Hysteria about Russian interference is becoming a joke

The murder of Russian defector and fierce Putin critic Alexander Litvinenko was a radioactive wake-up call to many in the West about the nature of the Russian regime. Eight years later, the annexation of Crimea and subsequent invasion of eastern Ukraine in 2014 were also rightly condemned around the world. It’s safe to say these events – and the ongoing allegations of Russian meddling in western democracies – have made it an interesting time to be a Russian in this country.

Yet while this topic has been a rich vein of material for a comedian, the extent of hysteria about Russia’s involvement in every aspect of our daily lives is now getting beyond satire.

We’re told the Russians were responsible for Brexit. As I have said before, if we Russians were responsible for Brexit, Brexit would be done. We’d be out and we’d have taken a chunk of France with us.

I recall being heckled in a comedy club by an American who told me ‘Russians don’t understand democracy’.