Amesbury poisoning - LIVE: 'Contaminated item' blamed for critical condition of Wiltshire couple still not found
Counterror police investigate after pair poisoned with same chemical weapon used in attempted assassination of Russian ex-spy
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Police are still hunting for an item contaminated with a Soviet-era nerve agent blamed for the collapse of a couple in Amesbury after the UK government accused Russia of using ”barbaric and inhumane” chemical weapons on Britain’s streets.
Home secretary Savid Javid chaired an emergency Cobra meeting after Dawn Sturgess and Charlie Rowley fell critically ill in Amesbury four months after exposure to the same novichok toxin used in an assassination attempt on Russian ex-spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter.
The couple are fighting for life in hospital after falling ill on Saturday.
Mr Javid told MPs that results from the government’s Porton Down laboratory confirmed the pair had been poisoned with ”the exact same nerve agent” used in March’s assassination attempt, which the British government alleges was planned by the Kremlin.
Mr Rowley, 45, and Ms Sturgess, 44, are not thought to have been deliberately targeted and have no known links to the Skripals or espionage.
One theory understood to be under investigation is that the pair may have inadvertently found a container used to transport the nerve agent for the initial attack and which may have been discarded in a public place.
Their poisoning has raised serious questions about the multi-million-pound clean-up following the attack in Salisbury, about eight miles from Amesbury.
Police said there is no evidence that either of the latest victims had recently visited any of the sites that were part of the original clean-up.
Securities minister Ben Wallace said the public are at “low risk” but “not zero risk”.
The Russian government has denied involvement in the attack on the Skripals and any role in or knowledge of the incident in Amesbury.
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The Russian government has reiterated its denial of involvement in the initial Salisbury nerve agent attack that is believed to have led to the poisoning of British couple more than three months later.
The Kremlin said it had offered its assistance to UK investigators following the attempted assassination of former spy Sergei Skripal in March but was rebuffed.
Moscow issued a statement this morning after British security minister Ben Wallace called on Russia to "come and tell us what happened".
.Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said: "This is very disturbing news. Of course, it triggers profound concern in connection with the similar incidents in the UK."
He said the Russian government wished the victims of the poisoning "a speedy recovery".
The Kremlin's embassy in the Netherlands earlier suggested it would not be so "dumb" as to launch nerve agent attack while Russia "in the middle of the FIFA World Cup".
The argument is something of a straw man, since British authorities have already said they do not believe there was second attack in Salisbury and that the latest victims were instead poisoned by remnants of novichok from the earlier attempted murder of the Skripals.
People in Salisbury have been told not to pick up discarded objects after Dawn Sturgess and Charlie Rowley were accidentally exposed to novichok. Our home affairs correspondent Lizzie Dearden has the full details:
One of the scientists credited with inventing the novichok series of Soviet nerve agents has told The Independent he is not surprised the chemical is still present in Salisbury.
“Unlike some of my colleagues, I’ve always said that it is very stable,” said Vladimir Uglyov. “It can persist for years, with nothing much happening to it. There is a very, very, slow process of evaporation.”
Speaking to our Moscow correspondent Oliver Carroll, the now-retired scientist warned novichoks could bury themselves in paint, trees and possibly wooden benches.
“It can get in and remain there for a very long time," he said. "If it is on a neutral surface, it will only degrade on account of evaporation. And that would be a long process.
“There is the question of how the assassins dealt with the leftovers. Maybe they threw it away somewhere. Only the police investigation will be able to offer serious clues.”
Although the Kremlin is suspected of carrying out the nerve agent attack in Salisbury earlier this year, Vladimir Putin may be ruing the timing of the poisoning of two Britons in Amesbury, as an expert in Russian security at the Institute of International Relations points out:
The UK government has notified the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons about the latest poisoning, a spokesman for Theresa May has said.
The Prime Minister sought to reassure the public that the risk was low and Salisbury was "very much open for business".
In a statement, she said:
All of my thoughts today are with the victims and with the people of Amesbury and Salisbury.
After the brazen and reckless attempt to murder the Skripals with novichok in March, the community showed tremendous fortitude, patience and resilience.
Once again, the public is having to contend with the consequences of two people being exposed to a nerve agent, and I would like to personally thank local businesses and residents for their co-operation. We once again also sincerely thank our brave emergency services for their response.
The message from Salisbury is clear: it is very much open for business. The government will continue to provide every support to the local community.
Downing Street insisted the "risk to the general public is low" and would not say that the apparent contamination of two other people suggests the original clean-up operation failed.
"The sites subject to clean-up operations after the attack on the Skripals are not associated with this incident," a spokesman added.
But Ms May's words of reassurance may seem at odds with the situation in Salisbury, where remnants of the novichok nerve agent have apparently lain undiscovered for months.
Home secretary Savid Javid is delivering a statement in Parliament about the poisoning now, following an emergency Cobra meeting this morning.
Foreign secretary Boris Johnson, defence secretary Gavin Williamson, environment secretary Michael Gove and communities secretary James Brokenshire were also in the meeting, along with other ministers.
Mr Javid said he understands Salisbury residents will be "anxious" but reiterates that Public Health England believe there is "no significant risk" to the public.
Javid says all sites visited by the Skripals after they were poisoned were decontaminated and there is no evidence Dawn Sturgess and Charlie Rowley visited any of the sites that were part of the original clean-up operation.
Authorities are working around the clock to establish what happened and there will be an increased police presence in Amesbury and Salisbury, he adds.
More than 100 counter-terrorism detectives are working on the case.
Javid says a suspeted link to the Skripal case is the main line of inquiry in the investigation.
He says the use of chemical weapons is “barbaric and inhumane” and the decision of the Russian government to deploy them in Salisbury in March was “reckless and callous”.
The home secretary calls on the Russian government to explain what happened, adding the eyes of the world were on the country because of the World Cup.
Shadow home secretary Diane Abbott says the public will want assurances that the latest clean-up is effective.
She also asks for assurances that healthcare workers have sufficient training to recognise the impact of nerve agents, noting it took two days for staff at Salisbury District General - where the Skripals were also treated - to come to the conclusion that Dawn Sturgess and Charlie Rowley had been poisoned.
The Labour MP says the UK's streets cannot be allowed to "become killing fields for state actors".
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