Corbyn backlash over nerve agent comments
Labour leader’s own MPS accuse him of naivety as he calls for Kremlin to be given poison samples
JEREMY CORBYN has been mocked by his own MPS after saying Russia should be given a sample of the nerve agent used in the Salisbury attack so it can “say categorically one way or the other” whether it was responsible for the outrage.
The Labour leader also said he would be happy to work with Russia’s president if he became prime minister and stopped short of blaming the Kremlin for the attack, despite John Mcdonnell, his deputy, doing so over the weekend.
It exposes a deepening split in the party’s position on the nerve agent attack which left Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia seriously ill in hospital.
Last week, Mr Corbyn was criticised for refusing to blame Russia for the Novichok poisoning. And his communications chief drew further ire when he said British intelligence could not be trusted after the Iraq war dossier.
Responding to his latest remarks on the issue, Mr Corbyn was roundly mocked by MPS including Ian Austin, a Labour member of the Foreign Affairs select committee, who said: “Does anyone seriously think Putin will say: ‘Thanks for the sample. We have now examined it and yes, I’m sorry to say that it did come from Russia and was given to one of our agents to murder Mr Skripal in the way we have murdered other opponents’? Who thinks that?”
Speaking to the BBC’S World at One, Mr Corbyn said: “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? I asked the Russians be given a sample so that they can say categorically one way or the other.”
In a move that is likely to spark further frustration among Labour MPS, Mr Corbyn maintained there had to be a relationship with Russia and said he would still “do business” with Vladimir Putin if Labour came to power.
“Would I do business with Putin? Sure. And I’d challenge him on human rights in Russia, challenge him on these issues and on the whole basis of that relationship,” he said.
John Woodcock, chairman of Labour’s backbench foreign affairs committee, warned that allowing Russia to test the poison would be “like saying you trust the fairness of Putin’s re-election because he told you it was fine”. He added: “In what parallel universe would we think sending Putin’s regime a sample of their poison would lend more credibility to this latest denial?”
Meanwhile, Theresa May chaired a meeting of the National Security Council to discuss additional sanctions on Russia after the Kremlin ejected 23 British diplomats from the country. Russian officials expelled by Britain left the UK yesterday. Mrs May also said action has been taken at the UK border to beef up visa checks, particularly for private flights from Russia.