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| Skripal poisoning: deleted Foreign Office tweet leads to awkward questions | Skripal poisoning: deleted Foreign Office tweet leads to awkward questions |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| Boris Johnson was facing embarrassing questions on Wednesday over his claims that Russia had produced the Salisbury nerve agent after it emerged that the Foreign Office had deleted a tweet blaming Moscow for the attack. | Boris Johnson was facing embarrassing questions on Wednesday over his claims that Russia had produced the Salisbury nerve agent after it emerged that the Foreign Office had deleted a tweet blaming Moscow for the attack. |
| With the foreign secretary already under pressure over his remarks two weeks ago that a Porton Down scientist had been “absolutely categorical” that the novichok had originated in the country, Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn accused him of “completely exceeding the information he had been given” after the emergence of the deleted Foreign Office tweet. | |
| The deletion, immediately seized on by the Russian embassy, has deepened the government’s difficulties after British scientists at the UK’s defence research laboratory announced on Tuesday that they had not established that the nerve agent used to poison Serghei and Yulia Skripal was made in Russia. | |
| After Porton Down said it had “not identified the precise source” of the poison, the foreign office issued a swift rebuttal saying the prime minister had always been clear that the assessment was “only one part” of the intelligence picture. | After Porton Down said it had “not identified the precise source” of the poison, the foreign office issued a swift rebuttal saying the prime minister had always been clear that the assessment was “only one part” of the intelligence picture. |
| The announcement prompted claims from the Kremlin that Britain was lying about the origins of the novichok and demanded an apology from Theresa May. | The announcement prompted claims from the Kremlin that Britain was lying about the origins of the novichok and demanded an apology from Theresa May. |
| However, it emerged on Wednesday that the Foreign Office had earlier deleted a tweet claiming the British scientists had concluded that the nerve agent was “produced in Russia”. | However, it emerged on Wednesday that the Foreign Office had earlier deleted a tweet claiming the British scientists had concluded that the nerve agent was “produced in Russia”. |
| In an awkward development for the FCO, the Russian embassy’s own twitter feed pointed out that the 20 March tweet on a presentation by Britain’s ambassador to Moscow on the Salisbury attack had disappeared. | In an awkward development for the FCO, the Russian embassy’s own twitter feed pointed out that the 20 March tweet on a presentation by Britain’s ambassador to Moscow on the Salisbury attack had disappeared. |
| Why would @foreignoffice delete this tweet from 22 March? pic.twitter.com/Nvu1BfJw9J | Why would @foreignoffice delete this tweet from 22 March? pic.twitter.com/Nvu1BfJw9J |
| The deleted tweet read: “Analysis by world-leading experts at the Defence Science and Technology laboratory at Porton Down made clear that this was a military grade nerve agent produced in Russia”. | The deleted tweet read: “Analysis by world-leading experts at the Defence Science and Technology laboratory at Porton Down made clear that this was a military grade nerve agent produced in Russia”. |
| Johnson is now under growing pressure to explain whether the government has shifted its position. | Johnson is now under growing pressure to explain whether the government has shifted its position. |
| A foreign office spokesman said: “An HMA Moscow [British ambassador Laurie Bristow] briefing on 22 March was tweeted in real time by @UKinRussia and amplified by @foreignoffice, to explain what happened in Salisbury to as wide an audience as possible. | A foreign office spokesman said: “An HMA Moscow [British ambassador Laurie Bristow] briefing on 22 March was tweeted in real time by @UKinRussia and amplified by @foreignoffice, to explain what happened in Salisbury to as wide an audience as possible. |
| “One of the tweets was truncated and did not accurately report our ambassador’s words. We have removed this tweet.” | “One of the tweets was truncated and did not accurately report our ambassador’s words. We have removed this tweet.” |
| According to an official transcript of the speech, Bristow’s original words were: “The analysts at Porton Down, the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory in the UK, established and made clear that this was a military-grade chemical weapon. One of the Novichok series; a nerve agent as I said produced in Russia.” | |
| Jeremy Corbyn, who faced criticism for his initial, cautious response to the novichok allegations, accused Johnson of exaggerating the evidence that Russia was to blame for the Salisbury poisoning. | |
| The Labour leader, asked on a campaign visit to Watford about the foreign secretary’s remarks on German television, said: “He claimed categorically - and I think he used the words 101 per cent - that it had come from Russia... | |
| “Boris Johnson seems to have completely exceeded the information that he had been given and told the world in categorical terms what he believed had happened. And it’s not backed up by the evidence he claimed to have got from Porton Down in the first place. Boris Johnson needs to answer some questions. | |
| He added that Johnson had been left with “egg on his face” over his interview. | |
| However, the European Commission said it had never thought that Porton Down was tasked with identifying the source of the substance used in Salisbury. | |
| Commission spokesman Alexander Winterstein told a Brussels press briefing: “Our understanding is that the role of the experts there was to identify the type of agent that was used, not the source of the agent... They did identify the nerve agent Novichok. That is what they have done.” | |
| Sergei Skripal | Sergei Skripal |
| Russia | Russia |
| Europe | Europe |
| Boris Johnson | Boris Johnson |
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