Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they have considered there may be serious grounds for suspecting the nerve gas used in the Salisbury attack on 5 March was brought into England by the Russian diplomatic bag, contrary to Article 27(4) of the 1961 Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations; and if so, whether they intend to use the provisions of Article 36(2) of that Convention to inspect the personal baggage of Russian diplomatic agents entering the UK.

Article 36(2) of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations states that the personal baggage of a diplomatic agent shall be exempt from inspection, unless there are serious grounds for presuming that it contains articles not covered by relevant exemptions. We continue to respect the Vienna Convention.