May says Russia is ‘likely’ attack culprit
PM demands answers on nerve gas programme
RUSSIA IS today facing calls for complete disclosure of its nerve gas programme after Theresa May revealed it is “highly likely” that the country was behind the attack on Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia.
The Prime Minister said the substance used was a “militarygrade” nerve agent produced by Russia and there were only two possible explanations – either Moscow was behind the attack or it had lost control of its stockpile of the poison.
Mrs May said Russia’s ambassador Alexander Yakovenko had been summoned to the Foreign Office to explain what happened.
There was no handshake in the face-to-face meeting with Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson, who voiced Britain’s outrage over the incident and said that either explanation would be very disturbing.
Mr Johnson gave Russia until midnight tonight to respond and told the ambassador that Moscow must immediately provide full and complete disclosure of its novichok nerve gas programme to the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons.
In a dramatic statement after a meeting of the National Security Council, during which she received the latest intelligence analysis and an update on the investigation, Mrs May told MPs: “It is now clear that Mr Skripal and his daughter were poisoned with a military-grade nerve agent of a type developed by Russia.”
She added: “Based on the positive identification of this chemical agent by world-leading experts at the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory at Porton Down; our knowledge that Russia has previously produced this agent and would still be capable of doing so; Russia’s record of conducting state-sponsored assassinations and our assessment that Russia views some defectors as legitimate targets for assassinations, the Government has concluded that it is highly likely that Russia was responsible for the act against Sergei and Yulia Skripal.”
That meant “either this was a direct act by the Russian state against our country” or Vladimir Putin’s government had “lost control of this potentially catastrophically damaging nerve agent”.
The Kremlin has denied the involvement of the Russian government in the nerve agent attack on the Skripals. Following Mrs May’s statement, news agency Tass quoted Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova as saying: “It is a circus show in the British parliament. The conclusion is obvious, it’s another political information campaign, based on a provocation.”
But Mrs May said: “On Wednesday we will consider in detail the response from the Russian State.
“Should there be no credible response, we will conclude that this action amounts to an unlawful use of force by the Russian State against the United Kingdom.”
The National Security Council is expected to meet tomorrow to discuss the Russian response.
JEREMY CORBYN’S policy to seek “robust dialogue” with Russia will encourage Vladimir Putin to “engage in further acts of state-sponsored terror”, MPs have heard, as the operation to investigate the suspected poison attack in Salisbury continued.
The DUP’s Sammy Wilson (East Antrim) made the claim after the Labour leader was heckled and criticised for his response to the Prime Minister’s statement on the attack on Sergei Skripal and his daughter in Salisbury.
Mr Corbyn faced shouts of “shame” and “disgrace” from Tory MPs after raising questions about donations from Russian oligarchs to the Conservative Party.
He also faced criticism from some of his backbench MPs for appearing to make party-political points. Speaking in the Commons, Mr Corbyn condemned the “deeply alarming attack” and said the events in Salisbury had “appalled the country and need thorough investigation”.
He said: “We need to continue seeking a robust dialogue with Russia on all the issues dividing our countries, both domestic and international – rather than simply cutting off contact and simply letting tensions and divisions get worse, and potentially even more dangerous.”
Mr Corbyn was heckled by angry Tory MPs as he told the Commons: “We’re all familiar with the way huge fortunes, often acquired in the most dubious circumstances in Russia, sometimes connected with criminal elements, have ended up sheltering in London and trying to buy political influence in British party politics.
“Meddling in elections, as the Prime Minister put it, and there has been over £800,000 worth of donations to the Conservative Party from Russian oligarchs and their associates.”
Mr Wilson later said there needed to be “robust action” against those using the UK as a battleground. He asked: “Does the Prime Minister agree that in the face of yet further aggression from the Russian Mafia state, that the policy of the Leader of the Opposition to engage in robust dialogue will only encourage Putin to engage in further acts of state-sponsored terror?”
Mrs May said she agreed “we need to ensure we do, in fact, respond robustly to this matter”.
She added: “We need to do so with careful consideration of the assessments that have been made and the information that is available to us, and that is exactly what the Government is doing.
“I think nobody in this House should be in any doubt that there can be no suggestion of business as usual in relation to our interaction with Russia.”
Conservative Tom Tugendhat, Foreign Affairs committee chairman, said: “This, if not an act of war, was certainly a warlike act by the Russian Federation and this is not the first we’ve seen.
“While some in this House have stayed silent and decided to join the information warfare that that state is conducting against us and our allies, we have seen them invade countries in the east, attack allies, attempt to kill prime ministers and even now they are backing the murderous Assad regime.”
Meanwhile investigators wearing hazardous materials suits have been working in Winterslow six miles from Salisbury. Police and Army removed a white van from the village.
There can be no suggestion of business as usual. Prime Minister Theresa May speaking in the House of Commons.
NOW IT has been established that a Russian “military-grade” nerve agent was almost certainly used to poison former spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulla in Salisbury, Theresa May’s carefully defiant statement to Parliament encapsulated the crisis.
Either this was a “reckless and despicable act” perpetuated by the Russian state, said the Prime Minister in a speech of strong statesmanship, or the Kremlin has lost control of those responsible for handling this chemical weapon which has also left a police officer, Nick Bailey, seriously ill.
Having assessed the evidence, rather than offering a knee-jerk reaction demanded by many, much now hinges on the response that Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson has been ordered to ascertain from Russia’s ambassador by the close of today before Mrs May informs MPs about her next course of action.
If it is certain that Vladimir Putin’s regime was behind this latest act of aggression against the West, as appears likely, Britain will have to go further than it did after the murder of former KGB agent Alexander Litvinenko in London in 2006 when his poisoning led to the expulsion of diplomats and the freezing of assets held in the UK by Russian oligarchs. Yet, given this has proven to be of little deterrent, any action by Mrs May’s Government must be backed up by the UK’s allies around the world. They, too, can’t allow such flagrant breaches of international law to go unchecked.