By ‘a very rare toxic substance’
Mark Rowley, head of UK counterterrorism, urged the public: “The focus at this time is to establish what has caused these people to become critically ill. The two people taken ill were in Salisbury centre from around 1.30pm. Did you see anything out of the ordinary? It may be that at the time, nothing appeared out of place or untoward but with what you now know, you remember something that might be of significance.
“Your memory of that afternoon and your movements alone could help us with missing pieces of the investigation. The weather was poor that day so there were not as many people out and about. Every statement we can take is important.”
Mrs May was urged to order “mass expulsions” of Russian diplomats if the Kremlin was shown to be behind the incident.
Former foreign office minister Chris Bryant, who now chairs the all-party parliamentary group on Russia, said: “I don’t think the Government will have any choice but to send a significant number of ‘so-called Russian diplomats’ back to Moscow if there is any evidence that the trail from Salisbury goes straight back to the Kremlin.”
The Russian embassy in London has dismissed claims that the poisoning was an operation by Russian special services as “completely untrue” and said that the claims were “vilification” attempts on Russia.
Theories over who was responsible grew today with one former KGB agent even claiming the poisoning of Skripal was an operation by Western secret services to harm Vladimir Putin as he seeks re-election this month.
Alastair Hay, a toxicology professor at the University of Leeds, said it it was too early to speculate on suggestions that the substance thallium was involved. But he said the fact that Public Health England had said there was no wider risk to the public suggested there might have been “some very specific contact with the substance and limited spread”.
Theories include that a would-be assassin spiked the couple’s food or drinks at the restaurant or the pub or that an attacker sprayed a substance in their faces in the street.
Two police vans were still parked outside Zizzi’s restaurant early this morning, blocking the windows.Teams in protective suits and masks were seen last night inside the restaurant and the pub, which both remain closed to the public. Two forensic tents remain in a car park nearby.