Mr. Pottinger said that the latest intelligence points to the virus leaking from the top-secret Wuhan Institute of Virology, 11 miles from the market, saying: 'There is a growing body of evidence that the lab is likely the most credible source of the virus.'

Matthew Pottinger, who is President Donald Trump's respected Deputy National Security Adviser, says the most 'credible' theory about the origin of coronavirus is that it escaped from the top-secret Wuhan Institute of Virology in China

He claimed the pathogen may have escaped through a 'leak or an accident', adding: 'Even establishment figures in Beijing have openly dismissed the wet market story.'

Iain Duncan Smith, the former Tory Party leader who attended the meeting, said Mr. Pottinger's comments represented a 'stiffening' of the US position on the theory that the virus came from a leak at the laboratory, amid reports that the Americans are talking to a whistleblower from the Wuhan institute.

'I was told the US have an ex-scientist from the laboratory in America at the moment,' he said. 'That was what I heard a few weeks ago.

'I was led to believe this is how they have been able to stiffen up their position on how this outbreak originated.'

The really concerning thing here is that they may have leaked it on purpose. Far East Expert Gordon Chang and our Director of National Intelligence have both been warning everyone that China is looking to topple America. So this could have just been a warmup to see how we react before they hit the world with something worse. The virus definitely gummed up our system. We are only just now getting vaccines out to first responders and medical professionals. So hopefully by the end of the year, we are all vaccinated and this pandemic is a thing of the past. But China should definitely be footing their part of the bill on this one after causing it, purposefully or accidentally.