Salisbury 'violated' says bishop in Easter sermon

Bishop Holtam said: "Loving our own country is not an end in itself"

The Bishop of Salisbury said in his Easter sermon the city had been "violated" by the poisoning of a former spy and his daughter there.

The Right Reverend Nicholas Roderick Holtam was speaking four weeks after the attack on Sergei Skripal and his daughter, Yulia.

Bishop Holtam described the "puzzlement and anger" felt in the community.

But said people needed to "rebuild relationships and confidence in one another" following the attack.

He said: "The last four weeks have been very strange in Salisbury.

"We have a description of events, but we don't completely know their meaning.

"There has been some anxiety, puzzlement and anger, but people in this community are resilient.

"After an act of violation we need to rebuild relationships and confidence in one another and the people and place we love."

Bishop Holtham said most Russian people wanted to live peacefully, but the anxiety of "enmity escalating" following the expulsion of diplomats on both sides was making people more fearful.

He urged people to "think about patriotism carefully" and added: "Loving our own country is not an end in itself."

Sergei Skripal, 66, and his daughter Yulia, 33 were poisoned with a nerve agent