Salisbury attack inquiry will establish whether British government was right to name Russia responsible

Family of victim Dawn Sturgess express concern as no date yet set for public inquiry to start

A public inquiry into the Salisbury novichok attack aims to establish whether the British government was “right or not” to name the Russian state responsible, its chair has said.

It will look at the events leading up to the death of Dawn Sturgess, who was poisoned almost four months after the attempted assassination of Sergei Skripal in March 2018.

Lord Hughes, the former Supreme Court judge leading the probe, said “a good deal of sensitive material” from police and the security services would have to be considered in closed hearings.