We are closing this live blog now. Thanks so much for joining us and for all the comments below the line. Here’s the full story on May’s Commons statement announcing retaliation against Russia after the Russian spy attack:
In a tongue-in-cheek display of unconcern about May’s actions today, the Russian embassy in London tweeted: “The temperature of Russia-UK relations drops to minus-23, but we are not afraid of cold weather” .
In response to the attempted murder of Sergei Skripal in Salisbury, the prime minister today said: “We will continue to bring all the capabilities of UK law enforcement to bear against serious criminals and corrupt elites. There is no place for these people or their money in our country” .
Russian Embassy, UK (@RussianEmbassy)
The temperature of ?? ?? relations drops to ➖2️⃣3️⃣, but we are not afraid of cold weather.
March 14, 2018
The anti-corruption group Transparency International is calling for the government to take “serious action” to combat this.
Duncan Hames, director of policy at Transparency International UK, said:
We share the prime minister’s view that there should be no place in the UK for dirty money from overseas, but we are now calling for serious action to make this a reality. Until now corrupt individuals and regimes may well have concluded they can act with impunity in the UK given the ease with which their money has been welcomed into our financial system, property market, luxury goods and other high-end services. We’ve seen the UK become a safe haven for corrupt wealth in which money stolen from people often in the poorest parts of the world is freely spent.
More than a fifth of the £4.4bn worth of UK properties we identified as having been acquired with suspicious wealth was bought by Russians. It is clear that London has routinely been the choice destination for Russians with suspicious wealth to move and they have had little trouble doing so, taking advantage of lax regulation and offshore secrecy. To help combat this the UK needs to accelerate the much delayed plans for a public register of the real owners of overseas companies owning UK property.
Rules around tier 1 investments have tightened since 2015, but we still don’t know who was granted residency before then and it’s imperative that the UK now investigates which individuals, and with what money, were able to gain UK residency under such poor scrutiny.
Ken Livingstone, the former mayor of London, has told Russia Today that he suspects “President Putin has better things to do” than order assassinations in Britain.
Stephen Daisley (@JournoStephen)
Ken Livingstone on RT agrees that the UK Government’s response has been ‘premature’, says there’s Western ‘paranoia’ about Putin. ‘Every country defends its own interests,’ he says, arguing that during the Crimea crisis the UK media didn’t tell viewers it had been part of Russia.
March 14, 2018
On Twitter, it was pointed out that Livingstone made similar comments following the death of Alexander Litvinenko.
Enough Of That Now (@AndyGilder)
«I think many people are skeptical that Putin himself is very involved in this. This seems to be a very heavy-handed attack» – Ken Livingstone in 2006 after the death of Alexander Litvinenko.
At least he’s consistent in his toadying to Putin.
March 14, 2018
There has been speculation that the England football team could boycott this summer’s World Cup in Russia, but the FA has insisted preparations are continuing as normal.
In a series of tweets, a spokesperson for the FA said they were taking travel guidance from the Foreign Office and would work closely with the government regarding England’s participation in both the World Cup and a women’s World Cup qualifier.
FA Spokesperson (@FAspokesperson)
The FA will continue to work closely with the UK Government and relevant authorities regarding our participation in this summer’s FIFA World Cup and the Women’s World Cup qualifier in June.
March 14, 2018
FA Spokesperson (@FAspokesperson)
Our priority for all England matches is to ensure the safety and security of the fans, players and staff. As is standard practice, we will take all travel guidance from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.
March 14, 2018
The location where the nerve agent novichok was developed and produced is a closed town in central Russia, Shikhany, according to a chemical weapons expert, Hamish de Bretton-Gordon.
Shikhany is the Russian equivalent of Porton Down, home to various research facilities that deal with radiation and chemical weapons.
He said the information was disclosed in a report sent by the Russians to the international body responsible for monitoring chemical weapons, the Organisation for Prohibition of Chemical Weapons.
- The UK is to expel 23 Russian diplomats, consider new laws to combat spying and look at sanctions as part of a sweeping response to the nerve agent attack in Salisbury, Theresa May has told parliament.
- Jeremy Corbyn came under sustained attack, including from MPs on his own side, over his response to the prime minister’s statement on Russia in which he failed to condemn the Kremlin directly for carrying out the Salisbury attack.
- Philip Hammond will need to impose tax rises worth at least £30bn to reach his target of balancing the public finances by 2025, undermining hopes that the chancellor will go into his autumn budget with plenty of spare cash to ease austerity, according to a leading economic thinktank.
- The government is not planning to axe 1p and 2p coins, Downing Street has said, after a brief if vehement media campaign against the idea, which had been floated in a Treasury paper released with the spring statement.
- Nicola Sturgeon, Scotland’s first minister, has failed to reach an agreement with Theresa May over what the EU withdrawal bill should say about devolution. But after a meeting in Downing Street she implied a deal was closer than before. These are from the BBC’s Nick Eardley and ITV Border’s Peter MacMahon.
Nick Eardley (@nickeardleybbc)
FM @NicolaSturgeon: No agreement on clause 11. We all aired views, indication on all sides we want agreement
March 14, 2018
Nick Eardley (@nickeardleybbc)
A far more optimistic tone from @NicolaSturgeon on Withdrawal Bill after talks
March 14, 2018
Peter MacMahon (@petermacmahon)
No deal on #Brexit “power grab after @NicolaSturgeon meets @theresa_may. “If UK govt says thus far no further there will not be deal” @ScotGovFM tells me. But hint of deal as looking at assurances not no “unreasonable withholding of consent “?
March 14, 2018
That’s all from me for today.
My colleague Nicola Slawson is now taking over.
Here is Lawrence Freedman, the historian who was a member of the panel that carried out the Chilcot inquiry into the Iraq war, on WMD comparisons between Salisbury and Iraq. (See 2.04pm and 2.44pm.)
Lawrence Freedman (@LawDavF)
I read ALL the intelligence leading up to Iraq WMD Dossier in 9/2002. it showed the problems in getting invested in an established assessment, not being skeptical enough about new information appearing to confirm worst case, and speculating in the absence of hard evidence. 1/3
March 14, 2018
Lawrence Freedman (@LawDavF)
This is all of no relevance with regard to the use of Novichok agent in Salisbury. This is largely forensic issue concerned with composition of the substance used in the attack. 2/3
March 14, 2018
Lawrence Freedman (@LawDavF)
I suspect Porton Down already been in touch with relevant international experts but it could well make sense to convene expert panel (perhaps under OPCW auspices) to go through evidence. Allow Russia to be present but pointless to ask it to provide own independent assessment.
March 14, 2018
In the Commons during Theresa May’s statement, Tom Tugendhat, the Conservative MP who chairs the Commons foreign affairs committee, said the government should expose President Putin’s wealth. Tugendhat said:
Could I also ask her if she will use the tools at her disposal to expose the wealth of the Putin family. Three billion dollars (£2.15bn) or more has been stolen from the Russian people by that man. We should expose him for what he is and not be a useful idiot hiding behind legalism of his crimes.
May thanked him for his suggestion.
The Russian foreign ministry has tweeted this response to Theresa May.
MFA Russia ?? (@mfa_russia)
It’s absolutely unacceptable & unworthy of British Government to seek to further seriously aggravate relations in pursuit of its unseemly political ends, having announced a whole series of hostile measures,incl. expulsion of 23 #Russian diplomats from #UK.
March 14, 2018
France has said it wants firm proof of Russian involvement in the nerve-toxin poisoning of a Russian double agent in Britain before it takes any action in solidarity with the British government, Reuters reports.
Alexander Yakovenko, the Russian ambassador to the UK, has confirmed that British diplomats will be expelled from Moscow. Asked in an interview with Sky News about what would happen after May’s statement, he said:
There will be expulsions. As you understand in diplomatic practice, there will be answers from the Russian side.
When he was asked to clarify if this meant British diplomats being expelled from Moscow, he replied.
In diplomacy, there is always reciprocity.
He also said that what the UK government was doing was “absolutely unacceptable” and that it should refer the matter to the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons. He said:
We consider these measures made by the British government absolutely unacceptable, and I’ll tell you why. We believe Britain should follow international law. Under obligations under the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, if they have any suspicions on nerve gas or something like that, they have to make an application to the organisation and make a request. And, so far, we did not get any samples.
The UK government’s response has been that, while it has the option of taking the case to the OPCW, it is under no obligation to do so.
The Labour MP Chuka Umunna has criticised Seumas Milne, Jeremy Corbyn’s strategy and communications director, for what he said in his briefing earlier (see 2.04pm and 2.44pm) about the case against Russia being unproven.
Chuka Umunna (@ChukaUmunna)
Have read the comments of the Leader of the Opposition’s spokesperson. Mr Milne’s comments do not represent the views of the majority of our voters, members or MPs. We’ll get abuse for saying so but where British lives have been put at risk it is important to be clear about this.
March 14, 2018
The Labour MP Mike Gates has also taken a swipe at him on Twitter.
Mike Gapes (@MikeGapes)
I understand that Jeremy Corbyn’s spokesman Seumas Milne has claimed there is no proof that Russia is behind the nerve gas attack in Salisbury. Well Seumas has form on these matters.
March 14, 2018
Turning away from Russia for a moment, Downing Street has signalled that 1p and 2p coins will not be abolished after all, the BBC’s Alex Forsyth reports.
Alex Forsyth (@AlexForsythBBC)
In other news No10 signals pennies are safe. The PM’s spokesman said the consultation was intended to help the Govt better understand the role of cash & digital payments in the economy & whether the mix of coins meets public need – and from early reaction it looks like it does
March 14, 2018
The Treasury floated the idea of getting rid of them in yesterday’s spring statement. But generally it went down badly with today’s newspapers.
BBC News (UK) (@BBCNews)
Wednesday’s Daily Mirror
«Pennies dropped»#tomorrowspaperstoday#bbcpapers
(via @AllieHBNews)March 13, 2018
This must be one of the quickest “budget” U-turns in history. Even the pasty tax lasted longer than this…
According to the BBC’s Laura Kuenssberg, some Labour MPs have signed a draft early day motion saying they “unequivocally” accept that Russia was to blame for the nerve agent poisoning of Sergei Skripal and his daughter, Yulia. Sixteen MPs seem to have signed it already.
Laura Kuenssberg (@bbclaurak)
Motion being scrambled by Labour MPs to back PMs view that Russia definitely culpable – taking v different line to Corbyn
March 14, 2018
Kuenssberg also says some Labour frontbenchers could resign in protest at Jeremy Corbyn’s refusal to accept Russia was to blame. (See 3.35pm.)
Laura Kuenssberg (@bbclaurak)
Rumour that some Labour shadow front benchers might resign over the leader’s statement today – let’s wait and see – certainly a lot of anger around – uneasy truce in Labour party since election has been trashed by different instincts over Skripal case
March 14, 2018
The Sun’s Tom Newton Dunn has heard the same thing.
Tom Newton Dunn (@tnewtondunn)
I am told by a senior Labour source that two shadow ministers are now considering their positions after Jeremy Corbyn’s refusal to blame Russia for #Salisbury today.
March 14, 2018
The Foreign Office has now updated its travel advice for Russia. It includes a passage saying:
Due to heightened political tensions between the UK and Russia, you should be aware of the possibility of anti-British sentiment or harassment at this time. If you’re currently in Russia or due to travel in the coming weeks, you’re advised to remain vigilant, avoid any protests or demonstrations and avoid commenting publicly on political developments.
While the British embassy in Moscow is not aware of any increased difficulties for British people travelling in Russia at this time, you should follow the security and political situation closely and keep up to date with this travel advice. You may wish to sign up for our email alerts to be notified of any updates.