Like any good defense attorney, skeptical citizens should ask is there an alternative narrative to the Putin poisoned the spy with chemical weapons.

In the nether world of espionage, the facts are known to few, most especially what side are you on? Did Sergei Skripal work for the British or the Russians? What if the British discovered that the agent who they brought in from the cold was still working for the Russians. He wasn’t loyal to his British handlers, but still worked for mother Russia?

Well there is this public record, the future is always uncertain, but it does seem likely that Jeremy Corbyn, a life-long anti-nuke crusader, will be the next Prime Minister.  Being anti-nuke means being against the Trident submarine, Britain’s delivery system for its atom bombs. As it happens, Corbyn in the interest of Party unity has stifled his historic loyalties, but the British espionage and defense agencies must remain nervous that the Labor leader considers spending millions of pounds to support the myth that Great Britain is a world power a waste of money.

And rather than admit Britain had been fooled by the Russians, they could make it look like Putin murdered a British spy on British soil.  Putin with the invasion of the Ukraine, or sending a submarine into Helsinski (http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-32498790) is more than willing to display his muscles. He has a history of poisoning critics. But it would also embarrass the peace-loving Labor leader by telling Britain, “you can’t negotiate with the Russians.”

To no one’s surprise that is exactly what Corbyn proposed using the authority of the treating banning chemical warfare that the Russians and the British should conduct a fact-finding inquiry.  Send the Russians a sample of the poison that put Skripal and his daughter on the critical list, disclose the scientific results of an assay that might tell us where the chemicals came from?  In other words use international law to approach the Russians and say let us gather the facts.

For that is the most fundamental purpose of the rule of law to take the heat out of controversies and make civilized discourse possible. Corbyn certainly came out the winner among his supporters, but the British press accused the bicycle-riding Parliamentary leader of being pro-Putin.  The Sun, a famous British tabloid, shouted: “Excuses Corbyn’s making for Russia expose his instinctive hatred of the West.”

Of course The Sun admitted: “Admittedly there’s not yet proof it was a Kremlin hit.”

Corbyn not to be outdone put his case before the people with an article in The Guardian. “The Salisbury attack was appalling. But we must avoid a drift to conflict.”