Political news

• Henry Bolton Spotted Having Intimate Dinner With Ex Jo Marney Just Days After Claiming Romance Is Over

  17-01-2018 23:48
  Under-fire Ukip leader Henry Bolton had an intimate dinner with an ex-girlfriend who made racist and derogatory comments about Meghan Markle tonight – just days after claiming their relationship was over.The anti-Brexit campaigner was seen giving kisses on the cheeks to Jo Marney while the pair dined in the exclusive National Liberal Club in the heart of Westminster.In leaked text messages published by the Mail on Sunday, Marney reportedly said Markle would “taint” the Royal Fa
  
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• Henry Bolton Claims Ex's Racist Texts Were Doctored As He's Spotted Having Intimate Dinner Just Days After Claiming Romance Is Over

  17-01-2018 23:33
  Under-fire Ukip leader Henry Bolton claimed his ex-girlfriend’s racist texts about Megan Markle were “doctored”, after being spotted having an intimate dinner with her just days after claiming their relationship was over.The anti-Brexit campaigner was seen giving kisses on the cheeks to Jo Marney while the pair dined in the exclusive National Liberal Club in the heart of Westminster.In leaked text messages published by the Mail on Sunday, Marney reportedly said Markle woul
  
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• Macron and May weave joint initiatives to conceal Brexit fallout

  17-01-2018 23:32 via ft.com
  Defence, economic and cultural collaboration to be announced as they meet near London
  
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• May to set timetable to reveal foreign owners of UK property

  17-01-2018 22:32 via theguardian.com
  Pressure from Tory peers leads PM to promise draft legislation on register of beneficial owners by summerTheresa May will set out a timetable to break the secrecy surrounding the foreign ownership of British property worth billions after facing a House of Lords defeat at the hands of two Conservative peers.Lord Faulks, a former Tory justice minister, and Lord Hodgson have been calling on the government to establish a register exposing the beneficial owners of overseas companies and legal entitie
  
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• Bonuses for Carillion bosses are blocked

  17-01-2018 22:24 via bbc.co.uk
  Former executives at the failed construction firm will not get severance payments or bonuses.
  
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• Northern Ireland secretary to begin fresh power-sharing talks

  17-01-2018 22:09 via theguardian.com
  Karen Bradley says all five parties – including DUP and Sinn Féin – will be representedThe Northern Ireland secretary has announced that a fresh round of talks aimed at restoring power-sharing government to the region will start next week.
  Secretary of state Karen Bradley said the discussions between all five main political parties represented in the deadlocked Stormont assembly will begin on 24 January. Continue reading...
  
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• Not taking the biscuit: MPs decline 'unsolicited' gifts from 2 Sisters boss

  17-01-2018 21:23 via theguardian.com
  Festive gift from 2 Sisters Food Group was ‘attempt to impugn’ impartiality, says committee A parliamentary inquiry into food standards at 2 Sisters Food Group took a bizarre turn on Wednesday when a select committee accused the chicken processor of an “attempt to impugn” its impartiality by sending MPs “unsolicited” biscuits.Writing to the group’s chief executive Ranjit Singh Boparan, MP Neil Parish, the Conservative chair of the environment, food and r
  
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• North And South Korea Agree First Ever Unified Olympic Team

  17-01-2018 21:16
  The two Koreas will field a combined women’s ice hockey team and march together under one flag at next month’s Winter Olympics in the South, Seoul said on Wednesday, after a new round of talks amid a thaw in cross-border ties.North and South Korea have been talking since last week - for the first time in more than two years - about the Olympics, offering a respite from a months-long standoff over Pyongyang’s nuclear and missile programs, although Japan urged caution over the No
  
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• Justine Greening warns that young people could undo Brexit

  17-01-2018 21:03 via theguardian.com
  Former education secretary says leaving the EU will only be sustainable if deal works for young peopleFormer education secretary Justine Greening has warned that young people will undo Brexit if the government strikes a deal against their interests, as MPs voted the EU withdrawal bill through to its next stage in the Lords.Greening said leaving the EU would only be sustainable if it worked for young people, suggesting they could mobilise in future against a hard Brexit. Continue reading...
  
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• East of England ambulance delays: 20 patients have died, says MP

  17-01-2018 20:40 via bbc.co.uk
  The deaths occurred when a trust did not move into its highest emergency level, Clive Lewis MP says.
  
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• Pro-Corbyn group struggles to influence general election line-up

  17-01-2018 20:32 via ft.com
  Momentum endorses just six of 22 parliamentary Labour candidates chosen so far
  
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• Steve Bell on Theresa May and Carillion's collapse – cartoon

  17-01-2018 20:15 via theguardian.com
  Continue reading...
  
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• Home Office pays out £15,500 to asylum seeker over data breach

  17-01-2018 20:13 via theguardian.com
  Sensitive information given by government staff to officials in man’s Middle East home country The Home Office has paid out £15,500 in compensation after admitting handing over sensitive information about an asylum seeker to the government of his Middle East home country, a move which could have endangered his life and that of his family. The settlement relates to confidential proof of his persecution in his home country which was wrongly shared with the authorities there. The case h
  
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• Jo Cox's sister reveals late MP experienced periods of loneliness

  17-01-2018 20:12 via theguardian.com
  Kim Leadbeater says her older sister felt profound isolation both at university and when she became a motherFeeling lonely? Meet the people who suffered extreme isolationThe public image projected by the late Labour MP Jo Cox was of a cheerfully confident and outgoing professional, so it is startling to hear her sister describe her as someone who struggled at times with profound loneliness.
  She experienced it first when she went to university. “When she went to Cambridge she found herself
  
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• MPs call for overhaul in oversight of England's academy school chains

  17-01-2018 19:54 via theguardian.com
  Extent to which failing trusts are ‘stripping assets from their schools’ is of particular concernParents are being “left in the dark” over who really runs schools in England, according to parliament’s education committee. It has called for the government to overhaul the oversight of academy chains after a string of high-profile failures.Robert Halfon, the Conservative MP who chairs the committee, signalled to the the new education secretary, Damian Hinds, that the s
  
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• 'Let Customers Hang Themselves': Secret RBS Memo Sent In The Wake Of The Financial Crash Made Public

  17-01-2018 19:50
  An internal RBS memo urging managers to let struggling customers “hang themselves” in the wake of the financial crisis has been published.The 2009 document, which the bank claims did not reflect official policy, was sent around the organisation’s Global Restructuring Group under the heading “Just Hit Budget!”Recommendations in the memo included going after “basket cases” for work, remembering that if customers “sign they can’t complain”
  
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• International Trade Minister Greg Hands Reveals His Son Wept Over Brexit Vote

  17-01-2018 19:33
  International Trade minister Greg Hands has revealed that his son wept when he was told the result of the Brexit referendum.In an interview with HuffPost Germany, he explained that his nine-year-old had burst into tears, fearing his German mother and English father would have to split up.Hands, who campaigned to Remain in the EU but now tours the world to drum up trade deals post-Brexit, spoke as he set out how UK would continue to build close trade and cultural links with Europe after 2019.&ldq
  
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• Tearful NHS Workers Reveal Struggles In New Labour Party Political Broadcast

  17-01-2018 19:25
  Tearful NHS workers tell of the struggles they face every day in Labour’s first party political broadcast of 2018.A variety of health service staff, from GPs and clinicians to ambulance drivers and nurses, talk about the impact of cuts, staff shortages, increased waiting times and cancelled operations in the short film, which aired for the first time on Wednesday evening.Paramedic Dave tells of seeing critically ill patients lose their lives due to the delayed arrival of medical help.
  
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• Facebook to reconsider claims of Russian interference in Brexit vote

  17-01-2018 19:11 via bbc.co.uk
  The firm is to look again at whether Russian groups used social media to try to influence the 2016 poll.
  
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• Scientists Watch DNA Being Read In World First

  17-01-2018 19:00
  Scientists have unveiled some astonishing pictures of DNA code actually being read and “transcribed” in real-time.This is the first time ever that we’ve been able to watch this process and by understanding its intricacies, scientists believe it could lead to “new ways to tackle cancer.”The process of reading DNA and decoding it to build proteins is a crucial biological process that all animals and plants go through, it’s also something that is often hijac
  
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• Facebook To Investigate Whether Russia Swayed Brexit Vote

  17-01-2018 18:47
  Facebook is to expand its investigation into whether Russian agents attempted to influence the Brexit vote, it has emerged.The social media giant confirmed the probe in a a letter to Damian Collins, chair of the UK Parliament’s Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) Committee, which is currently holding an inquiry into fake news.Facebook’s head of policy in the UK, Simon Milner, said the firm would now search for “clusters engaged in coordinated activity around the Brexit ref
  
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• Where’s Theresa as Carillion crisis mounts? On Planet Point-Scoring

  17-01-2018 18:46 via theguardian.com
  Forget reassuring the country – the Maybot just keeps feeding her appetite for self-destructionThe Maybot is back. Tin-eared, lacking empathy and with an algorithm programmed for self-destruction. With 20,000 Carillion jobs at risk in the UK and hundreds of subcontractors in danger of going bust, Theresa May appeared only interested in minding one back. Her own. See no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil and keep the disaster at arm’s length. It wasn’t a great look.All week the g
  
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• Copy cats

  17-01-2018 18:40 via bbc.co.uk
  A new campaign aims to make lessons about intellectual property infringement fun.
  
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• Identifying As Male And Giving Birth Made Me The Happiest I've Ever Been

  17-01-2018 18:39
  To say 2017 was the biggest year of my life would be an understatement. Born female but living as a man for the last two years, I had long presumed that having children would be out of the question. But after falling pregnant last year, I gave birth to my daughter Sara in April. Now aged eight months-old, this precious new arrival has changed everything – in the best of ways. I always wanted children, but I didn’t know how it would happen, so I pushed the thoughts away.This was espec
  
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• We Cannot Take This Government's Word That Our Rights Will Be Protected Through Brexit

  17-01-2018 18:38
  The Government’s decision to vote against guaranteeing the protection of key rights during the passage of the European Union Withdrawal Bill is deeply disappointing.The EU currently provides vital protections against discrimination for women in the UK. In its current form, the bill will hand huge and unaccountable power to Government ministers to undermine these protections and change equality laws without proper parliamentary scrutiny. This is unacceptable.Under this Government that means
  
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• Gary Speed 'One Of Four Men Coached By Barry Bennell Who Took Own Life', Court Hears

  17-01-2018 18:19
  Former Wales manager Gary Speed was one of four men who went on to take their own lives after being coached by Barry Bennell, a court has heard.Liverpool Crown Court heard evidence from a victim, whom Bennell had admitted abusing in 1998, when he was jailed for nine years.He told the court he tried to contact the parents of Speed, who hanged himself in 2011 aged 42, to tell them about the abuse.The victim said: “Four people from teams I have played with, with Bennell, have taken their own
  
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• Protecting Our NHS Means Protecting Our Environment

  17-01-2018 18:12
  Every winter we witness the same stories of the National Health Service stretched beyond capacity and severe weather causing unprecedented damage and disruption. These two crises are not disconnected and if we are to help the NHS survive then we must recognise the link between our healthcare system and our environment.We have seen the NHS struggle during the winter period in recent years – this December, more than 300,000 patients waited longer than four hours for treatment. Our health ser
  
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• Justine Greening tells Tories hard Brexit could prove unsustainable - as it happened

  17-01-2018 18:11 via theguardian.com
  Rolling coverage of the day’s political developments as they happen, including Theresa May and Jeremy Corbyn at PMQsPMQs - Snap verdictPMQs - Verdict from the Twitter commentariatLunchtime summaryAfternoon summary 5.11pm GMT The Commons has voted 318 to 305 to reject #EUWithdrawalBill New Clause 1 relating to the retention of certain EU-derived rights and protections. pic.twitter.com/H8VTZXMjKQThe Commons has rejected #EUWithdrawalBill New Clause 6 by 322 votes to 298.
  The clause would hav
  
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• Offended By 'Friends'? Millennial Oversensitivity Has Gone Too Far

  17-01-2018 18:10
  Most people my age have seen all 236 episodes of Friends countless times and with each viewing it’s never failed to make us laugh. It’s a balm for worries, a stress buster after a horrible day and an exceedingly satisfying show to binge-watch when hungover with your own friends. The premise it is still relevant to all 20-somethings; a group of friends living in an aspirational city, trying to help each other through the trials and tribulations of struggling careers, complicated relat
  
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• Tide Pod Challenge: How Worried Should Parents Be?

  17-01-2018 18:00
   Every week it seems there is a new internet craze for children to share, and while many are just harmless fun, for parents it can be difficult to know how worried you should be about dangerous stunts like the Tide Pod Challenge.The challenge sees teenagers and children filming themselves appearing to take bites out of laundry detergent tabs, despite the potential health risks.Children are likely to have come across this footage on the internet or heard about it in the playground,
  
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• Facebook agrees to expand Brexit investigation

  17-01-2018 17:56 via ft.com
  Social media platform says it will look into suspect activity ahead of vote
  
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• Sir Desmond Swayne 'embarrassed' by Commons snooze

  17-01-2018 17:42 via bbc.co.uk
  Sir Desmond Swayne says he is "annoyed" with himself for nodding off, blaming a long day.
  
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• MP Calls For Law Change As Bank Stops Domestic Violence Victim Closing Joint Account

  17-01-2018 17:38
  An MP has called for a change in the law after her constituent was prevented by her bank from closing a joint account she shared with her abusive ex-partner.Dr Lisa Cameron used Prime Minister’s Questions on Wednesday to challenge Theresa May about the incident, in which one of her constituents was told she would be unable to close the account unless she appeared in the branch with the man she had fled from.The SNP MP has demanded action to protect other domestic violence victims from
  
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• Closer Anglo-French defence co-operation after Brexit

  17-01-2018 17:23 via ft.com
  The two countries have common interests and shared responsibilities
  
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• The right has a quasi-mystical belief that the poor are inferior – sterilis​ation​ is the logical next step

  17-01-2018 17:22 via theguardian.com
  What to make of Tory vice-chair Ben Bradley’s 2012 blog calling for the unemployed to have vasectomies? Plus: Trump’s problem with bad plumbing and advice from Greater Good magazineEugenics gets a bad rap because of its unfortunate Nazi heritage and antiquated, confusing language – “purity”, “bloodlines” – where you can never immediately tell whether they are talking about people or horses. The more commonplace eugenicist, who merely wants poor peo
  
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• Jeremy Corbyn Hits Back At Claims He’s Too Old To Be Prime Minister

  17-01-2018 17:20
  Jeremy Corbyn has dismissed claims that he is too old to be Prime Minister and insisted he is “extremely energetic” in the fight against the Tory government.The Labour leader’s office hit back at anonymous claims from shadow ministers that 68-year-old Corbyn’s age would be a hindrance with the next election five years away and a possible five-year term ending in 2027.His spokesman said that he was guaranteed to lead the party into the 2022 general election and rejected th
  
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• How To Avoid Paying Extra For Luggage On Flights, Without Wearing 10 Layers Of Clothing

  17-01-2018 17:03
  The thrifty among us may be tempted to wear all our clothes at once in order to dodge the extra charges, but one passenger recently found out that doesn’t always end well.Ryan Carney Williams, who goes by the Twitter name Ryan Hawaii, claimed he was held at Iceland Keflavik airport because he wore 10 layers of clothing at once in order to travel with no baggage. He was reportedly turned away from boarding two planes - one British Airways and one easyJet.BA told HuffPost UK Williams wa
  
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• Former MP Stewart Jackson will not seek Peterborough re-election

  17-01-2018 16:59 via bbc.co.uk
  Brexit campaigner Stewart Jackson had been MP for Peterborough for 12 years.
  
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• Jeremy Corbyn urges end to outsourcing 'racket'

  17-01-2018 16:58 via bbc.co.uk
  Labour's leader says firms like Carillion must be "shown the door", during PM's questions clashes.
  
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• The Bank of England’s anti-Brexit bias endangers its credibility

  17-01-2018 16:35 via ft.com
  Its forecasts have been consistently wrong and are distorting policy
  
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• Maya Jama: Get To Know Radio 1's Latest Recruit With 9 Facts In 90 Seconds

  17-01-2018 16:33
  Maya Jama has had an undeniably successful 12 months, but it looks like the presenter is about to become an even bigger name in 2018.On Wednesday (17 January) morning, it was announced that Maya has a new gig at Radio 1, so if you’ve missed her television appearances, there’s every chance you’ll hear her voice (and laugh) on the radio in the near future.With this in mind, there’s officially never been a better time to get to know the star. Here’s everything you
  
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• 'Coronation Street' Branded 'Too Violent' By Former Star Bruce Jones

  17-01-2018 16:24
  Former ‘Coronation Street’ star Bruce Jones has slammed the soap for being “too violent”, claiming many of its recent scenes had gone “too far”. In recent weeks, viewers of the ITV show have seen killer Pat Phelan murder Andy Carver after holding him hostage, as well as shooting Luke Britton before burning him alive.Luke’s exit scenes proved to be particularly controversial, with broadcasting regulator Ofcom receiving over 650 complaints about them
  
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• Brexit Deal May Be 'Undone' By Younger Generation, Says Justine Greening

  17-01-2018 15:48
  Theresa May has been warned by Justine Greening that her Brexit deal could be “undone” by the younger generation.The former education secretary, who dramatically quit the cabinet last week after refusing to be moved to another job, made her first post-reshuffle intervention in the Commons on Wednesday as MPs debated the EU Withdrawal Bill.“I represent a very young constituency here in London,” the Putney MP said. “And the bottom line is that looking ahead, if Brexit
  
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• Here's What We Didn't Learn From Donald Trump's MOCA Cognitive Assessment

  17-01-2018 15:39
  The cognitive test taken by Donald Trump last week is not a comprehensive psychological evaluation, its creator has said.In the wake of the ‘Fire and Fury’ book revelations which cast doubt on his fitness for office, the President took the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MOCA) as part of a physical exam that found he was in “excellent” health with no evidence of mental decline.But Dr Ziad Nasreddine, who devised the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MOCA), told Canada&rs
  
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• Queen's Gifts Revealed: Glitter Balls, Dog Bed And A Union Jack From A Spacesuit

  17-01-2018 15:29
  Glitter balls for the royal Christmas tree, a purple fleece dog bed and the Union Flag from Major Tim Peake’s spacesuit were among the gifts given to the Queen last year.Annually released records of official presents received by the royal family in 2017 showed that the monarch was also given an ostrich egg decorated with Maasai beadwork as a 91st birthday present from the Kenyan president.British astronaut Major Peake, who became the first Briton to be part of the crew of the International
  
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• Homeless Shelter Death At Christmas

  17-01-2018 15:29
  At Christmas I witnessed a death. I only know his name, Christopher, and age and I presume the cause was cardiac arrest or perhaps, more likely, organ failure.Though my mum works in palliative care as a Health Care Assistant, I myself have rarely ever been in such close proximity to death. I visited my grandad in hospital the day he died, though he passed away, my mum at his side, while my sister and I were in the hospital cafeteria complaining about the soggy chips and cold baked beans. We retu
  
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• Bonus Payments To Carillion Directors Stopped, Says Insolvency Service

  17-01-2018 15:29
  Bonus payments to Carillion directors – including severance payments to former executives – have been stopped after the date of liquidation.On Wednesday afternoon spokesman for the Insolvency Service said: “Any bonus payment to directors, beyond the liquidation date, have been stopped and this includes the severance payments which were being paid to some senior executives who left the company.”Earlier today it was announced workers on the majority of private sector contra
  
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• Carillion: A story of Britain's fake markets

  17-01-2018 15:27
  
  The truth is that public services can never be run as competitive consumer markets
  
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• Britons tell Dutch court their EU rights cannot be removed

  17-01-2018 15:26 via theguardian.com
  UK nationals living in Netherlands hope case will go to European court of justiceA group of British nationals living in the Netherlands have made a legal bid in a Dutch court to retain their EU citizenship after Brexit, arguing that their rights cannot be removed under European law. Five UK nationals along with the Commercial Anglo Dutch Society and the lobby group Brexpats – Hear Our Voice are the named claimants. They are being assisted by Jolyon Maugham, the QC behind a series of recent
  
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• Directors, Awards And Sexism - Where Are The Female Nominees?

  17-01-2018 15:11
  It’s 2018 and there are no women nominated as best director in the Golden Globes or the BAFTA’s.Sigh.The world of advertising is no different really. The system operates on this equation: directors = men. Individuals within the industry would never think they’re sexist in that way, after all it’s a creative field that attracts mavericks and free-thinkers. But it’s a deeply-entrenched equation, hard to unpick and tricky to see.A few years ago, I went to Israel with a
  
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