Why does the ex-chief of the Secret Intelligence Services (MI6) appear to tell porky-pies? Recently in a very soft interview for Newsnight he maintained that Russia was about to collapse and had lost over a million troops in the war in Ukraine.

Nobody knows how many Ukrainian or Russian troops have been lost BUT MI6 will have a reasonable idea and every reason NOT to make it public.

The only remotely reliable public source of information is MediaZona which is supported by the BBC – Google it. As of this July only 116,718 deaths of Russia troops had been recorded. This is nothing like the one million quoted by Sir Robert Sawyer.

Russia has overwhelming firepower and air superiority. Basically, they blast Ukrainian defences to pieces with glide bombs, follow it up with horrifying thermobaric warheads, then blast targets with artillery and then use drones before small groups of infantry go in to mop up. It is Verdun with Star Wars – horrific industrial carnage that Ukraine can’t counter. Trump’s decision to allow more weapons to Ukraine will make only a marginal difference to this military balance.

The carnage is confirmed by the tragedy of body exchanges which in June showed over 1,250 dead Ukrainians swapped for 50 or so dead Russians. This is understood in Ukraine where they literally press gang people off the street to fight and why the Russians recently began bombing Ukrainian conscription centres – a move that was welcomed by many Ukrainians.

In contrast, Ukrainian civilian deaths since the beginning of the war stand at 13,580 as of July. Russia doesn’t target civilians no matter what ‘western’ propaganda may maintain because many of the people in the conflict zone are pro-Russian supporters. Ukraine is a civil war.

Britain, of course, can’t admit Ukraine is losing because it sees it and the Middle East as the front lines in the battle to maintain western supremacy. If their efforts were not producing victory, then they would lose public support. The ‘information war’ (ie lies) is seen as crucial in maintaining public support. After all, we are paying for it – £13.5 billion so far with £5 billion a year now committed. Ukraine is the west’s battering ram to weaken Russia. The strategy was outlined in 2019 in a Rand Corporation strategy document called ‘Extending Russia’. Google it.

This is connected to the war in Gaza. Israel slaughters with impunity and tries to keep it off TV screens. Our government refuses to condemn it. Why? Because, bad as they no doubt feel Israel is, it is a ‘key ally’. This is about doing business. Dead children are the price they are willing to pay so long it is not THEIR dead children.

Lies and hypocrisy are now routine in the west and if you object to genocide you are likely to be labled an ‘anti -Semite’ and prosecuted as a ‘terrorist’. These lies and the use of such laws alongside increasing censorship indicate one thing very clearly: the public is not falling for the propaganda.