this is bbc news and these are the top stories developing at 11am: we have lost a colossal mine and a wonderful spirit, just one of many tributes to the businesses to stephen hawking, who has died at the age of 76. this outstanding work was achieved despite for living for decades with the debilitating disease. doesn't voice i am very proud to have been able to contribute to our understanding of the universe. a brilliant and extraordinary mind, the prime minister leads tributes to professor hawking. the midnight deadline for russia to respond to the british alternate term of the nerve agent attack at salisbury has come and gone. we will hear from the salisbury has come and gone. we will hearfrom the prime minister lunchtime about what she intends to do next. russia says britain's claims are not serious and accuses it ofa claims are not serious and accuses it of a flagrant attempt to mislead the international community. also: students across america

prepare to walk out in defiance over controversial gun laws. it comes a month since 17 people were killed by a lone gunman at a florida high school. and plans to improve community cohesion in england — five councils are to draw up plans to tackle segregation. good morning. welcome to bbc newsroom live. britain's most famous scientist, professor stephen hawking, has died at the age of 76. he captured the public‘s imagination with his best selling book a brief history of time which outlines his

the reason about the universe is back aback. he had a brilliant career despite being diagnosed with motor neurone disease in 1964 and being told he had just a few years to live. in a statement his children, lucy, robert and tim, said, "we are deeply saddened that our beloved father passed away today. he was a great scientist and an extraordinary man whose work and legacy will live on for many years." scientists from around the world have been paying tribute to his work, nasa said the work of professor hawking had unlocked a universe of possibilities that we and the world are exploring. while sir tim berners—lee, inventor of the world wide web, said, "we have lost a colossal mind and a wonderful spirit." nick higham has been looking back on stephen hawking's life. he was instantly recognisable and utterly remarkable. the visionary scientist, helpless in its high—tech wheelchair, who nonetheless transformed our view of the universe. while a student, he developed the first signs of motor neuron disease. gradually, his body shut down, till he could only communicate using a computerised voice synthesiser, controlled, to start with, by hand. it didn't hold him back.

i was never actually told i only had two years to live, but i perceived the doctors didn't think my prospects were good. his fame sprang from his book a brief history of time. it sold 10 million copies. but though many bought it, rather fewer actually read it. his theories about time and space and black holes were stupendously difficult for nonspecialists to grasp. but he turned out to have a genius for communication. he gave lectures and interviews and became an unlikely celebrity. he even appeared on the simpsons. i don't like your tone. if you're looking for trouble, you've found it. yeah, just try me you... ow! the public loves to have celebrities who aren't the run—of—the—mill posh and becks kind of celebrities, so when you have a guy who have a significant intellectual accomplishment who becomes famous, people like me go, "oh, that's great, i wish there were more of them." and on an episode of star trek,

he played poker with issac newton, his predecessor as locascio professor of mathematics at cambridge. the day that apple fell on my head, the most momentous day in the history of science. not the apple story again. he'd become a byword for cleverness, and unlikely intellectual pin—up. he fills that place we need for a symbol of brainpower. if you go into a student's room these days, you don't see john lennon orjimi hendrix or che guevara — except in a retro sense — you often see oscar wilde, albert einstein, stephen hawking. because these days, i think people who like to identify themselves as being on the side of the mind think of him as it pure symbol of that, a pure brain. his private life was complicated. with his first wife, jane, they had three children and she looked after him until, in 1990, a he left her for his nurse, elaine. they eventually married,

only for claims to emerge that hawking had been physically abused. police investigated, but the case was dropped for lack of evidence. the couple later divorced. too often, they are told that these are stupid questions to ask, but this is said by grown—ups who don't know the answers and don't want to look silly by admitting they don't know. he never lost his sense of humour, though by the end, he could only speak by twitching his cheek to move an infrared beam. i don't have much positive to say about motor neuron disease, but it taught me not to pity myself, and to get on with what i still could do. i'm happier now than before i developed the condition. if general relativity's correct, then the universe is expanding, yes? yeah. so, if you reverse time, then the universe is getting smaller. all right... in 2014, his life was dramatised in the theory of everything, with eddie redmayne playing hawking. and? ..look back to see

what happened at the beginning of time itself. stephen, here you are. at cambridge, they unveiled a statue of him, a rare honourfor someone still living. but few did more to transform our understanding of the universe and to overcome personal challenge. the prime minister has led tributes to professor hawking. she said he was a brilliant and extraordinary mind, one of the great scientists of his generation. his courage, humour and determination to get the most from life was an inspiration. his legacy will not be forgotten. brian cox said... the astronaut chris hadfield said...

and in a statement, eddie redmayne, who won an oscar for his portrayal of professor hawking said... the presenter of the sky at night, chris lintott has been speaking to the bbc. he described what impact professor hawking had on physics. one of the greats of 20th—century physics. he taught us for the first time, with others, that the big bang was a thing, that it was allowed that the university good start in this hot, dense states. he went on to expand a lot of phenomena that happen around black calls, the most mysterious objects in the universe. there are still armies of people today following up on his insights

coming he gave us many decades of productive physics. dr harry cliff, a particle physicist at cambridge university, worked alongside professor hawking. he said he would remember him for his sense of humour. i rememberfirst i remember first seen stephen hawking when i was an undergraduate. i was totally in all of him. you would occasionally see him at dinner, sometimes running around the college, always had a set of mischief. every thought he was catchy, it he would accelerate towards you and send students jumping out of the way or try and run over your toes. he was a brilliant scientist but also had a is rate since a tumour which endeared him to everyone. —— a great sense of humour. the cosmologist professor thomas hertog is based at leuven university and collaborated with professor hawking over many years. he says the contribution stephen hawking made to physics is undeniable. he worked with einstein's theory and took it a giant step forward. by combining it with the other great

theory of the 20th century, quantum mechanics. stephen had an enormously powerful science programme. he was very clear on the road where he wa nted very clear on the road where he wanted to go. at first, i met hawking as a phd students, so it ta kes a hawking as a phd students, so it takes a while to get over the all and really start working with him. but, i met in 1998, and we have continued to collaborate on his model of big bang for all these yea rs. model of big bang for all these years. he had a real vision. wherejoined by where joined by the wherejoined by the professor of computational cosmology at durham university. a brilliant physicist and so much more, superlatives abound when anybody talks about him. how do you regards him?|j

abound when anybody talks about him. how do you regards him? i regard him as one of the towering intellectual figures of the 20th century. he's a man who overcame a very serious risk limitations to achieve tremendous intellectual heights. he achieved real breakthroughs in our understanding of the most intricate and intricate phenomena in the universe, from white black holes exist, all the way to our universe asa exist, all the way to our universe as a whole. stephen was a cosmologist, a gravitational physicist, a theoretical physicist. he was one of the first to make inroads into a problem that defeated einstein, which is the problem of trying to bring together the world of the very small, the world of quantum physics and the world of the very large, the universe as a whole. he made inroads, he did not solve the problem of quantum gravity, but

from the foundations he said of our now pursued by physicists all around the world. a tremendous vigour, extraordinaire, of course, notjust asa extraordinaire, of course, notjust as a scientist. i had a great privilege to meet him many times, he was in his mid—30s, when he can still speak, when i first met him. he was a legend, very eminence, his reputation for being absolutely brilliant. he was as a human, a person who, in spite of all the difficulties he encountered in life, was not to miss. he had a tremendous sense of humour, a person of the most progressive political views you could imagine. a terrific communicator. i always admired so much in him, that, even though he couldn't speak, except through machine, he was able to communicate the beauty of the universe and the ability of the human mind to

comprehend the way in which a universe works. a truly remarkable figure who will be remembered is both for his scientific contributions, his technical contributions, his technical contributions, his technical contributions, his books and also for what he represents for notjust physicists but humanity as a whole. he has been described as someone had an extraordinary ability to cut through the clutter in physics and get straight to the point back aback he could visualise scientific solutions without alkylating or experimenting. —— calculating all experiments. did you see that in action when you met him?|j experiments. did you see that in action when you met him? i saw that in action notjust when i met him, when i studied is a book that he wrote. it was unlike any other book in physics, because he, even then, was able to sit down and write long

pages of equations which most of us we re pages of equations which most of us were doing at a time. stephen had to doa were doing at a time. stephen had to do a different way to do physics, to rationalise the universe. he had a very sustained, amazingly precise, pure, beautiful logic to express his thoughts in the form of compact statements, theorems, whiston are not required lengthy deliberations. he was a man of immense originality, both in the way he thought about our universe, but the way he carried out the day to day science of the practice. his book was a revelation, i remember sitting in all, thinking, this is so different and yet so powerful. it was sheer elegance, a product of a unique mind. thank you very much indeed. many more tributes to stephen hawking online as well.

theresa may is expected to announce sanctions against russia after the kremlin failed to explain their role in a chemical attack in salisbury. russian foreign minister sergei lavrov accused the uk of playing politics with the situation, and said he thought the british my colleague ben brown is in westminster for us this morning. the midnight deadline for a response from moscow has come and gone without answer so we will hear at lunchtime low response from the russians specifically apart from the foreign minister saying that british claims are misleading. and as the russians went gave a response unless britain shares with them a sample of the nerve agent used. the prime minister, theresa may has been

meeting her security council here, and after prime minister as my questions, she will announce the measures the british government will be taking for what happened in salisbury. we don't yet know with those measures will be, but the goods be and are likely to be the expulsion of russian diplomats from the uk, a possible freezing of assets of russian officials in the uk. also, possibly, a boycott of the world cup in russia and even closing down the russia today tv channel. we'll wait and see. how much room for manoeuvre does the prime minister has entered a response to russia? it will have to be a much more significant response then the death of the ukrainian man. us issue

met many more are likely to be kicked out this time, russian diplomats. in terms of acid freezes and travel bans. the room for extending those is limited by the fa ct extending those is limited by the fact the eu already has in place acid freezes and travel bans on 149 of president putin's associates. back to some extent is already in place. in terms of the ban on russia today, that has been talked about, when you speak to mps about that, it isa when you speak to mps about that, it is a question of how that would look for a western democracy to be closing down a broadcasting organisation, and the view of many mps is that simply plays to putin's agenda. in terms of the ross carr, it has already been signalled by boris johnson that dignitaries it has already been signalled by borisjohnson that dignitaries won't be going. banning the team is unlikely, because the only people that would punish is english

football fans. in terms of the big stick, broader sanctions to inflict pain on the russian economy, a lot of that is already in place posed crimea, because a ready there are sanctions and restrictions on russian banks, energy companies and defence companies, so a lot of that is already in place. the actual roma for significantly escalating sanctions and conditions is actually relatively circumscribed. john mcdonnell has been questioning how effective some of these measures would be. saying you get a tit—for—tat response from the russians, in excluding delegates?” don't think mrs may well be deterred by possible retaliatory measures. 0ne by possible retaliatory measures. one area weather could now be more cross— party one area weather could now be more cross—party agreement is the

agreements with the labour party have been pushing the government to accept amendments. this would be to seize the assets of some russian officials? i'm not sure it would. it would buy officials went to human rights abuses from laundering their money in the city. the already can't do it in america, it would close of the option of using banks in london. presumably, if they wanted, they could take the money elsewhere. it is not a cure all, it would still cause inconvenience, but would still have their money. 90 very much. we will be hearing from the prime minister after pmqs, so we expect that to be around 12:45pm, with a list of measures the government have with. just been discussing those with. just been discussing those with the security council earlier this morning. just hearing donald tuskin

this morning. just hearing donald tusk in brussels has said this whole issue of what happened in salisbury, the nerve agent attack on sergei skripal and his daughter yulia is going to be on the agenda of the european union summit next week. we can talk now to the british formers foreign secretary malcolm rifkind. just hearing there that the eu are going to discuss this at their summit next week. do you think there has been enough solidarity from the uk's allies? so far, yes. they are pledged solidarity and will later see what the prime minister announces today. they may wish to ta ke announces today. they may wish to take measures of their own. what do you think theresa may should announce? does she have room for manoeuvre to escalate punishment of russia? there has to be a very hard response. let's be clear, the nerve agent is undoubtedly a russian nerve agents. it was actually part of the

chemical weapons when factored in uzbekistan when it was part the soviet union, that's the only place that has used it as far as anyone knows, and it has somehow got into the hands of the russian intelligence agents. i think putin could have responded by saying, i'm as horrified as anyone else if this agent has been years, we need to find out who is responsible. he didn't do that, he is, the usual kind response one gets, and the response of the russian embassy in london was disgraceful. retweeted, mocking anyone who should remotely suggest any russian involvement. sure mcgrath to me what should the prime minister announce, —— you are asking me what the prime minister should announce, there is no way you can stop another sovereign nation doing what he wants to do, so there is no question of an absolute bar,

we have to ask should this damage the rotation of the kremlin, just as there are expulsion from the 0lympics you related them, i would not just expel from 0lympics you related them, i would notjust expel from the russian embassy here the intelligence agents who are there, i would tell the russian ambassador he should be on his way home. he has been responsible for an absolutely disgusting trivialisation of when two people aligned possibly near their deaths in the hospital and salisbury. but then they would expel the british ambassador.” salisbury. but then they would expel the british ambassador. i have no doubt about that, but what the world will see is that the russian ambassador and many of his collea g u es ambassador and many of his colleagues have been sent packing, in addition to that, i think the amendment your colleague was discussing earlier, absolutely right. there are many russians living in london who are decent

people, and we should welcome them. that's not a problem. but there are number of individuals who have a question of human rights issues in their backgrounds, some of them owned property in london. of course, they did transfer their assets... and with that hurt mr gibson, do you think? mr putin's entire power base isa group think? mr putin's entire power base is a group of cronies, some with an intelligence of backgrounds, some of them oligarchs, and it will hurt. it would force symmetry changes policy, it might, you never know the effect these things might have, but has lobbied against this sort of legislation. he goes on united states, he should feel here to. and should theresa may announce a boycott of the world cup?” should theresa may announce a boycott of the world cup? i don't think that makes sense, as you

suggest, it would not damage putin in these items, it would be our own athletes and that is not something any of us once. thank you very much. let's get the view from moscow now, we go to our correspondence there, and that deadline it did come and go without a formal response to the prime minister's ultimatum, but what are the russians been saying in general? we have hired from serbia live rolled, and he has been using tough rhetoric —— we have heard from sergi lover of, and he has been using tough rhetoric saying that being given such a deadline is required under the chemical weapons agreements and the uk has lighted it. he said russia got rid of its chemical weapons a while ago, and

there are no facts or evidence being presented by the british investigation and he is saying that russia would have had no motive. i think britain with question a lot of that, particularly on the issue of motive, given that sergei skripal has been a military intelligence officer in russia and then then betrayed his country by working with mi6. we have seen other assassinations in britain of russian traitors, spies who turned to work for britain. how prominently is all of this playing in the russian immediate? has been a lot about it ina immediate? has been a lot about it in a close, and russian television, and what extent are ordinary russians talking or thinking about it? initially there wasn't much, but now, with the prospect of what mrs may is going to announce, there has been much more interest. it has been reported in the russian media here quite significantly. 0ne quote from

a russian newspaper as saying, the in terms of russian, british relationships, the die is cast, the rubicon is crossed. very strong headline from one of the newspapers. and he very much. we will become the day live with that statement from the prime minister when she will announce what measures she is taking against the russians for what happened in salisbury. and now a sports updates. jose mourinho says he doesn't want to make a mourinho says he doesn't want to makea drama mourinho says he doesn't want to make a drama of their champions league last 16 exit to syria. it finished goalless in spain but sevilla took control with the

crucial away goal with less than 20 minutes left. this second goal on the night for the french striker. both the united fans won't be too pleased with mourinho's view that the 2-1 pleased with mourinho's view that the 2—1 defeatist in the end of the world. i sit in this jerk two times in the champion make an knockout match is united at home at old trafford. i sit in this chair with auto and real madrid is with manchester united out, so don't think this is something new for the club. of course, the manchester united manager, and losing a champions league tie at home is a disappointment, obviously. so united and spurs at this stage, but can chelsea make it three sides into the last eight? antonio conte sissoko times when his team had to suffer

against barcelona at the new calculator. that one finished 1—1 in the first leg. jimmy carragher has been suspended from his role as sky sports until the end of the season. before reliable defender apologised after footage before reliable defender apologised afterfootage emerged of before reliable defender apologised after footage emerged of him spitting towards the car of the manchester united fan. they will have discussions to see a carragher will return before the start of next season. the british skiers at pyeongchang are having a good paralympics. it wasn't the best day for other entrance, they were fifth with others down in seventh. that is all the sport for now, a reminder that the cello festival continues later with the queen mother champion chase, you can follow the action on

bbc five live from 1pm. the headlines are coming up on the bbc news channel. in a moment we say goodbye to viewers on bbc two, first we leave you with for a look at the weather. contrast and conditions across the uk. it is wet and windy across the west, and across the east, lovely sunshine. that get these skies in sussex. won the state of the year so far, temperatures potentially up to 16 degrees in the south west. we have cloud and rain in the west, continuing well into the afternoon. further east, sunshine tanning hazy, still at dry and bright, temperatures up to around 16 degrees in the london area. three to two nights, the rain moves north and east words, brighter skies developing in the southwest, telling chillier. this is bbc news.

our latest headlines: tributes are being paid to the visionary physicist stephen hawking, who has died at the age of 76. his outstanding work was achieved despite living for decades with a debilitating disease. the prime minister is to announce measures against russia later today in response to the salisbury nerve agent attack. russia says britain's claims of kremlin involvement aren't serious and has accused it of an attempt to mislead the international community. students across america prepare to walk out in defiance over controversial gun laws a month since 17 people were killed by a lone gunman at a florida high school. and five councils in england are to draw up plans to achieve better cohesion in communities. the government is going to spend fifty million pounds on the project, which aims to limit segregation. let's get more now on our top story.

the renowned scientist professor stephen hawking has died, at the age of 76. his work to unlock the mysteries of the universe made him a household name across the world, with many describing him as the most famous scientist since einstein. 0ne one of his most famous pieces of advice came in 2010 when speaking to abc news. the professor hawking spent much of his life in a wheelchair,

speaking through a synthesiser, after being diagnosed with motor neurone disease in his early twenties. this look back at his life contains some flash photography. i can't believe somebody i never heard of it hanging out with a guy like me. if you were sitting in a chair for

40 years you would get bored too. wrong again albert. what if i reversed the process all the way back to see what happened at the beginning of time itself? he won't an oscar for playing the and it would make up for the fact i am unlikely to win a nobel prize.

i hope my example will show disability can be no barrier. one can achieve anything if one is determined enough. joining me via webcam is professor steven balbus, who is head of astrophysics at oxford university. how would you define him? that is a difficult question. he was one of these larger—than—life difficult question. he was one of these la rger—than—life characters who sometimes defies definition. i think of him as a transitional figure of his time and his generation in physics. his physics, physics was a different place before and after stephen hawking. what did

he do to change it? how would you describe that transition he created? he was a figure who took a notion which was at the time quite disreputable, the idea of black holes and singularities in space time. it seemed to be perhaps a solution of einstein's theory and together with other physicists he showed with great rigour that the formation of black holes and other types of collapses in the universe we re types of collapses in the universe were inevitable. this was something

physics could not ignore. it was something physics had to deal with and had to explain. to shine in any field is obviously always exceptional and extraordinary but in this particular field he exceptional and extraordinary but in this particularfield he was exceptional and extraordinary but in this particular field he was working alongside and against competitively some of the most brilliant minds that we have ever known. that's true to some extent but stephen hawking and his colleague roger penrose had at their disposal mathematical tools that the rest of the physics community at the time didn't have. so in some sense they were way ahead of their competitors. while people we re of their competitors. while people were struggling to understand these issues using standard techniques, people like stephen hawking was able

to put it far beyond any boundaries that had been present before and find conclusions that were extremely far reaching. so what is his legacy? his legacy as i see it was stories that black holes are now notjust something that occurred, they are absolutely foundational in physics. stephen hawking showed not only that they exist, he showed us what they do and black holes in fact are not simplya do and black holes in fact are not simply a matter of just sitting there and drawing in material as people think in popular conceptions. black holes up other properties. they can emit particles. that was

something stephen hawking showed us. he is taking this part of physics, the single amity is an associated physics that goes with that and he has made its a central part of physics. thank you very much for talking to us. a high court hearing that the parole board is acutely conscious of a real and serious suffering felt by victims the serial six attackerjohn warboys. two victims are challenging a decision made last year to release the former taxi driver from made last year to release the former taxi driverfrom prison. he has served ten years in jail for attacks on 12 women in london. our home affairs correspondent is that the court. bring us up to date. yesterday we heard arguments on behalf of two of his victims who we re behalf of two of his victims who were saying that the parole board

decision to release him was irrational and that the panel made that decision have failed to take into account wider allegations of criminality against him. it was said that warboys took responsibility for his crimes but he had only admitted those offences for which he was convicted in 2009. allegations went well beyond that back to 2002 and 2003. today we have been hearing from ben collins qc who is the barrister representing the parole board and he began by saying he was acutely conscious that behind all the legal arguments were stories of real and serious suffering and heap praised the victims ofjohn warboys for their courage in pursuing their legal claims. he then went on to say that the parole board was not permitted to look at crimes of which john warboys had not been convicted

because to do so would require the board to assess his guilt and it was not caught in that respect. the second strand of his argument was to say if the board was permitted to look up those offences it wasn't necessarily required to do so and he put evidence before the hearing today that the board had in fact material they considered on other allegations. the distinct impression i got from the judges is that they weren't impressed with those arguments. one said the honesty and openness was central to the parole board 's decision and where was that tested? so brian levitt simile judge said the parole panel don't seem to have pressed him on that point. he said john warboys account was taken asa given. the government is to spend

50 million pounds on trying to ease racial and religious tensions. it is one of a number of proposals in the government's integrated communities strategy, which is to be published more than a year after an independent review found the country had become more divided as it had become diverse. here's our home editor, mark easton. 17 years of the race riots in bradfield and an official report... the city will today be named among five places in an england which is adopted and integration plan. 12 yea rs adopted and integration plan. 12 years ago blackburn was highlighted as suffering from deep segregation between white and asian communities. to reduce tensions teenagers were bussed in from other schools to integrate pupils from a 99% white secondary school made... today is a

strategy suggests more schemes like this new targeted how to improve economic opportunities for people in segregated opportunities. and the promotion of pleural stick british values by teachers. the strategy is the latest in a long line of government initiatives to try and deal with one of britain's most sensitive and enduring social challenges. more now on the news that theresa may is expected to announce sanctions against russia after the kremlin failed to explain their role in a chemical attack in salisbury. britain is calling for an urgent meeting of the un security council over the situation. the president of the european council expressed. dad at you with britain on this, talking

about the brutal attack most likely inspired by moscow. so diplomatic momentum growing on this. my colleague, ben brown, is in westminster for us this morning. the prime minister chaired a meeting of the national security council earlier and at lunchtime she will be announcing what britain intends to do about russia in the wake of the nerve agent attack in salisbury and in the wake of that deadline she set the russians. that came and went without any official response from the russians. 0ne without any official response from the russians. one of the areas that is being discussed is possible financial sanctions against some russians living in this country. let's talk to our business editor simonjack. we let's talk to our business editor simon jack. we know let's talk to our business editor

simonjack. we know that there are a lot of wealthy russians in this country. what are the possibilities in terms of government action against some of them? one of the areas being looked into is this idea of asking them to explain and explained wealth. there are a great numberof explained wealth. there are a great number of wealthy russians who have made london this second home and a lot of the money with which they bought these premium properties as toa bought these premium properties as to a large extent been and explained so to a large extent been and explained so what they could do is say if you are going to buy a property in the uk you will have two and set a lot of questions about where exactly you got that money from. that would be an edited. you could have the expulsion of diplomats and you would have that but there has been some talk about cutting russian banks out of the international swift system. that would be in an attempt for russia and make life very difficult

but it would also require quite a bit of international cooperation. that's the big test theresa may has. you can come up with these ideas but for them to be affect if you need them to be adopted by the us and the eu. we find warm words of sick —— support from the us and the eu but how far will they be prepared to go with their actions against russia? the big question is we have got significant business interests in russia as well. dp owns one fifth of russia's most fallible company the oil giant grozny. how much further are they prepared

to go when such an important valuable asset is basically on russian soil? here at westminster this seems to be growing support for possible legislation which would stop russian officials who are implicated in human rights abuses from using british financial services. how hard do you think that was it would hit some of the russian communities? it would be very annoying for them. a lot of them have got used to some sanctions after the crimea sanctions but again it's all about international support. that is an area which came after the death of a lawyer in custody and one of the biggest investors in russia had to flee the country because of pressure from criminal interests. a lot of options

on the table but i do think the test will be how far will the eu and the us and the united nations go with her in condemning this not through words but through actions. there is the option of england by the world cup. with spain, italy and france follow suit? i very much doubt it. we will hearjackie what the prime minister is going to do in terms of possible punishments against russia ina possible punishments against russia in a statement she will make their at westminster after prime minister's questions. sometime at around 1230 pm, that statement. it will be followed by a two hour—long debate imp is saying what they think about what she has announced. an update on the police operation after the attack on pseudo— screw ball in salisbury. we are hearing that a new

police operation has begun in dorset. it's around 20 miles away from salisbury. the police are being assisted either military in this latest operation and have sealed off a residential area. there are two police tents with people putting on protective suits inside. there is also a numberless, according to our reporter at the scene. the visit truck parts belonging to the company which recovered sergei skripal‘s carp from salisbury town centre. this location is the home of the driver of the truck who recovered his car and the vehicle has been here for a number of days. it appears to be part of the decontamination operation going on across a number of locations around salisbury. in a moment summary of

the business news but first main headlines. tributes are being paid to the physicist stephen hawking who has died at the age of 76. the prime ministers said he was a brilliant and extraordinary mind. theresa may is set to announce a series of measures against russia after it failed to meet a deadline to explain how nerve agent was used to poison a former spy in salisbury. and stu d e nts former spy in salisbury. and students across america will walk out of classes this afternoon to remember the victims of last months florida school shooting and protest controversial gun laws. i'm ben thompson and these are the top business stories. qualcomm has the deal was worth 170

ilia newest dollars and it could impairthe ilia newest dollars and it could impair the national security of the us if video was going —— given the go—ahead. morrisons says annual profits raised 11%. the fourth—largest supermarket in the uk said tax profit came in at £374 million to the year to february. the web giant google is to ban advertising for crypto currencies starting in june. advertising for crypto currencies starting injune. google says it will ban ads for unrelated or speculative hershel products, crypto currency and financial spread betting. the new currencies have been volatile, often rising and falling by thousands of dollars in the space of 24 hours. taxes will need to rise by £40bn per year by the mid—2020s if the government wants to keep spending constant and balance its books.

the institute for fiscal studies says that weak productivity, earnings and gdp growth had become the "new normal". it comes after the chancellor unveiled upgraded growth and borrowing forecasts in the spring statement yesterday. philip hammond said the uk economy had reached a turning point and there was "light at the end of the tunnel". that speak to carl emerton to deputy director of the institute for fiscal studies. he said there that is light at the end of the tunnel. do you agree with him? yesterday's announcement was for an upgrade in growth, an improvement in the deficit. but those changes were very slight in the context of ten years of economic performance which has been very dismal. weak productivity growth, weak earnings growth, real squeeze on living standards. all of which has contributed to a very big government deficit. going forward if

things do look more optimistic it's very slightly. for example, the official forecast says productivity growth will get back to the old level of 2% there but not until 2030 so it's some way off. the chancellor was trying to sound upbeat for but most of us it's our earnings that will feel it and we have not had pay rises of a long time. but it's not going to happen any time soon. the government has got some extremely difficult choices ahead. earnings on average are still below the level they were out in 2007 after inflation which is remarkable. we have got the government ‘s deficit back to where it was before the crisis but the government wants to eliminate it completely and to do that it has two continue to cut working age benefits and squeeze day—to—day spending on public services. even with those plans, we

will still have deficit in five yea rs' will still have deficit in five years' time and getting to their target of eliminating it entirely looks very difficult. how will he be able to do that? what needs to change? perhaps we won't achieve it. often politicians say they will achieve a particular target and then fail. if we are going to meet it, even if these plans are in place for the next five years we have the plan on dealing with the following three yea rs. on dealing with the following three years. are we going to continue squeezing spending. how are we going to tackle the challenge of an ageing population which puts more pressure on many public services? these are the kinds of conversations we need

to be having. thank you very much. let me show you what the markets are doing. morrisons down over three to 596 doing. morrisons down over three to 5% despite reporting that strong set of figures. it's having a knock—on effect elsewhere. the ftse 100 of figures. it's having a knock—on effect elsewhere. the ftse100 up. you are up—to—date. see you later. the makers of the crown have admitted the actress who portrayed the queen was paid less than here mail counterpart. the creators of the crown have admitted claire foy who portrays

the queen was paid less than her male counterpart. matt smith's portrayal of a young duke of edinburgh earned him more than foy‘s golden globe—winning performance as queen elizabeth in the netflix drama. the show‘s producers said smith's previous starring role in dr who meant he was paid more than his co—star. the public are being asked for their views on the future of the one—penny and two—pence coins. ministers are carrying out a review of cash transactions due to a rise in customers using non—cash payments such as contactless and online spending. the consultation will also look at whether 50—pound notes should be kept. let's catch up with the weather with simon king. it's dry and bright for many eastern parts. look at those blue skies in eastbourne. pretty great condition the further west you are. this is a scene in devon. lots of cloud and rain and some fairly strong winds.

that rain will continue across western areas into the afternoon and the further east you go there will be some hazy sunshine. that's focusing on the west as they go through to the evening rush hour because we will see some gales around these western coastal areas and that rain persisting in the south—west. some of that rain edging into western wales and gales of the irish sea coasts. rain also likely in the west of scotland. across eastern parts it's going to be pretty warm. temperatures between 12 and 15 degrees. further west, about nine degrees. today will be the warmest day of the week because as they go through the next few days it will turn cooler. tonight, this area of rain in the south—west will gradually move north eastwards but in northern ireland that rain persists into tomorrow morning. some clear skies in the north—east.

through thursday, this area of rain we re through thursday, this area of rain were urged to a further north and eastwards. across scotland and north—east england rain will arrive after lunchtime. further south, some sunny spells but the odd shower. temperatures between eight and 15 degrees. friday, it's going to get colder particularly in the north and east. some snow over the pennines and the highlands —— highlands. in the south temperatures down to 11 or 13. that is the set up as we go into the weekend. cold air filtering 13. that is the set up as we go into the weekend. cold airfiltering in from siberia and russia moving across the uk so that means it's going to turn significantly colder. temperatures barely above freezing

in places. most of the snow at the moment looks confined to seven and south—eastern areas. there could be significant snow around but not all of us are going to see the snow and for many of us it will be the cold wind that you will notice. not as big a problem as it was a few weeks ago still noticeable for the end of march. this is bbc news and these are the top stories developing at midday: "we have lost a colossal mine and a wonderful spirit," just one of many tributes to the visionary physicist stephen hawking, who has died at the age of 76. his outstanding work was achieved despite for living for decades with a debilitating disease. i am very proud to have been able to contribute to our understanding of the universe. "a brilliant and extraordinary mind," the prime minister leads tributes to professor hawking. i'm ben brown at westminster,

where we're waiting to hear from theresa may after russia missed the midnight deadline to respond over the nerve agent attack in salisbury. britain calls for an urgent meeting of the united nations security council to update members on the investigation into the attack on a former russian double agent and his daughter. russia says britain's claims aren't serious, and accuses it of a flagrant attempt to mislead the international community. as his children have said, his courage and persistence with his brilliance and humour inspired people across the world. members will also have seen reports of a number of suspicious packages targeting muslim members. i'm sure the whole house willjoin me in condemning this abhorrent behaviour that has no place in our society. i can tell the house blaze that an

investigation is under way and steps are being taken to bring the product ages tojustice. i will are being taken to bring the product ages to justice. i will update the house on the salisbury incident, i have meetings today in addition to my duties in these house and i will have further such meetings later today. i want to thank the prime minister for agreeing today. i want to thank the prime ministerfor agreeing to today. i want to thank the prime minister for agreeing to meet with me to discuss the work of the cross— party me to discuss the work of the cross—party youth violence commission. youth violence is complex and needs long—term solutions. should but things can be done now to make sure all knives are locked away in sober encounters in shops, ensuring no—one can steal and use them. will she do this? the honourable lady has raised an important issue. as she says, this isa important issue. as she says, this is a complex issue and we need to make warm we have long—term solutions to it. the home secretary

will soon publish a strategy to concentrate on interventions with young people. it is important we have legislation but we need to work in partnership with retailers. we are consulted on new measures including restrictions on knives sold online, and we have previously reached i voluntary agreements with retailers and how knives are displayed and the training given to sales staff on how to tackle knife crime. but the honourable leader is right to races is an area of concern. on the subject of northern ireland, does the prime minister stand by the commitments made in a joint report of december, and will she confirm that we will accept nothing but will undermine the integrity of the right of kings?” confirm —— the integrity of the united kingdom i confirm that we

stand by all the commitments made in december. we will address the unique circumstances in northern ireland. work undertaken with the commission will form part of the withdrawal agreements. that cannot be the text that the commission has a post, i have said that is unacceptable. we will work with the commission and the irish government is to make sure the irish government is to make sure the agreements are reached. mr speaker, i along with the prime minister absolutely condemn the vile m essa g es minister absolutely condemn the vile messages and threatening packages are being sent to muslim members of this house. the rise in abusive behaviour house to be utterly condemned by all of us as we condemn anybody that attempts to divide our country by racism or streamers in any form. we have to stand united

with any community that is under threat at any time. mr speaker, i am sure that the whole house willjoin me in supporting what the prime minister just me in supporting what the prime ministerjust said me in supporting what the prime minister just said about me in supporting what the prime ministerjust said about stephen hawking, one of the most acclaimed scientist of his generation. outward rastamouse understand the world and universe. he was as concerned about peace and the survival of the world, and a passionate campaignerfor the national health service. he said, i have received excellent medical attention in britain, i believe in universal health care and i am not afraid to say so. is we believe in universal health care, how can it be possible that someone lives and works in this country, pays their taxes, but is then denied access to the nhs or life—saving cancer treatment, can the prime minister explain? first of all, ijoin with the right honourable gentleman in

saying there is absolutely no place in our society or a hate crime or racism, whatever form it takes. we should stand united against such behaviour and activity. i say to the right honourable gentleman that we do ensure and am pleased that we have a good record on the cancer provision that we are making. we now see more people surviving cancer in this country as a result of changes and developments in the national health service than ever before. we continue to work to ensure the situation we're making treatments are available within are the best we can. i not aware of the particular case the right honourable gentleman has raised... jeering .. has raised... jeering .. but i do want to ensure that all those who are in title to treatment through the national health service are able to achieve it. there are questions around

particular drugs that are made available to individuals for treatment which we continue to look at. i will indeed to be writing to the prime minister about the case i am concerned about. it's man who has lived in this country for 44 years, worked and paid his taxes. he is obviously in order gentleman and is now being denied cancer treatments, andi now being denied cancer treatments, and i suspect he's not alone in this, andi and i suspect he's not alone in this, and i urge her to discuss this with the home office and others. i received a letter from hillary this week, a british pensioner, and this goes to the point the prime minister just said that about she says, i'm now having to pay for thyroid medication because the ccg has to save money. i have quite all my life, paid national insurance, this is not fair. last march, the health secretary said it is essential we get back to the 95% target for accident and emergency waits. he

said it would happen within because of the next calendar year. but is now up. demy prime minister explain why this is no longer possible?” look forward to receiving the details of that particular case from the right number gentleman. i remind him that he raised a case about georgina with me last october and hasn't written to me about that particular case. cheering asi cheering as i say, i look for it to receiving the details of the case he hasjust set out. once we have done in relation to cancer treatments is ensured there are more diagnostic tests taking place, more people are overseen by a specialist and more people starting treatment for cancer. that is why i say we have

seen an improvement in the cancer treatment available to people in this country. in relation into a&e andl this country. in relation into a&e and i am pleased to say we have more doctors working in as two. we have put more money in in the face of winter pressures and to ensure that a unique departments —— lactose visitor might departments are able to provide treatments. in some cases, some people should not be going to cassidy, this should be going to cassidy, this should be going into a gp. we need to ensure that people receive the treatment that people receive the treatment thatis that people receive the treatment that is right for them. my understanding is that georgina cos case was resolved before the prime minister was able to intervene following my raising its here back of the. it brings the power of parliament, if nothing else. the a&e waiting targets have not been met

since 2015. nhs managers are saying they won't be met until 2019. and gregory was the worst ever month for a&e finances. the nhs providers director has said this is the first time we have had to accept the nhs will not meet its key constitutional standards. everyone to provide quality of care, we need the right long—term financial settlement. the nhs is clearly in crisis, so why wasn't there a penny extra for the nhs in yesterday's statements by the chancellor? can i say to the right numbergentleman, we chancellor? can i say to the right number gentleman, we didn't wait in seoul yesterday's statements to announce more money for the nhs, we announced that in the budget last autumn. as a result of that, the nhs is getting £2.5 billion more and

more to resolve the nurse a settlement. under labour, the 18—week target for nonurgent operations was in place, that has also been abandoned by the prime minister, when will that be reinstated? the right honourable gentleman talks about under labour things that were being delivered, ramsey might like to see what labour are doing in wales in their delivery? the latest annual data shows, when looking at 12—hour waits ina any, shows, when looking at 12—hour waits in a any, that 3.4% of patients wait over 12 hours in wales compares to just over 1% in england. everyone sissoko by meeting targets, he should talk to the labour government in wales. these targets were

abandoned, it is rich for the high minister to be scaremongering about targets in wales when she has abandoned targets in england. order, order, questions to get through and they must be heard. a recent report suggests nhs funding will fall by 0.3% in 2019. people's lives are at sta ke. 0.3% in 2019. people's lives are at stake. is the prime minister really saying a&e doctors are wrong, nhs managers are wrong, royal college is wrong, health unions are wrong and it's actually only she knows best about the nhs? can ijust pointed out to the right honourable gentleman, he talks about scaremongering in wales when i was pointing out the facts about what is happening in the nhs in wales? and

that's why we do see people in wales often trying to get treatment in england rather than in wales. i also say that we're putting more money into the national horse sales this —— into the national health service, but what you need to do that is that you have to have a strong economy to provide the money. whiteabbey know about a labour's policies, it would crash our economy and bankrupt the nhs. when people are dying because of overcrowding and long waits in our hospitals, i think the prime minister should get a grip on it and ensure the nhs now has the money it needs to deal with patient demands. ina needs to deal with patient demands. in a recent interview, the health secretary said other nhs staff, when they signed up to go into medicine,

they signed up to go into medicine, they knew they would be pressurised moments. body as expected was a recognition, an annual pay rise, without cuts in paid leave. proper funding for the national health service. and when there are 100,000 unfilled posts, clearly not enough stuff around them and to share the burden. we started with professor stephen hawking, and he said, just a costly months ago, there is overwhelming evidence that nhs funding and the number of doctors and nurses are inadequate and it's getting worse. she agree with professor hawking? once again, i am very happy to point out some facts to the right honourable gentleman. we have 14,900 more doctors working in the nhs. we have almost 13,900 more nurses on our wards. why did we put any business on nurses in our

wards? because what we saw under the labour government in mid staffordshire. i say this, what we need to do to ensure we can provide funding for the need to do to ensure we can provide funding forthe nhs, need to do to ensure we can provide funding for the nhs, and we are providing a record levels of funding, is to ensure we take a balanced approach to our economy. an approach that deals with our debts, keep taxes low and working families and birds more money enter our public services like hospitals and schools. labour's approach would increase debts, mean less money for our schools and hospitals and higher taxes orjerry, working people. because what we know about the labour party is that it is these are ordinary people who pay the price of labour. last week's launch of a consultation on domestic violence will be widely welcomed in

gloucester and across the country. so were the prime minister, who has done so much on these issues, confirmed today that the government intends to increase spending, bed provision, and when necessary, women's refuge, so those who have survived get the help and save haven they deserve? my honourable friend has risen important issue, one which i have not only given considerable attention to, but the home secretary continues to follow. it is an important point, we are committed to developing a sustainable funding model for refugees. i guarantee that funding for refugees will continue at the same level as today, and because i know how critical this support is. we will ring found the funding for the long—term, indefinitely. that means no refuge should have to worry about closing or have any doubts that we will

provide a sustainable funding model for them. can i associate myself with the remarks of the prime minister and the leader of the labour party as far as the marks on hate crime and islamophobia and my thoughts are with the family and friends of doctors even hawking is. mrs baker, four months the devolved administrations have been waiting for the uk government to table a minutes to close 11. on monday, these amendments were published but without the agreement of the devolved governments. cannily prime minister tell the house why these amendments have been forced on devolved administrations? in one sentence, he says he is waiting for this amendments, and the reason we were taking time is because we were talking with the scottish and welsh governments, and when we do publish, a complaints we have published it! he needs to get his story straight.

i would encourage the prime minister to listen to the question, because it was about agreements, and i'm going afraid that answer is simple wasn't good enough. the prime minister famously claimed that the uk was made up of equal partners, what an irony, that it she's overseeing the demolition of the devolution settlement is. in 1997, tories were happy to oppose the very establishment of the scottish parliament. they haven't changed, now they are happy to systematically destroy the settlement with the parliament. i call upon the prime minister once again, stop this attack on devolution and redouble your efforts to work with devolved administrations on finding agreements. misses a government that has given more powers to scottish government, this is a government

that will give more powers to the scottish government, significant extra powers will be devolved as a result of the decisions that we're taking around brexit. we have given more powers, including the tax raising powers. it is a pity the scottish nationalists have chosen to use those powers to increase the taxes on people earning £26,000 or more. or so last week held an apprenticeship there, since 2010, we have seen a 20 present reduction in youth unemployment. nationally, increasing exports, productivity and real wages. were my honourable friend again remind the house that is is that sustained economic performance that underpins our investment in services?” performance that underpins our investment in services? i commend horsham for holding that there, it is important to give young people

that opportunity for apprenticeships. it is right, we can only find the services if we have strength within our economy to do that. within the last few weeks we have seen when version output growth for nine consecutive months. that is the first time since records began in 1968. we have seen the best two quarters of productivity growth since the financial crisis and net borrowing since 2008. that's what is considered doing, building a strong economy, healthierfinances considered doing, building a strong economy, healthier finances and economy, healthier finances and economy that is fit for the future. last week, gkn workers came to parliament. they had worked for a british engineering icon, 259 years old. they sat with the wealthy

owners of melrose, determined to ta ke owners of melrose, determined to take a hostile takeover of their company and sell it get other. the prime minister told parliament she would act in the national interest, the next ten days will decide the future. was used the power she has too intervened to block this hostile ta keover too intervened to block this hostile takeover and the british national interest? the business secretary has been speaking to both of these companies on an impartial basis. we will always act in the uk national interest. it is under this government that we have seen the changes introduced to the takeover code to allow greater transparency to give target firms more time to respond. there are a narrow range of scenarios where ministers can intervene on public interest grounds, but we want these are active in the national interest. 3157 medical students are going into

general practice this year, which is excellent news. but we are still losing too many experienced gps in their mid—50s due to the tax penalties on their old pension scheme. went to the government look ata scheme. went to the government look at a targeted, time—limited exemption on this dedicated group of clinicians who do so much for the health of us all? this is an important point, experienced senior hospital doctors and gps who become a memberof the hospital doctors and gps who become a member of the pension scheme benefit from one of the best. and provide generous tax reliefs to everyone to build up a pension pot worthjust over £1 everyone to build up a pension pot worth just over £1 million tax—free. but the issue here is raising is that gps are not if they work after age 55, but many will have exhausted

the generous allowance made available by that time. i will say to my honourable friend that the chancellor of the exchequer was listening to the question he raised. in the 8th of april this year represents the 90th anniversary the mr massacre, in which more than 1000 protectors were murdered by soldiers under the command of general dyer. will be prime ministerjoin me in condemning this gentle light and convert to be remembered across the uk. the honour will general accident has racist pacific point and what happens with the question here is raise with me and respond to him in writing. —— has raised specific point. my constituency is the

birthplace of british engineering. will be prime ministerjoin me in extending our best wishes it to the separate team who are making a record attempt for unmanned aviation? and very happy to join my honourable friend in wishing well to this team. his constituent plays a crucial role in aerospace and i am pleased to say we continue to work with that industry to ensure we can further enhance that industry. we wish that team well. the uk has the lowest growth in the g—7. ways the government's answer to this to get hand—outs to some of wealthiest bankers do find an already lavish lifestyle, pa id for

bankers do find an already lavish lifestyle, paid for by taking grounds off the table of those on universal credit is joe grounds off the table of those on universal credit isjoe garner depend on free school meals? -- whose children depend on free meals. the wealthiest one present in this country are paying a larger share of tax than it ever dead under a labour government. if he is referring to the bank where they, i say to him it was the conservative party the introduced the bank where they that has raised £15 billion and predicted to raise a further 11 billion to spend on public services. it is a conservative currents that is changing the way we do it so we do it any better way so that in future, we will be raising newly iron billion pounds extra from the banks -- £19 billion pounds extra from the banks —— £19 billion extra from the banks, £3 billion more money from the banks to spend on public services. great

british food is produced by hard working farming families. as we produce a new british agricultural policy, does the prime minister agree with me that supporting food production in this country is a public good? very happy to agree with my honourable friend. i am also happy to commend the work of hard—working farmers up and down the country, but all those who work in our food production industry. we so have a historic opportunity as we leave the eu to deliver a foreign policy that will work for the whole industry. just minutes ago, facebook announced they will be taking down several pages associated with the extremist group written first from. does the prime ministerjoin me in welcoming that, but dishy also

acce pt welcoming that, but dishy also accept there has to be a role provided by the government on how they operate in our democracy? i certainly welcome that announcements by my friends, and the home secretary has been working with these companies to ensure the do more and add more clearly in taking down material that is of extreme this nature. i hope other companies will follow. i congratulate the prime minister on her pioneering work on fighting modern slavery. has she been advised her ascent back of the policy isn't working? there are no reparations orjust comes eight victims for convictions against convicted traffickers? —— to compensate victims? at a meeting i

chaired recently of the modern slavery task force that i brought together to bring people from across government but also law enforcement, the judiciary and criminaljustice more generally and others to look at how we work with this, we were addressing exactly this issue of prosecutions and how we can ensure more prosecutions go ahead. shockingly, in this country, in 2017, there are 2120 children who are identified as being possible victims of child slavery. i know the prime minister's personal commitment to tackling this issue, but surely we should have more data. we have no idea how many others judge and go missing. we had no idea how many are deported or how many are re—trafficked. in this country, in

2018, a modern democracy, that is not good enough. can be prime minister tell us what you will do? this has been a concern for a long time, where children are identified as the victims of slavery and human trafficking and sometimes we do see them, sadly, being in a position where they are then able to be taken out by traffickers and resubmitted to the horrible circumstances that brings to them. i return on the point he makes about asylum and deportation, we don't return children that applied for humanitarian protection unless we can confirm that i receive adequate programmes in place in their home country. and we can't confirm those agreements, we grant temporary leave until the child is 17.5 years old. we have independent child

trafficking advocates across the country, we piloted the system previously, it gives support to child victims to ensure they are given the support they need and at full back into the hands of traffickers. many towns and cities across the country, telford has had experiences of distressing cases of child sexual exploitation. the parties in telford have now agreed to conduct an independent enquiry to find out what happens and to give victims answers. will my right honourable friend john major graduating two brave women, campaigner holly archer and journalist geraldine mckelvey in bringing this about? was she agree to do everything to ensure this enquiry starts without delay and leaves no stone unturned? i think we have all been shocked by the horrific case we have seen in

telford with some of the most vulnerable in our country being preyed upon. sadly it's not the first example we have seen taking place across our country. i am happy tojoin my place across our country. i am happy to join my honourable friend place across our country. i am happy tojoin my honourable friend in congratulating holly and geraldine for the work they have done. i am pleased that the authorities are now going to conduct an enquiry. it is important it begins its work in order to get to the truth and does that as quickly as possible. i understand my honourable friend will be meeting the secretary to discuss this issue. shortly after the prime minister took office in she said she wa nted minister took office in she said she wanted to put the government on the side of the poorest in society. she even stood in front of a crumbling sign that said she wanted a country that works for everyone. but with the recent iff reports taking 37% of

children are set to live in poverty by 2022, what went wrong prime minister? we have seen 200,000 fewer children living in absolute poverty in this country under this government. we continue to take action to ensure we're helping families to get a regular income by helping people into work. we are ensuring the lowest paid in our society get that pay increase through increasing the national living wage and ensuring we are helping people with standard of living by cutting taxes for 31 million people. is my right honourable friend aware that the inspirational music man project in southend that worked with people with learning difficulties as now set a world record for tinkling the most number of triangles ever? does my right honourable friend agree with me that that is yet another

reason why southend should be made a city and will she please now organise a contest with our honourable friend so that southend—on—sea becomes the first host brexit city? i am very happy to congratulate the music man project in southend for the record they have achieved. i am sure my honourable friend has heard his bid for southend to become a city. of course they will be a number of members of this house putting forward their own townsfolk that accolade in due course. the prime minister will be aware that this week the notorious rate thisjohn warboys aware that this week the notorious rate this john warboys was released released from high security prison. one of my constituents who gave

evidence at his trial as a victim wants to know why he was not tested first in open prison conditions and white the parole board is not required to publish the reasoning behind this release decision including evidence of contrition. as pa rt including evidence of contrition. as part of the case at the moment the pa role part of the case at the moment the parole board will explain the reasons why they took the decision but in terms of the overall issue of pa role but in terms of the overall issue of parole board decisions and transparency when this decision became clear my right honourable friend the thenjustice secretary called work to be down continued under the current justice called work to be down continued under the currentjustice secretary to look at this whole question of pa role to look at this whole question of parole board decisions. im immensely proud to have the world's leading

hospital in my constituency and their excellence mean there like helen —— heavily on doctors from overseas but they have struggled to bring summer. the zen because of restrictions on these numbers. it's becoming a real problem. can the prime minister reassure me and my hospital that she has a plan to address it. i am aware of that particular issue. in the longer term of the things we are doing is to ensure we can train more doctors here in the uk but i'm aware of the issues she has raised and i will look into it. last year the prime minister acknowledged that our social care system is broken and promised to fix it. since then to ca re promised to fix it. since then to care providers has been placed under special measures and another is worried it may have to close due to a lack of funding. what does the

prime minister say to providers who stayed the local government set up this not go far enough and they cannot afford to wait for the government ‘s green paper? cannot afford to wait for the government 's green paper? as she will now have always said there were some short term measures that needed to be taken, medium and long—term measures. in the short—term we have provided more funding. 2 billion extra was announced by the chancellor for the exchequer. in the medium term we need to ensure that best practice is spread across the whole country and we also need to ensure we can develop a long—term sustainable funding model for social ca re sustainable funding model for social care in this country. it is sadly a matter of public record that rbs and hbos deliberately asset stripped thousands of potentially viable businesses to benefit their own bank

or individual bankers. evidence before the high court indicates lloyds may also be guilty of the same. with the prime minister consider the cause of the all—party group for their business banking which has been endorsed by the chief executive of the fca for a full public enquiry into this disgraceful scandal. this is an issue that concerns many small businesses and we need to ensure we do learn the lessons from what happened with rbs and hbos. as he will know the fca has reported areas of widespread treatment of firms by rbs. there is an ongoing investigation which is continuing to be conducted by the fca and they are also undertaking to separate investigations into hbos. we will continue to work with the independent regulator and the

industry to make sure businesses get the support they need. since christmas they have been five high—profile gun crimes in haringey including one last thursday when a 19—year—old young man was shot in the head. we know our streets are plagued by knife crime but now the attempt to kill with the gun takes the epidemic to a new level. it must stop. will the prime minister meet with me and community leaders to put an end to this epidemic of gun crime? i suggest she meets with the home secretary who will shortly release a strategy in relation to this issue of serious violence. we are all concerned about the use of mopeds for mugging and that is something the home secretary is

looking at with the police. with the issue of gun crime i am sure my right honourable friend will be happy to meet her. following the question from the member for deadly, could i agree with what he said. the prime minister has done more than anyone in this house to end the terrible modern—day slavery but we have one problem and that is the treatment of child victims. they are put in the care of local authorities and they are then re—trafficked. could we look at the system like we do for adults with safe homes are provided centrally not by local government? my honourable friend printable important point on these child victims of trafficking and i will look at the issue he has raised. the independent child advocates i referred to in my response in early was one way in

which we feel we can give the greatest support of these child victims to make sure we do not see them lost and re—trafficked. it is a scandal when a victim goes into the ca re of scandal when a victim goes into the care of the local authority and somebody removes them from that care. order. statement. the prime minister. with permission, i would like to make a statement on the response of the russian government to the incident in salisbury. first, on behalf of the whole house let you pay tribute once again to the bravery and professionalism of all the emergency services, doctors, nurses and investigation teams, who have led the response to this appalling incident. and also to the fortitude of the people of salisbury. let me reassure them that

as public health england have made clear the ongoing risk to public health is known —— is low and the government will continue to do everything possible to support this city to recover. 0n everything possible to support this city to recover. on monday i set out that sergei skripal and his daughter we re that sergei skripal and his daughter were poisoned with a military grade nerve agent developed by russia. based on this capability combined with their record of conducting state—sponsored assassinations, including against former intelligence officers whom they regard as legitimate targets, the uk government concluded it was highly likely that russia was responsible for this despicable act. they were only two plausible explanations. either this was a correct act by the russian state against our country or conceivably the russian government could have lost control of a military grade nerve agent and allowed it to get into the hands of others. it was right to offer russia

the opportunity to provide an explanation but their response has demonstrated complete disdain for the gravity of these events. they have provided no credible explanation that could suggest they lost control of their nerve agent. no explanation as to how this agent was used in the uk and no explanation as to why russia as an undeclared chemical weapons programme in contravention of international law. instead they have treated the use of a military grade nerve agent in europe with sarcasm, co nte m pt nerve agent in europe with sarcasm, contempt and defiance. so there is no alternative conclusion other than that the russian state was culpable for the attempted murder of sergei skripal and his daughter. and for threatening the lives of other british citizens in soulsby. this represents an all lawful use of

force by the russian state against the uk. it has taken place against the uk. it has taken place against the backdrop of a well—established pattern of russian state aggression across europe and beyond. it must therefore be met with a full and robust response beyond the actions we have already taken since the murder of mr listening to. it is essential we now come together with our allies to defend our security, to stand up for our values and to send a clear message to those who would seek to undermine them. this morning i chaired a further meeting with the national security council we re with the national security council were we agreed immediate actions to dismantle the russian espionage network in the uk, urgent work to develop new powers to tackle all forms of hostile state activity and to ensure that those seeking to carry out such activity cannot enter the uk and additional steps to

suspend or planned high—level contacts between the uk and the russian federation. let me start with the immediate actions. the house will recall that following the murder of mr listening to the uk expeued murder of mr listening to the uk expelled for diplomats. under the vienna convention the uk will now its spell 23 russian diplomats who have been identified as a undeclared intelligence officers. they have one week to leave. this will be the single biggest expulsion for over 30 yea rs single biggest expulsion for over 30 years and reflects the fact that this is not the first time the russian state has acted against our country. through these expulsions we will fundamentally degrade russian intelligence capability in the uk for yea rs intelligence capability in the uk for years to come. if they seek to rebuild it we will prevent them from doing so. second we will have legislative powers to harden our

defences against all forms of hostile state activity. this will include the addition of a targeted power to detain those suspected of hostile state activity at the uk border. this power is currently only permitted in relation to those suspected of terrorism. i have asked the home secretary to consider whether there is a need for new counterespionage powers to clamp down on the full spectrum of hostile activities of foreign agents in our country. as i set out on an day we will also table a government amendment to the sanctions bill to strengthen our powers to impose sanctions response to the violation of human rights. in doing so we will play our part in an international effort to punish those responsible for the sorts of abuses suffered by surrogate magnets key. as with all the measures i am setting out i hope it will command cross—party support. we will also make full use of existing powers to enhance our effo rts existing powers to enhance our efforts to monitor and track the

intentions of those travelling to the uk who could be in caged inactivity that threat the security of the uk. we will increase checks on private flights, customs and freight. we will freeze russian state assets wherever we have the evidence they may be used to threaten the life or property of uk nationals. and led by the national crime agency we will continue to bring all the capabilities of uk law enforcement to bear against serious criminals and cannot elites. there is no place for these people or their money in our country. let me be clear. while our response must be robust it must also remain true to our values as a liberal is chrissie that believes in the rule of law. many russians have made this country their home, abide by our laws and make an important contribution to our country which we must continue to welcome. but to those who seek to

do us harm my message is simple, you are not welcome here. let me turn to our bilateral relationship. as i said on monday we had a very simple approach to russia, n—gage but beware. i continue to believe it's not in our national interest to break off all dialogue between the uk and the russian federation. but in the aftermath of this appalling act against our country this relationship cannot be the same. we will suspend or high—level bilateral contacts. this include revoking the invitation to foreign minister to play a visit to the uk and confirm they will be no attendance by ministers or members of the royal family at this summer ‘s world cup in russia. finally, we will deploy a range of tools from across the full breadth of our national security apparatus in order to counter the threats of hostile state activity. while have set out some of these

measures today members of all sides will understand there are some that cannot be shared publicly for reasons of national security. and of course there are other measures we stand ready to deploy at any time should be face further russian provocation. none of the actions we ta ke provocation. none of the actions we take our intended to damage legitimate activity or prevent contact between overpopulation is. we have no disagreement with the people of russia. they have been responsible for so many great achievements throughout the history. many of us look to depose soviet russia with hope. we wanted a better relationship and it is tragic that president putin has chosen to act in this way. but we will not tolerate the threat to life british people and others on british soilfrom the threat to life british people and others on british soil from the russian government nor will we tolerate such a flagrant breach of russia's international obligations. asi russia's international obligations. as i set out on monday the uk does not stand alone in confronting

russian aggression. in the light of past 24 hours i have spoken to president trump and chancellor merkel and we have agreed to work together to respond to this barbaric act. i will also speak to other partners in the coming days. i welcome the strong expressions of support from nato and partners across the european union and beyond. later today in new york the un security council will hold open consultations were we will be pushing for a robust international response. we have also notified the organisation for the prohibition of chemical weapons about russia's use of this newsagent and we're working with the police to independently verify our analysis. this was not just an act of attempted murder in salisbury nor just an just an act of attempted murder in salisbury norjust an act against the uk, it is an affront to the

prohibition on the use of chemical weapons and it is an affront to the rules based system on which we and our international partners depend. we will work with our allies and partners to confront such actions wherever they threaten our security at home and abroad. i commend the state and to the house. jeremy corbyn. i would like to thank the prime minister for this statement and echo the words about the service of our emergencies and public services. the attack in salisbury was an appalling act of violence. nerve agents and abominable if used in any war. it is utterly reckless to use them in a civilian environment. this attack in britain has concerned our allies in the european union, nato and the un. our

response as a country must be guided by the rule of law, support for international agreements and respect for human rights. when it comes to the use of chemical weapons on british soil it is essential that the government works with the united nations to strengthen its chemical weapons monitoring system and involves the office of the prohibition of chemical weapons. the prime minister said on monday either this was a director either russian state or the russian government lost control of a potentially —— damaging nerve catastrophically damaging nerve agent and allowed it to get into the hands of others. our response must be both decisive and proportionate and based on clear evidence. if the government believes there is still a possibility that russia negligently lost control of the military grade nerve agent, what action is being taken with our allies? i welcome the

fa ct taken with our allies? i welcome the fact the police are working with the obcwand fact the police are working with the obc w and has the prime minister taken the necessary steps and other chemical weapons convention to make a formal request for evidence from the russian government under article 9.2? how has she responded to the russian government 's request for a sample of the agent used in the salisbury attack to run its own test? has high resolution trace analysis been run on a sample of the nerve agent and has that revealed any evidence as to the location of its production or the identity of its production or the identity of its perpetrators? and can the prime minister update the house on what conversations if any she has had with the russian government? and while suspending plans high—level

contact, does the prime minister agreed that it's essential to maintain a robust dialogue with russia? in the interests of our own and wider international security. with many countries speaking out alongside us the circumstances demand that we build an international consensus to address the use of chemical weapons. we should urge our international allies tojoin us and call on russia to reveal without delay full details of its chemical weapons programme to the organisation for the prohibition of chemical weapons. it is a matter of chemical weapons. it is a matter of huge regret that our country's diplomatic capacity has been stripped back with cuts of 25% in

the last five years. the right honourable gentleman must be heard. jeremy corbyn. it is in moments such as these that governments realise how vital strong diplomacy and political pressure are four hour security and national interest. the measures we take after the effective, not just interest. the measures we take after the effective, notjust for the long—term security of our citizens but he secured a world free of

chemical weapons. so can the prime minister outlined what discussions she has had with her part as in the european union, nato and the un and what willingness there was to take multilateral action? well the poisonings of sergei skripal and his daughter are confronting us today, what efforts are being made to reassess the death of his daughter who died in 2012 and the deaths of his eldest brother and son who both died in the past two years. we have a duty to speak out against the abuse of human rights by the putin government and its supporters. i join many others in this house in paying tribute to the many campaigners in russia for human rights and justice and democracy in that country. we must do more to

address the dangers posed by the state's relationship with an official mafia like groups and corrupt oligarchs. we must also expose the flows of ill gotten cash between the russian state and billionaires who becomes stupendously rich by looting their country and subsequently use london to protect their wealth. we welcome the prime minister's statement today clearly committing to support the amendments and implement in the as soon as possible as we on this side have long pushed for. yesterday, a russian ex—i'll go was close friends with the late other was found dead in his home. what... the events in

salisbury earlier this month have been rightly condemned across the house. britain has the build a consensus with our allies and we support the prime minister in taking multilateral action and firm action to ensure we strengthen the chemical weapons convention to ensure this dreadful act which we totally condemn never happens again in our country. the right honourable gentleman raised a number of questions around the nerve agent that had been used. he asked if we have put together an international coalition to call on russia to reveal the details of its chemical weapons programme to the 0pc w. that

is what we did. we gave the russian government the opportunity to do just that. they have not done so. he raised the number of questions and asked about the corrupt elite and money going through london. led by the national crime agency we will continue to bring all the capabilities of uk law enforcement debate against serious criminals and corrupt elites. there is no place for these people or their money in our country. that work is ongoing. they talked about getting an international consensus together. as i have said have spoken to chancellor merkel, president trump and president macron and others have also expressed their support. the nato council has expressed deep

concern at the first offensive use of the nerve agent on a territory since nato foundation and allies agreed the attack was a clear breach of international law is and agreements. donald tusk the president of the eu council said he ex presses president of the eu council said he expresses full solidarity in the face of the brutal attack inspired most likely by moscow. so we will be doing that. but i say to him, this is not a question of our diplomacy, of what diplomatic support we have around the world. this is a question of the culpability of the russian state to act on our soil. he said we should be trying to build a

consensus. it was clear from the conversations i've had with allies that we have a consensus with our allies. it was clear from the remarks that were made by backbenchers across the whole of this house on monday that there is a consensus across the back benches of this house. i am only sorry that the consensus does not go as far as the right honourable gentleman. who could have taken the opportunity, as the uk government has done, to condemn the culpability of the russian state. it seems to me, without having access to closed information, that the choice of this

particularly bizarre and dreadful way of killing an individual is a deliberate choice by the russian government to put their signature on a particular killing the. so that other defectors are left in no doubt it is the russian government that will act if