Politics: Theresa May has accused Russia of being behind the attempted assassination of a double agent in the UK

Theresa May made a statement to the House of Commons.

• Theresa May pointed the finger at Russia in a statement to Parliament.
• She said it is "highly likely" that Russia ordered the assassination of double agent Sergei Skripal.
• Skripal was poisoned alongside his daughter in Salisbury, England on March 4.
• May said Russia either made the attack itself or "lost control" of somebody with access to the Russian-made nerve agent used.
• She gave Russia a deadline of Wednesday by which to explain themselves.

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Britain has formally accused Russia of being behind the attempted assassination of ex-spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter with nerve agent on its territory.

Prime Minister Theresa May pointed the finger at Russia in a statement to Parliament on Monday afternoon, in which she said Russia either ordered the attack or lost control of whoever carried it out.

She said: "Based on Russia’s record of doing state-sponsored assassinations and our assessment that Russia views some defectors as legitimate targets for assassinations, the government has concluded that it is highly likely that Russia was responsible for the act against Sergei and Yulia Skripal.

"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."

It came after a National Security Council meeting, where she took evidence from the UK's three intelligence agencies MI5, MI6, and GCHQ.

May gave Russia a deadline of Wednesday by which to respond to her statement. She said if they do not, she will conclude that the attack was an "unlawful use of force" by Russia against the UK.

Skripal and his daughter Yulia collapsed in a shopping centre in Salisbury on March 4 after being poisoned with nerve agent. They remain in critical condition.

Skripal was convicted of passing Russian state secrets to British intelligence in the 1990s and early 2000s.

He was pardoned and sent to the UK as part of a spy swap in 2010, in which Russia released four agents to the US and UK in exchange for ten Russian agents in the US.

The Kremlin yet to respond to May's statement. But it has previously downplayed and deflected claims of Russian culpability and attacked media speculation of state involvement.

Theresa May made a statement to the House of Commons. Read Full Story