Ben Wallace has caused a stir today with an interview on the Today programme. The security minister confirmed that the government had not shared full intelligence on the Skripal poisoning with Jeremy Corbyn – insisting that the ‘circle’ of those with access to the highly sensitive information should be restricted to only a small number:
‘This is serious stuff and the circle of who gets to see very sensitive information is very small, because if you leak it or it gets out, people’s lives are put at risk.
The best example is Mr Skripal; that’s what happens to people if other countries to decide to take actions or they have enemies.’
Wallace’s comments appear to imply that the government do not trust the Labour leader with this information. Notably, while Corbyn has received an intelligence briefing on privy council terms, he has not been given the same access to highly classified information as David Cameron provided to Ed Miliband over Syria in 2013.
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