Regarding the neo-Nazi Admiral Duncan pub bombing in 1999 by David Copeland , Murray wrote in the '' Morning Star '' : " Everything about this episode strikes me as odd . It happened during a war i.e. the NATO bombing of Yugoslavia that is not going particularly well " , and alleged that some neo-Nazi groups " may very well have been established with MI5 or Special Branch connivance . And certainly the state — or groups within the security apparatus — is more than capable of manipulating deranged human-haters without the latter even noticing that they are being manipulated . " Murray told '' The Times '' in 2019 : " As I wrote at the time my speculations were no more than ' conjecture and supposition ' . There is no basis for any suggestion that the bombing of the Admiral Duncan was the responsibility of anyone other than David Copeland . " Murray is considered an apologist for Joseph Stalin by his critics , such as Nick Cohen . Described as an " admirer " in '' The Independent on Sunday '' in 2003 , in 1999 he wrote in his '' Morning Star '' column : In 1999 , Murray said of KGB spy Melita Norwood : " She herself says that she has no regrets and I do not see why she should . She took advantage of the position that she was in to give her side a bit of help in the international class struggle . The strength of the Soviet Union was a huge factor in favour of world peace , something which has become more obvious in its absence today . Those who contributed , however slightly , to that strength did all of us a service . " When asked about these comments by '' The Times '' in 2019 , he said " The Cold War is over . I would under no circumstances condone anyone acting as Melita Norwood did today . " In 2008 , Murray identified " one of the successes " of the " nationalities policy of the Soviet Union " as being the promotion of " the cultural , linguistic and educational development of each ethnic group , no matter how small or how historically marginalised . " This comment was criticised by author Edward Lucas in '' The Guardian '' who accused Murray of ignoring " the Chechens , Crimean Tatars and other victims of Stalin 's murderous deportation policies . " In a short history of the CPGB , published in 1995 , Murray wrote : " That things happened in the USSR which were inexcusable and which ultimately prejudiced Socialism ’s whole prospect is today undeniable . Whether Communists in the capitalist world could or should have done more than they did is much more contentious " . Oliver Kamm , in '' The Times '' commented in 2016 : " In short , Mr Murray believes that British communists in the 1930s were justified in backing the Great Terror , the Moscow Trials and the Ukraine famine . Mr Murray predictably supports the most nightmarish totalitarian state in the modern world " . Murray was a critic of David Miliband in his role as Foreign Secretary , arguing that his stance on the 2008 Georgian crisis revealed him as a ' neoconservative ' whose approach had ' made it abundantly clear where he stands on the great divide in world politics today . He is for the US empire '
Crimean Tatars
Deportation of the Crimean Tatars
Andrew Murray (trade unionist)