UK blames Russia for riots

By Rhod Mackenzie

The UK media have said that a Russian website posting disinformation caused the riots in Southport that then across the country.Rhod Mackenzie looks at what is the truth and also at discredited Christopher Steele of Russia gate accusing Nigel Farage of being backed by Russia and instigating the riots.

In the wake of a week of violent protests by the so called far right, several British news outlets have posited that Russian-linked disinformation may have been a driving force behind the riots in Southport, which subsequently spread across England. At least five demonstrations have occurred this week in the wake of the fatal stabbing of three children in Southport on Monday.

British politicians and officials have corroborated these claims, attributing the protests and violence to social media and disinformation. Southport's Member of Parliament stated that the unrest originated from "social media lies" and "propaganda." The former head of MI6 informed the Telegraph that a site disseminating a false claim about the perpetrator's identity was an example of Vladimir Putin's "grey warfare".

However, here is yet not a shread of evicedence  what role, if any, Russian disinformation has played in fuelling protests and violence.

There is currently have very little information on this matter. However, attributing these protests to external agitators spreading lies on social media fails to acknowledge a more complex and troubling reality.

On Thursday, the Daily Mail published an article on its front page entitled "Russia linked to fake news that sparked mosque riot." The article references the newspaper's analysis of a news site called Channel3 Now, which the Daily Mail has identified as a source of misleading information about the Southport stabbings. Channel3 Now published a false story about the Southport stabbings, claiming that the suspect was an asylum seeker called Ali Al Shakati, who was "on MI6's watchlist". This claim quickly spread through social media networks, promoting anti-Islam and anti-migrant views. In fact, the individual in question is Axel Rudakubana, a 17-year-old British national born in Cardiff of Rwanda christian parents.
While the channel was disseminating misinformation, the links to Russia are less evident.

Channel3 Now's YouTube channel was originally launched as a Russian channel eleven years ago, and prior to that had posted videos featuring Russian rally cars. The last such video was published over a decade ago. The Daily Mail reported that drivers featured in the videos had connections to Russia's defence and technology industries, although this was not confirmed.

The YouTube channel had not posted any Russian-language content for 10 years, and there is a possibility that it could have been purchased and repurposed by unknown actors. The Channel3 News website was created in the summer of 2023. One of four Facebook pages that use the same name and branding was repurposed twice: once in 2023 and again in May 2024, when it became "Channel3 Now". The administrators of this page are based in Pakistan and the United States.

The website itself employs the services of a US-based company that conceals IP addresses, a common tactic used by online actors trying to conceal their identities.
The Daily Mail has reported that Russian state media outlets have disseminated the assertion that the perpetrator was an undocumented migrant via their social media platforms. However, a number of British commentators also made similar claims.

This is not to say that Russian or other unknown state actors didn’t plant the inflammatory false story, only that the evidence underpinning current claims is so weak as to be laughable. Marc Owen Jones, a specialist in the field of disinformation, has stated that his analysis indicates the existence of "clear attempts to exploit the tragic incident," a phenomenon that often occurs in the wake of shocking violence.

However, the question of who is responsible for the management of Channel 3 News remains unanswered for the time being.
There also is no actual evidence that this specific piece of misinformation led to any protests or violent incidents.

It is not a precise science to definitively prove what causes people to come out to protests or what causes them to engage in violence.The protesters had a variety of motivations and political beliefs, but there were common themes. The majority incorrectly attributed the murders in Southport and knife crime across the UK more broadly to illegal migration. Chants of "Stop the boats" and "Save our kids" were common.
So the so called evidence that Russian disinformation caused violence and unrest across the UK is pretty vague and totally unconvincing or conclusive

Now
Christopher Steele, the former British intelligence officer and author of the thoroughly debunked and discredited  anti-Trump Russiagate dossier, the man who knows more than most about spreading misinformation,disinformation and downrigh lies
has emerged with a new claim that Russia was behind the recent civil .

According to this charlatan whom I am surprised is given any airtime by self respecting has said that the British foreign intelligence agency MI6 will conduct a thorough examination of Nigel Farage, the leader of Reform UK, the driving force behind Brexit and a Member of Parliament, following his challenge to the government's official narrative surrounding the Southport stabbings, according to a former senior intelligence official.

Christopher Steele, who is the former Russia station chief for MI6 from 1993 to 1996 and has not been back since and knows a lot  less about Russia than your average vlogger like Alexander Mercouris, is still peddling his Russia Did Narrative to everyting and anybody who takes him seriously is an absolute fool Just like the US democrat party who paid him a million bucks for a steaming dog turd  of a report that the average 5 year old would find preposterous.

A report in The Times, the once proud British newspaper of record but reduced to just another globalist shril, revealed that . Steele made new comments that were critical of Mr. Farage.
In a statement linking Farage, the riots, and Russia, Steel said: "I believe the security service will be conducting a thorough investigation into the individuals responsible for these activities, including Tommy Robinson and potentially Nigel Farage, who has publicly questioned the government's account of events in Southport."
Now given that very little is known about the Southport stabber as his social media accounts have not been released,no real background about him at all has published its fair to say that the Authorities are covering things up.
It seems that the comments in question may be those made by Mr. Farage in July, in which he inquired as to whether "the truth is being held from us." Subsequently, critics alleged that Mr. Farage's questioning, which he described as "entirely fair," had actually incited the riots. As usual the authorities and their lapdog media do the deflection tactic and smears to hide their crimes .
Now Farage and his asscoiates have previously been the victim of the smears of using  disinformation about connections to Russia, particularly following the 2016 Brexit referendum.
At that time, the London establishment was attempting to provide reassurances to the electorate regarding the reasons for the discrepancy between the BREXIT vote and the expectations of the political establishment.So they blamed Russia. Aaron Banks an assosciate of Farage and  one of the financial backers of BREXIT was repeated smeared as taking money from Russia and having Russian connections. In fact like me Banks has a Russian wife and like me has met the Russian ambassador to the UK.
He sued them in the courts and he won substantial damages.
So obviously the establishment fall back on their tired but tried and tested narrative of Blame Russia that nobody believes.
This is instead of admitting that their policies of mass immgration from the World World is at the root of the problem