the prime minister visits salisbury, for the first time since the poisoning there of a former russian spy and daughter. theresa may thanks the emergency services and says there is no doubt who is behind the attack: we do hold russia culpable for this brazen, brazen act, and despicable act, that's taken place on the streets of what is such a remarkable city. russia says it will expel british diplomats soon, we'll have the latest from salisbury and moscow. also this lunchtime. tests on a door from grenfell tower show it held back fire for only half as long as it was meant to. the government says the risk to public safety is low. northamptonshire county council should be abolished, a government inspection recommends a complete restructure, after the council struggled with a deficit. like. by the un refugee agency, as the war exceeds seven years. in the sport on bbc news.

ahead of their europa league tie with ac milan, arsenal boss, arsene wenger, calls on his players to produce the performances that will encourage fans back to the emirates stadium. hello, good afternoon and welcome to the bbc news at one. the prime minister is in salisbury this afternoon in the wake of the poisoning of a former russian spy and his daughter. the kremlin has said british diplomats will be ordered to leave moscow soon, following the expulsion yesterday of 23 russians from london. the prime minister took the action after moscow refused to explain how a russian—made nerve agent was used on sergei and yulia skripal. france says it agrees that russia was responsible for the attack and last night the us government expressed its full support for britain in relation to the attack.

our diplomatic correspondent paul adams reports. in the last few minutes, the leaders of france, germany and the united states have joined the uk of france, germany and the united states havejoined the uk in issuing a joint statement, condemning the use of military grade nerve agent, saying this constitutes the first offensive use of a nerve agent in europe since the second world war. our diplomatic correspondent paul adams reports. theresa may in the quiet english town where events 11 days ago triggered this growing diplomatic row. visiting for the first time the scene of the crime, the first use of a military grade nerve agent on british soil. the consequences of this shocking act now reverberating around the world. i'm pleased to have been able to come down here to salisbury, to speak to people who responded to this terrible incident that took place. and, as you know, iannounced in the house of commons the action we are taking,

we do hold russia culpable for this, this brazen, brazen act, and despicable act that has taken place on the streets of what is such a remarkable city. last night at the united nations, an emergency session of the security council, and an emphatic expression of support from donald trump's representative. no two nations enjoy a stronger bond. ours is truly a special relationship, when ourfriends in great britain face a challenge, the united states will always be there for them. always. and from the white house, confirmation that america agrees with theresa may on who poisoned sergei and yulia skripal, the united states shares the assessment that russia is responsible for the reckless nerve agent attack on a british citizen and his daughter. but are britain's allies willing to go further and take

actions of their own? president emmanuel macron spoke with theresa may this morning and agrees there is no other plausible explanation for what happened in salisbury and he says he will announce his own measures in the coming days. there is a global disgust at what has happened, and that is very important, and we will continue to make the case to our friends and allies that, as a committee of nations, we need to stand up to russia. but russia is undaunted. the government continuing to deny any involvement and now threatening to retaliate. translation: due to action, non—friendly actions, taken by the british against the russian federation, we are going to talk about retaliatory measures that we will take, we're working on them at the moment and we will take them as soon as possible. at the british embassy, diplomats and spies wait to hear if they too will be packing their bags; it seems, inevitable. in a moment we will hear

from richard galpin in moscow, but first our home affairs correspondent daniel sandford is in salisbury very interesting visit, sombre mood, at this stage two are unwell but no one has died from the nerve agent attack and the lot of the focus was on the businesses here in salisbury, she started by going into a cookshop, then walked past the scene of the bench where the couple were found so seriously ill on sunday, the skripals, at ago, then talking to business owners in the near vicinity of the bench before going down to the mill pub, the first place that they visited on the sunday, then she went over to the guildhall, and we think she is probably likely to go to the hospital and visit some of the patients there in the hospital

before heading back to london. in terms of police activity, a lot of activity at the place where cars are towed away from salisbury town centre are, that is where sergei skripal‘s car was towed and likely to still be there. a lot of work, these officers and soldiers wearing gas masks. new location, military low loaders turned up to take away another vehicle, in the town of older halt, and that is where we believe detective sergeant nick bailey, the police officer who became very ill after being contaminated, lives. —— alderholt. it is likely to be a vehicle related to him. crossing to moscow, richard galpin, where you are, absolute denial of any involvement in this? yes, absolutely, that has been the position for several days, looks like we are getting closer to some kind of announcement on what russia

will do in retaliation, the kremlin today, not long before they respond, and vladimir putin will take the final decision on what the measures are and how they will be lamented, and the british government will be informed first, as to exactly where it will happen, it seems likely that british diplomats will be expelled. expelled from moscow. in the british embassy. we expect amongst them some of them to be british spies. we are still waiting for the full announcement, from the government, here. vladimir putin is back in town, knew was down in crimea, he is i'iow town, knew was down in crimea, he is now back, there may be some work from vladimir putin himself in the coming hours. thank you very much. in the last few minutes, britain, germany, france and the united states have issued a joint statement about the attack

our assistant political editor norman smith is in westminster this will be seen as significant, despite the bulge and other russian diplomats and the other measures announced, it was widely held in westminster that there is a limit to what britain can do on its own and if they want to really punish president vladimir putin, they must pull together a broad coalition of international countries. that appears to be taking shape with this joint statement from britain, the united states, germany and france, condemning russia, in very forthright terms, let me give you some of the statement: i agree it is highly likely that russia was responsible, we share the uk assessment that there is no plausible alternative explanation, it goes on to say, we call on russia to address all questions related to the attack in salisbury, russia should in particular provide full and complete disclosure of the novichok programme, the nerve agent

involved, and concerns are heightened against the background of a pattern of earlier irresponsible russian behaviour. of itself, that has not mean that there is a package of sanctions ready to be imposed more broadly, by international allies, but it does suggest that maybe, the british government is beginning to make some sort of headway, and i suspect the hope is that if, as expected, russia retaliates, then britain will be able to respond, not purely by perhaps kicking out more russian diplomats, but by a much broader range of international sanctions involving other countries. thank you. the laboratory where scientists helped identify the nerve agent used in salisbury will receive what the government has described as a significant increase in funding. in his first major speech as defence secretary, gavin williamson confirmed plans to create a multi—million pound centre to counter the threat of chemical weapons,

at the ministry of defence laboratory porton down. naomi grimley reports. it's a most of uk's it's a most of uk‘s if; capability has over £7— the uk be, if a country such as russia launched a larger attack than this? today, the defence secretary admitted that ministers should have thought more about this kind of threat. state -based dangers are increasing, back in 2010, we did not believe they posed us a credible threat. with the benefit of hindsight, this can at best be described as naive. russia, he said, was ripping up the international rule book. frankly, russia should go

away, it should shut up... brought forward a planned announcement: we are investing £48 million in a new chemical weapons defence centre, to maintain our cutting edge in chemical analysis and defence. this is the defence science and technology laboratory at porton down, shown here in a bbc technology laboratory at porton down, shown he may a bbc technology laboratory at porton down, shown he may a be _- t" " documentary. it may be a world—class gig: :, have the 7'—