Theresa May fistbumps grinning tattooed local as she gets warm welcome in Salisbury for getting tough on Vladimir Putin

JEREMY Corbyn sparked uproar this week with his repeated failure to condemn Vladimir Putin for the Sergei Skripal poisoning - but it should be no surprise given the Labour leader and his top team’s close links to Russia...

Jeremy Corbyn himself

Mr Corbyn has often blamed anyone other than Russia when it comes to aggression by Moscow, usually directing his ire towards Nato, which he said was “the father of the Cold War”.

In 2015 he also blamed the violence in the Crimea on the west, saying: “I am not condoning what Russia has done and is doing [in Ukraine].

“But everything has an equal and opposite reaction and so the more you build up Nato forces, the more of an excuse the Russians have.”

In 2014, as Russia invaded the Crimea Mr Corbyn wrote in an article for the communist newspaper the Morning Star saying Putin’s actions were “not unprovoked”.

Seumas Milne, director of communications

His views are closely echoed by his most senior and trusted adviser Seumas Milne, a former associate editor at the Guardian.

He has previously said Britain and its Nato allies were guilty of “anti-Russian incitement”, which was a “dangerous folly”, along with writing a series of pro-Putin articles.

He caused anger among Labour MPs yesterday for appearing to compare the evidence which pointed to Russian involvement in Salisbury with the case for war in Iraq.

But Mr Milne has long been on Russia’s side when it comes to such matters, and back in 2014 appeared at an event with Mr Putin and was pictured shaking the Russian leader’s hand.

The conference in Sochi took place after the invasion and annexation of Ukraine, which he defended as “clearly defensive”.

Links to Russia Today

The 59-year-old has also appeared numerous times on Russia Today, the Kremlin-funded TV channel which has been censured by the broadcast regulator Ofcom on multiple occasions.

Mr Corbyn himself was a regular guest on its programmes when he was a backbench MP, saying in 2013 the West should refrain from using “unconfirmed reports” about the use of chemical weapons in Syria to attack Russia.

He also suggested viewers stop watching mainstream broadcasters and give Russia Today, now known as RT, a chance instead.

A study in October last year found shadow ministers have featured at least 26 times since Mr Corbyn became Labour leader in 2015.

One of his key lieutenants, the shadow justice secretary Richard Burgon, has appeared 11 times, as have shadow ministers Barry Gardiner and Peter Dowd.

John McDonnell, the shadow chancellor, has also been on – but this week said he won't be making any more appearances, saying its coverage "goes beyond objective journalism".

Labour leader's advisers

Mr Corbyn has other people close to him who are supporting of Putin’s regime, with senior advisor Andrew Fisher allegedly using his position in the leader’s office to remove a reference to tackling “Russian aggression” from a briefing for it MPs on benefits of EU, saying: “We want a positive line.”

Mr Fisher, who wrote Labour’s 2017 manifesto, has a long-term association with Marxists and communists, and has also written extensively on Russia in the Morning Star.

Another advisor, Andrew Murray, also has a history of supporting the Russian regime through his leadership of the Stop the War coalition, which Mr Corbyn has been chair of and a longstanding supporter.

The group organised at least three rallies in Britain for Boris Kagarlitsky, a Putin apologist paid by the Russian government, with Mr Corbyn and Mr Milne speaking at one of them.

Mr Murray, who was seconded from the Unite union to Labour headquarters for the 2017 general election, also wrote an article in the Morning Star in 1999 arguing Josef Stalin’s leadership was preferable to the West, as well as others praising the Soviet Union.