CAN assassinate us all. It’s called a nuclear bomb.

Luckily they're unlikely to attempt this as we have our own Nuclear Deterrent - and I for one am very glad we do!

If Comrade Corbyn had his way though........

Well, comrade Corbyn trusts them, you see. He thinks we just need to talk to them, then we can all hold hands and sing kumbayah together.

(“Them” being putin and the Russian government)

Im pretty sure if russia nuked us because we asked if they murdered our spy they would be over reacting.

Also the rest of the world would probably just nuke russia and its a no win situation.

I think if you are an ex russian spy then you ahouls probably be a but worried (especially of any ony approaching with an umbrella) but us normal folk are pretty safe i would say.

When Litvineko was killed the Russian diplomats in the UK where given a telling off. This time they might kick the diplomats out for a bit and tighten some sanctions. Things that they know Russia won’t really care about. That’s it.

And if you think we don’t have spys in Russia getting up to all sorts of shennanigoats, you’re deluded.

"shennanigoats"
Love it :o

It definitely doesn’t feel like the best time to be getting rid of our closest allies ....

They will never use nuclear weapons, it would be signing their own death warrant. Britain and all NATO allies would launch counter attacks and we have more powerful weapons than they do.

The whole situation is stupid, Russia isn't afraid of us, we aren't afraid of Russia but neither of us can do anything militarily.

Basically its a stupid diplomatic game.

We may be leaving the Eu but still in NATO. I'm not losing sleep over this.

"It definitely doesn’t feel like the best time to be getting rid of our closest allies ...."

We're not.

The relevant close allies here are UN (OPCW and UNSC) and NATO, and there is no change to either.

Of course, as Russia is also one of the states party to CWC, that will make for interesting times in OPCW

They should seize the assets of Russian nationals in the uk!

Luckily they're unlikely to attempt this as we have our own Nuclear Deterrent - and I for one am very glad we do!

They have around 7,000 to our 200 war heads, I don't think it's much of a deterrent. They also have massive stockpiles of devastating chemical weapons.

Russia may be regarded as a lone wolf nation, but we've done ourselves no favours by isolating ourselves from our allies. I've heard it said that the best way to hurt Russia would be to cancel Brexit.

They have around 7,000 to our 200 war heads, I don't think it's much of a deterrent. They also have massive stockpiles of devastating chemical weapons.

This is so so irrelevant. 200 Nuclear weapons can end the entire world. 200 Nuclear weapons can reduce Russia's population to 0, zero, nada.

I think people today don't actually realise how power nuclear weapons are. The ones used in WW2 are basically fire crackers in comparison

Maybe it will be a long term, subtle retaliation.

Ban them from any sports, take their properties off them and create our own energy supplies so we don't rely on them and slowly Russia will not be great anymore. May take a few years.

Yep, the Subtle Art of Diplomacy, also known as How to tame your toddler.

Ban them from any sports, take their properties off them and create our own energy supplies so we don't rely on them and slowly Russia will not be great anymore. May take a few years.

Hear hear.

Too bad we need Russian money, now even more so with all the Brexit nonsense.

Chill out. This will be a few diplomatic expulsions, strong words and maybe even token sanctions but, as we are leaving the EU, I doubt we'll have EU sanctions against them.
Remember how little we really did after Litvinenko.
I'm old. I've lived in the Former Soviet Union. Relations have been worse than this.

I think people today don't actually realise how power nuclear weapons are.

How patronising.

I'm well aware of their power, thanks. But with 7,000 Russia has more than enough to deal with all our 'allies' as well - simultaneously - which would potentially be the only thing that might make Russia pause for thought, if it came to it. We wouldn't strike first, and by then the damage would be done, so it's about more than their power - it's about their power in the wrong hands. And to be honest, Trump is just as unstable in terms of world peace.

Does Putin care he'd end the world? I'd hope so. But who knows what he's up to and what his motivation is.

The US has had a vice like grip internationally, and they manipulated world events in their favour. Everyone was OK with that and did not raise a voice against that. Why start now, when Russia does the same?

And no one knows what sort of missiles and nuclear capabilities Russia has currently. So it is not a given that 'we' will beat them. Trump won't interfere, May is too weak and no one else will stand up to them. The UN/NATO is a joke.

Didn't Putin say a few days ago ' The World without Russia is not worth existing' And didn't he tell us that he now has a very, very fast missile that will destroy everyone else before we could even set one off?
He is playing dangerous mind games with the world.
It's all a tactic to see how we react. They will do something BIG in the next few years...
Watch this space.

Just to clarify, I think it highly unlikely we're on the verge of nuclear war. But taking a team out of the World Cup who finished last in Group D four years ago just isn't going to cut it. It's hard to see what scary response we'll be able to muster. The Russians are laughing at us.

All this over a poisoning incident.

Bit melodramatic. Things have been far tenser in the past, and nothing came of it. This won't be the catalyst for a war.

@LittleLionMansMummy

24hours or what? What are we gonna do? Errr.. .. yep

This was my thought too. And this country does far too well off turning a blind eye to dodgy money to apply meaningful sanctions imo.