Now ministers could boot out Russian envoys
RUSSIA will face ‘robust’ consequences if it is found to be behind the nerve agent attack in Salisbury, Amber Rudd warned yesterday.
Foreign Office officials are thought to be going through a list of Russian diplomats to identify potential candidates for expulsion. The Home Secretary declined to comment on possible Russian involvement in what she described as an ‘outrageous crime’.
But she revealed ministers are already working on reprisals if the link to Moscow is proved, saying: ‘There will come a time for attribution, and there will be further consequences to follow.’
She added: ‘The use of a nerve agent on UK soil is a brazen and reckless act. This was attempted murder in the most cruel and public way. People are right to want to know who to hold to account.
‘But, if we are to be rigorous in this investigation, we must avoid speculation and allow the police to carry on their investigation.’ Privately, Whitehall sources believe it may be days before detectives can show a clear trail leading from Moscow to the park bench where former Russian double agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia were found this week.
Miss Rudd indicated that new ‘Unexplained Wealth Orders’, which allow for the confiscation of criminal assets, could be used against cronies of Vladimir Putin. Ministers also faced calls to approve a so-called Magnitsky Law, which would introduce sweeping powers to freeze the assets of Russian officials accused of human rights abuses.
Former Tory minister Sir Edward Leigh said yesterday: ‘The circumstantial evidence against Russia is strong. Who else would have the motive and the means? Those of us who seek to understand Russia know that the only way to preserve peace is through strength. If Russia is behind this, it is a brazen act of war and humiliates our country.’
Tom Tugendhat, chairman of the Commons foreign affairs committee, said evidence of a Russian link would have to be met by a package of ‘extremely stiff sanctions’.
He urged ministers to deploy the Unexplained Wealth Orders, saying: ‘We need to use the type of laws we use against criminals around the world – why shouldn’t we use the same measures we use against drug runners against this different type of criminal?’ Labour’s Yvette Cooper urged Miss Rudd to review 14 deaths in the UK that, according to BuzzFeed, have been linked to Russia by US intelligence agencies.
Miss Cooper, the chairman of the Home Affairs select committee, also suggested Miss Rudd consider going to the UN Security Council and asking for a statement from all nations to provide assistance. But the Home Secretary insisted: ‘Now is not the time to investigate what is actually only, at the moment, rumour and speculation.’