The View | The world’s trade and stability rest on three men as they prepare to play the Great Game

For the first time since the formation of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO), Russia has launched a chemical warfare attack against a member nation. The release of a dirty bomb in public that could wound or kill indiscriminately is a terrorist attack.

Such an attempted execution of an enemy of the leadership in a neutral country might be expected of North Korea, but not by a superpower in a leafy English suburb.

Naturally Russia denies the attack - and who wouldn’t? It was executed in such a cack-handed manner that even Johnny English couldn’t have done worse. No self-respecting state-sponsored spook would have left a trail of evidence that just about included their business cards, a fingerprinted glass full of DNA, and a note of confession. The attack is much more in the cock-up rather than conspiracy class, and the would-be assassins are likely to find more justice with their own kind than from the limp-wristed British government.

The military grade nerve agent, Novichok, was secretly developed in Russia and only discovered by the West after the Berlin Wall fell. It could only have been transported in a diplomatic pouch. If you are Russian, alive, and in Britain, you should be feeling unsafe – up to 14 other unexplained deaths of Russians are to be re-examined.

It is a stretch to believe that a 66-year-old spy who was “retired” 12 years ago is really James Bond in tracksuit. The reason for the attack is likely to be a row between security units within Russia, or a lone wolf who mistakenly thought he might be doing President Vladimir Putin a favour.