Labour MPs slam Jeremy Corbyn over bizarre column blaming mafia for Sergei Skripal spy poisoning and labelling UK’s Russia crackdown a witch hunt

MORE LABOUR MPs have slammed Jeremy Corbyn over his bizarre column blaming the mafia for Sergei Skriapl’s poisoning and labelling the UK’s Russia crackdown a witch hunt

The prominent backbencher Stephen Kinnock said the Labour leader “hasn't helped to clarify the situation” after he suggested Moscow's culpability had not been proved.

And in further signs of a split at the top of the party the Shadow Brexit Secretary Sir Keir Starmer said the attack in Salisbury should be “condemned by all of us without reservation” and that Russia was responsible – “no ifs, no buts”.

He is the third member of Mr Corbyn’s top team to defy him and finger the Kremlin for the nerve agent incident which has put the ex-KGB spy, his daughter Julia and a police officer seriously ill in hospital.

The Labour leader has drawn anger from his party for his timid response to the poisoning, which was made worse by comments from his spokesman comparing the evidence of Russian involvement for the case for the Iraq War.

And he then used an article in The Guardian to warn against a rush to judgment, urging the Government to take a "calm, measured" approach and avoid a drift towards a "new Cold War" with Russia.

Mr Corbyn insisted the involvement of Russian mafia gangs could not be excluded, warning against a "McCarthyite intolerance of dissent" – suggesting a witch hunt was underway.

But Mr Kinnock - a long-time Corbyn critic – rejected Mr Corbyn's comparison with the run-up to the Iraq War, saying "that sort of drift to conflict is not on the agenda at all".

He told BBC Radio 4's Today programme : "This has to be a time where we stand together with the Government, shoulder to shoulder, and with our Nato allies, sending a very clear message to Russia.”

The Aberavon MP said: "I think we have got a fundamental need for a debate in our party about about our worldview.

In other developments today:

• Russian officials slammed the Defence Secretary as a "market wench" in a bizarre war of words
• They blamed the row on the Government trying to distract from Brexit
• The row over Jeremy Corbyn's response to the spy crisis continued to escalate
• Mrs May spoke to Australia's PM who vowed to support the UK
• It was claimed the nerve agent novichok may have been planted in Yulia Skripal's suitcase 

"There are those of us who clearly feel that Nato and the EU and standing shoulder to shoulder with our allies are fundamentally a force for good and those alliances are the fundamental piece of architecture that we have to be a part of, and there are others in our party who take another view.

"I think Jeremy has never made any secret of his views on the role of Nato in the world and on the EU, to a large extent, as well."

It follows Mr Starmer’s words last night, when he gave his unqualified support to Mrs May's approach, telling BBC1's Question Time: "I think it is very important that we support the action the Prime Minister laid out on Wednesday as a response to this unprovoked attack.”

Sir Keir added: "This is not the first time, it needs to be called out - no ifs and no buts - and we need strong action as set out by the Prime Minister on Wednesday."

Earlier this week the Shadow Foreign Secretary Emily Thornberry insisted Russia has a "prima facie case" to answer, to which it had offered no defence.

The Sun reported that she also told a London seminar: "We utterly condemn this despicable act and support all the measures taken by the Government today."

And Labour’s Shadow Defence Secretary Nia Griffith said her party "very much accepts" Mrs May's assessment that Russia is "responsible for this attack".

Asked if Mr Corbyn had undermined UK security assessments that it was "highly likely" Russia was behind their poisoning, Ms Griffith said: "Looking back, perhaps it would have been easier for us if he had made it clear at the beginning of what he said, just how much we support the expulsion of the diplomats.

"It would have been easier and perhaps we would not have had the conversations we are seeing."

Ms Griffith's comments were quickly supported by several Labour MPs.

Exeter MP Ben Bradshaw said she was "spot on", while Kingston Upon Hull North MP Diana Johnson said she "fully" supported the shadow defence secretary.

And in further signs senior figures are willing to dissent Mr Corbyn, Ms Griffith repeated her comments on BBC Wales last night.

Asked if she concerned she might “get the sack”, the Llanelli MP laughed it off and said: “Well I say what needs to be said and that's what's important to me."