Crimea cringe

Until Britain and the US make specific amends for their unlawful eviction of the Chagos islanders from their Indian Ocean archipelago in 1970-71, their political mouthpieces should refrain from moralising about infringements of international law, human rights, or anything connected to decent conduct in the name of national interest.

Despite various High Court rulings etc authorising resettlement of the dispossessed islanders, neither Britain nor the US has accommodated legal, let alone moral, opinion.

In light of this shameful episode in recent history, the shock is that either country should pontificate about the peninsula of Crimea in a framework of ethical reference points of their own making, and lecture all who will listen about codes of international conduct being disregarded by, for instance, Russia. “Pot calling the kettle black” is barely adequate to apply to such brazen pronouncements.

Ian Johnstone

Forman Drive

Peterhead