Johnson and Labour leader continue spat over spy poisoning

Foreign secretary labels Corbyn Kremlin’s ‘useful idiot’

Boris Johnson has hit out at the “torrent of absurdity” from Moscow following the Salisbury nerve agent attack – and accused Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn of being the Kremlin’s “useful idiot”.

The foreign secretary said the Kremlin was peddling an “avalanche of lies and disinformation” following the attack in Salisbury which left Russian double-agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia in hospital.

And he stepped up the Tory attack on Mr Corbyn, claiming the Labour leader was lending “false credibility” to the propaganda from Moscow by refusing to say “unequivocally” that the Russian state was responsible for the incident.

A Labour spokesman hit back, claiming that Mr Johnson had “made a fool of himself and undermined the Government” by misrepresenting the findings of the Porton Down laboratory on the source of the Novichok chemical agent.

Mr Skripal, 66, and his 33-year-old daughter Yulia were left fighting for their lives in hospital after being found unconscious on a park bench in Salisbury on March 4. The couple are said to be improving rapidly.

Writing in the Sunday Times, Mr Johnson accused Mr Corbyn of supporting the propaganda campaign launched by Vladimir Putin’s government.

“There is only one thing that gives the Kremlin succour and lends false credibility to its propaganda onslaught. That is when politicians from the targeted countries join in.

“Sadly, I am driven to the conclusion that Jeremy Corbyn has joined this effort.”

But a Labour spokesman responded: “Jeremy Corbyn has repeatedly said the evidence points to Russia being responsible, directly or indirectly, and that the Russian authorities must be held to account on the basis of evidence.”

Mr Johnson’s broadside came after Russia formally requested a meeting with him to discuss the Skripal case.

The Russian government said it hoped the UK would “engage constructively” with the request for ambassador Alexander Yakovenko to have face-toface talks with Mr Johnson.

But the move was branded a “diversionary tactic” by the Foreign Office.

Picture: PA. Soldiers wearing protective clothing in Hyde Road, Gillingham, Dorset, days after the nerve agent attack on Russian double agent Sergei Skripal. The investigation is ongoing.

Picture: PA. Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson has “made a fool of himself”, says Labour.