saying that now after this news that porton down was not able to link the chemical agents directly to russia now the onus lay on the united kingdom to provide further evidence that backs up their allegations that it was russia that was behind the poisoning of the skin of poles he said that whatever your opinions on russia international law has to be it. two of the stories here the study international law it would really require it's certainly amongst the nato allies that it followed the united kingdom that london should share with them the extra intelligence that they have that came from a senior figure of course with a. party there was a statement from the german government as well one of their spokespeople saying that the official german line is they stand with the united kingdom and with the u.k.'s version of events we also heard from a representative from the european commission who said that actually the role of porton down wasn't to determine where this came from in the first place. our understanding is that. the rule of the expert there was to identify the type of agent that wa

dodged well it seems that all of that was going well until yesterday when the chief executive of porton down came out and said that not only were the scientists not able to prove that the nerve agent came from russia but generally speaking they didn't know what the source was we know verify the for say source but we provided the scientific information to the government but you have not been able to establish porton down that this was made in russia as i said it's our job to provide eight you know the scientific evidence that identifies for the particular narrow feature is that it's not our job to see where that actually was manufacturers are typically you will not tell you to look cool down to say where it is from we haven't yet been able to do that at the same time the foreign office is saying everything is still the way it was and nothing is inconsistent they really have they've said quote the foreign secretary was making clear that porton down were sure it was another charkha point they have reinforced what the foreign secretary said then and what porton down have said recently is fully c

well following those statements from porton down it seems to many who've been were following the story very closely quite coincidental that the foreign office went ahead and deleted that tweet that puts russia at the source the next day now at the same time the foreign office is saying everything is still the way it was and nothing is inconsistent they really have they've said quote the foreign secretary was making clear that porton down were sure it was another charkha point they have reinforced what the foreign secretary said then and what porton down have said recently is fully consistent with what we have said throughout it is russia that is putting forward multiple versions of events and obfuscating the truth and quote well suffice it to see that on social media things are not so clear to anybody who's been following this and there have been quite a few tweets posted here in the u.k. calling for the resignation of boris johnson we also know that the labor party has challenged the u.k. foreign secretary to explain himself in the situation and opposition party leader jeremy corbyn h

they will see no we can't determine that in the head of porton down. all only person who provided the technical evidence but of course it's impossible because the full bore tree. was rushed to make sure that he that everybody understands that he didn't actually provided. didn't provide. this technical expertise a solution the meeting itself still going on as we speak leaks in our correspondent also said that russia has requested once again for a joint investigation they want to be in on this they want to help the u.k. come to a conclusion on this poisoning the u.k. has responded calling this strange and just a way to detract attention what do you think what would you what would they do that is not your p.c. w. is supposed to be transparent organization open to everybody why would they refuse russia's participation in this of course it is strange to hear from the u.k. that the desire of russia to nor. why russia is blamed strange. in talking about the. w involvement actually russia follows exactly by the procedures of the convention. so on the thirteent

but what the the analysis from the scientists at porton down now even through is greater question as to what this what the origin of this. was and i think that that's what needs to be taken to ground and figured out once and for all where did come from if you can ever determine that. i don't know that they will be able to i'm not a scientist on that in that position to comment on that but it shows that there is question and that they cannot determine that it was from russia and that's significant. well michael here's a question we'll put the down did add that you know it wasn't their primary objective to establish what country these nerve agent came from rather their job was to establish what it was but at this point irregardless of which way the investigation goes with it. they say that you know it was a brush oh well it was russia in the in the future this is does it matter anymore hasn't the damage being done what with all these expulsions a new fall in the in relations well yeah but i think the expulsions and the allegations is part of the general western anti russian approach ri

the people from porton down, they were absolutely categorical.sked the quy absolutely categorical. i asked the guy myself, i said, are you sure? he said there was no doubt. today the foreign office deleted and inaccurate tweet from the last month which also suggested porton down pointed the finger at russia. that gave russian diplomats another chance to question britain's evidence, calling at short notice a meeting with the chemical weapons watchdog, opcw, and a joint investigation with the uk. they have accused britain of an anti—russian campaign, but today struck a less controversial tone... translation: we are waiting for common sense to prevail so international relations are no longer damaged in the way that they have been, as we have seen recently. british diplomats and ministers insisted that the job of porton down was to identify the nerve agent, and it was for police and intelligence services to establish who used it, and why. porton down identified fairly quickly the strain of nerve agent. when identified committee removed from the list

the foreign secretary was making clear that porton down we re was making clear that porton down weregent was novichok, a point they have subsequently reinforced. he goes on in the same interview to make clear why, based on that information additional intelligence, and, as i said, the lack of alternative explanation from the russians, we have reached the conclusion we have. what the foreign secretary said then, what porton down have said recently, is fully consistent with what we have said throughout. in contrast, mr president, we have had innumerable theories from the russians. i think we have counted some 2a, in all. on the 21st of march, for example, the russian foreign ministry said they believed terrorists did it. on the 14th of march, mr laffer of lavrov —— mr said it was trying to distract from brexit. use of chemical weapons on british soil is far too serious for these theories to hold water. chemical weapons convention, which came into force 21 years ago, is clear in article seven that states should adopt legislation criminalising that activity prohibited under the convention

foreign office is denying that boris johnson said that the military lab in porton down told him that russia was responsible for the script poisoning now let's go live to westminster our correspondent and us to see it there i know that if my memory is deceiving me then it seems all rather contradictory what's coming out of where you are. well colin certainly the plot seems to think in as now a game of he said she said is unraveling in london this comes as the foreign office indeed has denied that u.k. foreign secretary boris johnson had confirmed that experts at porton down confirm to him that russia was behind this crew paul incident now this comes following of course yesterday's huge developments where we saw the chief executive of porton down say that while they have determined that what was used was a military grade nerve agent however they were not able to determine the source of where this came from and afterwards a video of boris johnson giving an interview prior surfaced that certainly garnered lots of attention where he says that there is no doubt left for him after talking t

porton down have not said that.entified it as novichok and cannot identify the source novichok and cannot identify the source of it. either the foreign secretary has information that he's not sharing with porton down or it was a bit of exaggeration. i don't know which it is, but i think we need irresponsible approach to this. we need to get to the source of this to prevent it ever happening again. of course, in his latest interview, borisjohnson of course, in his latest interview, boris johnson says of course, in his latest interview, borisjohnson says he asked the head of porton down if he could be absolutely sure that it was novichok. and the scientists told borisjohnson yes, he was sure it was novichok, not that he was sure that novichok came from russia. and so in political terms, norman, it has been a month since it is attack, this is a constant to and fro and that in essence... no sign of that going away. neither side is good to change its views here. that points to another area of concern for the british gove

state but both unhelpful and worrying that boris johnson on the record declaring categorically that porton down claimed it was from russia seemingly without clear evidence which is it well tonight the foreign office responded to a request from us with this statement the foreign secretary was making clear that portman down were sure it was a noble a point that they have reinforced and he goes on the same interview to make clear why based on that information additional intelligence and the lack of alternative explanation from the russians we have reached the conclusion we have what the foreign secretary said then and what porton down had said recently is fully consistent with what we have said throughout it is russia that is putting forward multiple versions of events and obvious katie the. well we want to go now to our moscow bureau chief yuri rich other he's on the story for his tonight's good evening to you yuri so we've got russia saying that it is being sidelined from the investigation into the scruples poisoning do we know what the kremlin plans to do next high brant from moscow it is very

the foreign secretary said then and what porton down have said recently is fully consistent with what we have said throughout it is russia that is putting forward multiple versions of events and obfuscating the truth and quote well suffice it to see that on social media things are not so clear to anybody who's been following this and there have been quite a few tweets posted here in the u.k. calling for the resignation of boris johnson we also know that the libor party has challenged the u.k. foreign secretary to explain himself in the situation boris johnson has serious questions to answer he claimed on german television this was a russian produced nerve agent and porton down then examined it and said all the clincher had to fight was the truth they couldn't say were came from well now it remains to be seen whether or not boris johnson is going to be answering any of those questions given the vigorous ness with which accusations against russia have flown very early on in this case pretty much as soon as the name of the man poisoned or paul came out into the spotlight or boris johnson

dart well it seems that all of that was going well until yesterday when the chief executive of porton down came out and said that not only were the scientists not able to prove that the nerve agent came from russia but generally speaking they didn't know what the source was we have not verified the for say source but we provided the scientific information to the government but you have not been able to establish porton down that this was made in russia as i said it's our job to provide eat you know the scientific evidence that identifies for the particular and their future is but it's not our job to see where actually was manufactured are typically you're not to look cool down to say where it is from we haven't yet been able to do that at the same time the foreign office is saying everything is still the way it was and nothing is inconsistent well suffice it to see that on social media things are not so clear to anybody who's been following this and there have been quite a few tweets posted here in the u.k. calling for the resignation of boris johnson we also know that the labor party has

and look at the at the evidence we the people from from porton down the the the part of aig claimed to call it they were absolutely categorical and i asked the guy why so i said are you sure and he said as they die today come from russia we're not expecting any seems like an apology when you know that the russians designed it was the consequence just expecting common sense to try to see him and we know that the russians were the only people to make it on stoplight it. also coming up on this day one thousand nine hundred sixty eight dr martin luther king was murdered half a century later some americans say that his dream is now the target. and they have an idea. that america would be better off if it were more euro centric and of course that's hostile to the whole business of equality and advancement the king gave his life. and we begin the day with britain's top diplomat boris johnson under fire in london and moscow for what his critics call a toxic treatment of the truth we are no closer tonight to a definitive answer regarding the origin of the nerve agent used last month in the u.k.

porton down by the very guy who made the statement on behalf or porton down and he said the guy told him that it was russia that did it could only have been russia that did it this was what than a mistake it was a lie a chemical expert james taught says that many states know about this type of weapon and are able to manufacture them. it would be natural to pin the blame on ana on russia in that russia has has indeed made these a part of their weapons stockpiles we're talking about a development that probably took place more than thirty years ago and with the fall of the soviet union. the word has gotten out to many states as to the how to make these things many states know about this to the point where we're just chemists talk together know about these types of things and not i don't work for a state system and i learned this just by talking with chemists for her cs i'm not russian term receiver so there are chemists remember that know this type of thing that have nothing to do with russia well our correspondent will be following is following the i.p.c. debbie amazing in the hague be

porton down have not said that.s novichok but they cannot identify the source of it. and so either the foreign secretary has information that he is not sharing with porton down, or it was a bit of exaggeration. number ten may now come under pressure to reveal more of what it knows. today the international trade secretary liam fox strongly defended the government‘s position. we know that russia has been stockpiling amounts of this. investigating ways of delivering it. we know that russia has previously been willing to poison outside its own borders including in the united kingdom. we know that it regards ex—agents as being candidates for assassination. but part of the government‘s case rests on secret intelligence, gathered by mi6 and other spy agencies, from sources government will not want to reveal. meanwhile the former russian spy turned double agent remains in critical condition in hospital as relations with russia plunge to a new low. frank gardner, bbc news. our security correspondent frank gardner joins me. p

that russian produced nerve agent porton down and then examined it and said all that to five was not true he couldn't say where it came from. there's also been a lot of criticism on twitter from britain's main opposition labor party of a boris johnson's assurances that russia was behind the poisoning one asked if johnson wanted to delete his german t.v. interview to others stress the need to check never did while labor m.p. chris williamson called johnson downright dangerous and said this group case was being used to divert attention seems to me the government were indulging in political point scoring particularly boris johnson who raced ahead of the evidence and used this terrible incident not so much as a smoking gun but more of a smokescreen really it was a very convenient wasn't for the government to use this as a way of diverting attention from their own difficulties over bricks economic policy and you know at the end of the day it's pretty clear that boris johnson did not tell the truth he told the german interviewer that. scientists doubt it said it was without doubt that the

he said i have spoken to the guy porton down the very guy who made the statement today on behalf of porton down and he said the guy told him that it was russia that did it could only have been russia that did this was what's known a mistake it was a lie he now through wiki leaks that actually the u.k. and the us have been aware of the book which was show how a modern chemistry lab can make this particular next generation agent they've been u.k. and u.s. have been aware of the significance of that book and have been trying to suppress knowledge of that book so clearly for a decade now the u.k. and the us have known that it can be made elsewhere it appears that they have just rushed in as a p.r. type. action and i think that's really dangerous because we are in a fatal diplomatic situation with syria we have with the trade with the us and china as well i think it's a very reckless thing steve has done and i'm not quite sure why they did it i mean perhaps it's because of practice it wants to puff themselves off as a big animal in the ins i don't know but you know it's just not a terribly sens

twitter as the british foreign office is early deleted a tweet today saying experts that british porton down had confirmed the nerve agent used in this crippled poisoning case was produced in russia tweets gone it's a move that not gone unnoticed by others online with some saying it is a damage limitation exercise maybe and this is reports from westminster for us. the foreign office has deleted a tweet that it had initially posted on march twenty second which read that analysis by world leading experts of the laboratory at porton down made clear that this was a military grade novacek nerve agent produced in russia now a couple of days before that boris johnson the u.k. foreign secretary also said that there is no doubt that russia was behind what happened you argue there they're sure of. the chalk in russia how did you manage to find it out so quickly but when i look at the the evidence from the people whom important they were absolutely categorical and i asked the guy so i said are you sure and he said as they dodged well it seems that all of that was going well until yesterday when the chi

that's very thin possess sample something when i look at the the evidence i mean the people from porton down the the border they have the samples you do and they they they were absolutely categorical and i asked the guy myself i said are you sure and he said as they die out. or earlier today the situation took another strange twist the british foreign office delete it a tweet that contradicted the porton down labs statement in the tweet from march twenty second the foreign office says that the lab analysis quote made clear this was a military grade novi choke nerve agent produced in russia yesterday the lab publicly refuted that claim today the foreign office apparently deleted the tweet now trying to clarify why it was deleted the foreign office says that the tweet had misquoted the british ambassador to russia during a briefing in moscow however here he is repeating those exact words in a video posted on the twitter work out of the foreign office there is also no doubt that it was produced in russia by the russian state. well this evening a boris johnson whent on the offensive asking the p

last night that porton down the u.k.'s chemical weapons lab or a tree wasn't able to link the nerve agent that was used to try and poison. to russia they did confirm though that it was a. chalk type of nerve agents that had been developed in the soviet union though we heard before this meeting from russian president vladimir putin who said that he hoped. what would come out of these talks was would be able to put to bed some of the allegations being made by london. q was there were you do it amazes me how fast this anti russia hysteria has come about we're calling in o.p.c. w meeting to get the facts straight on this whole situation which we have proposed at least twenty questions for their consideration we hope a final conclusion will be reached there as to what happened in so but of course we're interested in a comprehensive investigation. all the meeting was called by russia after what it called a. at him from a shin blackout regarding the investigation russia says that it sent questions to the united kingdom that were

porton down have not said that.d it as novichok but they cannot identify the source of it. and so either the foreign secretary has information that he is not sharing with porton down, or it was a bit of exaggeration. number ten may now come under pressure to reveal more of what it knows. today the international trade secretary liam fox strongly defended the government's position. we know that russia has been stockpiling amounts of this. investigating ways of delivering it. we know that russia has previously been willing to poison outside its own borders. including in the united kingdom. we know that it regards ex—agents as being candidates for assassination. the part of the government's case rests on secret intelligence, gathered by mi6 and other spy agencies, from sources government will not want to reveal. meanwhile the former russian spy turned double agent remains in critical condition in hospital as relations with russia plunge to a new low. frank gardner, bbc news. our diplomatic correspondent james landale is

the times, the british times newspaper, they use the phrase damage limitation as a result of the porton downtement. there would have been a hope at least that this could be nailed down now and that is simply not the case. yeah, for a british government and foreign office perspective, they will be hoping that porton down could say that this came out of laboratory in russia, that porton down did not provide the yes, it could be seen as some sort of damage control. it will be interesting to see what else comes out of it. will that ever be over? that the turnout was story which is certainly not over at the moment, but the ramping up of the try administration at the moment of the tariffs, or at least the list of possible products for tariffs from china. it is a long list. yeah, is a big list. i was expecting number is similarto big list. i was expecting number is similar to that, i was not surprised. interestingly, there are a number of items that china is attempting to sell not only in the us but also in other markets, jet engines, technology products, cars, not so much products that would affec

but when i look at the the evidence from the people from from porton down they were absolutely categorical and i asked the guy myself i said are you sure and he said that in their dogs. the situation is on the line no q in london therefore a sorry this is broken now we're both three i was this news big turn of events isn't it the porton down the saying no we can't trace it but we're unable to we're out there actually saying it wasn't part of our remit you dast maybe it should have been. well kevin certainly major major developments to the script paul saga that's been unraveling for a whole long now with all sorts of i.q. the nation's flying with measures taken against russia not just by the u.k. but by other countries and of course russia continuing this whole time to say we have nothing to do with this let's look at some evidence and if we were here we have a leading british defense science laboratory saying they can't prove whether or not a child came from russia or for that matter they can't prove this source at all so this is a huge announcement to be made to and certainly well most im

porton down to a very guy who made. on behalf of wharton down and he said the guy told him that it was russia that did it could only have been russia that this was what's known a mistake it was a lie. russia was looking for answers to at least twenty questions regarding the script powell investigation during wednesday's meeting of the year they cover issues that just the sharing of information by the british side on the other members president putin is hoping for some definitive answers from the meeting what good will we do it amazes me how fast this anti russia hysteria has come about tomorrow we're calling in o.p.c. w meeting to get the facts straight on this whole situation for you which we have proposed at least twenty questions for their consideration we hope a final conclusion will be reached there as to what happened in seoul is pretty but of course we're interested in a comprehensive investigation chemical expert james tours says that many states know about this type of weapon and i knew fact to them it would be

manage to find it out so quickly but when i look at the the evidence from the people from from porton down they were absolutely categorical and i asked the guy myself i said are you sure and he said as they died well it seems that all of that was going well until yesterday when the chief executive of porton down came out and said that not only were the scientists not able to prove that the nerve agent came from russia but generally speaking they didn't know what the source was we have not verified the press a source but we provided the scientific information to the government but you have not been able to establish at porton down that this was made in russia as i said it's our job to provide aid you know the scientific evidence that identifies for the particular nerve agent is but it's not our job to see where that actually was manufactured so typically you're not able at porton down to say where it is from we haven't yet been able to do that at the same time the foreign office is saying everything is still the way it was and nothing is inconsistent we also know that the labor party has ch

the people from porton down, they were absolutely categorical.f, i said, "are you sure? he said, "there's no doubt." today, the foreign office deleted an inaccurate tweet that had also suggested porton down had said the novichok was produced in russia. all of which gave russia another chance to question britain's evidence, calling at short notice a meeting of the chemical weapons watchdog, the 0ch in the hague, where its diplomats accused britain of a dirty flow of lies and outright russiaphobia. translation: the result of their investigation was announced in a hurry by their prime minister, theresa may, literally a few days after the incident. even though the investigation would take a few weeks or even months. british ministers insisted porton down's job was always to identify the nerve agent, and it was for the police and intelligence services to establish who had used it and why. porton down identified fairly quickly the strain of nerve agent and once that's identified, you remove from the list of suspects 99.9% of the people. we know that th

provided the scientific information to the government but you have not been able to establish at porton down that this was made in russia as i said it's our job to provide aid you know the scientific evidence that identifies what the particular near of each and is but it's not our job to see where that actually was manufactured so to be clear your not able at portadown to say where it is from we haven't yet been able to do that. and it's been out of form my five intelligence officers and you marshawn a very good evening tiranny porton down the laboratory there the chief said it couldn't establish yet where this military nerve agent came from does not mean that other government agencies might have the evidence of what the u.k. has been saying for weeks now that it was russia behind this poisoning. i think it says that this thing could have come from anywhere it had been a state actor it could have been a state math here type thing it could be in from anywhere and the point is they don't know i mean you have to remember as well that in terms of the police investigation which they said would ta

that was driven by says samples of the case when i look at the the evidence we the people from porton down the the border they have the samples you do and they they they were absolutely categorical and i asked the guy was so i said are you sure and he said they don't now and so there is little doubt in boris johnson's mind about the provenance of the nerve agent but chemical weapons experts have failed to back up the foreign secretaries assertions and that is complicated an already murky situation this is porton down the lab in britain at the center of the investigation into the poisoning of the screen. despite the british government's confidence the head of the lab says they cannot confirm the nerve agents origin it's our job to provide eight you know the scientific evidence that identifies court the particular narrow feature is what identify that it was from this family and that is military could eat their feature but it's not our job to see where actually was money for the russians meanwhile called for a meeting of the organization for the prohibition of chemical weapons in the hague to

johnson under fire after a foreign office deletes porton down tweet that we have just been talking aboutand certainly that changes the story and puts the pressure back on boris johnson and no longer questioning whether or not possibly britain has been moving slightly too quickly in this whole case and one question that arises there is whether it's time to muster we've fallen under pressure from some of them from their own british colleagues here in london. to settle it completely wrong so there should be nothing has changed different caves is vladimir putin a master builder to find the information or the propaganda war. while the russian foreign minister in his latest comments on this whole saga has said that this whole situation really puts into question ethics and law let's take a listen to that. record you put it through a group. we haven't seen such an open mockery of international law diplomatic ethics.

questions to answer he claimed on german television this was a russian produced nerve agent and porton down then examined it and said all that if i was a sniper trial they couldn't say where it came from. or the labor party m.p.'s have been running on boris johnson on twitter to the shadow home secretary said that perhaps mr johnson might also want to delete the vilified german t.v. interview he gave other stress the need to check evidence while labor m.p. chris williamson called johnson downright dangerous and said the incident is being used as a diversionary tactic. seems to me the government were indulging in political point scoring particularly boris johnson who raced ahead of the evidence and used this terrible incident not so much as a smoking gun but more of a smokescreen really it was a very convenient wasn't for the government to use this as a way of diverting attention from their own difficulties of a. policy and you know at the end of the day it's pretty clear that boris johnson did not tell the truth he told german interviewer that a. scientist i doubt it said it was without dou

there was a similar foreign office to eat suggesting that porton down had suggested russia was behind it. the foreign office have now deleted that inaccurate tweet. what it has done is muddied the waters and given russia an opportunity to come back and say, look, there is fresh doubts over the british evidence. that is the claim. they have brought that claim to the chemical watchdog, and are attempting to have another second joint investigation, which has been rejected. in other words, the diplomatic row about this carries on. james, many thanks for that. jerry smith is a former weapons inspector at the organisation for the prohibition of chemical weapons and i can now speak to him via webcam. thanks very much indeed forjoining us. thanks very much indeed forjoining us. is this body now, which is carrying out its own investigation, going to be able to establish where another —— the novichok has come from? i suspect not. the investigation that they are leading on is to take the image serial —— ta ke on is to take the image serial —— take the material from the uk and ta ke take the mate

it is worth stressing of course that it is not porton down ‘sjob stressing of course that it is not portong to be able to say this is where we believe it came from. all of which said, it is something of a propaganda gift for the russians. we have also heard from diane abbott, from the labour benches on this. what has she been saying? she has been sort of pointing tojeremy corbyn is more cautious response to the salisbury poisoning, which we know he raised questions about how certain the british government could be, that resulted in the considerable amount of criticism ofjeremy corbyn. now, diane abbott saying this morning that he adopted a more thoughtful approach at a time when others, she didn‘t name individuals, but i think she was primary pointing at the foreign secretary, boris johnson, had rushed in to apportion blame. we will be hearing from jeremy corbyn later today. he is at a local government election event and i suspect he will be asked about this andi suspect he will be asked about this and i suspect he will probably point to the fact that labour has been careful to adopt a mor

they identified the substance very quickly which would mean with absolute certainty that porton down has the substance which it could compare structures samples with not so we innocent of the rule porton down has its secrets for the snow we had an affair like that would never have come from mazar you know leave the four walls of our facilities would you say to the the theory that it's this is somehow british operation and you've waved it out of the door. or certainly isn't anything that came from our facility because as i said we've got the highest standards of control and security and there's no way that anything like that could ever have come from court and the bird of prey have the samples you do it's not a secret you can literally google step by step instructions on the synthesis of the deadliest nerve agents here they are screenshots from books and studies and they libelled to the public neither the formula nor the chemicals are any more russian than itself the chemicals are very simple one cell the first reports on these are kept blaming kept saying that the chemicals were uniq

the people from porton down, they were absolutely categorical.ure? he said there was no doubt. today the foreign office deleted an inaccurate tweet from the last month which also suggested porton down pointed the finger at russia. that gave russian diplomats another chance to question britain's evidence, calling at short notice a meeting with the chemical weapons watchdog, the 0pcw, demanding a joint investigation with the uk. they have accused britain of an anti—russian campaign, but today struck a less controversial tone... translation: we are waiting for common sense to prevail so international relations are no longer damaged in the way that they have been, as we have seen recently. british diplomats and ministers insisted that the job of porton down was to identify the nerve agent, and it was for police and intelligence services to establish who used it, and why. porton down identified fairly quickly the strain of nerve agent. when identified you remove from the list of suspects 99.9% of people. we know the russians designed it and that they

the people from porton down, they were absolutely categorical.asked the guy myself, i said, "are you sure? he said, "there's no doubt." today, the foreign office deleted an inaccurate tweet that had also suggested porton down had said that novichok was produced in russia. all of which gave russia another chance to question britain's evidence, calling at short notice a meeting of the chemical weapons watchdog, the opcw in the hague, where its diplomats accused britain of a dirty flow of lies and outright russia phobia. translation: the result of their investigation was announced in a hurry by their prime minister, theresa may, literally a few days after the incident. even though the investigation would take a few weeks or even months. british ministers insisted porton down‘s job was always to identify the nerve agent and it was for the police and intelligence services to establish who had used it and why. porton down identified fairly quickly the strain the nerve agent and once that's identified you remove from the list 99.9% of the people. we kno

the head of a british military laboratory porton down says it is still unable to determine the source of the nerve agent used to poison a former russian double agent and his daughter a month ago in the u.k. that's despite the u.k. government though having already laid the blame very firmly at russia's doorstep we have not verified the to say source but we provided the scientific information to the government but you have not been able to establish at porton down that this was made in russia as i said it's our job to prove. i eat you know the scientific evidence that identifies what the particular near of each and is but it's not our job to see where that actually was manufactured so to be clear your not able look orton down to say where it is from we haven't yet been able to do that. now less britain's foreign secretary boris johnson quickly pointed the finger at russia in the scruple case partly based on the research of the port and lab but when i look at the the evidence i mean the people from from porton down they were absolutely categorical and i asked the guy so i said are you su

russia has form in the motive but the first case is really crumbling away now that the head of porton down has come out and admitted we can't verify that this is russian manufactured in fact totally obscured and neglected in the mainstream media two very important facts and one is that in september twenty seventeen the organization for the prevention of chemical weapons actually verify the destruction of russia's entire chemical weapons program the u.s. and the u.k. have never put forward any reasons as to why they doubt the o.p.c. w.'s verification here or any evidence that russia still is producing. a child but that is that is a very important piece of information that's never never picked up on and secondly the actual the russian chemist who revealed the existence of not a chocks published a book with this formula in two thousand and eight saying that it could actually be made with you know fairly simple bits and pieces you get in pesticides and fertilizers and so on so far from the idea that russia is the only power capable producing this stuff it turns out that actually anyone with ac

salisbury poison made russia's porton down. how do they know?is story over the past 24 hours. we have this bizarre press conference with the russian ambassador, some tense scenes at the united nations and now this big splash on the times. they had seen 01’ splash on the times. they had seen or learned of intelligence that went to britain's allies which said that the novichok agent used to poison sergei skripal and his daughter was produced at russia's equivalent of porton down. they also have intelligence that this laboratory was used to test novichok‘s effectiveness for assassination. a lot of false flags over the last 24 hours by people questioning the motive of britain, questioning whether britain was right because of this confusion that resulted from the foreign office press statement. but this intelligence looks pretty clear and persuasive. the former head of britain's chemical and biological and radiological regiment has seen intelligence and says it's very compelling and clearly points to russia. at their version of porton down. i think t

porton down there examined it and said all extended to fight was just not true we couldn't say where it came from well now it remains to be seen whether or not boris johnson is going to be answering any of those questions given the vigorous nurse with which accusations against russia have flown very early on in this case pretty much as soon as the name of the man poisoned her paul came out into the spotlight. some has been active on twitter but he set out to accuse the labor party leader gerry coburn of siding with russia instead as he put it of supporting the u.k. like the twenty eight countries that expelled russian diplomats other nations though have questioned the u.k.'s measures against moscow over the scruple case notably austria opting to remain neutral but claiming it was pressured to follow suit when the situation gets tough you have to keep channels open the u.k. ambassador to austria issued a demarche on wednesday in order to encourage us to take specific measures on saturday to demolish was repeated on monday while i was in kosovo the chancellor and i spoke over the phone

burns have certainly been unraveling rather curiously ever since those latest revelations from porton downthat said they don't have proof that russia was behind the poisoning or they don't know the source of where the nerve agents had come from just to give you one example we've seen the times newspaper come out on april fourth with a headline that read mein struggles to preserve alliance against russia now obviously that is a headline that questioned some of the very vigorous narrative that the british government has been pushing through not just here in the u.k. but certainly throughout europe but that headline did not stick around or wait too long it was shortly replaced with a headline the exact same article that read johnson under fire after foreign office deletes porton down this week that we have just been talking about. and certainly that changes the story of course the pressure back on boris johnson and no longer questioning whether or not possibly britain has been moving slightly so quickly in this whole case and one question that arises there is whether it's mind of possibly fal

the offensive asking the public in a tweet to remember the key facts and here's what he said one porton down identified nerve agent as military grade no he took to russia has investigated delivering nerve agents likely for assassination and as part of this program has produced and stockpiled small quantities of nova chokes and three russia has a motive for targeting sergei script all however labor it lawmaker laura pidcock tweeted it may well be that the nerve agent used in the solsbury attack can be traced back to the russian state but both unhelpful and worrying that boris johnson on the record declaring categorically that porton down claimed it was from russia seemingly without clear evidence which is it. well tonight the foreign office responded to a request from us with this statement the foreign secretary was making clear that horton down were sure it was a noble job a point that they have reinforced and he goes on the same interview to make clear why based on that information additional intelligence and the lack of alternative explanation from the russians we have reached the conclusi