Corbyn under fire from own MPs over response to PM's Russia statement

Jeremy Corbyn’s reaction to the prime minister’s Russia statement has sparked a Labour party row, as his spokesman questioned the evidence that Moscow was behind the Salisbury attack.

The Labour leader came in for sustained criticism, including from his own MPs, after he failed to condemn the Kremlin directly for carrying out the poisoning of former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter, Yulia.

Corbyn called the incident “an appalling act of violence”, saying on Wednesday: “Nerve agents are abominable if used in any war. It is utterly reckless to use them in a civilian environment.”

But he left open the possibility – as Theresa May did on Monday – that the nerve agent could have been used by someone else other than the Russian state.

His comments brought shouts of “shame” from the Conservative benches.

The row later intensified when Corbyn’s spokesman appeared to compare the evidence for direct Russian involvement, with the shaky case for war in Iraq.

Briefing journalists as the debate continued in the Commons, he said: “I think obviously the government has access to information and intelligence on this matter which others don’t; however, also there’s a history in relation to WMD and intelligence which is problematic to put it mildly.

Source: theguardian