The security establishment will be terrified by the prospect of Prime Minister Corbyn Con Coughlin
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2019/12/11/security-establishment-will-terrified-prospect-prime-minister/
PM Corbyn would be a ‘useful idiot’ to the enemies of Britain
Boris Johnson and the Tories are not the only ones who will be having sleepless nights about the prospect of Jeremy Corbyn entering Downing Street. The possibility that Mr Corbyn, aided and abetted by the Liberal Democrats and Scottish Nationalists, could end up becoming Britain’s next prime minister will be viewed with deep concern by the various agencies responsible for safeguarding our national security.
Numerous warnings have been issued about Mr Corbyn’s profound unsuitability for assuming responsibility for the defence of the realm, from his well-documented history of associating with avowed enemies of the state, like the IRA and Iran, to the prospect of Britain being excluded from the exclusive Five Eyes intelligence-sharing network in the event of the Labour leader becoming prime minister.
Sir Richard Dearlove, the former head of MI6, has gone so far as to denounce Mr Corbyn as being a threat to national security, as well as being totally unfit to lead the country. Now we discover senior members of Mr Corbyn’s own Labour front bench privately entertain serious misgivings about the national security implications of him becoming prime minister, after Shadow Health Minister Jonathan Ashworth was secretly recorded giving a less-than-flattering depiction of his leader.
Asked by a friend about the risk Mr Corbyn posed, Mr Ashworth, who has personal experience of working at No 10, conceded that the Whitehall machine “will pretty quickly move to safeguard security”.
Mr Ashworth hurriedly sought to play down the significance of his comments on the BBC, claiming that they were nothing more than “banter” with a Tory friend. Yet I doubt anyone responsible for Britain’s defence and security sees the funny side of a Corbyn premiership. On the contrary they will already be giving serious consideration as to how they can keep the country safe under a prime minister who prefers the company of terrorists or the leaders of failed states.
Mr Corbyn will, of course, be no stranger to the security services, who may well have in their possession a fascinating dossier detailing his previous activities associating with known terrorists. As a precaution, intelligence chiefs have already provided Mr Corbyn with a detailed briefing on the most important threats Britain faces today, with Russia and Islamist-inspired terror groups heading the list. Significantly the invitation was not extended to Seumas Milne, Mr Corbyn’s closest aide who is regarded by security chiefs as being sympathetic to the Kremlin.
Indeed, working out who could and who could not be trusted with sensitive state secrets under a Corbyn government will be a serious challenge for intelligence chiefs. Apart from their concerns about Mr Milne, there will also likely be a reluctance to engage with other members of Mr Corbyn’s inner circle such as Andrew Murray, the former communist and leader of the Stop the War coalition, who has previously expressed solidarity with North Korea.
A Corbyn government would have profound implications for Britain’s continued cooperation with key allies like the US on intelligence and defence issues. Washington is unlikely to sanction the sharing of sensitive information that could ultimately end up in the Kremlin, or in the hands of jihadi sympathisers.
Indeed, concerns over the susceptibility of Mr Corbyn’s Labour to outside influence from malign powers have been raised over its recent decision to go public with leaked documents concerning Britain’s Brexit negotiations, despite the fact that there are strong indications they were obtained by Russian hackers.
The American website Reddit, where the documents first appeared in October, has said it now believes they originated from Russia as part of an attempt to interfere in the British election, and has responded by closing down 61 accounts. But this did not discourage Mr Corbyn from brandishing the hacked documents in public as part of his preposterous campaign to persuade voters that the Conservatives plan to sell off the NHS to the Trump administration.
From Russia’s perspective, of course, the election of a Corbyn government would represent a brilliant coup, as it would, at a stroke, terminate Britain’s standing as a major European power, while eroding the effectiveness of the Nato alliance. Moscow, it should be remembered, would undoubtedly be the main beneficiary if one of Mr Corbyn’s first acts as prime minister, as part of a political agreement with the SNP, was to scrap Britain’s nuclear deterrent.
Alex Stamos, Facebook’s former security officer who oversaw its response to Russian interference in the 2016 US election, told The Daily Telegraph earlier this week that Labour risks becoming a “useful idiot” for using apparently hacked Russian documents for electoral gain. Others might regard Labour’s conduct as nothing short of treachery.
Certainly, at this critical juncture in our national destiny, the last thing the country needs is an idiot, useful or otherwise, taking up residence in Downing Street.
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