Salisbury is famous for its 123-metre spire
In a post marking the anniversary of the Salisbury poisonings, a No 10 press release used a picture of the Bath skyline.
In March 2018 Sergei and Yulia Skripal were found slumped on a bench after becoming seriously ill from contact with the deadly nerve agent novichok.
The two main suspects in the poisoning are Russian intelligence officials, identified as Alexander Petrov and Ruslan Boshirov by the police.
“There is no other line of inquiry beyond this,” Theresa May said at the time, that “this was not a rogue operation” and would “almost certainly” have been approved at a “senior level of the Russian state.”
In response two men claiming to be Boshirov and Petrov gave an interview to Russian state media, confirming they had visited Salisbury but were “civilians” on holiday to visit Salisbury Cathedral, “famous not just in Europe, but in the whole world. It’s famous for its 123-metre spire, it’s famous for its clock, the first of its kind ever created in the world, which is still working.”
Prime minister Theresa May sought to pay tribute to the “resolve, forbearance and positivity” of Salisbury in a statement one year on from the attack.
However, a picture of Bath was used in the announcement about the “beautiful, welcoming English city.”
PM pays tribute to Salisbury as a “beautiful, welcoming English city” in @10downingstreet tweet using a photo of… BATH pic.twitter.com/ipF1NW1Cio
— Matt Chorley (@MattChorley) March 4, 2019
May said: “Today is also an opportunity to reflect on the work of so many people who have played a part in the recovery effort, from all of the dedicated emergency service workers, council staff and public servants, to the skilful and brave men and women of our armed forces who have led the unprecedented clean-up operation.”
Responding to the mistake, a spokeswoman at No10 said: “The tweet was posted in human error and taken down quickly.
“I’m sure you will see pictures of the prime minister in Salisbury later today.”
