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| Alexander Litvinenko death: Home secretary to announce inquiry | Alexander Litvinenko death: Home secretary to announce inquiry |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| An inquiry will be held into the death of the Russian dissident Alexander Litvinenko, the Home Secretary Theresa May is expected to announce. | An inquiry will be held into the death of the Russian dissident Alexander Litvinenko, the Home Secretary Theresa May is expected to announce. |
| Mr Litvinenko, a former KGB officer, died in 2006 in a London hospital after he was allegedly poisoned with radioactive polonium. | |
| The investigation is set to examine whether the Russian state was behind his death. | The investigation is set to examine whether the Russian state was behind his death. |
| Mrs May is due to publish a written statement to Parliament later. | Mrs May is due to publish a written statement to Parliament later. |
| Mr Litvinenko, 43, died after he was poisoned with radioactive polonium while drinking tea with two Russian men, one a former KGB officer, at a London hotel. | |
| His family believe he was working for MI6 at the time of his death and was killed on the orders of the Kremlin. | |
| A government spokeswoman said: "An announcement in relation to the death of Alexander Litvinenko is due to be made on Tuesday morning. | A government spokeswoman said: "An announcement in relation to the death of Alexander Litvinenko is due to be made on Tuesday morning. |
| "We will provide no further details until an announcement has been made to the House." | "We will provide no further details until an announcement has been made to the House." |
| The Litvinenko case | |
| The expected announcement comes after the government had previously resisted calls for a public inquiry, saying it would first "wait and see" what a judge-led inquest found. | The expected announcement comes after the government had previously resisted calls for a public inquiry, saying it would first "wait and see" what a judge-led inquest found. |
| However, in 2013 a coroner ruled that a public inquiry - which could have wider powers than an inquest - would be better placed to establish how Mr Litvinenko died. | However, in 2013 a coroner ruled that a public inquiry - which could have wider powers than an inquest - would be better placed to establish how Mr Litvinenko died. |
| Ministers still refused to launch an inquiry, which prompted a legal challenge by Mr Litvinenko's widow, Marina. | Ministers still refused to launch an inquiry, which prompted a legal challenge by Mr Litvinenko's widow, Marina. |
| She said only a public inquiry would uncover the Russian state's alleged role in her husband's 2006 death from radiation poisoning. | She said only a public inquiry would uncover the Russian state's alleged role in her husband's 2006 death from radiation poisoning. |
| In February, the High Court said the Home Office had been wrong to rule out an inquiry before the outcome of an inquest. | In February, the High Court said the Home Office had been wrong to rule out an inquiry before the outcome of an inquest. |
| Analysis from BBC political editor Nick Robinson | |
| Whitehall sources say that the timing of an announcement of a public inquiry into whether the Russian state was responsible for the murder of the dissident Andrei Litvinenko is pure coincidence. | |
| The police and security services concluded a long time ago that this was a state-sponsored murder. | |
| The former Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Lord MacDonald has said as much in public. | |
| However, the home secretary has been resisting calls for an inquiry from the Litvinenko family and the inquest judge, citing "international relations". | |
| Those reasons seem to no longer be quite so pressing. | |
| Read more from Nick | |
| Sir Richard Ottaway, chairman of the foreign affairs select committee, said the timing of the announcement was "a bit quirky" given the international situation following the Malaysian Airlines flight MH17 crash in Ukraine. | |
| But the Conservative MP said launching an inquiry was "absolutely the right thing to do". | |
| BBC political correspondent Norman Smith said sources had been playing down suggestions the timing of the announcement was linked to current tensions with Moscow. | |
| However, he said the timing can "only further test the already strained relations" between London and Moscow. | However, he said the timing can "only further test the already strained relations" between London and Moscow. |