Salisbury spy strike: nationwide protection council satisfies to go over reaction

PM reportedly facing pressure from some ministers to take tougher line with Russia in response to attempted slayings in Salisbury

The government's national security council( NSC) will meet again on Monday morning to discuss the response to events in Salisbury, amid speculation that Theresa May is facing pressure from some of her pastors to take a tougher line against Russia if it is decided the country is behind the attempted murders.

Downing Street has publicly declined to say what action might be merited, if any, insisting that nothing can be decided while the police investigation is still ongoing.

But the meeting of the NSC- which brings together senior pastors with intelligence and security officials , amongst other- is expected to see some ministers alert the prime minister that a tougher posture is needed than that find after the poisoning of Alexander Litvinenko in London in 2006.

The foreign secretary, Boris Johnson- who took a robust line on Russia in the Commons last week- is understood to be pushing for strong action, along with the defence secretary, Gavin Williamson, and the chancellor, Philip Hammond.

A government source said the NSC meeting was expected to mark more concerted action over attributing responsibility for events in Salisbury and then deciding on a response.” We're certainly moving into that stage ,” they said.” You can probably expect more concrete decisions than last week over what will happen next .”

Meanwhile, a public health warning urge hundreds of people who visited a pub and eatery where the Russian spy Sergei Skripal may have been poisoned to wash their clothes and possessions has triggered concerns about the velocity of official responses to the Salisbury incident.

The recommendations from Public Health England( PHE) released on Sunday morning was aimed at as many as 500 customers who ate at the Zizzi restaurant or were in the Mill pub in the centre of Salisbury last Sunday and Monday.

The precautionary guidance reinforces mistrusts that the nerve agent used on Skripal and his daughter a week ago was first administered inside the restaurant. Tracings of contamination have reportedly been found on and around the table where the two Russians sat. Some of the furniture and other items are said to have been destroyed to prevent further poisonings.

Scotland Yard, which is running the investigation, would neither confirm or deny claims of contamination at the restaurant. Police activity was also visible at the nearby Mill pub, where traces of the substance have also been found.

The public health notice said that although the risk was very low, repeated contact with clothing or items exposed to the nerve agent could still be a danger.

Jenny Harries, PHE's regional director for the south of England, told a press conference on Sunday:” We have learned that there has been a limited contamination in both the Mill pub and in Zizzi restaurant in Salisbury .”

Asked about the delay in issuing the notice, Harries insisted it had been done in a timely fashion once the contamination was known about.

Quick guide

Timeline: the poisoning of Sergei and Yulia Skripal

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1. 30 pm

Police have confirmed that Skripal and his daughter were in Salisbury city centre by 1.30 pm. It is not known if they strolled from his house or whether they drove or were driven in.

Between 1.30 pm and around 4pm

Skripal and his daughter strolled around Salisbury and visited the Zizzi restaurant on Castle Street and the nearby Mill pub. They are believed to have been in Zizzi for about 40 minutes from 2.30 pm.

3. 47 pm

A CCTV camera at Snap Fitness in Market Walk captured two people initially thought to be Skripal and his daughter. The girl appeared to be carrying a red handbag. Later it became clear the pair were probably not the Russian and his daughter. Police have been keen to speak to the couple.

4. 03 pm

The same camera catch personal trainer Freya Church. She turned left out of the gym and in front of her find Skripal and the woman on a bench at the Maltings shopping mall. She said the woman had passed out and the man was behaving strangely. Church walked on.

4. 08 pm

Footage that emerged on Friday from a local business showed that people were still strolling casually through Market Walk.

Approx 4.15 pm

A member of the public dialled 999. The Friday footage proves an emergency vehicle racing through the pedestrianised arcade shortly after 4.15 pm. A paramedic also operated through. Police and paramedics worked on the couple at the scene for almost an hour in ordinary uniforms.

5. 11 pm

The woman was airlifted to hospital; Skripal was taken by road.

5. 13 pm

Images taken a number of a passerby is demonstrating that policemen were still clearly unaware of the severity of developments in the situation. They did not have specialist protective garment and members of the community also strolled nearby.

5. 48 pm

Police told Salisbury Journal they were investigating a possible drug-related incident. At about this time officers identified Skripal and his daughter and by Sunday evening they were at his home- in normal uniform or street clothes. At some phase DS Nick Bailey , now seriously ill in hospital, visited the Skripal house, but it is not known where he was contaminated.

Approx 8.20 pm

Officers donned protective suits to examine the bench and surrounding areas.

By 9pm

Officers were hosing themselves down. It was not until the next day that a major incident was declared.

Photograph: Ben Stansall/ AFP

” We work with our colleagues here on a continuous risk-assessment basis ,” she said.” When we get new information, we continuously risk-assess groups of people who may have become exposed from the evidence we have in front of us. As new proof is currently available, we act on that immediately .”

Harries said that most people who were at the saloon would have already cleaned the clothes they were wearing. Anyone who suffered symptoms such as nausea or blurred vision was more likely to have flu than be a victim of chemical warfare. She declined to reveal how the Skripals had been given the nerve agent, whether it was in powdered kind in their food or scattered as a liquid spray.

Cara Charles-Barks, the chief executive of Salisbury NHS foundation trust, said the two Russians remained in a critical but stable conditions. She added that DS Nick Bailey, who was taken ill after attending the scene, was in a serious but stable condition. Kier Pritchard, acting chief constable of Wiltshire police, said Bailey was conscious and engaged with visitors.

The PHE statement said:” While there is no immediate health risk to anyone who may have been in either of these places, it is possible, but unlikely, that any of the substance which has come into contact with clothing or belongings could still be present in minute amounts and therefore contaminate your skin. Over time, repeated scalp contact with polluted items may pose a small risk to health .”

It recommended reducing the risks in several ways. The statement said:” Clean the clothing that you were wearing in an ordinary machine use your regular detergent at the temperature recommended for the clothing. Any items which cannot be washed, and which would normally be dry cleaned, should be put in two plastic bags tied at the top and stored safely in your own home.

” Wipe personal items such as phones, handbags and other electronic items with cleansing or newborn wipes and dispose of the wipes in the bin( ordinary domestic waste disposal ). Other items such as jewellery and spectacles, which cannot go in the washing machine or be cleaned with cleansing or baby wipes, should be hand-washed with warm water and detergent and then rinsed with clean, cold water .”

Skripal and his daughter feed in the restaurant hours before they were found unconscious last Sunday. On Monday, Wiltshire police said the restaurant, on Castle Street, had been closed as a precaution, and it remains cordoned off.

The home secretary, Amber Rudd, said police had identified more than 240 witness and 200 pieces of evidence. The Ministry of Defence said armed forces personnel would return to Salisbury to assist for a third day on Sunday.

Commenting on the latest development, Alastair Hay, professor emeritus of environmental toxicology at Leeds University, said:” The sites may reveal where the agent was administered … It is important to note that nerve agents do degraded in the environment so you want to collect any evidence as soon as possible. Contact with moisture will lead to breakdown of the nerve agent: this is why people having visited the restaurant or pub in question last Sunday afternoon or Monday are being advised to wash their possessions.

” The advice to wash belongings is a precautionary measure. If no one has had physical symptoms suggestive of nerve agent contact by now it is unlikely that they are a risk .”

Different nerve agents decay at different rates, he added. Sarin breaks down more rapidly whereas VX is more persistent. Although the unusual nerve agent used in Salisbury has been identified by chemical weapons experts, its name and chemical composition has not yet been made public.

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