13/03/2018 BBC News at Ten

Tonight at Ten:

Moscow is set to ignore the midnight

deadline to explain how a Russian

poison was used to attack

a former spy.

Sergei Skripal and his

daughter were poisoned

in Salisbury over a week ago -

the Russians have denied any

involvement in what happened.

The police investigation

in Salisbury is being extended

and Scotland Yard warns it

will take many more weeks.

The public are going to continue

to

see a great deal of police activity

in and around the city, including

potentially more

cordons being erected.

But don't be alarmed, it is

necessary as part of this major

investigation.

As officers appeal for witnesses

and identify the Skripals' red BMW,

the Government's warnings to Russia

get a sharp response.

We will make sure our response -

as I indicated to the House last

week - is commensurate but robust.

Russia is not a country to be spoken

into in the language of ultimatums.

I think it is high time the United

Kingdom learned that.

We'll be reporting from Moscow

and from Salisbury, as the tensions

deepen between Britain and Russia.

Also tonight:

Just over a year after his

appointment, Rex Tillerson is sacked

as US Secretary of State.

President Trump says they had

areas of disagreement.

Rex and I have been talking about

this for a long time. We got along

actually quite well, but we

disagreed on things.

In his Spring

statement, the Chancellor reveals

forecasts for higher growth

and lower inflation and debt

and hints at possible spending

rises in the future.

And Manchester United are out

of the Champions League after losing

at Old Trafford tonight.

And coming up on Sportsday:

The big race of the opening day

of the Cheltenham festival,

the Champions Hurdle,

was won by favourite

Buveur D'Air, who now joins some

of jump racing's greats.

Good evening.

There are two hours left

to the deadline announced

by Theresa May for Moscow

to explain how a nerve agent

probably made in Russia

was used to attack a former

spy and his daughter.

Sergei Skripal and his daughter

Yulia were taken ill over

a week ago in Salisbury.

The Kremlin said today it would not

cooperate with any investigation

until it was given a sample

of the substance involved.

As tensions deepened

between London and Moscow,

Scotland Yard gave more details

of the attack and appealed

for more witnesses.

Our first report tonight

is from our diplomatic

correspondent, James Landale

It began as a brutal attack

on the streets of Salisbury,

the poisoning of a former Russian

intelligence officer

and his daughter.

But it's become tonight

a global diplomatic row,

with Britain in

confrontation with Moscow

and looking for allies.

The Kremlin has just two

hours left to explain

what role it played

in

Salisbury.

To say how a nerve agent

developed in Russia ended up

here.

And if midnight passes without that

explanation, the Government is

promising a robust

and expensive response.

This is a brazen attempt to murder

innocent people on UK soil.

Policeman still in hospital,

overwhelmingly likely or highly

likely the Russian state

was involved, and the use of this

nerve agent would represent

the first use of nerve agents

on the continent of Europe

since the Second World War.

As part of a huge diplomatic push,

British officials told the chemical

weapons watchdog in the Netherlands

that Russia was implicated

in the use of a nerve

agent on British soil.

The Foreign Secretary called his EU

counterparts, securing

expressions of support

from France, Germany,

the European Commission and Nato.

This afternoon Theresa May spoke

to Donald Trump, who agreed

with her that Russian must provide

unambiguous answers about how this

weapon came to be used in Britain.

Even before the call,

the President acknowledged

Russia's involvement.

Theresa May is going to be

speaking to me today.

It sounds to me like they believe

it was Russia and I would certainly

take that finding as fact.

As soon as we get the facts

straight, if we agree with them,

we will condemn Russia or whoever

it may be.

Russia is already subject

to sanctions because of its

interventions in Ukraine and Crimea.

Ministers insist these damage

Russia's economy, but their impact

on Moscow's behaviour is doubtful.

Crucially, these are largely EU

sanctions, the UK can't

impose them on its own.

So, what unilateral options

is the Government considering?

Well, some of Russia's 58 diplomats

in London could be expelled but that

might provoke a tit-for-tat

expulsion of British diplomats.

Wealthy Russians in London

with links to the Kremlin could face

financial sanctions and travel bans,

but who and how?

There could be tougher laws to crack

down on Russian officials guilty

of human rights abuses,

and Russian TV stations

like RT could be targeted.

The media regulator has already

warned it could lose its licence.

Here at the Foreign Office,

they are also investing a lot

of effort and diplomacy in trying

to bring international

pressure to bear on Russia,

but the bar is high.

Russia has a veto at the UN and some

EU countries are reluctant

to contemplate yet more sanctions.

This evening the Russian Embassy

said Moscow would not respond to

Britain's ultimatum unless it was

given samples of the nerve agent.

As diplomats promised retaliation

against any punitive action.

Russia is not a country to be spoken

to in the language of ultimatums.

I think it is high time

the United Kingdom learned that.

Tonight, the investigation

continues in Salisbury.

Tomorrow the diplomatic

war of words will be

replaced by deeds,

and outright confrontation.

James Landale, BBC News.

Russia has repeated its denial

of any involvement in

the nerve agent attack.

The country's Foreign Minister,

Sergei Lavrov, dismissed

the accusation, while the Russian

Embassy in London warned

that the threat of sanctions

by Britain would be met

with a response.

Our correspondent Sarah Rainsford

reports from Moscow.

Accused of a crime many

miles from here, under

pressure to explain a

chemical attack that

shocked Britain.

But today the Kremlin

has remained silent.

The Foreign Minister,

though, was in full

defensive flow.

Sergey Lavrov rejected

Britain's 24 hour ultimatum

to respond to the claim that

Moscow used a nerve agent.

Russia should get ten

days, he said, accusing

Britain of flouting the chemical

weapons convention.

And when I asked about the actual

charge the minister

called that nonsense.

TRANSLATION:

Russia is not guilty.

Russia is ready to co-operate

In accordance with the Convention

on the Prohibition

of chemical weapons if the UK

finally decides to fulfil its

obligations under international law

within that document.

Russia's also demanding

a sample of the substance

used in the attack to

conduct its own tests.

The UK has identified it

as Novichok, which the BBC believes

was once produced here

in a secret Soviet programme.

Reports in Moscow say any

stockpiles were destroyed

long ago.

So when the British Ambassador

was called to the Foreign Ministry,

Moscow says he came to hear

its protest at a sordid attempt

to discredit this country.

I reiterated the points

made by Prime Minister

May that we expect by the end

of today an account from the Russian

state as to how this material came

to be used in Salisbury.

Russia has always insisted

it had nothing to do

with the poisoning

in

Salisbury and that position clearly

has not changed even with the threat

of sanctions.

After all this is a country

that's been living under

international sanctions for some

time, linked to its actions in

Ukraine.

Those actions have not weakened

President Putin politically

at all.

If anything, they have

made him stronger.

Moscow then is in no mood

for ultimatums and it

will continue to insist

on its

innocence.

Sarah Rainsford, BBC News, Moscow.

Scotland Yard has given further

details about the movements

of Sergei Skripal and his daughter

Yulia in the hours before

they became critically ill.

Counter-terrorism police

say the investigation

will take many weeks,

but the prime focus

is discovering exactly how

the poison was administered.

Our home affairs correspondent

Daniel Sandford has

the latest from Salisbury.

This evening, with nerve agent

contamination still a huge concern,

police were working at the pound

where Sergei Skripal's car was found

after being towed away

from Salisbury town centre.

Britain's most senior

counter-terrorism detective warning

today that the complex operation

in the city will last many weeks.

We are sifting and assessing

all evidence available

and we are exploring

all investigative avenues,

this includes extensive CCTV footage

from across the city and over 380

exhibits so far.

Detectives now believe Yulia Skripal

arrived at Heathrow Airport

from Russia on the afternoon

of Saturday, 3rd March.

The next day, the day of the attack,

she and her father Sergei drove

into Salisbury in this red BMW.

Police are asking anyone who saw

the car between 1.00pm and 1.45pm

that Sunday to come forward.

At 1.40pm that afternoon they parked

on the upper deck of the Sainsbury's

car park, from where they walked

past a small park to the Mill pub.

After a drink they headed

to the Zizzi restaurant,

where they were between

2.20pm and 3.35pm.

They then headed back

to the park where, at 4.15pm,

they were found desperately ill

on a bench.

Today, police said Detective

Sergeant Nick Bailey,

who also became seriously ill

after getting contaminated,

was making good progress.

The two people targeted

in the attack, Yulia

and Sergei Skripal,

are still in intensive care

here in Salisbury Hospital,

were staff are having to use special

precautions because of

the military grade nerve agent.

They're both in a critical

condition, but they are both

still stable, which means they're

not getting significantly worse.

I understand that she is doing

slightly better than he is.

We still don't know if detectives

have a specific suspect in this

unique and challenging

investigation, they said

they wouldn't be making that

public at this stage.

Daniel Sandford,

BBC News, Salisbury.

In a moment the latest

from our correspondents in Moscow

and in Downing Street,

but first our security correspondent

Gordon Corera is with me.

A sense of how challenging this

investigation is now?

It has been a

very challenging investigation, more

challenging I'm told even than a

counter terrorism investigation,

because of the the forensics and the

contamination. It was only on

Saturday night that they identified

the nerve agent and hence the

warnings to the public. And we got a

sense of broadening line of inquiry

for the police. There have been

questions about deaths of Russians

in the last few years. Today the

Home Secretary said she had asked

the police and MI5 to look at those

to see if there was suspicions. In

the afternoon we learned the police

were investigating what they called

an unexplained death in New Malden

south of London. We understand that

is Nicholai Glushakov. He was a

Russian businessman and a friend of

Boris Berezovsky, a critic of

Vladimir Putin, in turn whose death

is considered suspicious. There is

no sign at the moment that this

death is suspicion and it could be

entirely natural causes, but you get

the sense from the way the police

are treating it, that they feel they

have got to take it seriously,

because of this changing context of

what might be possible, but that

challenging information in Salisbury

is certainly the main focus.

Thank

you.

Our correspondent is in Moscow. This

deadline is approaching, we have had

a sense of response in Moscow. What

is your reading of things there?

Well, I think there is no sense that

Russia is planning to comply with

that deadline. We have heard unless

London hands over a sample of nerve

agent it says was used, then Russia

will ignore this deadline. If there

are any lights on there in the

Kremlin, it is not people worrying

about that deadline. But what we

have heard is if there are sanctions

from the UK, then Russia will

respond to that. Specifically on one

thing, the Foreign Ministry said

that if the pro-Kremlin RT were to

be closed in the UK, no British

media would remain working in

Russia. Now, beyond that, she was

also on television here tonight

reminding viewers of Vladimir

Putin's recent speech when he

revealed all the new nuclear weapons

that Russia has in itarsenal after

that it said no one should issue

rush with ultimatums.

Thank you. Now

live to Downing Street and our

diplomatic correspondent. Once this

deadline has passed, what is your

sense of what the next the 24 hours

could bring?

Well, tomorrow, the

Prime Minister will convene her

national Security Council and be

briefed on the investigation and the

expected lack of Russian response.

She and her ministers will decide

how robust they wish to be in their

response to what they see as

Russia's involvement in the

Salisbury attack. Those decisions

have yet to be made. But we can

detect I think some patterns. One, I

think the Government is determined

to make sure this response is far

more robust than the response given

to the murder of Alexander

Litvinenko more than a decade ago.

Second, I think tomorrow will be

very much the first stage of what is

going to be a staged response and

the focus tomorrow will be on the UK

domestic decisions, the action that

Britain can take. We are talking

expulsion of diplomats and bans on

Russians who have wealth here and

then the question will be how Russia

responds. The Russian Embassy here

in the UK has just said, look, if

those calling for Russian diplomats

to be expelled don't care about

British diplomats in Moscow.

Thank

you.

Some of the day's other news.

In the biggest change yet

for the Trump administration,

the President has sacked his

Secretary of State, Rex Tillerson,

following a series

of public disagreements.

Mr Trump announced his decision

on social media and told reporters

that he and Mr Tillerson had

a "different mindset"

on some key issues,

including the nuclear

deal with Iran.

The Director of the CIA,

Mike Pompeo, has been named

as Mr Tillerson's replacement,

as our North America

editor, Jon Sopel, reports.

After a long trip to Africa

glad-handing and promoting the US,

Rex Tillerson flew back

to Washington overnight.

But unbeknown to him, the President

had signed his death warrant,

and it would be death by tweet.

"Mike Pompeo, director

of the CIA, will become our

new Secretary of State.

He'll do a fantastic job.

Thank you to Rex Tillerson

for his service."

But Tillerson isn't on Twitter,

so excruciatingly it fell

to his Chief of Staff to inform him

of his demise.

There was no contact

from the White House,

only this afterwards

from the President.

I think Rex will be much

happier now, but I really

appreciate his service.

Happier, he didn't seem it.

In his farewell statement, he never

mentioned Donald Trump by name,

didn't thank him or wish him luck.

Instead, there were these

pointed remarks on Russia.

Much work remains to respond

to the troubling behaviour

and actions on the part

of the Russian government.

Russia must assess carefully

as to how its actions

are in the best interests

of the Russian people,

and of the world more broadly.

I, Rex Wayne Tillerson

do solemnly swear...

It was all so different

when he was sworn in,

then seen as one of the grown-ups

of the administration.

But his fate was probably

sealed last October,

when it was reported he called

Donald Trump "a moron", an

accusation he didn't exactly deny.

I'm not going to deal

with petty stuff like that.

I mean, this is what I don't

understand about Washington.

Again, you know, I'm

not from this place,

but the places I come from,

we don't deal with that

kind of petty nonsense.

Then there was the public

undermining of the Secretary

of State by the President,

sending family to do work that

would normally be done

by America's chief diplomat,

and public shaming

on Twitter, like this.

There's not much love lost

between Donald Trump

and Rex Tillerson, they disagreed

on policy and didn't much

like each other personally.

Mike Pompeo will be much more

to Donald Trump's taste and it's

vital they do get on,

given the importance

of subjects like North Korea.

But will he be the man

who says to the President -

I think you're wrong,

as Rex Tillerson did?

Tillerson was isolated trapessing

around the world with little

support in Washington.

In his previous life,

the former CEO of of Exxon

was a corporate titan,

but he's now political road kill.

Surely the place with

the lowest life expectancy

anywhere in the world,-

being a member of the

Trump administration.

Another senior figure

who didn't smell the coffee.

Jon Sopel, BBC News, Washington.

The Chancellor, Philip Hammond,

has delivered his spring statement,

insisting there's light at the end

of the tunnel for the UK economy

and hinted at possible increases

in public spending later this year.

The Office for Budget

Responsibility's growth forecast

for this year has been increased

modestly by 0.1% to 1.4%.

And Government borrowing will be

lower this year than expected.

The OBR now forecasts it

will be £45.2 billion,

which could give the Chancellor

a potential £5 billion

for extra spending.

But the OBR nonetheless downgraded

its forecasts for 2021 and 2022

and Labour accused the Chancellor

of "astounding complacency", given

the pressures on public services.

Our political editor,

Laura Kuenssberg, has the details.

Is there anybody out there?

Number Eleven didn't want us to pay

that much attention.

No fuss, no frills.

REPORTER:

Do you have good

news today, Chancellor?

Only the Chancellor

slipping off to work.

THE SPEAKER:

Statement,

the Chancellor of the Exchequer.

But what was this, a cheery

Philip Hammond rushing to his place?

If there are any Eeyores

in the chamber, they're over there.

I, meanwhile, am at my most

positively Tigger-like today.

Not much has changed

from the world outside.

True, the economy will grow

a little bit faster.

The debt will start to fall, just.

The day to day deficit,

remember that, it's gone.

But compared to other countries,

the economy is sluggish

and slow, only a hint

of easing off months away.

If, in the autumn, the public

finances continue to reflect

the improvements that today's report

hints at then, in accordance

with our balanced approach,

I would have capacity to enable

further increases

in public spending.

That might have delighted his side.

THE SPEAKER:

John McDonnell.

But Labour accused him of not

being in the real world.

Hasn't he listened to the doctors,

the nurses, the teachers,

the police officers,

the carers and even his own

councillors, they're telling him

they can't wait for the next Budget.

They're telling him to act now.

But is he listening?

This is the eighth year,

the eighth year in a row

when a Conservative Chancellor has

said to the public that dealing

with the accounts is more important

than what they might feel they need.

Well, I hear what you're saying,

Laura, but the facts

speak for themselves.

I've put £11 billion -

this is just what I've done,

since I've been Chancellor -

£11 billion additionally into public

spending in 2018/19 and have

promised to put more

into the National Health Service

this year if we get a deal on pay.

Many of your colleagues now believe

that the evidence is overwhelming

for more money to go

into the NHS in the longer term?

Well, the evidence is

clearly there that our

population is getting older.

That technology is developing

in a way that makes more and more

interventions possible,

and indeed desirable

in the health service,

and that does represent

a continuous upward pressure.

Is the Cabinet at the moment

discussing how to find more money

for the health service,

as some of your

colleagues have told me?

Well, this is my responsibility

to look at these things,

but of course we look

at all these issues.

As we approach the Budget

in the autumn and then

the spending review in 2019,

of course we will look at all these

pressures across the piece.

Not good enough for these opponents.

This is a Chancellor that's

asleep at the wheel.

He really had to show today

he was prepared to take action.

There was nothing in

that statement that

creates confidence.

He has dispelled some

of the gloom about the economy

by giving statistics

about employment, growth,

output, debt etc.

What the Chancellor should have

done, I think, is to be much more

open and honest with the public

and say there is no more public

money for public services,

which is very badly needed, and

therefore we are going to have

to have an increase

in taxation to pay for it.

Not admissions the Government

is ready to make.

Hard choices that will

linger long after today.

Along with the Brexit bill, revealed

to be hanging around until 2064.

Spring has not yet really sprung.

Laura Kuenssberg, BBC

News, Westminster.

While Philip Hammond spoke

of a "turning point"

for the economy, the Organisation

for Economic Co-Operation

and Development, the OECD, was less

confident about the UK's prospects.

Our economics editor, Kamal Ahmed,

is here to look at the figures.

How would you characterise that

verdict?

Certainly, Huw, the

rhetoric very positive. I think the

figures rather more mixed. Yes,

there was slightly better news on

the economy for this year. Slightly

better news on borrow, which might

give the Chancellor more head room

on public spending. The Office for

Budget Responsibility said that

inflation would be coming down,

prices. That means that income

squeeze that affected so many people

could come to an end. There is one

big challenge in these figures. 1.5%

growth is the new normal for the UK.

We used to have growth of 2% to

2.5%. The OECD, as you said, said

that put us at the bottom of the G20

list of industrialised nations

growth, behind America, behind

Germany, behind France. For every

0.1% of growth that you lose, that's

lower tax revenues, lower Government

income and that's less room for

manoeuvre for spending on health,

and for defence and head education

which is what Philip Hammond will

want to do when it comes to the big

event, the Budget, in the autumn.

Kamal Ahmed there, our economics

editor.

A brief look at some

of the day's other news stories:

The leader of Telford

and Wrekin Council in Shropshire

is calling on the Home Secretary

to order an independent public

inquiry into cases of child sexual

exploitation in the town.

It follows reports claiming that

hundreds of girls may have

been abused in the town

since the early 1980s.

A teenager on trial

for the attack at Parsons Green

underground station in London

has admitted leaving

a device on a train

but said he never intended

to kill anyone.

18-year-old Ahmed Hussan said it

became a 'fantasy' for him

when he was 'very bored' over

the school holidays.

He denies attempted murder

and causing an explosion

likely to endanger life as our home

affairs correspondent

June Kelly reports.

Ahmed Hassan has always

admitted setting off on a

September morning last year to plant

a device on an underground train.

Today, it was his turn to explain

to a jury why he did it.

After listening to

days of prosecution

evidence against him,

he was brought to court

to mount his defence.

In the witness box,

he said he expected

the device to burn,

rather than explode.

Asked by his barrister,

Tim Maloney QC:

The device partially detonated

on a train at Parsons

Green train station.

Passengers were burned

by the fireball.

Today, Hassan said he

hadn't looked at this

footage when it was played in court.

Last summer, on his bedroom door,

he made plain his boredom with

his life.

He told the jury it was partly

boredom which drove him to

build and plant the device.

Using the explosive TATP, he

constructed

it in the kitchen of his

foster parents' home

it in the kitchen of his foster

parents' home and he said he'd

packed it with shrapnel,

because he wanted

it to look serious.

Under cross-examination

by the prosecutor,

Alison Morgan, Hassan

denied that he wanted

to avenge his father's death

in a coalition airstrike in their

native Iraq.

She put it to him, "You believed

that the fight against

Britain should be brought

into this country."

He replied, "No".

Hassan was aiming to leave

the UK after the attack.

Today, he said he fantasised

about being a fugitive chased across

Europe by police.

In fact, he was arrested in Dover.

June Kelly, BBC News

at the Old Bailey.

The Gulf state of Qatar

will be introducing a sugar

tax later this year,

a move partly prompted by health

surveys showing that 70% of Qataris

are overweight or obese -

almost double the global average.

The government is taking action

to try to get people to lose weight,

and it's also set to start screening

adults for diabetes.

Our global health correspondent,

Tulip Mazumdar, has been given rare

access to the Qatari health system

and she sent this report.

It's time for the weekend shop

and families are stocking up,

the Jamals' are trying

to make healthier choices.

It's because, at just 16 years old,

Jabor's poor diet, he tells me,

led to him developing

type 2 diabetes.

TRANSLATION:

When I was a kid,

I really loved sweets.

We would just eat, go to bed,

wake up the next day and eat more.

Qatar has become one of the richest

countries on earth thanks

to the discovery of oil

and gas here.

With all that wealth though came

a massive influx of international

workers and western tastes.

In a very short period of time,

Qataris have totally

changed how they live,

where they live and what they eat.

They've gone from active,

outdoor desert living to much more

indoor sedentary lifestyles and many

are now paying the price

for adopting some of the worst

of western excesses.

Qatar is now building more outdoor

areas, like this one,

it's introducing a sugar tax this

year and improving food labelling.

We declare it's an epidemic.

Everyone knows and there is a high

political commitment to face this.

We try to find the best

approach to tackle this.

One of those approaches

is funding new research,

Salem is part of a study targeting

younger people trying

to reverse their type 2 diabetes.

TRANSLATION:

I used

to eat very chaotically.

For breakfast I'd eat sandwiches,

for lunch I'd have a lot of meat

and I'd have a heavy dinner.

I started feeling pain

in my joints and my feet.

Left untreated, the disease

can cause blindness

and even foot amputations.

Almost one in five people suffer

with the condition here,

but through this strict diet

and exercise programme patients

are going into remission.

We need to see the long-term

outcomes, but it is possible

medically to take younger people,

get them fit, improve their life

without any medication,

without any surgery.

All these mixture of medals...

Aldana is part of the women's

national handball team and wants

to help fight the obesity crisis.

She says people need better

education on living well.

By increasing the awareness

and doing programmes for families.

They're not aware how much

is dangerous for the children.

They've started to get this

information about healthy lifestyle.

Unlike many other countries,

Qatar certainly has the resources

to deal with its obesity epidemic.

The bigger challenge is ensuring

its people have the will.

Tulip Mazumdar, BBC News, Doha.

Tonight's football news.

Manchester United have

been knocked out of

the Champions League by Sevilla.

They lost the second leg

at Old Trafford, 2-1.

John Watson watched the game.

All your match day

scarves and souvenirs!

Champions League nights

are special nights.

Once commonplace under

Sir Alex Ferguson,

Manchester United's current crop

hoping to emulate his achievements.

A return to the knockout stage

of Europe's top club

competition a start,

Jose Mourinho hoping to mastermind

a march to the quarter-finals

with victory over Sevilla.

After a goalless first leg, once

again they were in short supply.

Marouane Fellaini's effort the best

of a poor first half.

It was cautious and conservative.

Jesse Lingard attempting

to find the breakthrough.

How he's seen it all before.

But perhaps not quite as

underwhelming and underperforming.

Where United couldn't,

Sevilla could.

Ben Yedder putting

his side in front.

The complexity of the tie

changed in seconds.

David De Gea, who saved them

from defeat in the first leg,

couldn't this time,

as Ben Yedder struck again.

COMMENTATOR:

It is in!

2-0!

United now needed three goals,

Romelu Lukaku could only get one.

This, a match United had been

expected to win comfortably.

On this performance,

they remain some way

off Europe's elite.

A not-so-special night

for the so-called Special One.