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Nick Clegg: Chemical weapons use 'a repugnant crime'

Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg has given his backing to the UK considering a "serious" response to last week's chemical attack in Syria.

He said: "The murder of innocent men, women and children through the use of chemical weapons is a repugnant crime and a flagrant abuse of international law.

"If we stand idly by, we set a very dangerous precedent indeed where brutal dictators and brutal rulers will feel they can get away with using chemical weapons on a larger and larger scale in the future.

"What is being considered are measures which are legal, which are proportionate and which are specific to discouraging and sending out a clear signal that the use of chemical weapons in this day and age is totally intolerable."