Chemical war threat

sir – It is three years since the first ever chemical weapons attack on British soil took place in Salisbury, killing one and injuring five. But for the brilliance of the emergency services, police, security services, NHS and Armed Forces, the death toll could have been in the thousands.

This attack and the Covid pandemic have brought to the world’s attention the potential of chemical and biological weapons. Their massive impact will be noticed by every dictator, despot, rogue state and terrorist who aims to do us harm.

The long-delayed and muchanticipated Integrated Review of Security, Defence, Development and Foreign Policy is shortly to be published. Let us hope that extra time has allowed planners, academics and consultants to assimilate fully the implications of these asymmetric, terrifyingly effective weapons, and to develop the capability to nullify them.

Let us also hope that enough is left of the Army not only to defeat our foes but also to support humanitarian operations in war-ravaged lands, and to provide support to civil authorities – which was key to getting us all through the current pandemic.

If we do not acknowledge that weaponised chemistry and biology represent existential threats to the planet in the 21st century comparable to that posed by weaponised atomic science in the 20th, we will be undone. Hamish de Bretton-gordon Salisbury, Wiltshire