this is bbc news. the headlines at 11:00 — the prime minister says it is highly likely that russia was behind the attack on a former russian spy and his daughter in salisbury. this attempted murder using a weapons grade nerve agent in a dish town was not just weapons grade nerve agent in a dish town was notjust a crime against their progress of true. —— skripals. it was an act against the united kingdom. a teenager is jailed for 10.5 years for attacking six moped riders with acid while trying to steal their bikes. tributes to ken dodd, the last of the great music hall variety comedians, who has died at the age of 90. and newsnight, the leader of the house backs independent enquiry into bullying of parliamentary staff by mps, including the speaker after an investigation by this programme. good evening and

welcome to bbc news. the prime minister has pointed the finger at russia, saying it's highly likely it was behind the attack in salisbury on a former russian spy and his daughter. in a dramatic statement, theresa may revealed that sergei and yulia skripal were poisoned by a military grade nerve agent of a type developed by russia. russia's ambassador was summoned to the foreign office and told to explain by tomorrow night what happened. the prime minister said if there's no credible response, the government will conclude it was an unlawful use of force by the russian state against the uk. and she said there would be consequences.

of its potentially catastrophically damaging nerve agent and allowed it to get into the hands of others. but what would she be ready to do? 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. mr speaker, this attempted murder using a weapons grade nerve agent in a british town was notjust a crime against the skripals. it was an indiscriminate and reckless act against the united kingdom, putting the lives of innocent civilians at risk and we will not tolerate

such a brazen attempt to murder innocent civilians our soil. the russian ambassador summoned to the foreign office for an explanation and handed an ultimatum to respond by midnight tomorrow. not much chance of consensus between red and blue at home. mr speaker, we need to continue seeking a robust dialogue with russia on all the issues currently dividing our countries, both domestic and international. rather than simply cutting off contact and letting the divisions rather than simply cutting off contact and letting the tensions and divisions get worse and potentially, even more dangerous. a serious moment on both sides, though. i hope the whole house will be able to come together behind firm response from the government in the interests of our national security and public safety. this, if not an act of war, was certainly a war—like act by the russian federation.

this is not the first we have seen. can downing street push the powerful kremlin? there will be more expulsions. i mean, she has talked about being an unlawful act, but we should bring in nato and we should be consulting nato allies and i hope that is going on now, because anything we do will be more effective if there can be a broader eu solidarity behind us. the skripals still in critical condition tonight, their personal plight now a grave diplomatic fight. an update to bring you from the art of states because the secretary of state has been speaking about this incident. in his view, the poisoning in britain "clearly came from russia" and they have vowed it will trigger a response. he was going a

lot further than we heard from the white house spokesperson earlier who, while condemning the attack, would not be drawn on russia's potential involvement in it. that just coming from the us secretary of state rex tillerson. the skripals were poisoned with a rare kind of nerve agent called novichok. so what is it? 0ur security correspondent gordon corera has more. samples from the - were ina samples from the - were in a laboratory. the test to determine it came from a row class of nerve agents known as novichok. novichok are a particular identifiable and new and deadly poison, so the overuse of them in the uk is clearly sending a very strong message and it is therefore very surprising that they are being used. novichok are a class of agents developed during the cold war in the 19705 developed during the cold war in the 1970s and 80s. they can be eight times more toxic than other agents.

they were designed to be hard to detect and to get through defences like chemical protection suits. the crucial thing is that these agents we re crucial thing is that these agents were :, w 7 by" but an revealed but an revealed details but an revealed details oth an revealed details of the] at the cold ,, ,, he spoke - i e55 552 ffifiigfit fifigfii ifififii 5!“ 7 eee bee efifiléfie fiffigfii ifififii ene ' that e55 552 efifiléfie fiffigfii ifififii ene ' that i in the conclusion f— f i ' the conclusion that i ' ff: ii i if (i; the identification of novichok meant q"2-e;~ . fl" the identification of novichok meant egg minister| the identification of novichok meant égfi minister 17:3 sayl the identification of novichok meant égfi minister 17:3 say that the prime minister could say that either the russian state itself deployed the nerve agent in salisbury all it somehow lost

control of its stocks. i would have thought it is highly unlikely. control of its stocks. i would have thought it is highly unlikelylj control of its stocks. i would have thought it is highly unlikely. i am sure, like the other super weapons and some of them we have seen very recently, putin has demonstrated his tactical nuclear missile and others, i would have thought these are under very strict control and i am sure no rogue elements in russia is making a fuss by selling them. tonight, police searches for traces of nerve agent are still ongoing. russia should have declared secret programme and the prime minister today said it must now disclose it fully to the international community. moscow was quick to respond to the prime minister's speech with the russian foreign ministry calling her statement "a fairytale" and a "circus show in the british parliament. " 0ur moscow correspondent steve rosenberg reports from krasnodar, in southern russia, where president putin is on a visit. getting close enough to vladimir putin to ask a question isn't easy. but we were with the kremlin leader

when he visited russia's national grain centre. he wanted to talk about record harvests, but we wanted to know if moscow had targeted britain. president putin, bbc news. is russia behind the poisoning of sergei skripal? translation: we're busy with agriculture here. to create good conditions for people's lives. and you talk to me about some tragedies. first, work out what actually happened there and then we'll talk about it. but when the british government announced it had worked out which country had attacked the skripals, moscow was in no mood to listen. tonight, russia described theresa may's commons statement as a circus show and it dismissed accusations against moscow as an informational political campaign based on provocation, a fairytale. meanwhile, russian state tv has been pointing the finger back at britain. the news bulletins suggested

the uk had poisoned the former double agent. "only the british stood to benefit," he says. "it feeds their russophobia." security experts, though, believe the trail leads to moscow and to the kremlin. i haven't got the sense, frankly, that operations of this magnitude, something that you know is going to have a major geopolitical impact, can go ahead without being signed off from the very top. now, whether that actively means a plan being spelt out to putin, and him saying, yes, go for it, or something a little bit more lightweight. but nonetheless, this is not something that came from anything other than the top of the system. this weekend, russians are expected to re—elect vladimir putin as their president. a new term that's set to be marked by a new confrontation

with the west. steve rosenberg, bbc news, krasnodar. two other news now. a 17—year—old has been sentenced to 10.5 years injailfor carrying out a series of acid attacks on moped riders in london lastjuly. derryckjohn, from croydon, sprayed six people with acid in the space of 1.5 hours. he stole two mopeds and attempted to take another four. thejudge described his crimes as "despicable". tom burridge reports. he'd thrown acid into the face of six men. but here's derryck john calmly paying for petrol that night. he was linked to this stolen moped, but the person seen here driving him around still hasn't been identified. when derryck john drove a stolen bike himself later on, this — an accident which linked him to a string of violent acid attacks. where's it hurting, mate? you all right? this victim says his face felt like it was on fire. attacked by derryck john

while delivering takeaways, jabed hussain is still suffering today. i have to keep my eyes everywhere. even i don't trust in the street. if anyone shouts next to me, i get scared. if i want to go out, i always lock my car doors and windows. i used to be busy myself, i'm a working class guy. after the incident, i am totally different. i can't believe myself that i am stuck and alone. today, the 17—year—old was sentenced to 10.5 years injail. the judge said an adult would have gone to prison for much longer. we're very pleased with the sentencing mrjohn has received, we think it does send a strong message that even as a youth offender, that a ten—year plus sentence still sends a strong message that this will not be tolerated. the samejudge sentenced arthur collins, seen here throwing acid across a crowded dance floor, to 20 years in prison. it was one of 400 acid attacks in england and wales in the first

six months of last year. even those under 18 who are caught, like derryckjohn, are likely to spend several years in prison. tom burridge, bbc news. tributes have been paid to sir ken dodd, one of the most popular entertainers of our time, who has died at the age of 90. during a career which spanned more than 60 years, he brought laughter to millions of fans. ""zzl'£.”"f. 'l'..'z'f.é '7 he said, "why?" # happiness... ken dodd. his shows could last into the early hours.

he was a joke machine, and there were thousands. i haven't spoken to my mother—in—law for 18 months. i don't like to interrupt her. did you hear about the shrimp that went to the prawn's cocktail party? he pulled a mussel! so it turns out that if you bang two halves of a horse together, it doesn't make the sound of a coconut! intensely private, but in public, unstoppable. i think there's a show business ken dodd and i think there's a thinking ken dodd. and, hopefully, there's an amusing ken dodd. i hope so, anyway. she said, do you know what an erogenous zone is? i said, "i know you can't park there." ladies and gentlemen, please welcome ken dodd! when he walked on, the place used to go up and he hadn't even said anything yet.

now, that doesn't happen very often. how tickled we were. how tickled we are. he would fire the gags out at you like a machine—gun. in 1965, he was at the top of the charts. only the beatles outsold him. we call it "hur" in liverpool, thejudy with the "fur hur". # tears for souvenirs... and home was the house he was born in, in knotty ash in liverpool, and where he finally married his partner anne just three days ago. i've been overwhelmed by love and affection, which i have already received from dear friends and the public. i thank you all for being here. he also famously had his troubles with the inland revenue. he was eventually acquitted. the job i fancy is chancellor of the exchequer — at least i'd be reunited with my money! ken dodd — one of our last links to the world of music hall.

an era really has come to an end. remembering sir ken dodd who has died at the age of 90. that's a summary of the news. now on bbc news, it's time for newsnight. tonight, the pm lays down the gauntlet to the kremlin. we will consider in detail the response from the russian state. should there be no credible response, we will conclude this action amounts to an unlawful use of force by the russian state against the united kingdom. the salisbury nerve gas attack is escalating into a full blown crisis, with britain asking its allies for back up. we'll hear how russia is likely to react. authoritarianism is on the rise in poland and it's spooking the eu. europe threatens to remove warsaw's voting rights, while the poles resent brussels' high handedness.