No proof that Russia tried to kill Scripal

LIKE Jeremy Corbyn and John McDonnell, I have clear memories of the “sexed-up” dossier used as a pretext for a British-American invasion of Iraq in 2003, with all its disastrous consequences.

It is a pity that Stephen Kinnock and Nia Griffith seem ready to play with fire once again, putting their trust in a partial version of events that is incomplete and speculative.

Corbyn and McDonnell are right: we need proper evidence and due process through the UN, not a witchhunt.

The attempted assassination of a Russian-born British double-agent has been described by Boris Johnson as a terrorist attack on a city, instigated by Putin.

If it was a Russian state action, it was no different in kind from the UK government’s assassination of IRA members in Gibraltar or of British citizens fighting for Isis. No conclusive proof has been presented of Russian state culpability.

This was certainly not a terrorist attack on a city. If nerve agent had been poured into the water supply of Salisbury that would match the description.

Rather, Scripal was a very specific and eccentric target. Unacceptable certainly, but with far less “collateral” than the many assassinations carried out by British and American drones in Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan since 2003.

The present cold war with Russia predates Putin. Both sides have escalated it in recent years. May’s government is taking it to another level on the smallest of pretexts.