Just came across this breaking blurb in the FT ... more comments forthcoming: The Tories are cultivating private relations with Gazprom, the Russian gas monopoly, despite David Cameron’s tough public stance on the country’s invasion of Georgia, Alan Duncan, the shadow business secretary, has revealed . Mr Duncan said it would be a mistake to treat the company as a “pariah”. He revealed that he visited Gazprom this month for the third time, in a bid to build a relationship. “It’s better to have a scratchy relationship with Russia and hence Gazprom than none at all and ... such relationships could probably be more easily built up in opposition than in government,” he stated.

And he wants you to know about it. From his op/ed in the Sunday Times: First, speaking up clearly and bluntly about what has happened. This is not a time for diplomatic opaqueness. It is a time to distinguish unambiguously between right and wrong. It is a time for democracies to stand together. It is a time for members of our parliament – the seat of one of the world’s oldest democracies – to speak up for one of the world’s newest. Today, in Georgia’s hour of need, this instinct unites government and opposition. Second, we need urgent diplomatic efforts, in which Britain must play a leading role. Russian forces must leave Georgia right away as they are required to do under the ceasefire agreement both sides have signed. Third, Russia must pay a price.