DISINFO: Skripal case was invented to cover up paedophilia scandals in the UK
DISINFORMATION CASE DETAILS
  • Outlet: sputnik.by (archived)*
  • Date of publication: July 24, 2019
  • Outlet language(s): Russian
  • Reported in: Issue 159
  • Countries / regions discussed: UK, Russia
Tags:
Sergei Skripal Boris Johnson Theresa May Conspiracy theory

DISINFO: Skripal case was invented to cover up paedophilia scandals in the UK

SUMMARY

The Skripal scandal began when it became known that Theresa May, the former prime minister of the UK, covered up paedophilia scandals back when she was a Home Secretary.

RESPONSE

Conspiracy theory, repeating one of the many pro-Kremlin disinformation narratives about the Skripal poisoning. The disinformation message implicitly refers to the so called Westminster paedophile dossier which was assembled by the British Member of Parliament Geoffrey Dickens. It was suggested that some of the files concerning paedophiles allegedly associated with the British government were deliberately destroyed or disregarded by the Home Office. It is groundless to allege that Theresa May attempted to cover the paedophile claims because it was she as Home Secretary who in 2014 triggered further inquiries on whether the Home Office failed to act on allegations made by MP Dickens in 1980s. Writing in the Daily Telegraph in March 2015, Theresa May said the public were yet to grasp the full scale of the problem and called it a "once-in-a-generation opportunity" to examine the institutional child abuse in the UK. The disinformation messages implying UK government conspiracy behind the Skripal case are frequently used by the pro-Kremlin media to obfuscate Russian involvement in the Skripal poisoning.

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Cases in the EUvsDisinfo database focus on messages in the international information space that are identified as providing a partial, distorted, or false depiction of reality and spread key pro-Kremlin messages. This does not necessarily imply, however, that a given outlet is linked to the Kremlin or editorially pro-Kremlin, or that it has intentionally sought to disinform. EUvsDisinfo publications do not represent an official EU position, as the information and opinions expressed are based on media reporting and analysis of the East Stratcom Task Force.

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