It shouldn’t take a nerve agent attack before UK scientists are supported

A new 48m chemical weapons defence centre is welcome, but the scientists keeping us safe have faced years of funding cuts

The city of Salisbury has been thrust into the international spotlight after the poisoning of Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia.

The area is also home to one of the UK's most important government defence agencies - the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl). The facility is over 100 years old and houses more than 3,000 scientists, engineers and technology specialists.