UK ‘won’t be a dumping ground for poison’

EMERGENCY: Home Secretary accuses Russia as couple fight for their lives

The Home Secretary has accused the Russian state of using Britain as a “dumping ground for poison” after a second nerve agent emergency in four months.

In a blistering attack, Sajid Javid demanded that the Kremlin provide an explanation for the two episodes, which investigators believe may be linked.

His remarks come as Dawn Sturgess and Charlie Rowley fight for their lives in hospital after they were exposed to the chemical weapon Novichok.

The couple were taken ill on Saturday in Amesbury, around eight miles from where former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia were poisoned with the same agent in Salisbury in March.

One theory under investigation is that the pair who were poisoned in the latest incident may have inadvertently found a container – such as a phial or syringe – used to transport the nerve agent for the initial attack on the Skripals and discarded in a public place.

Novichok remains highly toxic for a considerable period of time, so even the tiniest trace remaining in a container picked up by the victims could account for their severe illness.

In a statement to the House of Commons, Mr Javid said: “The eyes of the world are currently on Russia, not least because of the World Cup.

“It is now time that the Russian state comes forward and explains exactly what has gone on.”

Making clear that the UK will “stand up to the actions that threaten our security”, he added: “It is completely unacceptable for our people to be either deliberate or accidental targets, or for our streets, our parks, our towns, to be dumping grounds for poison.”

Officers were called to a home on Muggleton Road, Amesbury, on Saturday morning when 44-year-old Ms Sturgess collapsed.

They were called back later that day when Mr Rowley, 45, also fell ill.

It was initially believed that the two patients had possibly been using drugs from a contaminated batch, police said.

But after further tests, authorities declared a major incident and on Wednesday night counter-terror police assumed responsibility for the investigation after the government’s Porton Down laboratory concluded that the pair had been exposed to Novichok.

Amid questions about the post-Salisbury clean-up operation, the home secretary said the risk to the public remained low.

Picture: PA. A police officer stands by a sealed-off litter bin on Rollestone Street, Salisbury, Wiltshire.