12/03/2018 BBC News at Ten

It is now clear that Mr Skripal

and his daughter were poisoned

with a military grade nerve agent

of a type developed by Russia.

The Prime Minister points the finger

at Moscow saying it's highly

likely it was behind

the attack in Salisbury.

Tonight a supermarket car park

in Salisbury is sealed off

as hundreds of police continue

to investigate the attack

eight days ago.

Sergei and Yulia Skripal

are still critically ill -

the Russian ambassador has been told

to explain by tomorrow

what happened.

President Putin, BBC News...

In Russia, President Putin brushes

off questions about the attack -

as Moscow accuses the British

of making up fairy tales.

We will have the latest on the

investigation and...

We'll be looking

at what happens next.

Also tonight....

A teenager is jailed for carrying

out a string of acid

attacks on moped riders -

to steal their scooters.

Tributes to Ken Dodd -

the last of the great

Music Hall variety comedians -

who has died at the age of 90.

This river in Greater Manchester

found to have the highest levels

of microplastic pollution so far

recorded anywhere in the world.

Sky's football pundit

Jamie Carragher is suspended

after he spits at a teenage girl

and her family.

And a "master of elegance" -

Hubert de Givenchy -

the man who dressed Audrey Hepburn

and Jackie Kenedy - has died.

Coming up on Sportsday later

in the hour on BBC News,

will it be another step closer

to the Premier League title

for Manchester City?

They made a good

start against Stoke.

Good evening.

The Prime Minister has pointed

the finger at Russia tonight, saying

it's highly likely it was behind

the attack in Salisbury on a former

Russian spy and his daughter.

In a dramatic statement,

Theresa May revealed that Sergei

and Yulia Skripal were poisoned

by a military grade nerve agent

of a type developed by Russia.

Russia's ambassador has been

summoned and told to explain -

by tomorrow night - what happened.

The Prime Minister said if there's

no credible response,

the Government will conclude

it was an unlawful use of force

by the Russian State against the UK.

And she said there

would be consequences.

Here's our political

editor Laura Kuenssberg.

Who was responsible? Who brought a

chemical attack to quite British

soil?

The Prime Minister was ready

to lay the blame. It is now clear

that Mr Skripal and his daughter

were poisoned with a military grade

nerve agent of a type developed by

Russia. This is part of a group of

nerve agents known as Novichok.

Either this was a direct act by the

Russian state against our country or

the Russian government lost control

of its potentially catastrophically

damaging nerve agent and allowed it

to get into the hands of others.

But what would she be ready to do?

Should there be no credible

response, we will conclude that this

action amounts to an unlawful use of

force by the Russian state against

the United Kingdom. Mr Speaker, this

attempted murder using weapons grade

nerve agent in a British town was

not just a crime against the

Skripals. It was an indiscriminate

and reckless act against the United

Kingdom, putting the lives of

innocent civilians at risk and we

will not tolerate such a brazen

attempt to murder innocent civilians

our soil.

The Russian ambassador

summoned to the Foreign Office for

an explanation and handed an

ultimatum to respond by midnight

tomorrow. Not much chance of

consensus between red and blue at

home.

We need to continue seeking a

robust dialogue with Russia on all

the issues currently dividing our

countries, both domestic and

international. Rather than simply

cutting off contact and letting the

divisions get worse and potentially,

even more dangerous.

A serious

moment on both sides though.

I hope

the whole House will be able to come

together behind a

firm response form the government in

the interests of our national

security and public safety.

This, if

not an act of war, was certainly a

wart like act by the Russian

Federation. Can Downing Street push

the powerful Kremlin? There will be

more expulsions. She has taught this

about being an unlawful act about

should bring in Nato and we should

be consulting Nato allies and I hope

that is going on now, because

anything we do will be more

effective if there can be a broader

solidarity behind us.

The Skripals

still in critical condition, their

personal plight now a grave

diplomatic fight.

In the last hour, Theresa May has

spoken to Emmanuel Macron. Amber

Rudd will share another meeting of

the emergency committee at 11:30am

tomorrow. The Prime Minister's

response today was strong in its

tone and strong in its words. If by

midnight tomorrow, the Russians have

not come back with a credible answer

to what really went on in Salisbury,

the test will not be the strength or

nature of the pro-Minister's words,

but the strength and credibility of

the actions she actually decides to

take. -- Prime Minister.

Sergei and Yulia Skripal

were poisoned with a rare kind

of nerve agent called Novichok.

But what is it and where

has it come from?

Our security correspondent

Gordon Corera joins us now.

Gordon. The Prime Minister was

remarkably specific about the

identity of that nerve agent that

had been discovered in Salisbury.

What do we know about it? Why was

she so specific and why is it

thought that it points to Russia?

Samples from the scene in Salisbury

were analysed at the Porton Down

laboratory. The tests determined

that it came from a rare class of

nerve agents known as Novichok.

Novichok are identifiable and new

and deadly poison.

The use of them

in the UK is sending a strong

message and it is therefore very

surprising that they are being used.

Novichoks are a class of agents

developed during the Cold War in the

1970s and 1980s, they can be eight

times more toxic than other agents

like VX. They were designed to be

hard to detect and to get through

defences like chemical protection

suits. The crucial thing is that

these agents were only developed by

Russia. Novichoks were top-secret,

but an insider revealed details of

the programme at the end of the Cold

War. Now, living in America, he told

the BBC tonight why he spoke out.

I

thought that I was involved in a

criminal enterprise. I came to the

conclusion that chemical weapons are

not normal weapons against the

armies, the troops of enemies.

The

identification of Novichoks meant

the Prime Minister could say that

either the Russian state itself

deployed that nerve agent in

Salisbury, or it somehow lost

control of its stocks.

I would have

thought it was highly unlikely and I

am sure there are other super

weapons and some of them we have

seen recently, Vladimir Putin has

demonstrated his tactical missile

and others and I would have thought

these are under very strict control

and I am sure no rogue elements in

Russia are making a fast buck by

selling them.

Tonight, police

searches by traces of nerve agent

are still ongoing. Russia should

have declared its secret programme

and the Prime Minister today said it

must now disclose its lead to the

international community. Some

questions were answered today, but

we still do not know exactly how the

nerve agent was delivered to the

Skripals and there is another

question,

why did Russia use a nerve agent

which could so easily be traced back

to its own programme? Thank you.

Let's go to Salisbury now,

where hundreds of police officers

and army experts who've been drafted

in are continuing to investigate

what happened and deal

with the aftermath of the attack.

Our correspondent Daniel

Sandford is there -

and there's still a big police

operation in place?

Yes, there is no sign of letting up.

This is an enormous operation

involving chemical warfare trips,

counter-terrorism officers and

specialist ambulance crews who have

been working at a Sainsbury's car

park. A lot of what is visible to

the public is painstaking

decontamination work and removal of

vehicles for further decontamination

at that chemical warfare

establishment at Porton Down. There

is a lot of forensic work going on,

particularly at the home of Sergei

Skripal. It remains a focus of the

investigation but counter-terrorism

officers have made no appeal to the

public for information since

Wednesday, they have released no

images of suspects and in fact they

have given very few details about

how much progress they have made

towards identifying the individuals

involved in attacking Sergei and

Yulia Skripal. They have been going

about their business stalker here,

the residence, but there is a sense

that they should have been given

better public health information

following the attack.

Thank you.

Moscow was quick to respond

to the Prime Minister's speech,

with the Russian Foreign Ministry

calling her statement "a fairy

tale" and a "circus show

in the British Parliament".

Our Moscow Correspondent Steve

Rosenberg is in Krasnodar

in southern Russia,

where President Putin is on a visit.

Steve.

Before today, Vladimir Putin

had not commented publicly on events

in Salisbury. He came here today to

do some election campaigning and we

came as well to see if he would say

anything at all about the attack

that Britain is blaming on Russia.

Getting close enough

to Vladimir Putin to ask

a question isn't easy.

But we were with the Kremlin leader

when you visited Russia's national

But we were with the Kremlin leader

when he visited Russia's national

grain centre.

He wanted to talk about record

harvests but we wanted

to know if Moscow had

targeted Britain.

President Putin, BBC News.

Is Russia behind the poisoning

of Sergei Skripal?

TRANSLATION:

We're busy

with agriculture here.

To create good

conditions for people's

lives.

And you talk to me

about some tragedies?

First work out what actually

happened there and then

we'll talk about it.

But when the British

government announced it had

worked out which country had

attacked the Skripals, Moscow was

in no mood to listen.

Tonight Russia described

Theresa May's Commons statement

as a

circus show and it dismissed

accusations against Moscow as an

informational political campaign

based on provocation, a fairy tale.

Meanwhile, Russian state TV has been

pointing the finger back at Britain.

The news bulletins suggested

that the UK had poisoned the former

double agent.

Only the British stood

to benefit, he says.

It feeds the Russa phobia.

Security experts, though,

believe the trail leads to

Moscow and to the Kremlin.

I haven't got the sense, frankly,

that operations of this magnitude,

something that you know it's

going to have a major

geopolitical impact,

can go ahead without being signed

off from the very top.

Now whether that actively

means a plan being

spelt out to Putin, and him saying,

yes, go for it, or something

a little bit more lightweight.

Nonetheless this is not

something that came from

anything other than

the top of the system.

This weekend Russians are expected

to re-elect Vladimir Putin

as their president.

A new term that is set

to be marked by a new

confrontation with the West.

Steve Rosenberg,

BBC News, Krasnodar.

And our Diplomatic Correspondent

James Landale joins me.

Russia's ambassador was told that he

had until tomorrow night to explain

what happened and if he doesn't,

what then?

If there is no

satisfactory answer, I would expect

the expulsion of some diplomats,

four were kicked out after the case

of Alexander Litvinenko. We should

expect a lot more than that. We

should see the government is

cracking down on wealthy Russians in

London, travel bans, financial

restrictions and also tougher laws

potentially that would seize the

assets of those Russians guilty of

human rights abuses. Other

responses, targeting the Russian

state broadcaster, potentially do

playing more troops to the eastern

flank in Nato, conducting even

offensive cyber operations against

Russia. None of this has been ruled

out. The interesting question is the

International site, a lot of

diplomacy is going on to trying get

support for this and the problem is

that the bar is high. The Russians

have a BTO at the United Nations and

the Europeans are reluctant to

toughen sanctions and the US is

saying, we are supporting new but

refusing to criticise the Russians.

There are a lot of options, the test

will be whether it is enough to have

an impact on the Kremlin.

James

Landale, thank you.

A 17-year-old has been sentenced

to ten and a half years in jail

for carrying out a series of acid

attacks on moped riders

in London last July.

Derryck John, from Croydon,

sprayed six people with acid

in the space of an hour and a half.

He stole two mopeds and attempted

to take another four.

The judge described his

crimes as 'despicable'.

Tom Burridge reports.

He'd thrown acid into

the face of six men.

But here's Derryck John calmly

paying for petrol that night.

He was linked to the stolen

moped, but the person

seen here driving him around

still hasn't been identified.

When Derryck John drove a stolen

bike himself later on, this -

an accident which linked him

to a string of violent acid attacks.

Where's it hurting,

mate, you all right?

This victim says his face felt

like it was on fire.

Attacked by Derryck John

while delivering takeways,

Jabed Hussain is still suffering

today.

I have to keep my eyes everywhere.

Even I don't trust in the street.

If anyone shouts next

to me, I get scared.

If I want to go out, I always

lock my car doors and windows.

I used to be busy myself,

I'm a working class guy.

After the incident,

I am totally different.

I can't believe myself that

I am stuck and alone.

Today, the 17-year-old was sentenced

to ten and a half years in jail.

The judge said an adult would have

gone to prison for much longer.

We're very pleased with

the sentencing Mr John has received,

We think it does send a strong

message that even as a youth

offender, a ten-year plus sentence

still sends a strong message

that this will not be tolerated.

The same judge sentenced

Arthur Collins, seen here throwing

acid across a crowded dance floor,

to 20 years in prison.

It was one of 400 acid attacks

in England and Wales in the

first six months of last year.

Even those under 18

who are caught, like

Derryck John, are likely to spend

several years in prison.

Tom Burridge, BBC News.

The Leader of the House of Commons

has recommended a "short,

independently led" inquiry

into claims of bullying

of parliamentary staff.

It follows allegations against

the Commons Speaker John Bercow

and two MPs after an investigation

by the BBC's Newsnight programme.

All three strongly

deny the allegations.

Tributes have been paid to Sir Ken

Dodd, one of the most popular

entertainers of our time, who has

died at the age of 90. During a

career which spanned more than 60

years, he brought laughter to

millions of fans. Sir Ken died

yesterday in Liverpool in the house

where he was born. His partner of 40

years was by his side. They got

married last Friday. David Sillito

looks back at his life.

I always say writing jokes

for Ken Dodd was almost

like being asked to mix the paints

for Van Gogh.

It was that big an honour.

Geronimo!

A little old lady

went to the doctor.

She said, "Doctor!

Can I have some more sleeping

pills for my husband?"

"Why?"

She said, "He's woke up."

# Happiness...

Ken Dodd.

His shows could last

into the early hours.

He was a joke machine,

and there were thousands.

I haven't spoken to my

mother-in-law for 18 months.

I don't like to interrupt her.

Did you hear about the shrimp that

went to the prawn cocktail party?

He pulled a mussel!

It turns out that if you bang two

halves of a horse together,

it doesn't make the

sound of a coconut!

Intensely private,

but in public, unstoppable.

I think there's a show

business Ken Dodd and there

is a thinking Ken Dodd.

And hopefully, there's

an amusing Ken Dodd.

I hope so, anyway.

She said, do you know

what an erogenous zone is?

I said, I know you can't park there.

Ladies and gentlemen,

please welcome Ken Dodd!

When he walked on, the place used

to go up and he hadn't

even said anything yet.

Now, that doesn't happen very often.

How tickled we were.

How tickled we are.

He would fire the gags out

at you like a machine-gun.

In 1955, he was at

the top of the charts.

Only the Beatles outsold him.

We call it "hur" in Liverpool,

Judy with the "fur hur".

# Tears for souvenirs...

And home was the house he was born

in in Knotty Ash in Liverpool,

and where he finally

married his partner Ann

just three days ago.

I have been overwhelmed by love

and affection which I have already

received from dear friends

and the public.

I thank you all for being here.

He also famously had his troubles

with the Inland Revenue.

He was eventually acquitted.

The job I fancy is Chancellor

of the Exchequer -

at least I'd be reunited

with my money!

Ken Dodd - one of our last links

to the world of music hall.

An era really has come to an end.

Sir Ken Dodd, who's

died at the age of 90.

Plastic and the problems it causes

in oceans and rivers around

the world are already well known.

But what's not so clear is how much

damage microplastics are doing -

the tiny particles of plastic less

than five millimetres in size.

They can be found in all kinds

of things from industrial

pollution to cosmetics.

And now researchers have discovered

that a river in Greater Manchester

has the highest levels

of microplastic pollution so far

recorded anywhere in the world.

Our science correspondent

Victoria Gill reports.

All along this river bank you can

see evidence of plastic litter,

plastic bags, plastic

bottles, food containers.

But it's when things like this break

down into much smaller fragments

that they're just one source

of the microplastics that

end up in the riverbed.

To find out just how

much microplastic flows

into our rivers from litter,

waste water and industry,

scientists need to take a piece

of the riverbed back to the lab.

All the mud and silt and clay

and the microplastic particles

will come into the water.

The team analysed silt at 40

different locations,

from remote rural streams

to city centre waterways.

They found microplastic everywhere.

Where lots of people live,

we found extraordinarily high levels

of microplastic contamination.

Just a few kilometres upstream

from here, we found microplastic

concentrations that are the highest

so far recorded anywhere

in the world, over 500,000

microplastic particles per metre

square of riverbed, enormously high

levels of contamination.

And that is just a few miles

upstream from where we're standing

in Greater Manchester?

Yes.

This is a jar of sediment

from the bed of this river,

a typical suburban stretch

of the River Mersey.

And in this 250g jar,

there will be 5,000 individual

pieces of microplastic.

Aquatic insects, birds

and fish can ingest these

microscopic pieces of plastic.

And this is where the

problem becomes visible.

This is all plastic?

Yes, indeed.

How many fragments

would you have in this?

So in this sample just

from a few grams, about 100

microplastic pieces.

Over here, we've got

a couple of microbeads,

a bright pink one and a yellow one.

Finding the source of this problem

will be scientists' next step

to stop our riverbeds becoming

an invisible dumping ground

for billions of pieces of plastic.

Victoria Gill, BBC News.

The BBC has accused Iran

of collectively punishing

its Persian Service journalists

for reporting on the country's

affairs.

In an unprecedented move,

the BBC has launched an appeal

to the UN Human Rights Council,

demanding that its employees'

rights be protected.

More than 20 Persian Service staff

and their families have had death

threats and some of their relatives

have been harassed.

James Robbins is at

the UN in Geneva.

James, what's the BBC hoping

to achieve by this?

This is happening because the

Iranian authorities have been

hostile to the BBC Persian

television service ever since it was

launched in 2009. They accuse it of

spreading false propaganda in Iran,

designed to encourage those who want

to bring down the entire Iranian

government system. We only know that

because the Iranians, provoked, I

think, by the BBC going to the UN

today, have come out for the first

time with a detailed response to the

BBC's complaints about the treatment

of its staff. The fact is that Tony

Hall, the director-general, thought

he was making no progress with the

Iranians in trying to write to them

and get a response. They were not

coming back to him with anything and

he said it was necessary to bring

this all out into the open in the

hope that perhaps the Iranians would

now take serious note now that the

UN is involved.

James Robbins, thank

you.

Sky has suspended the football

pundit, Jamie Carragher,

after footage emerged of him

spitting through a car

at a teenage girl and her father.

The former England and Liverpool

footballer described it as a "moment

of madness" after he was goaded.

Andy Swiss's report contains

some flashing images.

Jamie Carragher there, look!

He is one of football's

most famous pundits,

but after being spotted by a fan

on Sunday, Jamie Carragher winds

down his window and this happens.

Unlucky, Jamie, lad.

2-1, lad!

He spat on me.

"He spat on me" -

the voice of the driver's

14-year-old daughter.

Jamie Carragher spat

on my daughter, nice.

Carragher, who'd just watched his

former club Liverpool lose,

said he'd been goaded

and lost his rag.

Have you been sacked?

But this morning, he arrived

in London to be told he'd been

suspended from his job

with Sky Sports.

Carragher, who has a 14-year-old

daughter himself, admitted his

behaviour was unacceptable.

It looks awful and I accept that.

It's not something I've done before,

it's not something I will do again.

I'm sure of that.

I've had a moment of madness,

a really big, huge mistake,

a stain on my character.

I have to accept that.

I have let my family down,

but I think the family I've let down

more than anyone is the people

in the car.

Well, what Jamie Carragher did

on his way home from the match

here at Old Trafford has been

strongly condemned by his employers.

In a statement, Sky said his

behaviour fell well below

the standards they expect.

The question now is

whether his apology will be

enough to save his job.

Before this, Carragher had proved

a success in the Sky studios.

His transition to tough-talking

pundit from tough-tackling

player had seemed seamless,

but after retiring on the pitch,

his new career could yet

face an early farewell.

Andy Swiss, BBC News.

The cost of getting the civil

service ready for Brexit is running

into billions of pounds.

Thousands of extra civil servants

are being employed to cope

with the challenges.

New research suggests that

in some key government

departments, six years

of austerity cuts have been

reversed, less than two years since

the Brexit referendum took place.

The cost of getting the civil

service ready for Brexit runs

into billions of pounds.

Chris Morris from our

Reality Check team explains.

At the time of the EU referendum

after years of austerity,

the size of the civil

service here in Westminster

was at its smallest since

the Second World War,

and 20% smaller than it was

when the coalition government

took office in 2010.

But now, in key departments

dealing with Brexit,

those staff reductions have

largely been reversed.

Two new departments have been

created since the referendum,

the Department for International

Trade

and the Department for Exiting

the EU here in Downing Street.

Between them, they have about 1,500

staff devoted exclusively to Brexit.

The numbers are most striking,

though, here at Defra.

The Institute for Government says

its headcount will have increased

by 65% since the referendum.

By the end of this month,

it's due to have taken on an extra

1,200 people dealing exclusively

with Brexit, including replacing

the EU's Common Agriculture

and Fisheries policies.

Elsewhere, the Home Office

is planning to have hired an extra

1,500 Brexit staff by September

and Her Majesty's Revenue

and Customs between 3,000 and 5,000

extra staff by this time next year.

So, more people, and the Government

has said it is committed to ensuring

that the right skills and resources

are available to deliver

a successful Brexit.

So how much is it all going to cost?

Well, the Institute for Government

thinks getting the civil service

ready for Brexit could cost as much

as £2 billion by the time we're due

to leave the EU next year.

And that's on top of

the divorce bill with the EU,

which the Government says will be

39 billion and could be even higher.

Chris Morris, BBC News.

Next month a tax on sugary drinks

will be introduced for the first

time in the UK in a bid

to tackle obesity.

You'll be paying between 18

and 24 pence extra per

litre for many drinks -

depending on how much extra

sugar has been added.

Our health editor Hugh Pym has been

to Norway where a sugar tax has

been in place for years.

There are sweets and lots of them

in this shop favoured by some

Norwegians, but it is not

in their own country, it is just

over the border in Sweden.

The store owner is offering

all of this at half the prices

Norwegians pay at home.

In January, the sugar tax levied

in Norway went up more than 80%.

Some have driven long

distances to cross the border

for their shopping.

I'm coming every once a month to buy

food, so it's worth it.

It's not only because of the price,

but we like to have a treat

and we buy a lot when we come here.

The company says trade has picked up

since the Norwegian tax rise,

equivalent to about 10p

on a chocolate bar.

It's hard to imagine

anything else quite like it.

The Swedish owner says this

is one of the biggest

sweet shops in the world.

It has 20 of them, all a short

distance from the border.

95% of customers come

over from Norway.

Norwegians are used to the sugar tax

which was introduced some time ago.

Locals here in Oslo

are philosophical about it,

even after the tax increase.

People are not happy

with the tax increasing,

but I think it's good.

There are a lot of other taxes

that I would react on,

but this one is OK for me.

The government says the tax has

helped control child obesity rates,

which are below Sweden's.

We managed now to stabilise

the obesity of the children

and young people and I am

happy about that.

It means that what we have

done until now has been

functioning in the right way.

The UK is now going down

the same track with a tax

on sugary soft drinks.

The aim is to move shoppers

towards lower sugar options.

Groups like this have

already done that.

This cookery class with healthy

recipes for parents and children

is run by a charity,

made in Hackney, puddings

and juices with fruit,

but no added sugar on the menu.

Occasionally, you would

have a fizzy drink,

but I want to stop, so I am

here learning about this.

The Norwegian example

shows people can learn

to live with the sugar tax,

even though when it comes

to their behaviour, the message is,

expect the unexpected.

Hugh Pym, BBC News, Oslo.

One of the great names of fashion,

the French designer Hubert

de Givenchy, has died

at the age of 91.

After founding his own fashion house

in 1952, Givenchy became famous

for dressing stars like Grace Kelly

and Jackie Kennedy.

Most notably, he designed

the "little black dress"

Audrey Hepburn wore

in Breakfast At Tiffany's,

as part of a professional

and personal relationship

that lasted 40 years.

In a moment, we'll have the news

from where you are.

But first, we'll have some images

from Givenchy's life -

set to one of the iconic

tracks from Breakfast

At Tiffany's - Moon River.

# Moon river

# Wider than a mile

# I'm crossin' you in style someday

# Old dream maker

# You heartbreaker

# Moon river

# And me #.