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.
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A former US ambassador to Moscow says President Donald Trump must now respond to the Salisbury attack:
The government is to "review" the attendance of British ministers and dignitaries at the football World Cup in Russia this summer, says Theresa May.
She made no mention of the prospect of the English team boycotting the tournament, as has been floated by Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson.
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The Independent's science editor Andrew Griffin has the lowdown on novichok, the nerve agent used in the Salisbury attack:
Theresa May has finished speaking. We'll have a full round-up of events in the Commons shortly.
May blames Russia for Salisbury nerve agent attack
Russia is "highly likely" to have been behind the nerve agent attack on former spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter, Theresa May told has MPs.
The Prime Minister said "military-grade" substance produced by Russia was used in the poisoning, leaving two possible explanations - Moscow was responsible or it has lost control of its stockpile of the chemical weapon.
Russia's ambassador Alexander Yakovenko has been summoned to the Foreign Office to explain what happened.
"Should there be no credible response, we will conclude that this action amounts to an unlawful use of force by the Russian State against the United Kingdom," Ms May told Parliament.
The Kremlin immediately dismissed the accusation, describing the Prime Minister's statement as a "circus show".
In a dramatic statement following a meeting of the UK's National Security Council, during which she received the latest intelligence analysis, Ms May told MPs that Mr Skripal and his daughter were poisoned with an illegal substance that is part of a group of nerve agents known as Novichok.
She added: "Based on the positive identification of this chemical agent by world-leading experts at the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory at Porton Down; our knowledge that Russia has previously produced this agent and would still be capable of doing so; Russia's record of conducting state-sponsored assassinations; and our assessment that Russia views some defectors as legitimate targets for assassinations; the Government has concluded that it is highly likely that Russia was responsible for the act against Sergei and Yulia Skripal.
"There are therefore only two plausible explanations for what happened in Salisbury on 4 March.
"Either this was a direct act by the Russian state against our country, or the Russian government lost control of this potentially catastrophically damaging nerve agent and allowed it to get into the hands of others."
The Government has demanded an response from Moscow by the end of Tuesday. If no "credible" explanation is received, the UK will conclude there had been an "unlawful use of force" by Russia and outline its response.
Following Mrs May's statement, news agency Tass quoted Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova as saying: "It is a circus show in the British Parliament.
"The conclusion is obvious: it's another political information campaign, based on a provocation."
Meanwhile, the investigation into the nerve agent attack has expanded to village of Winterslow, about six miles from Salisbury.
Police and Army teams were at a site where a white van was loaded onto a truck ready to be taken away.
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