Catherine West – 2020 Comments on Alexei Navalny

The comments made by Catherine West, the Shadow Minister for Europe, on 2 September 2020.

Confirmation from German authorities that the nerve agent Novichok was used against the Russian opposition activist Alexei Navalny is a serious and alarming development. The Russian government has serious questions to answer.

The despicable Salisbury attack in 2018 was a clear example of the willingness of the Russian state to use chemical weapons against opponents and critics anywhere in the world. We must be categorical in our condemnation of the use chemical weapons and support the referral of Alexei Navalny’s poisoning to the OPCW.

The UK government must work with democratic allies in the EU and NATO to ensure that those responsible are held to account. There must be no impunity for the use of chemical weapons.