To think the government refusing to release this report on Russian interference in UK politics makes them look dodgy?

[Cinammoncake]

Unless there's something spectacularly damaging to the government in it, surely them refusing to release the report on Russian meddling in UK politics until after the election makes them look suspicious and presumably worse than they'd look if they just released it?

I just don’t think there’s such a thing as democracy anymore.

Even if they did release it and it confirmed Russian interference (with concrete evidence) has swung UK elections and referendums (half) the public would just dismiss it as fake news anyway and they'd still win the election. It's just the same as the economic impact reports and Operation Yellowhammer.

My first impulse would be to assume that something or someone is being protected. Either there is some ongoing activity around this report and they don’t want anyone being tipped off. Or someone is being protected. It’s not necessarily because someone had done something wrong but it may be a link. The thing that most people don’t seem to understand is that the Putniks are literally everywhere, they’re crawling all over the place like termites in a log. In particular they’re fond of sending their children to the kind of schools Boris and his compatriots went to, then of course Boris has roots which may be linked as well. And professionally Boris and many other MPs would have come across these kinds of people. It could of course be perfectly innocent. My DH went to school with one of these, he also has some professional history where these people are inevitably involved - they are genuinely impossible to avoid, he’s definitely not a Putin spy. It would be very easy to make him look guilty though - early associations, professional associations, probably a few in extended social circles, interest taken in him at one point, wife with roots in that general direction.

People sometimes hide smoke because they know a lot of people are stupid enough to cry fire. A bit pointless though because there is smoke one way or another.

It must be bad if they prefer to take the hit from not releasing it.

The thing is they've realised, like Trump, that even when they've been proven to be liars and cheaters, it doesn't matter. They don't have to resign because ultimately most of the press is on their side and so many people will believe what they tell them because they 'want their country back' and nothing else matters to them. Not the integrity of parliamentary democracy, not the economic well being of the country, not our independence from malign foreign interests interfering in our political affairs.

The thing is they've realised, like Trump, that even when they've been proven to be liars and cheaters, it doesn't matter. They don't have to resign because ultimately most of the press is on their side and so many people will believe what they tell them because they 'want their country back' and nothing else matters to them. Not the integrity of parliamentary democracy, not the economic well being of the country, not our independence from malign foreign interests interfering in our political affairs.

So true Greenwingmemories What frightening times for our country

The Security Service has not commented publicly. The Guardian has reported that redactions on security grounds are complete.

That's a far cry from 'ought to' publish

Indeed I would find it concerning if the Security Service expanded its role from redacting sensitive information into telling the Government when to publish what. Some things need to be political decisions and clearly so.

'We have no objections': Security officials say secret Russia report being blocked by Boris Johnson government can be published immediately
www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/russia-conservative-party-brexit-intelligence-uk-report-national-security-money-a9185116.html

Security and intelligence service officials say they are in the dark over why the report has not been published.

One told The Independent: “We are as much spectators in this as you are. All the redactions necessary have been done and no last-minute issues have arisen. We have no objections to the report being published now.”

The report cannot be published without the approval of the prime minister.

MoggyP: Some things need to be political decisions and clearly so.

WTF?

Please explain to us why you think publishing this particular report ought to be a political decision?

Other than that you think it might reveal something inconvenient to a political party you support?

They absolutely should publish it. I heard Dominic Grieve talking about this earlier, explaining how the report has gone through a rigorous process and there are now two versions - a full one, which Johnson has been presented with, plus a redacted one which is suitable to be shared with the public (i.e. any sensitive information that could compromise national security has been redacted). He also said that Johnson and co have claimed they don’t want to release it to the public because it is not ready and needs to go through some processes ... but it already has!!! This is super shifty and massively disturbing. If they had nothing to hide, they would allow it to be published.

THIS is the kind of shit that massively disturbs me, even over and above the ongoing blatant lies told by all parties.

If the secret services have approved the redacted version, what is in there that the govt doesn't want us to know? I could hazard many a guess, none of them favourable to the govt.

Or indeed, that it might reveal something inconvenient to an individual you support?

I mean political in the sense that it should be made by politicians not civil servants.

Who else do you think should be in charge of publications emanating from a select committee of Parliament?

Suggesting that MI5 should have a formal role in this, or indeed any civil servant being able to direct Parliament's publications strikes me as an extremely slippery slope.

Which is why I tend to think that reports saying "MI5 say it ought to ..." when it really isn't their role in the slightest, must be a garble for "the hold up isn't security related"

I think one of the issues is that Dominic Grieve has said it ought to be released. It's the Bojo/Downing Street politicians who aren't letting it be in the public domain. I think that's what makes the whole situation seem suspicious.

Depends if you trust Dominic Grieve more than Boris Johnson, is one way of looking at it.

Oh stop with all this straw mannery.

No one is suggesting MI5 should get to determine that a report is published (obviously they could ask that one isn't for security grounds).

We've noticed that the government isn't publishing the report.

Separately, we've also noticed that a retired head of MI5, now speaking in a personal capacity, is of the personal opinion it ought to be published.

You may be of the personal opinion that it ought not – opinions being like arseholes, everyone has one.

Dominic Grieve or Boris Johnson - I know who I trust out of the two of them ... and it’s not the one who lied to the Queen.

Oh come on it’s pretty obvious what the report is going to say. We know Russia helped Trump get in power. Boris, whether knowingly or innocently, is surely in the same club. Russia is very very keen that the EU dissolve into infighting instead of eg being a strong united military power.

This govt has got Boris Johnson as their leader, they don’t give a shit about looking dodgy! Lets' not get too focussed on one person! This government has long been suspected of relying on dubious external funding... see previous posts about quries going back almost 10 years, for a start!

And, as others have said, it won't just be the Tories!

Not a straw man.

A response to the part of the post at 05-Nov-19 18:55:46 which I thought was inaccurate to the point of being misleading. It is wrong about the locus of MI5 in this, and attributes to them a positive 'ought to' attitude (leading to poster to add that therefore it should be published)

If no-one is suggestIng it, then it wouldn't be on the thread.

Uk is going to be the best place to launder money, it’s in Russians interests to keep it that way and we are going towards such corruption that’s it’s shocking that people still vote Tory

All the media attention on Cory now is a decoy for what’s really happening