I would do business with Putin: Corbyn

Jeremy Corbyn has said he would still do business with Vladimir Putin despite “all fingers” pointing towards Russia being responsible for the Salisbury spy incident.

The Labour leader’s comments came yesterday as the National Security Council was meeting to consider the latest information on the poisoning of Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia.

Mr Corbyn has been forced to defend his stance on the attack after declining to categorically blame the Kremlin for the nerve agent attack on March 4.

His earlier warning not to “rush ahead of the evidence” led to criticism from Conservatives and certain Labour backbenchers.

However, he reiterated his call for Russia to be sent samples of the substance to discover its source.

He told Radio 4’s World At One: “All fingers point towards Russia’s involvement in this, and obviously the manufacture of the material was undertaken by the Russian state originally.

“What I’m saying is the weapons were made from Russia, clearly.

“I think Russia has to be held responsible for it but there has to be an absolutely definitive answer to the question where did the nerve agent come from?”

Mr Corbyn said there had to be a relationship with Russia and that he would still “do business” with president Putin if Labour came into power.