the attack. she made the announcement in the house of commons. >> this was a sickening and despicable act in which a devastatingly toxic nerve agent was used to attack our country. it left four people fighting for their lives, and one innocent woman dead. i know the thoughts of the whole house will be with the family of don's sturgis in particular following the tragic loss. in march, i set out why the government concluded that the russian state was culpable for the attempted murder.

allso said that while we share a sense of impatience to bring those responsible to justice, as a nation that believes in the rule of law we will give them time to carry out their investigation. since then, around 250 detectives have trawled through more than 11,000 hours of cctv and taken more than 1400 statements. working around the clock, they have carried out painstaking and methodical work to ascertain which individuals were responsible and the methods they used to carry out the attack. mr. speaker, is forensic investigation has now produced sufficient evidence for the independent director of public prosecution to bring charges against two russian nationals for the conspiracy to murder sergei script. the attempt at murder and other

detective sergeant, the use and possession of a draw again causing grievous bodily harm with intent. this morning, the police have set out how the two russian nationals traveled under the names of alexander petrov. the police believe these names to be aliases. they arrived at the airport on friday, march 2, having flown from moscow. they traveled by train to london, victoria, then on to waterloo, before going to a hotel in east london. they stayed there both friday and saturday evening and traces of knowledge shock were found in their hotel room. on saturday the third of march, they went into salisbury, arriving at 2:25 p.m. and leaving less than two hours later.

the police are confident this was for reconnaissance of the area. made the samey journey, traveling underground atwaterloo station approximately 8:05 a.m. before continuing to salisbury. the police have today released cctv footage of the two men, which clearly places them in the immediate vicinity of the house at 11:58 a.m., which the police say was moments before the attack. they left salisbury and returned to waterloo, arriving at 4:45 p.m., and went to the underground to heathrow, where they returned to moscow. mr. speaker, this hard evidence has enabled the independent crown prosecution service to

conclude that they have a sufficient basis on which to bring charges against these two men for the attack in salisbury. the same two men are now also the prime suspects in the case of dawn sturgis and charlie rally. there is no other line of inquiry beyond this. the police today have formally linked the attack and the events such as that now forms one investigation. there are good reasons for doing so. our own analysis, with yesterday's report from the organization, has confirmed that the exact same chemical nerve agent was used in both cases. there is no evidence to suggest that they may have been deliberately targeted, but rather were victims of the reckless disposal of the nerve agent. the police have released further details of a small counterfeit perfume bottle discovered in her house, found

to contain this nerve agent. the manner in which the bottle was modified leaves no doubt, it was a cover for smuggling weapons into the country, and for the delivery method against them. mr. speaker, the police investigation into the poisoning is ongoing and the police are today appealing for further information. but where these two suspects within our jurisdiction, there would be a clearer basis for their arrest for murder. speaker, we ask russia to account for what happened in salisbury and they have replied with obfuscation and lies. this includes trying to pass the blame onto terrorists, on international they even claimed that i myself invented nova --they pushed out a deluge of

information. we made clear in march, only russia has the technical means, operational experience and motive to carry out the attack. the nerve agents were developed by the soviet union in the 1980's. within the past decade, russia has stockpiled small quantities of these agents. , russiahe 2000's commenced a program to test means of delivering nerve agents, including by application to door handles. ay in marchht to sta russia was responsible. now that we have again if i, we can go further. the police investigation has allowed charges to be brought against the suspects. intelligence agencies have carried out their own investigation into the organization behind his attack. based on this work, i can state

that based on a body of intelligence, the government has concluded that the individuals named by the police and cps are officers from the russian military intelligence service. also known as the gru. u has a well-established chain of command. this is not a rogue operation. it was also approved outside the gru at the senior level of the russian state. the speaker of the house will appreciate that i cannot go into details about the work of our intelligence agencies, we will be breathing opposition leaders on council terms, and also giving further details to the intelligence and security committee. our response to this attack, and the knowledge we have about those responsible, first, with respect to the individuals, we

have obtained a european arrest warrant and will issue an interpol. as we found, following the urder, formal extradition cases requested will be futile. if they ever again travel outside russia, we will take every possible step to obtain them, extradite them, and bring them here to face justice. mr. speaker, this chemical weapons attack on our soil is part of a wider pattern of russian behavior that seeks to undermine our security and that of our allies around the world. repeatedly violated the national airspace of european countries, and sustained a campaign of cyber espionage and election

interference. coupwere behind a violent in montenegro. we will protect ourselves in response to this threat. that is exactly what we have done since the attack in march, domestically and collectively with our allies. we have introduced a new power to detain people at the u.k. border to determine if they are engaged in hostile activities. we have stepped up our activity -- we will expel 23 russian diplomats who have been said to be intelligence officers. solidarityollective with our allies, 28 countries as

well as nato joined us in expelling 150 russian intelligence officers, the largest collective expulsion ever. since then, the eu has a package to face the threat. the response mechanism to share intelligence on hostile activity. , includingnctioned through in his cyber operation. the u.s. has announced additional sanctions against russia for the attack. mr. speaker, i have acted in good faith, and the painstaking work of our police and intelligence agencies for the last six months, they were right to do so. together, we will continue to show that those who attempt to undermine the international rules cannot act with impunity. we will continue to press for all the measures agreed so far

to be fully implemented, including the creation of a new eu chemical weapon sanction regime. we will push for nuclear sanctions regime doma and those responsible for cyber attacks and human rights violations. we will work with our partners to empower to interview -- to attribute attacks to states be on syria. most significantly, what we have learned today is that the specific nature of the threat and the russian gru. we know the gru has played a key part in recent years, and we exposed several behind despicable chemical attacks on the streets of salisbury. --on the basis of what we have learned, we know that this

step uption -- we must our collective efforts, specifically against the gru. we are increasing our understanding about what the gru is doing, exposing their method, and sharing it with our allies. just as we have done with salisbury. together with our allies, we will deploy the full range of tools in our national security apparatus to encounter a threat posed by the gru. i have said before, and i say again now, the u.k. has no quarrel with the russian people. we continue to hold out hope that we will one day again enjoy a strong partnership with the government of this great nation. a permanent member of the united nations security council, we will continue to engage russia on international peace and security. through channels of

communication, make it clear that there can be no place in civilized order for the kind of barbaric activity which we saw in salisbury in march. finally, let me picture butte to the people of salisbury and surrounding areas. disruptionaced such to their daily lives over the last six months. let me once again thank the outstanding efforts of the emergency services and national health service in responding to these incidents. let me thank all those involved in the police and intelligence community for their time and painstaking work which has led to today's announcement. mr. speaker, back in march, to doubtw it -- sought these attacks. today's announcement shows that we were right. we were right to act against the russian state in the way we did, and we are right to step up our

efforts against the gru. we will not tolerate or baric attacks against our country. together with our allies, this government will continue to do whatever necessary to keep our people safe. i commend this statement to the house. when congress returns wednesday, the house will work on a fiscal 2019 spending bill for veterans affairs, military construction, and energy and water projects. they will also debate a bill to change the definition of a full-time employee for health care insurance, and 30 hours a week to 40. the senate will continue to debate on a new irs commissioner, and will consider bills for dealing with opioid addiction and allowing pharmacists to provide perception drug pricing information. watch gavel-to-gavel coverage of the house on c-span, and the senate on c-span2. >> former president barack obama talked about the current

political climate and civic engagement during remarks at the university of illinois. he said president trump is a symptom, not the cause, of the anger in division in the united states. he encouraged students to participate in the up coming november elections. he encouraged students to participate in the november midterm elections. [applause] >> good morning. it's my pleasure and honor to welcome all of you here on behalf of the great 84,000 students strong university of illinois system.