Threat of chemical and biological attacks on the rise as world order crumbles, defence secretary warns

Ben Wallace says regimes increasingly feel they can use the weapons

Defence Secretary Ben Wallace arrives at 10 Downing Street (Getty images)

A breakdown in the international order has led to a growing threat of chemical attacks around the world, the defence secretary has warned.

Ben Wallace said some regimes around the world increasingly believed it was acceptable to use nerve agents and pathogens against their opponents.

In an interview with The Times newspaper the minister said such attacks were "what happens in a sort of breakdown of world order".

And he blamed the internet for providing a "turbo boost" to extremist groups trying to acquire or build such weapons.

"Globally, I think there is a growing threat of chemical or biological (attack)," he told the newspaper on a visit to the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory at Porton Down, near Salisbury.

"It depends on what is at hand for people using the internet.

"It is unfortunately what happens in a sort of breakdown of world order where you see countries like Syria use it on its own people.

"There has been a worry that some states think it is acceptable to use that type of method to carry out or further their aims."

Mr Wallace referenced the use of chemical nerve agents by Russia in the 2018 poisoning of Russian double agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia.

He said the attack demonstrated the need for more police officers to be trained to respond to chemical and biological incidents in the UK.

Abroad, the minister also cited the use of chemical weapons in Syria as another example of where a regime had used such tactics against its own citizens.

Independent United Nations and OPCW fact-finding missions determined that chemical weapons have been used in Syria on over 40 occasions since 2014.

Attacks include the use of Sarin gas in the town of Khan Sheikhoun in April 2017, which killed hundreds of people.

A chlorine gas attack on the city of Douma in April 2018 is also thought to have killed dozens of people.