MPs pile on pressure for England and allies to boycott Russia World Cup over ex-spy poisoning as ‘Putin will use it like Hitler used the 1936 Olympics’
MPS are piling on the pressure for England to pull out of the World Cup as evidence grows that Russia is behind behind a spy poison attack.
They said that ministers should seriously consider whether to send the team to the sporting tournament if they are found to be behind the poisoning of Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia.
Commons Foreign Affairs Chairman Tom Tugenhat said a boycott should be "kept on the table" and minister should consider working with other allies on a coordinated response - as Amber Rudd went to visit the scene and the hero cop in Salisbury this morning.
He told the "It is extraordinary that an international sporting event designed to promote peace is being held in a country that has bought it with corrupt money … while using murder as an instrument of state policy."
And Labour MP Chris Bryant said Putin would use the World Cup to parade the country on a world stage - much like Adolf Hilter did with Germany during the Berlin Olympics in 1936.
He said it would be "very difficult" for the England team to go, and added: "Putin loves using these moments to glorify Russia and he will want to do so again. It will be like 1936 all over again."
What we know so far:
- Ex-Russian spy Sergei Skripal, 66, and his daughter Yulia, 33, were found unconscious on a bench in Salisbury on Sunday
- Police say they were deliberately targeted with a rare nerve agent
- Cops cordoned off his house and the grave of his wife and son fearing others could be exposed to the poison
- The first Wiltshire cop on the scene is also ill in hospital - but hopes were raised for his recovery now he is awake and talking
- A blonde woman with a red handbag is being hunted after being caught on CCTV minutes before the hit
- Cops say the poison may have been slipped into a gift Yulia brought from Moscow
- Spooks also believe the Russians may have had their drinks spiked in a pub or a Zizzi's restaurant
- Theresa May has vowed revenge on Putin over the 'hit'
- Russian state TV warned 'traitor' double-agents they are not safe in the UK
- It was claimed Yulia Skripal may have been poisoned after calling for Putin to be jailed on Facebook as doctors reveal her fight for life
- It was revealed Sergei's MI6 contact had links to poisoned ex-spy Alexander Litvinenko
Sir Andrew Wood, a former British ambassador to Russia, says in a letter to The Times today that “high-level political boycotts of the World Cup” should be among options under consideration.
But Downing Street has said a boycott by the team itself was "not a matter for us" - as they cannot order the team to pull out.
Last night The Sun revealed that Theresa May is considering military and economic retaliation if Putin is proved to be behind the attack.
Intelligence chiefs are just “a few days” away from establishing hard proof that poison plot was ordered by Moscow.
Measured proposed include the immediate expulsion of Russian diplomats and pushing for Nato-wide reinforcements in Eastern Europe.
And it could also involve throwing out Russian diplomats like the ambassador.
This morning Ms Rudd visited the shopping centre where the former Russian secret service officer and his daughter were found - and was thought to be also visiting the hospital where they currently are fighting for their lives.
Home Secretary Ms Rudd said this morning the pair were still in hospital in a "very serious" condition.
She said she was "in awe" of the amazing emergency services who helped out and put their lives at risk in doing so.
Police are now probing whether the pair were exposed to the nerve gas at his house in Salisbury - not out in town as previously suspected.
The cordon around the former double agent’s detached home in Salisbury was also extended as pressure mounted on the counter-terrorism officers leading the investigation to identify who was behind the plot.
This morning former Met Commissioner Lord Blair backed calls for an overview of the 14 suspicious Russian deaths in Britain.
He told Radio 4's Today programme that it could be "slow" to trace the perpetrators of the nerve gas as it was more difficult to do, but said experts should find the exact location of the factory it was made it.
"Let's have a good look at this again and see whether there is some pattern here of people who go out jogging and fall dead, and who are found dead in their house in Surrey, and so on," he said.
"There has got to be something here that at least is worth looking at."
But Downing Street has said a boycott by the team itself was "not a matter for us" - as they cannot order the team to pull out.
Last night The Sun revealed that Theresa May is considering military and economic retaliation if Putin is proved to be behind the attack.
Intelligence chiefs are just “a few days” away from establishing hard proof that poison plot was ordered by Moscow.
Measured proposed include the immediate expulsion of Russian diplomats and pushing for Nato-wide reinforcements in Eastern Europe.
And it could also involve throwing out Russian diplomats like the ambassador.
Home Secretary Ms Rudd said this morning the pair were still in hospital in a "very serious" condition.
She said she was "in awe" of the amazing emergency services who helped out and put their lives at risk in doing so.
Police are now probing whether the pair were exposed to the nerve gas at his house in Salisbury - not out in town as previously suspected.
The cordon around the former double agent’s detached home in Salisbury was also extended as pressure mounted on the counter-terrorism officers leading the investigation to identify who was behind the plot.
This morning former Met Commissioner Lord Blair backed calls for an overview of the 14 suspicious Russian deaths in Britain.
He told Radio 4's Today programme that it could be "slow" to trace the perpetrators of the nerve gas as it was more difficult to do, but said experts should find the exact location of the factory it was made it.
"Let's have a good look at this again and see whether there is some pattern here of people who go out jogging and fall dead, and who are found dead in their house in Surrey, and so on," he said.
"There has got to be something here that at least is worth looking at."