© Toby Melville / Reuters
The troubling situation in Aleppo, Syria was the subject of an emergency session of the British parliament on Tuesday, during which MPs became particularly heated.
UK Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson used the debate in the House of Commons to accuse Russia of bombing an aid convoy in Aleppo and called for demonstrations outside the Russian embassy.
Comment: Boris Johnson calls for Russian Embassy protests during Syria debate
UK Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson has used his debut at the House of Commons dispatch box to accuse Russia of bombing an aid convoy in Aleppo, and asked why anti-war activists have not mounted protests outside the Russian Embassy in London.
"Where is the Stop The War coalition at the moment? Where are they?" asked Johnson, during an emergency parliamentary debate on the situation in Aleppo, Syria.
"All the available evidence therefore points to Russian responsibility for the atrocity," said Johnson, referring to the bombing of the UN aid convoy on September 20 that resulted in the deaths of 20 people, and the destruction of 18 trucks, which he had previously called a "war crime."
"There is no commensurate horror, it seems to me, amongst some of those anti-war protest groups," said Johnson.
"If Russia continues in its current path, then I believe that great nation is in danger of becoming a pariah nation," said the Foreign Secretary, who was appointed by Theresa May in July.
Johnson also called for further sanctions against Russia, which is already under several Western embargoes over Crimea, and the conflict in eastern Ukraine.
"We've got to make sure we have innovative ways of getting aid into Aleppo, and as several members have said, we have to step up the pressure on Assad's regime through sanctions and on the Russians through sanctions," said the Conservative politician.
He also raised the possibility of an international legal effort to bring to justice those allegedly responsible for war crimes in Syria, a day after France and UN Secretary Ban Ki-Moon made the same appeal.
"I'm personally very attracted to the idea of getting these people [war criminals] to come before the International Criminal Court. That's certainly something I would like to pursue," said Johnson.
RT: As a former diplomat, are you surprised to hear something like that from the Foreign Secretary?
William Mallinson: Of course I am. This is highly hysterical. Boris Johnson, who let's not forget, failed to become Prime Minister a few months ago is seeking even more publicity. He has chosen to jump onto the bandwagon of American electorate hysteria... Also post-Brexit, let us remember that the UK is now becoming even more a subset of US foreign military policy. It is very unfortunate and sad that even Boris Johnson, who had criticized Hillary Clinton as a "sadistic nurse in a mental hospital" not so long ago, is now jumping onto the Cold War hysteria bandwagon. He is coming across as a PR clown, not as a statesman, which is not funny for an old Etonian - Eton was once a fairly good school. He is a very clever wordsmith; he is showing great inconsistency in his previous views, with allegedly his current views. He is known to be against political correctness, but now he has jumped on the bandwagon of political correctness...
Comment: Former MI6 spy chief warns Boris Johnson to be 'careful' after Russian Embassy protest remarks
Calling for protests at the Russian Embassy is a risky move, a former head of MI6 has said, warning that Britain should know from experience to be "careful" about the safety of diplomatic staff.
Sir John Sawers, once head of the UK's external security agency, told the BBC in an extensive interview Wednesday that "we all recall what happened to our embassy in Tehran," adding that "we need to be careful about the consequences of things we call for," referring to comments by Tory Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson on Tuesday.
RT: We've heard a lot of harsh comments during the debate on Tuesday. Ahead of the event, former Cabinet minister Andrew Mitchell even compared Russia with Nazi Germany. What are your thoughts on that?
WM: It is hysterical, it is irresponsible, it is going back into the worst part of the past; it is surrealistic; it is no longer relevant and it is all connected to the current hysteria, because Russia is actually doing a better job than anyone else has done to regain some stability in the Middle East - it is a tough game to do that, and people died - horribly sad. That is what it is about. In the cozy little House of Commons - God bless the House of Commons - you get fanatics, as well: people who seek publicity. It is a show, I am sorry; it is just a silly show for the electorate. I hope British people don't swallow it all like slaves.
MPs going to go to WWIII to protect Al-Nusra, Al-Qaeda, & ISIS
When Boris Johnson was a back bench MP, or as London's mayor writing for The Spectator, he was a "relatively harmless buffoon", said Michael Raddie, Co-Editor, BS NEWS.info. Since he has become Foreign Secretary, "he has moved into a dangerous and scary clown" whose "diplomacy is nonexistent."
Comment: Protest outside Russian Embassy would increase hysteria against Russia - Stop the War leader
Rejecting the Foreign Secretary's call, Stop the War vice chairman Chris Nineham told the BBC Radio 4 Today program on Wednesday: "The reason for that is our focus is on what our government is doing."
"There's a very good reason for this, because we can make a difference to what Britain does, we can make a difference to what our allies do to a certain extent and we have done."
"But, if we have a protest outside the Russian Embassy, it wouldn't make a blind bit of difference as to what [Russian President Vladimir] Putin does because we are in Britain and were are in the West."
"And, not only that - a protest outside the Russian Embassy would actually contribute to increasing the hysteria and the jingoism that is being whipped up at the moment against Russia."
He added: "What we are saying is there is a hysteria which is being organized by politicians and the media against Russia to see Russia as the only problem in Syria."
"Calling for demonstrations outside the Russian embassy, I am sure he could be a breach of the law in this country. He's made an enemy of the Metropolitan Police, because they know that they are going to have to police this demonstration. And there will obviously be a counter demonstration - a pro-Syrian people demonstration to go along with the anti-Assad, the anti-Russian demonstration that will be held there, whenever it is held. So there will be a breach of the peace - there is no doubt about that. And Boris is the cause of it," Raddie told RT.
Comment: Boris Johnson gets trolled after calling for Russian embassy protest
UK Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson's call for demonstrations at the Russian embassy in London over the war in Syria has been met with varying reactions on social media.
For many, the idea that a member of the UK government would call for a protest outside another nation's embassy was surprising.
Others were quick to see the irony in the UK protesting conflict while supplying arms to warring countries.
Many more pointed to the UK's close relationship with Saudi Arabia, which has been bombing Yemen since March 2015.
The UK has made over £3 billion ($3.6bn) in arms sales to Saudi Arabia since the war in Yemen began.
Johnson defended the UK's arms sales to Saudi Arabia last month, stating, "the key test for our continued arms exports to Saudi Arabia in relation to international humanitarian law is whether those weapons might be used in a commission of a serious breach of international humanitarian law. Having regard to all the information available to us, we assess this test has not been met."
The Stop the War coalition, which Johnson targeted in his speech, responded to the new foreign secretary's proposal, said it was "quite amazing" that Johnson was "taken seriously at all on issues of foreign policy."
The group, which organized massive protests against the UK's involvement in the Iraq war which Johnson voted for, said the "bloody history" of the war on terror was being "willfully ignored in efforts to push for more war."
The UK's reluctance to take in refugees was also highlighted.
Raddie recalled that in December 2015, Johnson wrote an article where he said the UK should work with Russia and the Syrian government to defeat ISIS. But now his stance has changed.
"Recently he has been made a member of the inner circle of globalists and he understands what the geopolitical game is all about. He is pressuring for regime change. He wants to see the genuine government of Syria toppled and replaced by the non-secular Jihadists, which is the chaos that we have in Libya. We don't have to contextualize this. We can see what will happen in Syria, because it is happening today in Libya: chaos on the ground, multi factions - there is certainly no secular state left," Raddie said.
The "glimmer of hope", he went on, was the speech of the Shadow Foreign Secretary Emily Thornberry on Tuesday, while the rhetoric from the Tory party and many Labour MPs was "truly depressing."
"Whether they believe that or not, this is what will happen if they choose to vote the way they voted last time and choose military action above Syrian airspace. They are going to go to WWIII to protect the Al-Nusra, Al-Qaeda, and ISIS. That is effectively what they are going to do," Raddie said.
"The only military fighting terrorism in Syria at this point in time is the Russian air force and the Syrian Arab Army. If they realistically wanted to stop terrorism in Syria and defeat ISIS, then the best that they could do is withdraw, but at least support Russia; possibly move toward the resolution from the UN, which was to allow safe passage of all the terrorists in Eastern Aleppo to leave. That is not going to happen," he added.
Comment: Russian MoD invites UK to prove 'Russophobic' accusation that Moscow hit aid convoy in Aleppo And Putin has the goods: Putin: We know who destroyed aid convoy in Aleppo, US whips up anti-Russian hysteria