Another fearless Carole Cadwalladr thread uncovers the murky Russian links to UK Govt

NEW: Johnson's relationship with Lebedev snr, isn't a scandal. It's a profound national security failure.

We need to understand Skripal poisoning was a mass murder narrowly averted.

And Johnson's illicit meeting with Kremlin proxy begs urgent questionshttps://t.co/BHcmCxIZGH

— Carole Cadwalladr (@carolecadwalla) March 13, 2022

Here's why I think the events of March & April 2018 need urgent attention.

Fiona Hill was national security advisor on Russia to Trump & 2 other presidents.

And for her Skripal poisoning is proof that Putin can and will unconventional weapons. Because he already has.
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— Carole Cadwalladr (@carolecadwalla) March 13, 2022

There was enough Novichok in Salisbury to wipe out the entire town.

It was only because of the flukiest fluke that it didn't. By this reading, Charlie Rowley & Dawn Sturgess are the accidental heroes who saved thousands of lives.

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— Carole Cadwalladr (@carolecadwalla) March 13, 2022

Chemical weapons have been banned since 1925. But that's what the Novichok was: a weapon grade nerve agent.

And here's what else you need to know about that pretty Wiltshire market town where Skripal lived. It's also the heart of the British military establishment.

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— Carole Cadwalladr (@carolecadwalla) March 13, 2022

The Skripal attack is the definition of hybrid warfare: a combined military and information operation. That carried a stark, unmistakeable message.

And NATO took it as such. They acted swiftly & unanimously: sanctions & expulsions.

But there was one weak link: Boris Johnson
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— Carole Cadwalladr (@carolecadwalla) March 13, 2022

1 year later, @guardian revealed Johnson left crucial NATO meeting & flew to Lebedev's villa.

4 months later, we at @observeruk revealed Alexander Lebedev flew in to meet him.

And it's this, this, THIS that's crucial point.

Because Lebedev has to be seen as Kremlin proxy.
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— Carole Cadwalladr (@carolecadwalla) March 13, 2022

Boris Johnson met ex KGB spy immediately after crucial NATO meeting on Russia after it deployed a chemical weapon in a British town.

He had no security. No-one knew.

But he was not sacked or questioned by police or PM.

Because by the time we found it out, he *was* the PM.
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— Carole Cadwalladr (@carolecadwalla) March 13, 2022

If we can't see this now, we never will.

This has been in plain sight since we reported it in November 2019.

The Intelligence & Security Committee confirmed a cover-up over the Russia Report. A cover-up in which all roads lead back to one man: Boris Johnson
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— Carole Cadwalladr (@carolecadwalla) March 13, 2022

The r/w press has finally discovered Lebedev-Johnson axis. But it's still focussing on wrong details at wrong time. Forget the peerage.

That horse had already bolted. It's THIS 👇

Johnson's actions jeopardised NATO security@davidlammy @chrisbryant @IoWBobSeely @TomTugendhat pic.twitter.com/SA8UZX4iRC

— Carole Cadwalladr (@carolecadwalla) March 13, 2022

Realised that I'd written a slightly different version of this piece 2 years ago in 2020. And there's another version of it 3 years before that in 2017.

"If Boris Johnson acts like a Russian asset and talks like a Russian asset, is he a Russian asset?"https://t.co/emYxxsWMbC

— Carole Cadwalladr (@carolecadwalla) March 13, 2022