Westminster today - LIVE: Theresa May condemns Russia for 'brazen and reckless' attack as she arrives at EU Council summit

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Russia 'staged a brazen and reckless attack' on UK, says Theresa May

Theresa May has condemned Russia for the "brazen and reckless" nerve agent attack on Sergei Skripal as she arrived in Brussels for a crucial European summit.

The Prime Minister will urge EU leaders to unite against the "pattern of Russian aggression" at the two-day meeting, where the heads of the 28-nation bloc will also vote on the terms of the Brexit transition deal.

Brexit Secretary David Davis hailed the draft deal as a "significant step" earlier this week, but plans for the two-year transition period still need to be rubber-stamped by EU leaders

Meanwhile, the Government has been told to explain to UK workers why new British passports to be introduced after Brexit will be made in France.

The passports had become a totemic issue for Brexiteers, who celebrated the Government's decision to bring back the traditional blue covers.

See below for live updates

Key Points

• Theresa May urges EU leaders to unite against "reckless and brazen" attack by Russia
• Government criticised after awarding contract for making new British passports to Franco-Dutch company
• Russian ambassador condemns Boris Johnson for Putin-Hitler comparison
• Sajid Javid admits some Grenfell families will not have been rehoused one year on from disaster
• Jeremy Corbyn launches Labour local election campaign

[22 March 2018 09:14 · Kristin Hugo]

Welcome to The Independent's live coverage from Westminster.

[22 March 2018 09:35 · Kristin Hugo]

A row is rumbling on this morning about where the new British passports will be made after it emerged the documents will be printed in France by Franco-Dutch firm Gemalto.

That prompted the boss of De La Rue, a British company that had hoped to win the £490m contract, to ask Theresa May and Amber Rudd to come and explain to his workers why they had missed out. 

Martin Sutherland said: "I think we have heard over the last few weeks and months ministers more than happy to come on the media and talk about the blue passports and the fact that the blue passport is an icon of British identity.

"Now this icon of British identity is going to be manufactured in France."

He added: "I'm going to have to go and face those workers, look at them in the whites of the eyes and try and explain to them why the British government thinks it's a sensible decision to buy French passports not British passports."

"I would actually like to invite Theresa May or Amber Rudd to come to my factory and explain to my dedicated workforce why they think this is a sensible decision to offshore the manufacture of a British icon."

[22 March 2018 09:48 · Kristin Hugo]

Trade unions have also criticised the decision to award the contract for making the new British passports to a Franco-Dutch firm.

Unite's national officer, Louisa Bull, said:

"Theresa May and Amber Rudd need to explain to De La Rue workers why 'taking back control' means their jobs could be put at risk while the production of Britain's new iconic passport is shipped overseas to France.

It wouldn't happen in France because of national security and it shouldn't happen in the UK. De La Rue is the UK's leading security printer making banknotes as well as passports sustaining thousands of decent jobs in the UK.

Ministers need to reverse this decision and start supporting British business and UK workers through public procurement and an industrial strategy which is more than just soundbites."

[22 March 2018 10:06 · Kristin Hugo]

MPs held a minute's silence in the House of Commons this morning to mark the first anniversary of the Westminster terror attack. Here's Lizzy Buchan's story: 

[22 March 2018 10:20 · Kristin Hugo]

Matt Hancock, the Culture Secretary, has told MPs the row over Facebook and Cambridge Analytica is a "turning point" when it comes to regulation of internet companies. He said:

"We have shown and made the case over the last year that this Wild West free-for-all of the internet companies has got to come to an end. I think this is a turning point."

[22 March 2018 10:38 · Kristin Hugo]

New official figures released this morning reveal a 64 per cent rise in the number of families living in temporary accommodation since 2010. May Bulman has the story:

[22 March 2018 11:09 · Kristin Hugo]

More trade union reaction to the row over where the new British passports will be made - this from Unite general secretary Len McCluskey...

[22 March 2018 11:23 · Kristin Hugo]

Jeremy Corbyn is currently launching Labour's local election campaign. Speaking in Trafford, he says:

"Over the last eight years, this Conservative government has cuts councils’ budgets in half one Conservative council has already gone bust.

In that same time, this government has slashed corporation tax, cut the bank levy, abolished the top tax rate on high earners and cut capital gains tax for the very richest.

Austerity is a political choice.

So when your children’s school is losing teachers and sending begging letters to parents or their youth centre is closed, that’s because the Conservative priority is tax breaks for big business.

And when your elderly relatives are neglected for lack of social care, that’s because the Conservatives want another tax giveaway for a few people at the top.

Decent people who have contributed all their lives have been turned into an item on a spreadsheet, sliced and diced into 15-minute units of care because of Conservative cuts and privatisation dogma.

It doesn’t have to be like this. Labour in government would do things very differently."

[22 March 2018 11:57 · Kristin Hugo]

Sajid Javid, the Housing and Communities Secretary, has just updated MPs on the response to the Grenfell Tower disaster. 

He says that, nine months on, "shocking and terrible events of June 14 continue to cast a long shadow".

He admits the initial response to the fire was "slow and confused" but insists the Grenfell families are now receiving better support. The Government has worked to ensure there is "much-needed cultural change" within the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea council, he adds.

He says 188 of the 204 families made homeless have now accepted an offer of temporary accommodation, of which 128 have already moved in. 62 are now in new permanent homes.

However, he says "progress has been far too slow": there are still 82 households in emergency accommodation, including 25 families and 39 children.

"This is totally unacceptable. The suffering that these families have already endured is unimaginable. Living for this long in hotels can only make the process of grieving and recovery even harder."

It is unlikely that all the households will have been rehoused by the first anniversary of the disaster in June - something he says is "clearly not good enough".

[22 March 2018 12:05 · Kristin Hugo]

Sajid Javid, the Housing and Communities Secretary, has just updated MPs on the response to the Grenfell Tower disaster. 

He says that, nine months on, "the shocking and terrible events of 14 June continue to cast a long shadow".

Javid admits the initial response to the fire was "slow and confused" but insists the Grenfell families are now receiving better support. The Government has worked to ensure there is "much-needed cultural change" within the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea council, he adds.

He says 188 of the 204 families made homeless have now accepted an offer of  accommodation, and 128 have already moved in. 62 are now in new permanent homes.

However, he admits "progress has been far too slow": there are still 82 households in emergency accommodation, including 25 families and 39 children. He says:

"This is totally unacceptable. The suffering that these families have already endured is unimaginable. Living for this long in hotels can only make the process of grieving and recovery even harder."

It is unlikely that all the households will have been rehoused by the first anniversary of the disaster in June - something he says is "clearly not good enough".