Jeremy Corbyn faces a fresh wave of frontbench resignations amid anger at his response to the Sergei Skripal poisoning.

At least two Shadow ministers were said to be considering their positions last night after the Labour leader said he did not believe there was proof the Kremlin was behind the attempt on the ex-spy’s life.

A former frontbencher told the Mirror: “People are f***ing livid, aghast at what he said.

"The mask is beginning to slip now.”

Mr Corbyn’s refusal to blame Moscow came despite him being shown secret evidence on Privy Council terms.

Jeremy Corbyn responds to Prime Minister Teresa May's address to the House of Commons today (
Image:
REUTERS)
The Labour leader said he did not believe there was proof Valdimir Putin's Kremlin was behind the attempt on the ex-spy’s life (
Image:
TASS)

And he sparked fury by agreeing with Russia that we should send a toxin sample for them to analyse.

Mr Corbyn's spokesman then deepened the row by insisting there were still "two possibilities" - either Russia committed the act, or simply lost control of the nerve agent.

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Crucially the spokesman added British intelligence had been "problematic" before - such as about Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) in Iraq.

Theresa May said she was “surprised and shocked” by the spokesman's comments.

Labour's stance was apparently backed by France, which said it needed "proven" evidence that the nerve agent was used by the Russian state.

But it came despite Mrs May directly blaming Moscow and Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson claiming the evidence pointing at a hit by the Russian state is "overwhelming".

And a spokesman for the French government later clarified: "France agrees with the United Kingdom that there is no other plausible explanation."

Officers in specialist suits have been in locations around the city of Salisbury (
Image:
AFP)

Britain's damning retaliation measures against Russia

  • 23 of Russia's 58 London diplomats expelled. They must leave within a week in the biggest expulsion for 30 years
  • All planned high-level UK-Russia contacts suspended
  • UK ministers and Royal Family will boycott the 2018 World Cup
  • Invitation for Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov's UK visit rescinded
  • A new 'Magnitsky law' to strengthen sanctions on human rights abusers
  • Urgent new laws to 'harden our defences against all forms of hostile state activity'
  • This will include a targeted power to detain those suspected of hostile state activity at the UK border. This is currently only allowed for terror suspects
  • Increased checks on private flights, customs and freight
  • Freeze Russian state assets if they may be used to threaten life or property of UK nationals or residents
  • Other covert measures that "cannot be shared publicly for reasons of National Security"

In a furious Labour row, several MPs swiftly signed a motion saying they "unequivocally accept the Russian state's culpability."

Chuka Umunna was among MPs who named Mr Corbyn's director of communications Seumas Milne.

MP Anna Turley added: "Seumas doesn’t speak for my Labour or British values". Labour MP Gavin Shuker tweeted: "This once great party."

Last night Shadow Foreign Secretary Emily Thornberry insisted there was “prima facie evidence” against Russia.

And in an interview with the Daily Mirror, Shadow Defence Secretary Nia Griffith insisted: "Clearly, we are pointing the finger at Russia.”

Ms Griffith added to the BBC today: "We very much accept what the Prime Minister said, this is a very sophisticated nerve agent, and that Russia is responsible for this attack."

In a slapdown to Mr Corbyn's team she said Britain has "very, very fine intelligence services" and "great expertise on some of these matters" - and the "situation is very different" to Iraq.

Shadow Defence Secretary Nia Griffith insisted: "Clearly, we are pointing the finger at Russia" (
Image:
Western Mail)

She added: "I wasn't there and I can't speak for Seumas Milne, the spokesperson, he has to speak for himself."

Yet a spokesman for Jeremy Corbyn continued to insist there were "two alternatives" - one of which being that Russia simply lost the nerve agent.

The spokesman told the Mirror: "The government has laid out two alternatives: that Russia is either directly responsible or culpable because it lost control of this nerve agent.

"Yesterday, we agreed that the evidence overwhelmingly points to those two alternatives.

"The Russian authorities must be held to account on the basis of the evidence and our response must be both decisive and proportionate."

Ex-spy Sergei Skripal remains in a critical but stable condition (
Image:
Ebru Ozturk)
Yulia Skripal is fighting for her life after being poisoned with Novichok (
Image:
AFP)

Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia remain in a critical but stable condition 11 days after they were found slumped over a bench in Salisbury.

Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson said if something "swims like a duck and quacks like a duck" it's probably a duck.

He told BBC Breakfast: "The evidence is overwhelming that it is Russia.

"There’s something by the way in the kind of smug, sarcastic response that we’ve heard from the Russians that to me indicates their fundamental guilt."