milliband hypocrisy as britain graps african seabed

The hypocrisy of British Foreign Secretary David Milliband knows no bounds.

Milliband falsely accuses Russia of making territorial grabs in South Ossetia and complains while Russia establishes perfectly reasonable and well justified security buffers against Georgian aggression.

With American and Russian navy warships facing each other in the Black Sea it emerges that the British Government, of which Milliband is a sickening representative, is currently involved in a blatant territorial land grab for oil reserves by laying claim to 200 nautical miles of sea bed around the Ascension Islands, which is around 1,600 km from the coast of Africa.

Britain is also reported to be planning legal claims over a vast area of the remote seabed off Antarctica using a recent UN resolution which allows claims on sections of the ocean floor if they can show a direct link to land masses.

A similar British claim is expected around the Falkland Islands where there could be significant reserves of oil and gas. Just like South Ossetia was saved by Russia, the Falklands were retaken by Britain to protect local inhabitants who wanted to remain under British rule.

And of course there is also Iraq and Afganistan where Britain has been part of justified invasions, and should remain until the job is done, just as the Russian peace keepers should remain in South Ossetia, for ever if required.

So how can Milliband, or any western politician, seriously complain about Russian military aggression? Especially when the so called "aggression" is a peace keeping operation to save thousands of lives.

• The Hammas government in Gaza, which itself is of questionable status, is so far the only government to recognise the independence of South Ossetia and and Abkhazia.