PM kicks out 23 Russian diplomat ‘spies’ in biggest expulsion since Cold War

Russia has threatened retaliatory action after Theresa May announced that 23 suspected spies at its London embassy were being kicked out of the UK in the largest mass expulsion of diplomats since the Cold War.

Announcing the action in the House of Commons, Mrs May said the nerve agent attack on ex-spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia in Salisbury amounted to “an unlawful use of force by the Russian state against the United Kingdom”.

She announced the suspension of high-level contacts with Russia, including a boycott of this summer’s World Cup by Government ministers and members of the royal family.

Moscow’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs denounced the moves as an “unprecedentedly crude provocation” and warned: “Our response will not be long in coming.”

In a statement, the ministry said: “We consider it categorically unacceptable and unworthy that the British Government, in its unseemly political aims, further seriously aggravated relations, announcing a whole set of hostile measures, including the expulsion of 23 Russian diplomats from the country.”

She told MPs: “There is no alternative conclusion other than that the Russian state was culpable for the attempted murder of Mr Skripal and his daughter – and for threatening the lives of other British citizens in Salisbury, including Detective Sergeant Nick Bailey.

“This represents an unlawful use of force by the Russian state against the United Kingdom.”

The Russian diplomats identified as undeclared intelligence officers have been given a week to leave, in the largest mass expulsion since 31 were ordered out in 1985 following the defection of double agent Oleg Gordievsky.

The expulsions will “fundamentally degrade Russian intelligence capability in the UK for years to come”, said Mrs May, adding: “If they seek to rebuild it, we will prevent them from doing so.”

Mrs May told MPs the Government will also develop new powers “to harden our defences against all forms of hostile state activity”, including by tightening checks on cross-border movements of those who may endanger UK security.

A “Magnitsky” amendment to legislation currently going through Parliament will create powers to target the assets of those responsible for human rights violations.

Mrs May told MPs: “Led by the National Crime Agency, we will continue to bring all the capabilities of UK law enforcement to bear against serious criminals and corrupt elites.

“There is no place for these people – or their money – in our country.”

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn was barracked by Conservative MPs as he asked the Prime Minister how she had responded to requests from the Russian government for a sample of the nerve agent used in the attack so it could run its own tests.

Condemning the Salisbury incident as a “dreadful, appalling act”, Mr Corbyn called for multilateral action in response and said it was a matter of “huge regret” that the UK’s diplomatic network had been cut by 25% in the last five years.

A spokesman for the Labour leader later questioned the reliability of information from UK intelligence agencies, telling reporters their record on weapons of mass destruction was “problematic, to put it mildly”. His comments were condemned as “outrageous” by Mrs May.

The Foreign Office said that the Salisbury incident was not isolated, but followed a “well-established pattern of Russian state aggression”.

The PM welcomed support from allies including the US, Nato and the EU, and said Britain would be pushing for a “robust international response” at the UN Security Council later on Wednesday.

“This was not just an act of attempted murder in Salisbury – nor just an act against the UK,” she said.

“It is an affront to the prohibition on the use of chemical weapons. And it is an affront to the rules-based system on which we and our international partners depend.”