Salisbury Incident 2018: Update

Stewart Malcolm McDonald Excerpts

Tuesday 21st September 2021 Commons Chamber

[Priti Patel]

Yes. My hon. Friend raises an important and serious point about wider security and how we keep out those who should not come into our country. As I mentioned, the changes introduced in 2019 speak exactly to that, but not only that: they also speak not just to the primary control point at the border but to the level of information exchanged behind the scenes among intelligence agencies, law enforcement operatives and Border Force, way before individuals even come towards our country. Those significant changes have been made over a period of time.

[Stewart Malcolm McDonald (Glasgow South) (SNP)]

I do not disagree with anything that was in the Home Secretary’s statement and commend every word of it, but will she explain something that I am perhaps just not understanding? Why is it that we were able to identify the two individuals so swiftly after the event but it is has taken three years to identify the third individual who was involved in the Salisbury poisoning? I know it is a complex investigation, but I would be grateful if she could outline something that I am perhaps not picking up.

Given that we are talking about a breach of the chemical weapons convention, why has the Home Secretary not announced a single new sanction or diplomatic response, given that we know that the crime involved more people than we initially thought who came to this country and left? Why were there not more expulsions or sanctions? Does the range of threats emanating from Russia, whether in Ukraine, Salisbury or Syria, not underline the need for greater Euro-Atlantic defence and security co-operation, not less?

[Priti Patel]

I thank the hon. Gentleman for his questions. There are a number of points to make. First, the hon. Gentleman himself referred, as have I, to the fact that the investigation is complex. A great deal of work has been done by the security and intelligence agencies and counter-terrorism policing, but I am not in a position to speak of the details at the Dispatch Box today, because there are a lot of sensitivities, including in terms of how much of that information has come together. I know that the hon. Gentleman and the entire House will respect that.

On the wider threats, it is fair to say that from this Dispatch Box and across the House and its various Committees, including the Intelligence and Security Committee, the Foreign Affairs Committee and the Defence Committee—across all aspects of national security—we see Russia at the heart of not only the many threats that some of us see on a near-daily basis, but the type of threats that do not manifest because of the brilliant, exemplary work done by those who are employed to protect our homeland.

The hon. Gentleman referred to some of the wider work that could take place; we rule nothing out. As I said earlier in response to the questions from his colleague, the right hon. Member for Ross, Skye and Lochaber (Ian Blackford), discussions are taking place. The UN General Assembly is taking place and the Foreign Secretary is currently at the UN. All such discussions with our allies and many of our bilateral counterparts are absolutely in flight. We are constantly having discussions—more so now, at this particularly pressing time—to consider the other levers we have and what the next steps should be.