I suggested in the LibDem Voice the other day that the collision in the North Sea was Russian sabotage. There were some sceptical comments. But was it just a coincidence that the captain of the offending vessel was Russian and most of his crew were too? The police are investigating and are discouraging such speculation. But I’m writing this when the headlines are ‘Major disruption as Heathrow closed all day after nearby fire causes power outage’. The Fire Brigade are investigating. I wonder what they will find?
The US-based Centre for Strategic & International Studies says Russia is conducting an escalating and violent campaign of sabotage and subversion against European and U.S. targets in Europe led by Russian military intelligence. The number of Russian attacks nearly tripled between 2023 and 2024. Russia’s targets are transportation, government, critical infrastructure, and industry, and its main weapons and tactics have included explosives, blunt or edged instruments (such as anchors), and electronic attack.
Frank Gardner, the BBC’s security correspondent, says Nato believes Russia is waging an undeclared war, something called “hybrid warfare”, and that the target is Western Europe itself, with the aim of punishing or deterring Western nations from continuing their military support for Ukraine. Russia and the Soviet Union have a rich tradition of conducting this type of warfare. Hybrid warfare, also called “grey zone” or “sub-threshold” warfare, is when a hostile state carries out an anonymous, deniable attack, usually in highly suspicious circumstances. It will be enough to harm their opponent, especially their infrastructure assets, but stop short of being an attributable act of war. Gardner highlights in particular the threat to the UK lurking on our sea beds, from Russian sabotage of submarine cables. In January the Defence Secretary John Healey MP told parliament about a Russian spy ship, the Yantar, which is gathering intelligence and mapping the UK’s critical underwater infrastructure.
I believe the collision in the North Sea and the fire at Heathrow are part of an emerging pattern. I may be paranoid but doesn’t mean Putin is not out to get us.
* Mark Frankel joined the LibDems in the wake of the Brexit vote and was able to cast a vote in the Richmond Park by-election. He has a degree in philosophy and retired in 2014 from a career in public finance.
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10 Comments
Paranoia seems appropriate, at least until there are better explanations.
Just being a Russian captain or having a fire break out is not a good basis for suspicion of foul play. However, the evidence of a violent campaign of sabotage and subversion seems clear enough and good grounds for extra vigiliance and enhanced security measures.
>” the target is Western Europe itself, with the aim of punishing or deterring Western nations from continuing their military support for Ukraine.”
Following the reasoning, Russia actually needs to make the threats and indicate a clear link. When the local protection racket asks for its fees, it makes it very clear that they can stop the bricks being thrown through the window, that only started when you turned down their initial offer.
The fire at Heathrow is also another reason why enlarging this airport (third runway) and making it even more of a single point of failure is ill considered.
Additionally, whilst it seems the local datacentres continued to run, it shows just how much of our economic infrastructure, that is dependent upon IT, is now also vulnerable to attack. (Basically, what is now running in those datacentres was previously geographically distributed across a few hundred different locations, a much harder target to disrupt).
“The fire at Heathrow is also another reason why enlarging this airport (third runway) and making it even more of a single point of failure is ill considered.”
Agreed. That is why Gatwick expansion may be more of a sure bet. Regional airports should get their opportunities to grow too.
“That is why Gatwick expansion may be more of a sure bet. Regional airports should get their opportunities to grow too.”
Do you propose to allow airport expansion (wherever in the UK) to gow unchecked on the basis of demand? Irrespectivve of the impact on the environment?
Might the article below be of interest and/or relevance?
https://www.taxresearch.org.uk/Blog/2025/03/22/keeping-things-in-proportion/
Might “our” main stream media be a propaganda arm of the “Single Transferable Party”/deep state?
@ Zachary Adam Barker & @ Nonconformistradical
Given the over capacity of airports in the country, I see little reason to expand either Heathrow or Gatwick. In some respects I am a little surprised that the supporters of HS2 have not put forward a case for continuing the project, given the number of airports it could connect.
@ Steve Trevethan
I suspect parts of the press like to create conspiracy theories and the “deep state” as it gains eyeballs and sells newspapers.
@Roland
‘Over capacity of airports in the country’?
Really? Please post a link to an article about that. All I can find are articles about passenger numbers continuing to break records and no sign that growth in demand for air travel is likely to slow.
@ Mike Peters
We have a fully functional airport at Doncaster, currently mothballed.
Gloucester airport is due to have houses built on it.
The former airfield at Hatfield (used by The overnight courier companies in the past) built on.
…
We can go into the spare slots available at other airports…
As I said we had an over capacity of airports. Expansion of Heathrow is not necessary and I causes further problems. As for demand, well the writing is on the wall, if weather world is serious about tackling climate change and resource exhaustion, there has to be be fewer flights…