Westminster today - as it happened: Theresa May says Russia 'highly likely' behind poison attack on former spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter
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Your support makes all the difference.Theresa May has said it is "highly likely that Russia was responsible" for the Salisbury nerve agent attack.
The Prime Minister has been been updating MPs on the poisoning of ex-Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia, following warnings from a senior Tory MP that the incident amounted to "state-sponsored attempted murder".
This live blog has now ended.
The Russian Embassy in London has issued a robust response on Twitter to speculation about the Salisbury attack.
A Labour frontbencher has denied behaving inappropriately after claims he slapped a woman on the buttocks and made offensive sexual comments to her.
Karl Turner is alleged to have touched the party member's bottom in his constituency office in 2015, according to the Financial Times.
Witnesses said the Kingston upon Hull East MP had told the woman - who had undergone a double mastectomy - that she "shouldn't have got rid of her real tits because they were great".
Labour insisted it takes all complaints about inappropriate behaviour "extremely seriously" and appealed for anyone with a complaint to contact the party to allow allegations to be fully investigated.
After the alleged incident, Mr Turner reportedly said something like "I couldn't help myself" when he was challenged.
The shadow transport minister allegedly followed up his comments about the woman's mastectomy by adding: "The ones you've got now are nice enough."
Mr Turner said: "I am aware of reports in the media about my alleged inappropriate behaviour.
"I strongly reject any suggestion that I behaved inappropriately or in a misogynistic manner."
A Labour spokesman said: "The party takes all complaints of sexual harassment, abuse and discrimination extremely seriously.
"We ask that anyone with a complaint comes forward so that allegations can be fully investigated, and any appropriate disciplinary action taken in line with the party's rule book and procedures."
Two people have been taken to hospital as a precaution as police cordoned off an area of Parliament to investigate a “suspicious substance”.
Police and ambulance services arrived on the parliamentary estate just before 1pm and specialist officers from the Metropolitan Police are now assessing the package.
More on this developing story here:
Labour's Yasmin Qureshi is asking an urgent question about inflammatory letters regarding the 'Punish a Muslim Day' in April.
Home office minister Victoria Atkins said these letters were the subject of a police investigation, so she could not comment, but condemned the context of the letters as "clearly abhorrent with no place in decent society".
Robust measures are in place to protect freedom of speech and faith, and there are strong legislation to prevent hate crimes, she said.
The counter-terrorism detective investigating such "Punish a Muslim Day" letters has said his team takes religious hatred "extremely seriously".
Offensive messages were sent to a string of locations across the country with five police forces - West Yorkshire, South Yorkshire, Leicestershire, Nottinghamshire and the Metropolitan Police - all receiving reports.
Detective Chief Superintendent Martin Snowden said: "We take religious hatred extremely seriously and my officers will be carrying out a full and thorough investigation in response to these reports.
"These letters seek to cause fear and offence among our Muslim communities. They also seek to divide us. Yet in spite of this our communities have shown strength in their response to such hatred and in their support for each other."
Tory MP Anna Soubry said the letters were "an incitement to terrorism" and called for a proper legal definition of Islamophobia.
Minister Victoria Atkins said the Government did not accept the need for a "definitive" term as it was widely accepted.
Shadow home officer minister Louise Haigh said the "despicable" acts will have "struck fear into the hearts of communities". She cites the attack on "our friend Jo Cox" and the attack on Finsbury Park as examples of the threat of extreme violence from the extreme right.
Home Affairs Committee chair Yvette Cooper urged parliament to "stand firm with Muslim families against this vile Islamophobia".
She asks whether videos by the far-right group National Action have been taken down, after she raised the issue of social media giants failing to take the footage down.
Minister Victoria Atkins says these firms must take this footage down as soon as possible and the Home Secretary made that clear to firms like Google.
See our earlier story here:
Labour's Rupa Huq also raises concern about the "Tory tabloid press" for using language that incites hate crime. She revealed that she had been subject to a video from a far-right group that was calling for her head.
Minister Victoria Atkins said she condemned hateful language of any kind.
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