Russia picked on ‘weak’ Britain, says ex-MI6 chief

Russia mounted the Salisbury nerve agent attack because it believed Britain was “weak and isolated” after the vote to leave the EU, a former MI6 chief has said.

Sir John Sawers said he did not believe the Russians would have used a nerve agent on the streets of a US or German city in the way they are alleged to have done in the attempted assassination of the former spy Sergei Skripal.

“They thought they could pick on Britain and bully us because we were looking weak,” he told BBC Radio 4’s The World at One.

“It was through engagement with others that we were able to push back and have a credible response to the Skripal attack.”

Following the attack in Salisbury in March, which the government blamed on the Russian GRU military intelligence agency, over 20 countries expelled more than 100 Russian diplomats despite fierce Kremlin denials of any involvement.

Sawers warned Britain’s diplomatic leverage would be weakened as it heads out of the EU next March.

“Our strength in the world has come from our ability to work with both the United States and our European partners,” he said.

“The more influence we have with the European Union, the more weight we have with America and vice versa.”

He told The World at One: “What we are doing is losing traction both in Washington and in Europe, and that will make Britain less influential on the world stage.”