this is bbc news. i'm carole walker. the headlines at 11pm: an unreserved apology from the fire service after it's revealed it took two hours for firefighters to reach victims of last yea r‘s manchester arena bombing. firstly, the fire service simply we re firstly, the fire service simply were out of the loop. they made a misjudgement at the beginning, and therefore were two hours late, really, in getting to the fire. firefighters did feel that night, by some of the decisions by the senior leaders, and can understand their frustration, because they really did wa nt frustration, because they really did want to respond. nato orders seven russian envoys home as theresa may tells mps that more than two dozen of britain's allies have now ordered russian diplomats home over the poisoning of a former spy in the uk. in siberia, thousands protest,

accusing officials of corruption after more than 60 people died in a fire in a shopping centre. calls for a long—term funding plan for the nhs in england — ministers say they'll come up with a blueprint this year. and on newsnight, before mike employee who sparked global economic privacy said that the uk might not have voted for brexit had it not been for cheating by the leave campaign. good evening and welcome to bbc news. there's been a comprehensive apology by fire chiefs for their response to the terror attack in the manchester arena last year in which 22 people were killed and hundreds were injured by a suicide bomber. the report found the fire service played "no meaningful role" for nearly two hours

after the attack. there were poor communications between police and fire crews to co—ordinate their response. and a helpline service for relatives, provided by vodafone, failed completely. the kerslake report is also highly critical of the conduct of some of the media following the attack. judith moritz reports. screaming. it was just chaos, there was people everywhere on the floor. plenty of which weren't alive, or barely alive. ijust... yeah, i don't know, ijust went around and tried to do the best i could. for those who were there, the memories are still fresh. those like rob grew, who heard the sound of the blast and ran inside the building, an ordinary member of the public who gave first aid in the foyer where the bomb went off, while most emergency

services were kept out amid fears of a gunman. apart from the three paramedics, who were doing a greatjob, that's as far as it went, until we realised that no more support was coming from the medical teams or the ambulances. do you think that more people could have been saved, if that help had been there? definitely in the first 15 minutes. definitely more could have been done. police and paramedics rushed to the arena and, following protocols for a firearms terror attack, mostly worked in areas adjacent to the blast zone. but fire crews didn't attend at all for two hours, held back by their senior officers, who now accept they let the city down. it means they couldn't get people out of the foyer or help with first aid. this firefighter, who doesn't want to be identified, was on duty but wasn't sent. paramedics were asking us where we were — people were dying, why weren't we there?

and we were just helpless, because obviously when you're in a uniform service, you do what you're told to do, and we weren't told to do anything. the fire service has a new chief officer. she knows front—line firefighters wanted to help. we've spoken to one of them who's furious. there's a huge amount of anger there, amongst the rank and file. firefighters did feel let down that night by some of the decisions by the senior leaders, and i can understand their frustration, because they really did want to respond. but they showed self—discipline, and they followed orders, and they followed the processes, even though every fibre in their body, they wanted to respond to that incident. we had very, very limited kit for a huge number of patients to treat. there's praise for those who went to help, like the first doctor to respond, michael daley, who helped set up an area for casualties at the train station next door. theyjust started to be brought down in larger and larger numbers. they were being brought down

not just on stretchers, but barriers, billboards were being used as makeshift stretchers by the arena staff, tojust get people out of the foyer and down to the concourse. the national emergency helpline for such situations failed completely. a restricted local number was only set up four hours later. its operator, vodafone, has apologised. martyn hett was at the concert, and his family realised he was missing. it took hours to find out that he'd died. i tried to also, like so many others, find that number that was given initially on the television. probably 26 times i phoned until i got through, and martyn‘s friends frantically went from hospital to hospital, trying to find him. the report authors say the story of how the city responded is overwhelmingly positive, and that the whole country can learn from the mistakes that were made. as well as celebrating

the things that went well, however, it is vital that we learn the lessons of what went less well. this matters for the people of greater manchester, and beyond, who were caught up in the terrible events of that night, but also for other places that might experience an attack in the future. the public donated millions of pounds to a charity appeal for those affected, but the report also asks the government to consider financial support for victims of terror. it's something that the government needs to look at. beyond party politics, can we come to an agreement about what should be provided in these circumstances? it shouldn't be left purely to the generosity of the people of greater manchester, as much as i appreciate that, for support to be provided. the review doesn't establish whether lives could have been saved if things had been done differently. that will be considered when the inquests are held. in the latest diplomatic response

to the chemical attack in salisbury, nato has expelled seven russian diplomats from its headquarters in brussels. 25 countries have now taken similar action, expelling dozens of diplomats. the former russian spy sergei skripal and his daughter are still critically ill. mr skripal‘s niece has been speaking to the bbc, as our correspondent steve rosenberg reports. it looks like a game show, but this was russian tv on the diplomatic war with the west. the names in the frames, the string of countries who had expelled russian diplomats over the salisbury attack. 26 countries have now ordered expulsions. moscow's point is that the west has got it in for russia. this is not about poisoning some former agents. this is about containing russia, creating problems for russia

with its sovereign and independent foreign policy. and could a diplomatic war morph into something more dangerous? this confrontation has certain logic, and this logic is to step up — each next move should be stronger than the previous one. and with this, we can reach a pretty dangerous situation where militarisation of behaviour will be inevitable. the one expression you hear more and more to describe the growing tension between russia and the west is "new cold war". but in fact what we have now is potentially more dangerous than the cold war, because back in the days of communism against capitalism, both sides stuck to the rules of the game. today, it seems, there are no rules. meanwhile, sergei and yulia skripal remain in a critical but stable condition in a salisbury hospital. their relatives back home have said

little about this drama. but in her first tv interview, sergei's niece viktoria has told the bbc russian service that political tensions are the last thing her family wants. translation: i don't want there to be this massive conflict between our two countries, for all this to get worse, and for it to happen because of my family. the family still hasn't told sergei's 90—year—old mother that her son has been poisoned. translation: she doesn't know, and she won't find out until the situation reaches its logical conclusion. there is all this scandal in the media at the moment, and it's painful for us. the nerve agent attack in salisbury is a family tragedy — and a political crisis. it has put russia and the west at loggerheads, on the path to confrontation.

steve rosenberg, bbc news, moscow. in russia, president putin has declared a national day of mourning after 64 people, most of them children, died in a fire at a shopping centre in siberia on sunday. people in the city of kemerovo have been holding protests as mr putin blamed what he called ‘criminal negligence‘ for the tragedy and suggested that safety certificates had been obtained with bribes. our correspondent paul adams sent this report. grief turning to fury on the streets of the siberian mining town. two days after the fire, people are angry. "resign, resign," they shout. local officials are bombarded with questions — how many people really died, were children locked inside, why were the fire alarms not working? the crowd smells corruption.

the sign above the mayor's assistant reads, "how much are your closed eyes worth?" translation: i've got nothing more to lose, my whole family has died, my younger sister, my wife and my three children. my wife rang me quite late, shejust wanted to say goodbye to me. inside what's left of the shopping complex, a scene of utter devastation. this place was packed on sunday. when the fire broke out, it swept through the building with appalling speed. on one of the upper floors, the cinema, where many of the children died. the man leading the investigation says those responsible for safety simply run away. the view from above is equally shocking. is there evidence here that corners were cut? vladimir putin visited the city this morning, offering condolences, saying what happened was inexcusable. translation: an investigation group

of 100 people is working here. they will go through the whole chain, starting with those who issued licenses and up to those who were responsible for safety. in moscow this evening, a silent vigil for the victims, the people here promising not to forget what happened in siberia two days ago. what began as a local tragedy now has the potential to turn into a national scandal. fires like this are not uncommon in russia, and behind them there's often a story of corruption, fast money and lax oversight. this disaster raises a host difficult questions. pauladams, bbc news, moscow. the prime minister has announced the government is to set out what she called a "multi—year funding settlement" for the national health service in england. addressing the liaison committee of senior mps, theresa may said she recognised the importance for the health service of escaping from needing "annual top ups." we need to get away from this annual

approach. we read to recognise that we need to plan effectively. we need to get away from those annual top ups of the budget that we have seen, and many do have a sustainable long—term plan and so building — and i think building on the five—year forward view, but beyond that. and a plan that allows the managers to realise greater productivity and efficiency gains. and a browaty. so it this year and in our spending review, i do want to come up with a long—term view with leaders in the nhs and clinicians and experts. i sf can, its

ahead of a , s§ the the nhs isstillneeded, , i the nhs is in crisis. we have waiting lists at 4 million. literally thousands of often elderly patients are languishing on trolleys in corridors. the nhs has been starved of funds. so they bring forward more investment, great, but we need more investment, and an end to the privatisation agenda. the nhs england chief executive, simon stevens has called the announcement of a funded long term plan "very welcome, timely and significant". that's a summary of the news, newsday is coming up at midnight — now on bbc news it's time for newsnight with kirsty wark. at almost exactly this moment on may 22nd last year, the attack on manchester arena, the second most devastating terrorist atrocity on uk soil,

killed 22 people and injured 120 more. today's official review pointed to three major failings amidst great acts of bravery. the chief of the fire service apologised immediately for their failure to respond and vodafone said sorry for failing to supply a hotline because of catastrophic technical failures, but tonight we concentrate of the third major criticism, the media. the review, authored by this man, was "shocked and dismayed" by the level of press intrusion in the aftermath of the attack. we'll be speaking to the family of one victim about their own experience. a former cambridge analytica employee — the man who sparked a global debate over electronic privacy — tells mps the uk may not have voted for brexit had it not been for cheating by the leave campaign.