Sergei Skripal 'poisoning' - as it happened: Theresa May chairs National Security Council meeting on Russian spy incident
Russian government says it has 'no information' on apparent poisoning of former double agent and his daughter
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Your support makes all the difference.Police are continuing to investigate the "unknown substance" that left a former Russian double agent and his daughter in a critical condition in hospital.
Sergei Skripal, 66, and his 33-year-old daughter, Yulia, were found unconscious on a bench in Salisbury on Sunday.
Several members of emergency services personnel who responded to the call were themselves taken ill, with one remaining in hospital.
Investigators have seized CCTV footage from a nearby gym showing a man and woman, believed to be the victims, walking nearby just half an hour before police were called.
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Boris Johnson, the Foreign Secretary, confirmed the victims' identities while answering an urgent question on the incident in the House of Commons.
“It is too early to speculate as to the precise nature of the crime or attempted crime that has taken place in Salisbury, but I know members will have their suspicions and what I will say is that if those suspicions prove to be well-founded than this Government will take whatever measures we deem necessary to protect the lives of people in this country, our values and our freedoms,” he said.
“Though I am not now pointing fingers, I say to governments around the world that no attempt to take innocent life on UK soil will go either unsanctioned or unpunished.”
An Italian chain restaurant has been closed as a precaution, with staff being interviewed as the probe continues.
Relatives told the BBC that Ms Skripal, 33, was in Britain to visit her father. His son is said to have died in non-suspicious circumstances while on holiday in Russia last year.
Mr Skripal is a former Russian double agent, who was convicted in his home country after spying for the UK.
Once a colonel in Russia's GRU military intelligence service, he was given refuge in Britain after he was exchanged in 2010 for Russian spies caught in the West as part of a Cold War-style swap in Vienna.
The case has been compared to that of former FSB officer Alexander Litvinenko, who died after being poisoned with radioactive polonium-210, which was believed to have been put in his tea.
The Independent understands that police are looking for similarities between the cases and the modus operandi used.
Counter-terror police are helping with the investigation, although the incident itself is not terror-related.
Wiltshire Police said that Public Health England “reiterated that, based on the evidence to date, there is no known risk to the public's health.
“However, as a precaution they have advised that if you feel ill contact NHS on 111. If you feel your own or another's health is significantly deteriorating, ring 999”.
A major incident was declared at Salisbury District Hospital after the patients arrived, with people told not to attend A&E unless it is “extremely urgent”.
In Russia, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told a conference call with reporters Russia that the government did not “have any information” but was ready to cooperate with Britain if asked.
The Prime Minister and senior ministers have been updated on the investigation at a meeting of the National Security Council in the Cabinet room. It followed a meeting of senior officials earlier in the day, Downing Street said.
The Russian Embassy in London has said the country is being "demonised" in news coverage of the incident and has contacted the Foreign Office to complain.
A spokesperson said: “The situation regarding the hospitalisation of Sergei Skripal and another person on March 4, as described by the British media, causes serious concern.
”As of today, the police or other British authorities have not provided the Embassy with any official information regarding this incident. The Foreign Office has not given any notifications either.
“However, the media are swiftly launching a new phase of the anti-Russian campaign ongoing in the UK. Readers are offered various speculations which ultimately lead to a vilification of Russia.
“Although UK law enforcement agencies have not given any substantive comments on this incident, media reports create an impression of a planned operation by the Russian special services, which is completely untrue.
“We believe that the British authorities and law enforcement bodies should step in immediately and inform the Embassy and the British society about the actual circumstances of this incident, so as to end the demonisation of Russia. With this in mind, the Embassy has turned to the Foreign Office for clarifications.”
A military research facility is thought to be conducting tests after Russian double agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia were exposed to an unknown substance.
The Defence Science and Technology Laboratory in Porton Down, which has state-of-the-art equipment to look for trace amounts of substances, is believed to be involved in examining what could have caused them to fall ill.
Salisbury MP and city minister John Glen told the BBC: "Fortunately just down the road in my constituency at Porton Down defence, science and technology labs exists and they will have taken the substance and will be trying to evaluate what they can, no doubt."
An unnamed ex-radiation biologist said in a comment issued through the Science Media Centre: "If the outcome is not just something like a couple of dodgy kebabs - again less probable with both individuals being symptomatic at the same time and with considerable rapidity if they had just eaten there - then I would look for a chemical source.
"Decontamination at the scene would also suggest that possibility. However, we shouldn't totally ignore biological contamination of food or the environment.
"However, the latter would have caused a wider response from PHE and the authorities."
The Russian Embassy posted a short response to Mr Johnson's address to MPs, saying ironically: "We are impressed by the statement of the Foreign Secretary in Parliament today. The Foreign Secretary spoke in such a manner as if the investigation was already over and Russia was found responsible for what had happened in Salisbury."
The statement continued: "We regret that instead of a proper official clarification on the issue the Foreign Secretary chose to threaten Russia with retribution. Looks like the script of yet another anti-Russian campaign has been already written."
After Boris Johnson suggested that "UK representation" at this summer’s World Cup in Russia cannot "go ahead in the normal way", the Russian embassy took to social media to post this clip:
The police cordon surrounding the investigation scene in Salisbury was extended on Tuesday evening at about 8pm.
It now shuts off access to the bridge by the Bishop's Mill Pub, which closed to the public from Tuesday morning.
Zizzi restaurant is now approaching its 24th hour of being shut by police, who said the move was a "precaution" on Monday night.
PA
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