William’s World Cup visit could be in doubt if proof of Russian poison plot emerges
Foreign Secretary warns of sanctions and punishment if Skripal case turns out to be assassination attempt
THE Duke of Cambridge will be urged not to attend the 2018 World Cup in Russia if Sergei Skripal is found to have been the victim of a Kremlin-backed attempt on his life.
Boris Johnson, the Foreign Secretary, said yesterday it would be “very difficult to imagine” that sending dignitaries to the World Cup “could go ahead in the normal way” if suspicions about Mr Skripal’s illness proved correct.
He said the suspected poison attack on the former spy and his daughter had echoes of the assassination of Alexander Litvinenko, the former KGB agent, and described Vladimir Putin’s presidential regime as “malign”.
Meanwhile, Tom Tugendhat, chairman of the Commons foreign affairs committee, said the incident in Salisbury “certainly bears all the hallmarks of a Russian attack”.
Ministers, including Tracey Crouch, the sports minister, would be among those expected to cancel intended trips to Russia for the football finals in July if Mr Putin was found to be behind the alleged attack on the former spy and his daughter.
The Foreign Office, which advises the Royal family on official visits abroad, would expect the Duke, who is the president of the Football Association, to stay away from Russia in such circumstances.
Kensington Palace said no plans were yet in place for the Duke to attend the World Cup, but in earlier stages of previous tournaments it has been made clear that he would fly out to support England if they made progress to the knockout stages.
In 2010 the Duke attended one of England’s group games in South Africa because it coincided with an official tour of southern Africa, but in 2014 the Duke did not make it to Brazil because England were knocked out at the group stage. Royal sources confirmed the Duke would take advice from the Foreign Office if England reached the knockout stages this time around, as will Prince Harry, who has also attended England’s World Cup matches.
Mr Johnson told the Commons: “Honourable members will note the echoes of Alexander Litvinenko in 2006, and while it would be wrong to prejudge the investigation, I can reassure the House that should evidence emerge showing state responsibility, then Her Majesty’s Government will respond appropriately and robustly.”
He repeated calls for tougher sanctions on Russia. “I know members will have their suspicions and what I will say is that if those suspicions indeed prove correct this Government will do whatever is necessary to protect the lives of people in this country and our values and our freedoms. Though I am not now pointing fingers, I say to governments around the world, that no attempt to take innocent life on British soil will go unsanctioned or unpunished.”
He said Russia’s “malign activities” included the “murder and abuse of journalists” and “the mysterious assassination of politicians”.
Referring to the World Cup, he said: “We will have to have a serious conversation about our engagement with Russia… thinking ahead to the World Cup in July, I think it will be very difficult to imagine that UK representation at that event could go ahead in the normal way, and we will have to think on that.”
Mr Tugendhat said: “We are seeing a pattern here, in what the KGB would describe as demoralise, destabilise, crisis and normalise. This is a form of soft war that Russia is now conducting against the West.”