The UK wants foreign spies to go on a register and people can see a problem – 12 very funny responses
The long-awaited Russia Report was extremely damning about the UK government’s lack of response to a clear and serious threat of Russian interference in British politics, including in the 2016 EU referendum.
Although Downing Street has issued a refusal to carry out an investigation into Russian meddling in Brexit on the grounds that it hasn’t seen the interference it was accused of not looking for, it has come up with a way of addressing the fact that it is currently not illegal for foreign agents to spy in the UK.
This:
The U.K. could require foreign states to name their spies operating in the country on a government register https://t.co/1XejHvGUDu
— Bloomberg (@business) July 22, 2020
from The Spy Who Dumped Me GIFs via Gfycat
Twitter thought there might be a systemic flaw.
Government's planning a "register of foreign spies" – suggesting their grasp of the most basic element of spying is akin to a goldfish's understanding of quantum entanglement theory.
— Otto English (@Otto_English) July 22, 2020
Here are some more very funny reactions we think you’ll appreciate.
1.
This will give us an advantage in international espionage because we’ll know the names and addresses of every other country’s spies and if they do something shady we can just ask them about it and tell them to stop. I can’t understand why we didn’t think of this years ago. https://t.co/kYlKk4Maq8
— Brian Cox (@ProfBrianCox) July 22, 2020
2.
DO YOU KNOW WHAT A SPY IS https://t.co/5gvpxXJRhf
— James Felton (@JimMFelton) July 22, 2020
3.
Checkmate, spies. https://t.co/iSpJUlSMD7
— James O'Brien (@mrjamesob) July 22, 2020
4.
Someone’s on meth and it’s not me. https://t.co/AuMWlmJnYM
— Sarah Phelps (@PhelpsieSarah) July 22, 2020
5.
"Don't tell them, Bond" https://t.co/fZ3XQ1H9aI
— Mike Holden (@MikeHolden42) July 22, 2020
6.
Your move, foreign spies. https://t.co/EXA740Gqvu
— Stephen Mangan (@StephenMangan) July 22, 2020
7.
I hear they're also banning newspapers with eye holes cut into them. https://t.co/1HHVquqgCt
— David J. Court (@DavidJCourt) July 22, 2020
8.
If Fawlty Towers was a government. https://t.co/FQQ3ChmZ8N
— Oisín McGann (@OisinMcGann) July 22, 2020
9.
Hands up everyone who is a spy! Awesome! Dominic, does that mean we can reduce the secret services to MI 2 and 3/4s ? https://t.co/yOzaUYMnb0
— Siob, Princess of Yorkshire #FBPE #FBPEGlobal #FBR (@Sillyshib) July 22, 2020
10.
Brexit UK, the grift that keeps on giving. https://t.co/q8iNq6MiYo
— Steve Analyst (@EmporersNewC) July 22, 2020
11.
Well, that’s a cunning plan. https://t.co/sHnC0074VO
— Paul Bernal (@PaulbernalUK) July 22, 2020
12.
I had to check to see if this was The Onion.
What's next? Are they going to require burglars to book an appointment? https://t.co/LTaJ7zSsOa
— Mike, #Raðljóst, 🐗 (@Geoelte_Spinne) July 22, 2020
Finally, the best Boris Johnson parody on Twitter saw an extra benefit.
And if we have a situation where nobody fills in the form to say they are a spy, we will know that we have eliminated spying in the UK. https://t.co/cSzgIYmkBN
— Parody Boris Johnson (@BorisJohnson_MP) July 22, 2020
We won’t know whether they’re serious until they get Chris Grayling to organise it.
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MI5’s failure to spot this KGB spy hiding in plain sight is jaw-dropping and very funny
Source Bloomberg Image Screengrab
