Moscow launches ‘fishwife’ rant at Defence Secretary

RUSSIA launched a furious attack on Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson last night, calling him a ‘market wench’ and ‘fishwife’.

Mr Williamson had told Moscow to ‘go away and shut up’ on Thursday. But yesterday his remarks sparked a backlash as Kremlin officials lined up to criticise him.

Russia’s defence ministry said he had revealed his ‘extreme intellectual impotency’.

A spokesman said: ‘Fishwife’s rhetoric demonstrated today by the head of the British Defence Ministry Gavin Williamson, perfectly characterises an extreme degree of his intellectual impotence.’ The official added that Mr Williamson’s words ‘only confirm the vanity of all of London’s accusations against Russia... but also the total pettiness of the accusers themselves’.

Maria Zakharova, from the Russian foreign ministry, said Mr Williamson’s outburst showed British authorities were nervous and had ‘something to hide’.

Her comments were an apparent reference to ministers’ refusal to provide a sample of the nerve agent used in the attempt to kill former spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia. They remain in a critical condition in hospital.

Major General Igor Konashenkov, a Russian defence ministry spokesman, called Mr Williamson a ‘disgrace’ and said he was acting like a pubescent schoolboy. He said: ‘The market wench talk that British defence secretary Gavin Williamson resorted to reflects his extreme intellectual impotency.

‘It proves the deficiency of London’s accusations thrown at Russia in the past but also the inadequacy of the accusers.’

Taunting Britain about its military might, he said Mr Williamson’s ‘boorish’ remarks were ‘the only thing that Her Majesty’s armed forces have in ample supply’.

Russia’s foreign minister Sergei Lavrov said Mr Williamson ‘lacked education’ and suggested Moscow was poised to expel British diplomats in revenge for the UK’s decision to kick out 23 Russian spies.

But senior Tories rallied around the Defence Secretary.

Former Tory vice-chairman Michael Fabricant said: ‘Time to take a chill pill with a nice warm cup of Horlicks.

‘But this does not detract from the fact that they have come up with no explanation for the use of a weapon of mass destruction originally developed in the Soviet Union, held by Russia, and now used on British soil.’