Political news

• Government's 'Gentleman's Agreement' With Tory Council Over Tax Hike Revealed

  07-03-2017 23:57
  
  A Tory council leader told how he had secured a “gentleman’s agreement” with the Government to avoid an embarrassing 15% tax hike.
  Downing Street has repeatedly denied striking a “sweetheart deal” with Surrey County Council to kill the double-digit tax rise.
  But David Hodge told a private meeting that he had direct dealings with Communities Secretary Sajid Javid over its financial struggles.
  In a recording leaked to the BBC, the council chief is heard telling Torie
  
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• Budget to bolster economic defences ahead of Brexit

  07-03-2017 23:33
  Bullish growth outlook tempered by uncertainty with May days away from EU divorce
  
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• Tories call for tax cash boost to aid struggling public services

  07-03-2017 23:30
  
  Chancellor Philip Hammond faces pressure from both sides of the House to ease strain on NHS, social care and education with extra funding Philip Hammond is facing growing pressure from within the Conservative party to plough the proceeds of growing tax revenues into shoring up beleaguered public services.The Treasury has indicated that the chancellor will not shirk difficult decisions on tax as the government aims to steady the public finances before triggering article 50 and starting the formal
  
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• Hammond faces Tory pressure to put more tax revenues into public services

  07-03-2017 23:30
  
  Chancellor faces pressure from MPs to ease strain on NHS, social care and education, with some Tories saying raising taxes could be an optionPhilip Hammond is facing growing pressure from within the Conservative party to plough the proceeds of growing tax revenues into shoring up beleaguered public services.The Treasury has indicated that the chancellor will not shirk difficult decisions on tax as the government aims to steady the public finances before triggering article 50 and starting the for
  
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• Theresa May heads for battle with Tory MPs over Brexit bill

  07-03-2017 23:15
  
  Downing Street will seek to overturn amendment passed by Lords to give parliament veto over outcome of EU talksTheresa May is heading for a fresh battle with Conservative MPs over her Brexit bill next week, after peers voted to give parliament the right to veto the final outcome of her EU talks.Downing Street said it would seek to overturn the amendment passed by the House of Lords on Tuesday by 366 to 268, arguing that giving parliament a blanket right of veto was against the national interest
  
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• Wikileaks: CIA Uses Popular Smartphones, Computers And TVs In Wide-Scale Hacking

  07-03-2017 23:10
  
  WikiLeaks published thousands of documents on Tuesday described as secret files about CIA hacking tools the government employs to break into users’ computers, mobile phones and even smart TVs from companies like Apple, Google, Microsoft and Samsung.
  The documents describe clandestine methods for bypassing or defeating encryption, antivirus tools and other protective security features intended to keep the private information of citizens and corporations safe from prying eyes.
  US government
  
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• Peers vote to give parliament veto over final Brexit outcome by majority of 98 – as it happened

  07-03-2017 22:00
  
  Rolling coverage of the day’s political developments as they happen, including the Lords debate on the article 50 bill and amendments saying parliament should have a vote on the Brexit dealGuardian/ICM poll gives Tories 31-pt lead on economic competence 8.54pm GMTAfter Lords vote, early general election now "a real possibility" @Nigel_Farage says on his @LBC show 7.50pm GMTAccording to the BBC’s Jack Evans, Peter Kellner is not quite right about this being the biggest ever vote in th
  
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• Nicola Jennings on grammar schools – cartoon

  07-03-2017 21:36
  
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• Donald Trump Surprises A Bunch Of Kids At White House As Hillary Clinton Portrait Looms Large

  07-03-2017 21:36
  
  Donald Trump prompted screams from children when a group of visitors made the first White House tour since he took office.
  The party came to a stop in the Cross Hall of the East Wing when the US President appeared dramatically from behind a partition, and boomed “good morning!” - before urging the children to step forward and join him amid loud applause and cheers.
  He posed for photos with 10-year-old Jack Cornish from Birmingham, Alabama, as a figure from Trump’s recent past l
  
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• Taxes for self-employed likely to rise in Hammond's budget

  07-03-2017 21:05
  
  Loopholes that allow many self-employed workers to pay less tax may be closed in the budget – but their rights should improvePhilip Hammond is likely to close loopholes in Wednesday’s budget that mean many self-employed workers pay less tax than their salaried counterparts – but he will come under pressure to ensure they receive better rights in return.The Treasury is concerned that the growing prevalence of self-employment is not just driven by entrepreneurialism in the &ldquo
  
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• Peers vote to give parliament veto over final Brexit outcome by majority of 98 - Politics live

  07-03-2017 20:50
  
  Rolling coverage of the day’s political developments as they happen, including the Lords debate on the article 50 bill and amendments saying parliament should have a vote on the Brexit dealGuardian/ICM poll gives Tories 31-pt lead on economic competence 7.50pm GMTAccording to the BBC’s Jack Evans, Peter Kellner is not quite right about this being the biggest ever vote in the House of Lords. (See 6.52pm.) Evans says 635 votes were cast in a division on the Great Reform Bill in 1931. B
  
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• Torture victims in high court challenge to Home Office over detentions

  07-03-2017 20:40
  
  ‘Adults at risk’ policy fundamentally weakens protections for vulnerable victims, says charitySeven victims of torture who have been locked up in immigration detention are at the high court, challenging as unlawful a government policy that allows some torture survivors to be imprisoned.The seven, who include victims of trafficking, a man kidnapped by the Taliban, and two men tortured because of their sexuality, say the government should no longer be able to routinely incarcerate peop
  
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• CPS weighs prosecution of far-right activist on eve of legal challenge

  07-03-2017 20:21
  
  Campaign Against Antisemitism challenges CPS decision not to charge Jeremy Bedford-Turner The Crown Prosecution Service is reconsidering whether to prosecute a far-right activist for alleged antisemitism on the eve of a highly unusual legal challenge to its decision to let the case drop.Government lawyers were due at the high court in London on Wednesday for judicial review proceedings brought by the Campaign Against Antisemitism. The case challenged the CPS decision not to charge a prominent fa
  
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• Bank of England deputy's slip-up was astonishing – but its reaction was predictable | Nils Pratley

  07-03-2017 20:18
  
  Charlotte Hogg will survive her failure to declare a conflict of interest, but the Bank has revealed it remains a cosy clubCharlotte Hogg, a week ago, could not have been clearer. “I am in compliance with all of our codes of conduct. I know that. I helped to write them,” declared the Bank of England’s new deputy governor to the Treasury select committee.Now comes the excruciating apology. Actually, no, she was not in compliance because she didn’t declare to the Bank when
  
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• Bank of England deputy's slip-up was astonishing – but its reaction is predictable | Nils Pratley

  07-03-2017 20:18
  
  Charlotte Hogg will survive her failure to declare a conflict of interest and the Bank has revealed it remains a cosy clubCharlotte Hogg, a week ago, could not have been clearer. “I am in compliance with all of our codes of conduct. I know that. I helped to write them,” declared the Bank of England’s new deputy governor to the Treasury select committee.Now comes the excruciating apology. Actually, no, she was not in compliance because she didn’t declare to the Bank when s
  
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• Lords back parliamentary vote on final Brexit deal

  07-03-2017 20:15
  Vote to amend Article 50 delivers second defeat to May’s strategy in a week
  
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• Heseltine sacked after backing parliamentary vote on Brexit deal

  07-03-2017 20:15
  Vote to amend Article 50 delivers second defeat to May’s strategy in a week
  
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• First Dog on the Moon goes to south-west Tasmania (and totally freaks out)

  07-03-2017 20:00
  
  A happy confluence of things has meant this part of the world is just crap enough to keep people away. Just kidding, it’s actually unspeakably beautifulI went to south-west Tasmania and totally freaked out. Oh my goodness – simply one of the most beautiful, haunting, weirdy landscapes I have ever had the good fortune to go and look at. The Port Davey marine reserve is huge, three times the size of Sydney Harbour and that is just the wet bits. The landscape is dominated by numerous ri
  
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• EU students told health insurance 'just a technicality', after German woman threatened with removal

  07-03-2017 19:55
  
  Reassurance comes after German woman was told she could be removed if she could not show insurance documentsThe Home Office has insisted it will not deport EU students if they do not have private healthcare, despite the fact that a German PhD student was told she would be at risk of removal if she could not produce medical insurance documentation at Heathrow.The categorical assurance is a departure from previous Home Office statements. It will assuage growing fears among students and other categ
  
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• Northern Ireland shows the risks of a hard Brexit

  07-03-2017 19:50
  A surge in nationalist support overturns some old assumptions
  
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• House of Lords defeats government for second time on article 50 bill

  07-03-2017 19:50
  
  Peers back Labour-led amendment by 366 to 268 to give parliament veto over final outcome of Brexit negotiationsThe House of Lords has voted to give parliament a veto over the final outcome of Theresa May’s Brexit negotiations, inflicting a second defeat on the government’s article 50 bill. Related: Peers vote to give parliament veto over final Brexit outcome by majority of 98 - Politics liveContinue reading...
  
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• The Lords can sort out themselves | Letters

  07-03-2017 19:41
  
  May I comment on two contributions to the debate about the future of the House of Lords published in the last two weeks? On 24 February, Meg Russell argued (Don’t abolish the Lords: history shows it really can be reformed), that attempts at big-bang reform of the House of Lords have not succeeded. She is right, and in any event the government has set its face against such an approach.By contrast, changes such as reducing the number of hereditary peers in 1999 have been effective, as have r
  
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• Scotland resumes push for ‘named child’ policy

  07-03-2017 19:41
  New legislation reopens debate over role of state in young people’s lives
  
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• House of Lords Votes To Give Parliament Final Approval On Brexit Deal

  07-03-2017 19:40
  
  Theresa May has suffered another defeat in the House of Lords over Brexit, with peers voting to give Parliament final approval on the deal the UK secures when quitting the European Union.Labour and Liberal Democrat peers joined forces to amend the EU (Notification of Withdrawal) Bill on Tuesday to demand Parliament be given a “meaningful vote” on the draft exit deal negotiated with Brussels.
  The Lords voted by 366 to 268 - a majority of 98.
  Last week, the House of Lords voted to giv
  
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• Surrey council leader 'had gentleman's agreement' with ministers

  07-03-2017 19:23
  
  David Hodge discussed conversations with Sajid Javid and Philip Hammond about deal to avert proposed 15% council tax riseDavid Hodge, the leader of Surrey council, told Conservative colleagues that a “gentleman’s agreement” had been reached with senior cabinet ministers that persuaded him to cancel a threat to raise council tax by 15%.In a secret recording of a Conservative group meeting on 7 February, the politician revealed there had been a “series of conversations&rdqu
  
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• Charities referring rough sleepers to immigration enforcement teams

  07-03-2017 19:20
  
  Corporate Watch reveals role of homeless charity St Mungo’s and others in referring vulnerable people to the Home OfficeLeading homelessness charities whose remit is to protect vulnerable rough sleepers have been passing information about some of them to the Home Office, leading to their removal from the UK.A report from Corporate Watch, The Round Up, reveals concerns about homelessness charities’ links to immigration enforcement and comes at a time of increasing disquiet about the i
  
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• Medical couriers take aim at gig economy

  07-03-2017 19:11
  Blood and pathology sample riders join workers’ battle for full employment rights
  
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• Medical couriers join fight against gig economy

  07-03-2017 19:11
  Blood and pathology sample riders seek full employment rights
  
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• Defeat For Dubs Scheme As Just Three Tories Defy Party Orders

  07-03-2017 18:04
  
  Plans to help unaccompanied child refugees in Europe were defeated by the Government today as just three Tory MPs defied party orders.
  Heidi Allen, Tania Mathias and Nicky Morgan were the only Conservatives to back reviving an aspect of the so-called Dubs scheme this afternoon, meaning the Government won by 20 votes.
  The measure would have forced local councils to reveal how many child refugees they could provide care for every year.
  The Government last month called an end to the Dubs scheme &nd
  
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• Ex-MI6 Agent Who Wrote That Trump Dossier Is Out Of Hiding But Still Not Talking About It

  07-03-2017 17:57
  
  The former British spy at the heart of the sensational story about Russia holding compromising details of Donald Trump’s private life has made his first public appearance - and made clear he doesn’t really want to talk about those claims.
  Christopher Steele, 52, is the ex-MI6 officer who produced - at least in part - the 32-page dossier that makes lurid claims about the President-elect’s private life and business interests.
  The property tycoon damned the allegations as “
  
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• Britain plays with fire over Brexit

  07-03-2017 17:35
  It holds a weak hand – without a deal, trade and relationships will be damaged
  
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• Ministers facing defeat as peers debate call for parliament to get proper vote on Brexit deal - Politics live

  07-03-2017 17:34
  
  Rolling coverage of the day’s political developments as they happen, including the Lords debate on the article 50 bill and amendments saying parliament should have a vote on the Brexit dealGuardian/ICM poll gives Tories 31-pt lead on economic competence 4.32pm GMTLord Lawson, the Conservative former chancellor, says the very act of invoking article 50 will lead to Brexit two years later. That is what the supreme court decided.But this new clause implies that triggering article 50 does not
  
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• Labour members may be expelled over claims of antisemitism and bullying

  07-03-2017 17:21
  
  Jackie Walker, Marc Wadsworth and Paul Davis face top disciplinary body after being suspended from party
  Momentum’s former vice-chair Jackie Walker has been formally referred to Labour’s highest disciplinary body for possible expulsion over comments she made about Holocaust Memorial Day.Labour’s national executive committee (NEC) also referred two other members suspended from the party over the summer. Paul Davis, the vice-chair of the local party in Wallasey, was referred over
  
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• Even Stephen Hawking says Corbyn has failed. This is no rightwing conspiracy | Sam Glover

  07-03-2017 17:14
  
  When one of the smartest people in the world thinks you’ve had it, listen to them. Those of us who love the NHS need Labour in power, not exiled from itJohn McDonnell wrote an article on 26 February announcing that a “soft coup” is under way against Jeremy Corbyn. This coup, claimed McDonnell, “is being perpetrated by an alliance between elements in the Labour party and the Murdoch media empire, both intent on destroying Jeremy Corbyn and all that he stands for”. Bu
  
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• Tories Refuse To Publish Official Advice On Homelessness Impact Of 'Nasty' Housing Benefit Cuts

  07-03-2017 16:57
  
  The Tories today repeatedly refused to publish a report on the impact of cutting housing benefits to under-22s would have on homelessness.
  After being summoned to the Commons by Labour this afternoon, Work Minister Caroline Nokes said the Government would not be releasing the advice her department received before it announced the policy.
  The Government confirmed last Friday it would push ahead with axing housing benefit for 18 to 21 year olds, unless they qualify for an exemption.
  One charity ha
  
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• Government defeats attempt to restart Dubs scheme

  07-03-2017 16:57
  
  Amendment aimed at revealing capacity of English councils to take lone refugee children is voted down to cries of ‘shame’
  The government has narrowly avoided a Commons defeat on a Tory MP’s amendment which would have forced councils to reveal how many lone child refugees they had the capacity to take, in an attempt to restart the Dubs scheme. The amendment to the children and social work bill, introduced by the Conservative MP Heidi Allen, was defeated by 287 votes to 267 on Tu
  
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• Momentum Activist Jackie Walker Facing Labour Expulsion Over Anti-Semitism

  07-03-2017 16:40
  
  Momentum activist Jackie Walker is facing expulsion from Labour over anti-semitism after her case was referred to a full party disciplinary hearing. -- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.
  
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• Eurosceptics fear Brexit could be reversed

  07-03-2017 16:24
  Leave campaigners say lawyers and peers threaten to thwart UK leaving the EU
  
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• Hammond and May put Budget divisions behind them

  07-03-2017 16:08
  Chancellor and PM ‘respectfully’ diverge on several key issues
  
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• Hammond and May move to put Budget divisions behind them

  07-03-2017 16:08
  PM and chancellor ‘respectfully’ diverge on several key issues
  
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• Building Brexit on the myth of empire ignores our brutal history | Kehinde Andrews

  07-03-2017 15:43
  
  Liam Fox’s assertion that modern Britain stands unblemished by atrocity reveals a political elite blind to the realities of leaving the EU“The United Kingdom is one of the few countries in the European Union that does not need to bury its 20th century history,” tweeted Liam Fox last March. The historical amnesia that afflicts the secretary of state for international trade is now on display in Whitehall, with officials calling their post–Brexit scramble for African trade &
  
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• Lords vote against second Brexit referendum

  07-03-2017 15:29
  
  Peers vote against referendum at end of divorce talks but are set to back call for meaningful vote on dealThe House of Lords has voted against a second Brexit referendum, but peers are likely to support an amendment forcing Theresa May to give parliament a more meaningful vote on the UK’s final deal at the end of two years of negotiations.
  Peers voted by 336 votes to 131 – a majority of 205 – against letting Britain vote again on whether to leave the EU at the end of divorce ta
  
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• Angela Eagle's Wallasey Constituency Labour Party To Have Suspension Lifted In May

  07-03-2017 15:29
  
  Former Shadow Cabinet minister Angela Eagle’s local Labour party will have its suspension lifted in a bid to get it ready for a possible general election, HuffPost UK can reveal.
  The Wallasey constituency Labour party on Merseyside was effectively shut down last summer after allegations of homophobia and far-left infiltration.
  Eagle had also been targeted by a brick which smashed through a window at her local party building, an internal report found in October.
  On Tuesday, the disputes co
  
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• Angela Eagle's Wallasey Constituency Labour Party Has Suspension Lifted

  07-03-2017 15:29
  
  Former Shadow Cabinet minister Angela Eagle’s local Labour party has had its suspension lifted in a bid to get it ready for a possible general election, HuffPost UK can reveal.
  The Wallasey constituency Labour party on Merseyside was effectively shut down last summer after allegations of homophobia and far-left infiltration.
  Eagle had also been targeted by a brick which smashed through a window at her local party building, an internal report found in October.
  On Tuesday, the disputes comm
  
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• UK house prices were rising too fast – bring on the slowdown | Nils Pratley

  07-03-2017 15:25
  
  News that the market is cooling may not please homeowners looking to sell, but we were heading towards dangerous watersEncouraging news from the housing market: cooler winds are blowing. The rate of growth in prices fell in February to the lowest for three-and-a-half years, according to the Halifax’s index. This development may not delight homeowners looking to sell in a hurry but, for anybody with a wider or longer perspective, a slowdown is exactly what the UK needs.Annual house price in
  
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• Brexit putting British scientists at risk of becoming bit-part players, warns report

  07-03-2017 15:03
  
  Participation in prestigious projects ranging from an Antarctic mission to a major satellite programme is now in doubt, a report from Prospect findsBritish scientists risk being reduced to bit-part players in some of the most ambitious projects of the next decade, a report has warned.The findings by the union Prospect on the implications of Brexit for science highlight a number of prestigious projects where British participation is now in doubt. These include a planned Antarctic mission to drill
  
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• Emergency cash injection for social care in the budget is no cause for celebration | David Brindle

  07-03-2017 15:00
  
  Any extra funding the chancellor finds won’t be new money, but bringing forward spending planned for 2018-19When NHS England’s chief executive, Simon Stevens, was being grilled by MPs the other day, he was momentarily thrown when asked by Anne Marie Morris, the colourful Conservative member for Newton Abbot, whether his optimistic timetable for delivering reform of the health and care system was based on “smoking dope”.If Chris Wormald, the Department of Health permanent
  
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• Spain and Poland plan ties with post-Brexit UK

  07-03-2017 14:48
  Certain points of contention in process to leave EU may not be easy to clear up
  
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• Philip Hammond ought to dispel the economic myths that hold women back | Ann Pettifor

  07-03-2017 14:37
  
  The budget falls on International Women’s Day this year. Sadly it is unlikely to be marked by economic orthodoxy stacked against women being overturnedThere are two economic myths that fail the interests of women. The first is the fallacy that government budgets conform to “the household analogy”: that, as with family budgets, a state’s outgoings cannot exceed its income. The second is that “there is no money” for the services women use and need.On the first,
  
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• When is an apprentice not an apprentice?

  07-03-2017 14:11
  Rebadging some courses may help Britain’s staff but it will render progress illusory
  
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