Salisbury MP urges UK to ‘resist appeasement’ of Russia on Novichok anniversary
Commons Leader Lucy Powell said the attacks were evidence of ‘what a terror the Russian regime is on our soil’.
The MP for Salisbury has called on the Government to “resist appeasement” of Russia on the seven-year anniversary of the Novichok poisonings which left one person dead and more than 80 people in A&E.
Commons Leader Lucy Powell said the attacks were evidence of “what a terror the Russian regime is on our soil”.
Sergei and Yulia Skripal and former police officer Nick Bailey were all poisoned by Novichok in Salisbury, Wiltshire, in March 2018.
During business questions in the Commons, Conservative former minister John Glen spoke of the impact the attacks had on his constituency and asked for a debate on the “role of Russia in the world”.
Mr Glen told MPs: “Seven years ago this week on the orders of (Russian President Vladimir) Putin in the Kremlin, my constituents faced Novichok, which had an enormous impact on the way of life in Salisbury for several months and in the end Dawn Sturgess died.
“Please could we have a debate on the position of Russia in the world at a time of changing geopolitics, because it’s absolutely clear to the people of Salisbury, as it is to the people of this country, that an enduring peace can only be achieved if we resist appeasement and ensure that we have a secure arrangement with Europe and the US hopefully fully engaged.
“We need to discuss that urgently and discuss the role of Russia in the world going forward.”
“This is not some separate or foreign incident just affecting Ukraine.
“It has directly affected this country and direct consequences for us, and that’s why as a whole House, we stand steadfast in our support for Ukraine.
“We are working as a Government night and day to build those global alliances to ensure that there is that long-lasting security and peace, not just in Ukraine, but across Europe and elsewhere in the world, because we have seen first hand what Russia does when Russia is not kept in check.”
In November last year Jonathan Allen, director general of defence and intelligence at the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, told the Dawn Sturgess Inquiry that Mr Putin would have authorised the assassination attempt on Mr Skripal because of the “enormous” reputational risk the Novichok poisonings would have posed to Russia.
Also speaking at the inquiry, Michael Mansfield KC said the threat to Mr Skripal from Russia was “manifestly obvious” and there had been “an abject failure by the United Kingdom government to protect the United Kingdom public”.
