UK to set up £48m chemical weapons defence centre

A new UK chemical weapons defence centre is to be established in the wake of the nerve agent attack on the Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter, Yulia, the defence secretary will say.

The Ministry of Defence, in spite of a budget squeeze, is to spend £48m setting up the centre, which will be under the umbrella of the Porton Down military research establishment.

Other measures Gavin Williamson is set to announce today include thousands of British troops receiving a vaccination against anthrax so they can be deployed almost immediately in the event of an attack, either in the UK or overseas.

Williamson is to use his first keynote speech since becoming defence secretary last year to respond to the nerve agent attack in Salisbury, which the government is blaming on Russia.

According to excerpts of the speech distributed in advance, Williamson, one of the most outspoken critics of Russia within the government, will say: “If we doubted the threat Russia poses to our citizens, we only have to look at the shocking example of their reckless attack in Salisbury.”

Source: theguardian