But going back to your original point about it being in some way a good job - this politician was hardly waving it around in the open. My question is where do we draw the line. As it happens, this information could genuinely weaken our bargaining hand with Russia. Of course Putin knows we'll not go further than sanctions, but there's no point giving him all the information to hand. Yes we'll have talked to him but we won't have told him everything we want, or are willing to do.
I'm with you LTL. Although the one massive learning point here is that government officials shouldn't be so careless with information when there's weasels hiding in the bushes.
This normally happens Friday or Saturday when everyone's out getting drunk.