The Prime Minister spoke to President Trump earlier this afternoon to update him on the ongoing investigation into the Salisbury incident.

The Prime Minister set out the conclusion reached by the UK Government that it was highly likely that Russia was responsible for the attack against Sergei and Yulia Skripal.

President Trump said the US was with the UK all the way, agreeing that the Russian Government must provide unambiguous answers as to how this nerve agent came to be used.

Mr Deputy Speaker, on Thursday 8th March President Trump announced that the United States would impose tariffs of 25% on steel imports and a 10% tariff on aluminium imports after a period of 15 days [12 days on Monday – final date 23 March].

Canada and Mexico, with whom the United States is renegotiating the North American Free Trade Agreement, have been exempted from the tariffs, subject to successful conclusion of the NAFTA negotiations.

For the products within the scope of this investigation, in 2017, the US accounted for 7% of UK steel exports and 3% of UK aluminium exports. In addition, the UK accounted for 1% of US steel imports and 0.1% of US aluminium imports, in tonnage, at a value of £360 million and £29 million respectively.

The President also outlined that there is scope for further countries and certain products to be exempted from those tariffs.

From a UK perspective, as members in this House know, the US and UK are strong partners and allies and the US-UK economic and security relationship is crucially important.

The US is our largest single trading partner, accounting for a fifth of all exports, worth over £100 billion a year.

It is also the top destination for outward direct investment by the UK and the single biggest source of inward investment into the UK.

We have a long-standing and special relationship with the US however, this does not mean that if we disagree with something, that we will not say so.

And, Mr Deputy Speaker, we do disagree with the US decision to implement tariffs on steel and aluminium imports based on national security considerations.

These unilateral trade measures have weak foundations in international law.

They are not consistent with the Department of Defense’s own judgement in an investigation, which was the stated basis for the investigation.

There is undoubtedly a problem of overcapacity in the global steel market.

But our strong view is that this is a global problem requiring a global solution, not unilateral action.

The UK has worked hard to address the issue of overcapacity. The Prime Minister called for a forum of G20 members to tackle this issue, which my Rt Hon friend the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy attended in Berlin in November.

The forum agreed comprehensive policy solutions to address this issue. Most recently, the Prime Minister raised it during her visit to China, the world’s leading producer of steel and aluminium products.

And the UK will continue to work within the rules-based international trade system to tackle this problem.

Since the President asked the Commerce Department to launch the investigations into the national security impact of steel and aluminium imports last April, the government has made clear, on repeated occasions to the administration, the potentially damaging impact of tariffs on the UK and EU steel and aluminium industries.

The Prime Minister has raised her concerns directly with President Trump.

I, myself, have spoken on several occasions to the Commerce Secretary and US Trade Representative about the investigation, including this afternoon, as well as with the Director General of the WTO, Roberto Azevedo, and the EU Trade Commissioner, Cecilia Malmstrom.

And several of my Cabinet colleagues have raised it with their opposite numbers. The government has worked closely with the EU as part of our unified response.

In addition, I can assure my honourable friends that we have been in regular contact with the UK steel and aluminium industry throughout, including with Gareth Space this afternoon.

Mr Deputy Speaker, there are 2 routes to petition the US for exemptions from the tariffs.

The first, overseen by the US Trade Representative, will exempt countries with which the US has a strong national security relationship and which agree alternative means to address the threat to US national security from the relevant imports.

The second, overseen by the Commerce Department, will evaluate product exemptions if it is deemed there is no domestic US alternative and there are national security considerations, and only after a request for exclusion is made by a directly affected party located in the United States.

The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy will be assisting UK industry in working with US customers to build their cases for the exemption of individual products.

I will be travelling to Washington this week for face-to-face meetings with US Trade Representative Ambassador Lighthizer and Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross as well as members of Congress.

I will be making the case for the UK, as part of the EU. We share a strong defence and security co-operation relationship. As close allies in NATO, permanent members of the UN Security Council and nuclear powers, close co-operation between the UK and US is vital to international peace and security.

As the House is aware, our current membership of the European Union means that the European Commission will be co-ordinating the EU response, and we have been clear that we will continue to adhere to the Duty of Sincere Cooperation.

The EU response is focused on 3 possible areas:

First, the European Commission is preparing to introduce immediate duties on the US, ahead of a WTO dispute. The EU has shared a draft list of proposed items for duties and we expect it to publish this list early next week.

Second, the EU can apply a safeguard measure of its own to protect the steel and aluminium industries from being damaged by an influx of imports to the EU caused by the displacing effect of US tariffs.

Third, the EU can pursue a dispute at the WTO.

We are currently evaluating all aspects of these responses.

Mr Deputy Speaker, we are clear that it is right to seek to defend our domestic industries from the direct and indirect impacts of these US tariffs.

We will also press for any response to be measured and proportionate. It is important that the UK and the EU response works within the boundaries of the rules-based international trading system.

Over the coming days we will be working closely with British industry and the EU to seek swift clarification and mitigation.

I commend this statement to the House.

To mark the 50th anniversary of work starting on the road and to celebrate 2018 as the Year of Engineering, Highways England can reveal that it will be celebrated in a model at the new attraction.

Construction started on the sprawling structure some fifty years ago and today it continues to carry more than 220,000 vehicles every day.

The road will be joining other notable landmarks from Birmingham including The Library of Birmingham, The Cube, New Street Station and the BT Tower.

Highways England’s Regional Director, Catherine Brookes, said:

Spaghetti Junction is one of those structures that is known around the world and we’re thrilled to see the road included as part of the new attraction.

The opening of the new attraction later this year also marks our Year of Engineering campaign which is designed to get children thinking about engineering and the world around them. It is also 50 years since work started to build Spaghetti Junction and it’s timely that it should be recognised for its local and national significance in supporting the motorway network.

The first of 45 incredible scaled masterpieces are now being recreated by a specialist team of LEGO Model Builders.

More than 6,800 hours will be ploughed in to the design and construction of the entire MINILAND complex over the forthcoming months.

Construction of Spaghetti Junction took some four years to complete and its elevated position sees constant maintenance work taking place underneath it, often unseen by many motorists on their daily commute. Spaghetti Junction in numbers:

• Spaghetti Junction has 559 concrete columns, some reaching to 80 feet high
• Construction started in 1968 and took four years to complete.
• It is known officially as Gravelly Hill Interchange
• Today, it continues to carry more than 220,000 vehicles every day
• It is subject to regular maintenance work, which includes the replacing of the road surface, installation of new waterproofing material, painting and vegetation

To find out more about the Year of Engineering, head online to the year of engineering website.

LEGOLAND Discovery Centre Birmingham is set to open to the general public this summer. More information can be found online.

General enquiries

Members of the public should contact the Highways England customer contact centre on 0300 123 5000.

Media enquiries

Journalists should contact the Highways England press office on 0844 693 1448 and use the menu to speak to the most appropriate press officer.

Highways England is taking part in ‘Open Doors’ and giving members of the public a unique chance to go behind the scenes of five ‘live’ construction sites to see how the roads and structures are built or maintained.

The national week-long initiative starts on Monday 19 March until Saturday 24 March and anyone interested in visiting the sites is urged to register for a place.

With 2018 being the “Year of Engineering” this is also an ideal opportunity for young people considering career ideas, adults thinking about a change in occupation, parents, guardians and people involved in education to come and find out about the diverse range of skills and professions needed on site.

Mike Wilson, Chief Highways Engineer and director of Safety, Engineering and Standards, said:

“Our roads connect the country with around 4 million journeys on them each day. With a record level of investment in roads now is an exciting time for us to show, as part of Open Doors, the hard work that goes on behind the roadworks.

“We want to inspire future generations to join Highways England and as well as organising our own activities in support of the Government’s 2018 Year of Engineering campaign, this is an ideal opportunity for young people, parents and teachers to come to our construction sites and take a closer look at what we do.”

The five Highways England sites taking part are below – there are limited spaces and registration is needed in advance via the Open Doors website.

East of England

Three sites for the A14 Cambridge to Huntingdon road scheme (Swavesey, Brampton and Ermine Street – A1198 near Godmanchester) – A14 project talk, guided bus site tour and Q & A session.

Midlands

M5 Oldbury Viaduct – a project talk, tour of the viaduct (above and below) to see work being carried out.

South East

M2 Stockbury Viaduct – a welcome talk and video and the opportunity to climb up scaffolding (using stair cases not ladders) to see where the bridge is being lifted.

With the UK needing an extra 20,000 engineering graduates a year, the Year of Engineering campaign is showing young people what an engineer is, and what they can achieve. Highways England need a continuing pipeline of young engineers to help deliver the massive investment planned for our motorways and major A-roads, benefitting the economy and improving people’s lives.

To sign up for a visit at the Highways England’s sites or for more details about the initiative visit the Open Doors website.

The most recent Open Doors event saw over 3,000 bookings across more than 130 construction sites in England, Scotland and Wales.

General enquiries

Members of the public should contact the Highways England customer contact centre on 0300 123 5000.

Media enquiries

Journalists should contact the Highways England press office on 0844 693 1448 and use the menu to speak to the most appropriate press officer.

Mr Chair, Director General,

The statement that I deliver this morning is markedly different from our usual statements to the Executive Council. I did not expect to have to brief this Council on the first offensive use of a nerve agent of any sort on European territory since World War II.

On 8 March, the United Kingdom Delegation informed the OPCW Technical Secretariat that 2 people, Sergey and Yulia Skripal, had been taken seriously ill on 4 March in the city of Salisbury following exposure to a nerve agent. The police were treating it as attempted murder, and were investigating the case thoroughly. A UK police officer, one of the first responders, also fell seriously ill. We committed to update the Technical Secretariat and the OPCW Executive Council when more information became available.

My Prime Minister made a statement yesterday evening to the United Kingdom’s Parliament. She said our analysis had confirmed that the substance used was a military-grade nerve agent of a type developed by Russia, part of a group of agents known as ‘Novichok’ agents. My Prime Minister set out the United Kingdom’s conclusion that it is highly likely that Russia was responsible for this attack.

This conclusion is based on a number of strands of evidence, including:

• the positive identification of the chemical agent by experts at the United Kingdom’s Defence Science and Technology Laboratory at Porton Down
• our knowledge that Russia has previously produced this agent and would still be capable of doing so
• Russia’s record of conducting state-sponsored assassinations; and
• our assessment that Russia views at least some defectors as legitimate targets for assassination

We can see only 2 plausible explanations for the use of such a chemical nerve agent: it was either a direct act by the Russian state against the United Kingdom, or a case where the Russian government had lost control of this potentially catastrophically damaging nerve agent and allowed it to get into the hands of others.

On 12 March, my Foreign Secretary summoned Russia’s Ambassador to the United Kingdom, and asked him to explain how this Russian-produced nerve agent could have been deployed in Salisbury against Mr Skripal and his daughter. He asked Russia to provide immediate, full and complete disclosure of the Novichok programme to the OPCW. And he asked for Russia to respond within 24 hours – in other words, by the end of today.

My Foreign Secretary spoke to the Director General yesterday to update him on the situation. He also thanked the Director General and the OPCW Technical Secretariat for their offer of technical assistance.

Mr Chair, States Parties to the Convention take on a duty to uphold and enforce its fundamental tenets. We commit not to develop, produce, otherwise acquire, stockpile or retain chemical weapons. We commit not to transfer, directly or indirectly, chemical weapons to anyone. We commit never to use chemical weapons. We commit not to engage in any military preparations to use chemical weapons. And we commit not to assist, encourage or induce anyone to engage in prohibited activity.

The stark conclusion is that it is highly likely that Russia, a fellow State Party to the Chemical Weapons Convention and fellow member of this Executive Council is implicated in chemical weapons use, whether by failure to control its own materials or by design. And in whichever scenario, Russia has failed, for many years, to declare chemical weapons development programmes dating from the 1970s.

This attempted murder, using a weapons-grade nerve agent in a British city, was not just a crime against the Skripals. It was an indiscriminate and reckless act against the United Kingdom, which put the lives of innocent civilians at risk. This incident has demanded a large scale response from our first responders in the police and medical services, with substantial assistance from our military specialists. The United Kingdom is fortunate enough to have extensive, dedicated and robust capabilities to respond to such an event. Not every country has this. That is why building capacity for effective national implementation of the Convention is so important. We have supported and invested in technical assistance programmes, including through the OPCW, to build capabilities globally to respond to cases of alleged or actual chemical weapons use.

All of us in this room should be aware: if the norm against chemical weapons use continues to be eroded, if we don’t stand up to enforce the fundamental tenets of the Convention, what has happened in the United Kingdom could happen in any one of our countries. Indeed, in the last 13 months alone, chemical weapons attacks have taken place in Syria, in Iraq, in Malaysia and now in the United Kingdom.

Those who have used chemical weapons cannot be immune from the consequences of their actions. We must all do all that we can to bring perpetrators of chemical weapons attacks to justice, whoever they are, and wherever they may be. The United Kingdom was proud to join the International Partnership Against Impunity for the Use of Chemical Weapons. We encourage all States Parties to join it to demonstrate their own commitment to end use of chemical weapons once and for all, to stand together against chemical weapons use, and to take action to hold perpetrators accountable.

Mr Chair, we will keep the Technical Secretariat and this Council informed of developments as soon as our legal processes allow. With your permission, Mr Chair, I will return to this issue later in this Council Session if there are any further updates.