Inspectors to start search for poison gas evidence

A team of inspectors from the international chemical weapons watchdog is due to start an investigation today into a suspected chemical attack on a town outside Damascus that killed more than 40 people.

The United Nations’ Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons has been called in to determine whether chemical weapons were used in Douma on 7 April. The town had been the last opposition stronghold in the Syrian capital.

The inspections come as Labour’s Jeremy Corbyn accused Prime Minister Theresa May of “waiting for instructions” from US president Donald Trump on how to handle the crisis.

“Further UK military intervention in Syria’s appalling multi-sided war risks escalating an already devastating conflict,” Mr Corbyn said.