hello, you're watching afternoon live — i'm simon mccoy. today at 2pm. you have one week to get out — theresa may's message to 23 russian diplomats as she outlines britain's response to the salisbury poisonings. there is no alternative conclusion other than that the russian state was cuplable for the attempted murder of mr skripal and his daughter, and for threatening the lives of other british citizens in salisbury. the russian embassy in london has condemned the prime minister's decision as "hostile" and "totally unacceptable". i'm ben brown and as the prime minister sets out tough new measures at the house of commons i will be getting reaction from here in westminster and from moscow. stephen hawking — the scientist who achieved world—wide fame with his theories of the universe — has died aged 76. remember to look up at the stars,

not down at your feet. never give up work. work gives your life meaning and purpose and life is meaningless without it. from coast to coast — school students across america are about to begin a mass walk—out — to remember the victims of the florida school shooting. coming up on afternoon live — all the sport with hugh and another big match to come in the champions league later? good afternoon, simon. there's a tough game ahead later for chelsea away at barcelona in the champions league last 16 second leg — if they get throught to the next round it'll be three english teams in the last eight — but manager antonio conte says they must be repared to suffer — we'll hearfrom him a little bit later. helen willetts has the weather, there is a mini beast coming. indeed, you've been listening to the forecast of the relatively mild weather at the moment, the rain and the biting easterly wind returning for the weekend with an increasing threat of snow in the north on friday and possibly in the south later on the weekend. more on that

later. thank you, helen. jim bowen, the comedian who entertained millions, combining darts and general knowledge on bullseye has died. hello everyone — this is afternoon live — i'm simon mccoy. theresa may has ordered the expulsion of 23 russian ‘undeclared intelligence officers‘ — that's spies to you and me — in response to the use of a soviet—era nerve agent in salisbury, to try to kill a former russian double—agent, sergei skripal. and his daughter yulia. it's one of a number of measures announced a short while ago. the russian response? well, they're calling these ‘hostile‘ actions as ‘totally unacceptable, unjustified and shortsighted.‘ let's go live now to westminster, and ben brown. simon, thank you. the prime minister

announced a series of measures to retaliate against russia for the poisoning of a former russian spy, sergei skripal, and his daughter yulia, in salisbury. theresa may told mps that 23 russian diplomats identified as undeclared intelligence officers will be expelled from britain. they have one week to leave. high—level contacts with russia are also being suspended. moscow declined to respond to a midnight deadline set by mrs may for it to explain the use of a soviet—era nerve agent in the poison attack in salisbury. the prime minister said russia had responded with "sarcasm", defiance" and a "complete dissdain for the gravity" of the situation. our political correspondent jonathan blake has the latest. the time for talking had finished, the time for action had come. senior cabinet ministers came and went from number 10 this morning, where theresa may chaired a meeting of the national security

council and authorised the prime minister went to parliament to set out what the uk would do. under the vienna convention, the united kingdom will now expel 23 russian diplomats who have been identified as undeclared intelligence officers. they have just one week to leave. this will be the single biggest expulsion for more than 30 years and it reflects the fact 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 years to come. and if they seek to rebuild it, we will prevent them from doing so. the government had promised a robust response. mps were keen to hear how it planned to act. we will increase checks on private flights, customs and freight. we will freeze russian state assets where we have the evidence they may be used to threaten the life or property of uk

nationals or residents. 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 corrupt elites. there is no place for these people or their money in our country. the prime minister outlined changes to britain's diplomatic relationship with russia. we will suspend all high—level bilateral contacts between the united kingdom and the russian federation, including revoking the invitation to sergei lavrov to visit the uk, and confirming they will be the uk, and confirming there will be no attendance by ministers or members of the royal family at the world cup in russia this summer. jeremy corbyn said the attack in salisbury was an appalling act of violence and the uk's actions must be decisive and proportionate and based on clear evidence. we must do more to address the dangers posed by the state's relationship with unofficial mafia like groups and

corrupt oligarchs. we must also expose the flows of ill gotten cash between the russian state and billionaires who have become stupendously rich by looting their country and subsequently use london to protect their wealth. ten days on the attack in salisbury has led to diplomatic deadlock. now action by one country against another. last night the russian embassy in london threatened retaliation. the uk's position now clear, russia will be preparing its next move. jonathan blake, bbc news, westminster. our chief political correspondent vicki young is inside the house of commons. the prime minister seems to have some pretty broad support from mps to those measures she has announced this afternoon. absolutely. there was obviously some political toing and froing with the response from

jeremy corbyn. theresa may accused him of not going along with the consensus across the house, but broadly from the other parties and from backbenchers there was people welcoming what she said and reaction she is going to take and notjust expelling those departments are but other moves in tightening the law —— expelling those diplomats. i'm joined by ben wallace. people understand the expulsion of the diplomats but in terms of legislation what powers do you need and why? as a free and open society people come and go into this country every year in the millions making is vulnerable to hostile states who deliberately want to use that open society to undermine our economy or spy society to undermine our economy or spy on us. what we have had missing is the ability of the border to stop people based on that suspicion. not necessarily to stop them coming in butjust to stop necessarily to stop them coming in but just to stop them to examine them a few questions, examine their digital devices, in the same way we

have powers to counterterrorism. that's why we would like to explore a way of bringing in a hostile state power to enable customs officers and border force stop those people we have suspicions about. some of your critics would say that this government has been turning a blind eye to so—called russian dirty money, particularly here in london. have you been doing enough when it comes to that? i refute that totally, it is this government and not the last labour government that brought in the unexpired wealth orders and the criminal finance act itook orders and the criminal finance act i took through the house of commons la st i took through the house of commons last year that strengthened our ability to tackle dirty money. it is this government and previously under david cameron who left the anti—corruption scheme that has brought in break the overseas territories to make sure they give out territories to make sure they give our law—enforcement access to their databases our law—enforcement access to their data bases and also our law—enforcement access to their databases and also to make sure the voice of anti—corruption is heard loud and clear. we are tackling that, making the difference and we have started using the new tools that only came into force three weeks ago and that is going to make the message clear to people around the message clear to people around the world that dirty money, russian or anybody else's dirty money, is

not wanted in this country and if you don't leave or if you cannot lock you up we will take your money away. some in your party are calling for the so—called minutes key act, to be brought in, to stop people coming here when it is due to the violation of human rights. is the government willing to accept that? we have always been willing to acce pt we have always been willing to accept it, we put the first part ended to criminal finance act. they wa nt ended to criminal finance act. they wantan ended to criminal finance act. they want an independent assessor. —— would put the first part of it. want an independent assessor. —— would put the first part of itm is about can you have sanctions or ta ke is about can you have sanctions or take action against stolen funds, based on the fact somebody is may be guilty of human rights abuse, would degrading treatment of people and we totally support and will make sure it is in the bill for someone said we would do it, we did the first half la st we would do it, we did the first half last year which is now in law and we will make sure we press ahead against it. there is no resistance to it, we just have to make sure the amendment works because the worst thing you can do for police and national crime agency is hand them law that fails to do the job so we make sure it is the right law but we

are united across the house in doing it based on stopping people who abuse human rights and treat people degrading the abroad. you are the security minister and see a lot of things that we the public cannot see. how would you characterise the threat from russia? some mps say they are a rogue state. it is very real. what we have seen over the la st real. what we have seen over the last seven days is the use of a chemical nerve agent that is so dangerous, it was designed to be very ha rd dangerous, it was designed to be very hard to detect, designed to go round international law one would put it in place to prohibit gas and nerve agents, and also very hard to treat, because it was designed to really be dangerous to people that stopped our health services treating soldiers on the battlefield originally. that is a really horrendous weapons to use in our market towns and cathedral towns as it has been used in salisbury. that could kill thousands of people. any state that does that does not

deserve to be part of the world order of civilised countries who follow the rule of law, and it is very important that all of us understand what that means. they didn't have to use that method, russia could have chosen a whole range of methods, we still wouldn't have supported it but what i have done here isjust totally u na cce pta ble done here isjust totally unacceptable and it needs a robust response. it could be your family and my family that could have been out on a normal sunday afternoon enjoying a meal in a pizzeria and we are very, very lucky that not more people are very badly injured or dead. ben wallace, thank you very much indeed. the call across the house of commons is to urge our international partners and friends, other countries, to get together to ta ke other countries, to get together to take action against russia so that it's not just take action against russia so that it's notjust the uk acting alone. thank you very much, vicki young. lord rickettsjoins me outside the parliament, former national security adviser. do you think the prime minister's measures are tough enough? the expulsion of 23 russian

diplomats. presumably the russians will just kick diplomats. presumably the russians willjust kick out 23 of hours, won't they? these are the sort of measures we expected the prime minister to take, she made a good, clear and strong statement and she has taken a number of measures, both expulsions but also tightening up the financial sanctions against people who have committed human rights abuses, i think that is a good first step. the crucial thing now is how much support we can get from other friends and allies around the world. this package on its own will not change a pattern of russian behaviour that goes back a long way. this isn't just behaviour that goes back a long way. this isn'tjust a russia uk row, this is a threat to all countries that share our values who might themselves find chemical weapons being used in their territory, so i hope there will be abroad, supportive reaction from other allied leaders and countries now as allied leaders and countries now as a result of the evidence the prime minister sets out. there have been words of support from france, germany and the united states. are you saying you want to see action

from those countries as well? do you wa nt from those countries as well? do you want them to suspend high—level visits from russian dignitaries and so visits from russian dignitaries and so on? they need to send a signal we cannot continue business as usual with russia in the light of the evidence of this repeated behaviour of attacks using the most dangerous substances. for example, if emmanuel macron is planning to go to st petersburg in a few weeks' time on a big international economic visit and there is a question mark over whether that should go ahead in these circumstances now. russia needs to see their behaviour is affecting their reputation as a responsible country. some people we re responsible country. some people were saying the prime minister could have gone further, could have closed down russia today, the tv channel, could have boycotted the football world cup altogether. would you have beenin world cup altogether. would you have been in favour of any of those kind of measures? i think the prime minister left herself some room for manoeuvre in her statement. she talked about a number of measures that might not necessarily have become public. i think boycotting football only works if there is a large number of countries prepared

to go with us. ifjust england pulled out i'm not sure that would bea game pulled out i'm not sure that would be a game change in moscow. i suspect the conclusion is that we would not have that degree of international support but i am sure there is more that could be done if russian behaviour doesn't change. the crucial thing now is whether our tough approach is replicated in other allied countries. some observers in russia will say president putin doesn't mind all of this, it almost increases support for him, there is a sort of siege mentality in russia now. with a presidential election coming up, maybe he won't mind this kind of reaction. there is a presidential election coming up, maybe that's pa rt election coming up, maybe that's part of the calculation but i don't think any serious country can enjoy being told that they are held culpable of attempted murder of two citizens, putting others at risk, using military grade chemical weapons. that really crosses all the red lines about acceptable international behaviour. russia is a permanent member of the security council, a member of the g20 and aspires to be treated as a serious,

responsible player on the international stage and here we have this kind of behaviour. those two things. square. thank you for your time, lord ricketts, britain's former national security adviser. our correspondent richard galpin is in moscow. we have had news from the prime minister that 23 russian diplomats, undeclared intelligence officers, as she called them, will be kicked out in the next week. usually with these things there is a tit—for—tat response and the russians could do the same to some of our diplomats over there. are we expecting that?” think that is highly likely, yes. we have certainly seen that in the past, for example, when russian diplomats were expelled over the killing of alexander litvinenko in 2006, russia did retaliate. so we are assuming that they will do that. we have not had any official word from anybody here in moscow so far,

although we are hoping to hear from the foreign ministry before too long. but ironically what has happened is that there has been a statement from the russian ambassador in london, who has described theresa may's list of actions as a hostile action, totally unacceptable, unjustified, and short—sighted. so, quite a tough response for an ambassador and of course he was one of the people, i think, some believe, might well be expeued think, some believe, might well be expelled by the british government but that has not happened. they have gone after this raft of russian spies instead. i think it's going to bea spies instead. i think it's going to be a really interesting question now of how concerned the russian government will be over whether what has happened today is not as bad as they had expected. and richard, it's interesting, in the prime minister's statement to mps before outlining those measures, she talked about the russian response, to the ultimatum

she gave them, the deadline she set to explain themselves by midnight last night and she said the russians have responded with sarcasm and com plete have responded with sarcasm and complete disdain for the gravity of these events. so she was angry really with the russian response so far. yes, absolutely, and i think it's obvious the very significant statement in which she said there is no other conclusion than that the russian state was responsible. she went on later on in her statement to say it is tragic vladimir putin has chosen to act in this way. talking more broadly about acts of aggression carried out by russia in recent yea rs. aggression carried out by russia in recent years. so she is really calling it out and laying the blame very much at the doorstep of the kremlin. how much coverage is this whole affair getting in the russian media and papers and on the television? how much are ordinary russians hearing about it? quite a lot, actually. more recently were initially in the early stages of

what happened very little indeed. but now it is sort of escalating into a much bigger international incident and it is being reported quite significantly. this is another big point actually. this issue, what russia will be concerned about, is how theresa may seems to be is exceeding in bringing the european union, for example, on board, nato, the united states, individual countries, specifically places like germany and france, all on pledging solidarity. and of course, this meeting of the un security council later today on this issue. already there has been reaction to this from russia won in countries who are pledging solidarity with britain that they should look carefully at the evidence and whether there is evidence that russia was involved. that is a slight indication that moscow is somewhat rattled by the growing alliance against it. all of this, of course, playing out at a

time ofa this, of course, playing out at a time of a russian presidential election campaign. we have seen mr putin on the campaign trail. i know he doesn't have many serious opponents, but is there any impact on that campaign? from his point of view, as i suggested, it might be a positive impact in the sense there isa positive impact in the sense there is a sort of siege mentality in russia about these british measures. there is no evidence his campaign... 0r there is no evidence his campaign... or that what has happened has had any impact on the campaign, but it is potentially right that for vladimir putin this is not a bad thing, and it makes him look like the strongman, as ever standing up against the west, which is automatically opposed to russia and trying to squash it. in someways, it could work for him in terms of the voters. richard, for the moment, thank you very much indeed. that is the latest from westminster where theresa may announced those measures including the expulsion of 23 russian diplomats from london and the response to that from the

russian embassy in london is that this is totally unacceptable, unjustified, and short—sighted. basta latest. simon, back to you in the studio. —— that's the latest. studio: the foreign office has updated its travel advice to british and says additional advice for british nationals in russia or due to travel in the coming weeks, due to travel in the coming weeks, due to heightened tensions between the uk and russia you should be aware of the possibility of anti—british sentiment or harassment at the time and are advised to remain vigilant, avoid protests, demonstrations and commenting publicly on political developers. while the british embassy in moscow is not aware of any increased difficulties for british people travelling in russia at this time you should follow the political and security situation closely and keep up—to—date with this travel advice. of course, there will be concerns for the many fans, rogic football fans, english football fans, heading out to russia for the world cup. we will bring you

more from the foreign office later. with strong economic ties between russian and britain, any sanctions could harm both economies. 0ur global affairs correspondent naomi grimley looks at how the kremlin might react to the prime minister's announcement. time has run out. ever since theresa may issued her ultimatum to russia, the international community has been speculating about what the uk would do and how russia in turn would respond. for his part, the russian foreign minister is adamant. britain's accusations are unfounded. translation: there is only backsliding. we have not seen any progress. we still haven't received any official request from london in regard to the poisoning of skripal and his daughter. he is now no longer welcome on official business in the uk. and britain says it has identified 23 undeclared intelligence officers who now have a week to leave this embassy. it is the largest expulsion of russian

diplomats for more than 30 years. a tit—for—tat response means british diplomats in moscow will now be expecting a similar call. after alexander litvinenko's murder from radioactive poisoning, the uk kicked out of four russian officials. predictably, four british officials were sent home at the same time. it's well known that super rich russians like london as a destination for shopping and living the high life. transparency international says that of £41; billion worth of property bought with suspicious wealth in the uk, more than a fifth has been purchased by russians. the uk government will now ramp up travel bans and asset freezes on those individuals here with links to the kremlin. some are nervous that british business interests could suffer a backlash. if you are going after russians on sanctions

you face a backlash from the russian government. there are russian companies, there are uk companies in russia, bp, who are possibly vulnerable to counter sanctions. we know the russian parliament are preparing mirror measures. sanctions were introduced by the eu and the us after russia's annexation of crimea and its support for separatists in eastern ukraine. those measures may have pit the russian economy but have they changed president putin's behaviour on the world stage? that is a harder question to answer. naomi grimley, bbc news. let's speak to our correspondent andy moore at the russian embassy in central london. 23 officials told to go within a week. that's a large number.m 23 officials told to go within a week. that's a large number. it is a large number, yes. i mean, compare this with the reaction after the death of alexander litvinenko when four diplomats were expelled. it is a step change to that reaction. it

is the biggest expulsion of diplomats from the uk in about 30 yea rs, diplomats from the uk in about 30 years, i believe. 23 diplomats, that's about 40% of the embassy here, and they have been given a week to leave. it is a substantial number. some people may be asking, why do we allow 23 undeclared intelligence officers on our soil, spies, effectively. ithink intelligence officers on our soil, spies, effectively. i think it's just part of the game of diplomacy in normal times. but they are the first to be expelled when you get into a situation like this. we have had a brief reaction from the embassy here since theresa may's statement. they have said that that expulsion is unacceptable, unjustified, and short—sighted. we did here briefly from the ambassador here, ambassador alexander ya kove n ko, here, ambassador alexander yakovenko, who said it was absolutely unacceptable and considered what the british were doing was a provocation. he said

that from the russian point of view britain was not going through the right international protocols, that if they had a question about russia's use of chemical weapons, they should have gone through the 0rganisation they should have gone through the organisation for the prohibition of chemical weapons, they should have made a request to them for more information and then they should have been given ten days to reply. they say this 24—hour deadline, to them, the russians, is totally unacceptable. andi mohr, at the russian embassy, thank you very much. —— andy moore. let's get the latest on the investigation into the nerve gas attack in salisbury. our home affairs correspondent leila nathoo is in gillingham in dorset — around 20 miles from salisbury — where there has been a lot of police activity over recent hours. we have seen a number of vehicles, as you can see behind me, since this investigation began a week ago they have been brought in and recovered a number of objects and vehicles. we have seen things like ambulances and

police cars. i know what you're doing, pick it up and people might be able to hear you. hello, sorry, i thought i was on a different microphone before. as i was saying, you can see the military trucks behind me that we have been seeing across salisbury for the last week or so across salisbury for the last week orso and across salisbury for the last week or so and now they are here in dorset in gillingham were they are recovering a tow truck. this tow truck belongs to a company that works with the police and we believe it to be the tow truck that initially brought sergei skripal‘s car away from salisbury city centre, sunday the 4th of march, and put it into a sunday the 4th of march, and put it intoa car sunday the 4th of march, and put it into a car in pound on the outskirts of salisbury. this is clearly part of salisbury. this is clearly part of the day, termination exercise that has been going on in salisbury and now in the surrounding areas. you can see behind me the police in protective suits. i will step away and you can see that. behind that vehicle, you can also see police tents where there have been more

officers in protective suits also setting up there. clearly this is pa rt setting up there. clearly this is part of a trail now be deadly nerve agent trying to how far it stretched and what and where might be contaminated. we know that the police investigation itself is also focusing on sergei skripal‘s car. yesterday we had the second appeal from police to the public asking if anyone had seen that a red bmw that sergei skripal derives between 1pm and 1:40pm on sunday the 4th of march, that time was when he parked in the sainsbury‘s car park in this centre of salisbury, police trying to trail his movements in the car before he arrived in the centre of salisbury with his daughter yulia before they went to eat at the zizzi's restaurant and before they went to the mill pub and before they we re went to the mill pub and before they were found on the park bench.” don't know if you've spoken to any neighbours but if i lived there i would be asking why they have taken a week to decontaminate a vehicle

that they must have known about for a long time. this truck has clearly been sitting out there in the open for a number of days, that is what neighbours have been saying, he has been there and they can remember it being out in the open for a number of days. it has been covered in some sort of tarpaulin, it hasn't been put ina sort of tarpaulin, it hasn't been put in a container or anything. that looks like a sheet, it has not been sealed off. but, yes, clearly this tow truck has been out in the open for a number of days and we know sergei skripal‘s car was only examined by police in those protective suits at big car pound on the edge of salisbury on thursday, so that was four days after. these decontamination operations have been going on in various locations around the city centre. certainly, the u pta ke the city centre. certainly, the uptake inactivity at the mill pub also happened many days after it was initially sealed off. you will remember the investigation was transferred from wiltshire police to the metropolitan counterterror police who are leading the investigation now, so clearly they

have come in and stepped it up. it is clear that some of these locations and objects have been out in the open before they have been taken away for recovery by the military. leila nathoo in gillingham in dorset, good to hearfrom you. in the united states school students across america are staging a walk—out to remember the victims of last month's florida shooting and press politicians to pass stricter gun laws. this is the scene live in new york. 0rganisers have called on stu d e nts to new york. 0rganisers have called on students to stop lessons for 17 minutes in memory of the 17 people killed. at the marjory stoneman douglas high school, shot by a former pupil. the walk—outs are occurring across the united states. taking into account the various time zones taking into account the various time zones involved. the organisers accuse congress of failing to tackle gun ownership properly. in washington, similar scenes as

stu d e nts washington, similar scenes as students left their classes to go and will the white house directly. the white house revealing a plan this week to deter school shootings, which doesn't include donald trump's repeated call to raise the age for buying semiautomatic rifles to 21 and instead moves ahead with the controversial proposal to provide firearms training to school employees. but tens of thousands, perhaps hundreds of thousands of stu d e nts by perhaps hundreds of thousands of students by the end of the day will have taken part in this demonstration. more headlines on the latest to the fallout of theresa may's announcement in the house of commons to come. time for a look at the weather. absolutely right, hoping we will not see quite much snow as this, this is boston, in the usa, where winter has returned. the third north—east as they call it over there, in two

weeks, the third in two weeks, the