YULIA SKRIPAL

is one tough customer. I am full of admiration for her.

First, she survived a nerve agent attack. Then the 33-year-old, who was discharged from hospital this week, briskly refused any help from the Russian embassy, thank you very much.

‘No one speaks for me, or for my father,’ she said, putting her relatives on notice that they are to stop making statements on her behalf. Her father is still seriously ill and her fiancé might be implicated in the double poisoning, but Yulia has no time to feel sorry for herself and is quickly taking back control of her life after this horrific event.

Congrats to Salisbury District Hospital, the first responders and everyone who dealt so valiantly with this incident fresh from the pages of a spy novel.

Not least Yulia herself.