© AFP/Getty ImagesEmergency services on the scene of the latest novichok scare in Amesbury. In this still from a video, a man found unconscious is taken out on a stretcher.
I seem to be the only person alive with no clue as to who has poisoned four people in Wiltshire. I am told that only Russians have access to the poison, known as novichok - though the British research station of Porton Down, located ominously nearby, clearly knows a lot about it. Otherwise, I repeat, I have no clue. I suppose I can see why the Kremlin might want to kill an ex-spy such as Sergei Skripal and his daughter, so as to deter others from defecting. But why wait so long after he has fled, and why during the build-up to so highly politicised an event as a World Cup in Russia?
Four months on from the crime, the Skripals have been incommunicado in a "secure location". Barely a word has been heard from them. Theresa May has persistently blamed Russia. She has called the incident "brazen and despicable", and MI5 condemned "flagrant breaches of international rules". But I cannot see the diplomatic or other purchase in prejudging the case, when no one can offer a clue.
Comment: Finally, a major UK newspaper columnist is asking pertinent questions and evaluating government reactions in proper context.
See also: Guilty or innocent? Guardian columnist calls out UK govt as 'clueless' in blaming Russia for poisonings