Political news

• Davis stands firm on Irish border issue

  10-11-2017 23:42 via bbc.co.uk
  After "frank discussions" with EU negotiators, the Brexit secretary rejects idea of a new UK border.
  
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• Labour MP Kerry McCarthy Accuses Kelvin Hopkins Of Years Of 'Unwanted Attention'

  10-11-2017 22:58
  Labour’s Kerry McCarthy has become the latest woman to accuse suspended MP Kelvin Hopkins of inappropriate behaviour.The former shadow environment secretary said on Friday that she suffered unwanted attention from her colleague over period spanning 20 years.McCarthy said the Luton North MP sent her a series of letters and cards commenting on her appearance, including one in which he described having a dream about her.Hopkins was suspended by the Labour Party earlier this week ove
  
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• Hammond risks small business backlash with Budget shake-up of VAT

  10-11-2017 22:00
  Chancellor seeks to raise £2bn a year by reducing £85,000 turnover threshold
  
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• Martin Rowson on the Tories' terrible week – cartoon

  10-11-2017 21:18
  Continue reading...
  
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• We’ll never stop Brexit or Trump until we address the anger fuelling both | Jonathan Freedland

  10-11-2017 20:40
  The economic hardship, alienation, loss – and worse – that motivated so many have to be tackled. There’s no point obsessing over impeachment or a second referendum without that effortPerhaps we should call it the new special relationship. Liberal, enlightened types on each side of the Atlantic now share a common experience. While American progressives lament their fellow citizens’ decision to make Donald Trump president a year ago this week, their British counterparts hav
  
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• Carwyn Jones agrees to inquiry in Carl Sargeant case

  10-11-2017 20:25
  Senior QC to examine conduct of Welsh first minister over allegations against sacked minister who apparently killed himselfThe first minister of Wales, Carwyn Jones, has agreed to launch an independent inquiry into his handling of the harassment allegations against Carl Sargeant, following criticism from the sacked minister’s grieving relatives.A spokesman for Jones said on Friday that a senior QC would examine his “actions and decisions” in relation to the former assembly memb
  
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• Gender Pay Gap, Paradise Papers And Sexual Harassment All 'Interlinked', Says Women's Equality Party Leader

  10-11-2017 20:11
  Sophie Walker, the quietly-determined leader of the Women’s Equality Party, doesn’t do angry.Keeping your cool is a major achievement when you consider that, in 2017, she focuses full-time on fighting for a society free from gender bias.The headlines in the last week are enough to make anyone fume: an epidemic of sexual harassment, largely perpetrated against women by powerful men; a gender pay gap which will take a century to close; and a wave of austerity hitting women th
  
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• A riddle wrapped in a mystery: the curious career of Liam Fox | Ian Jack

  10-11-2017 20:05
  The teacher’s son from East Kilbride has moved on from his Adam Werritty disgrace, to become trade secretary. I don’t know how he does itHowever embarrassing the present cabinet is – however clumsy and shamefully inept – some kind of reasoning can usually be detected in the selection of its personnel. Boris Johnson, David Davis, Philip Hammond, Michael Gove, Sajid Javid, Amber Rudd: you can see why Theresa May might have chosen them. For what they brought to the cabinet t
  
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• Europe’s business groups increase pressure on Theresa May

  10-11-2017 20:02
  Prime minister faces tough Brexit questioning in Downing Street meeting
  
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• The Guardian view on the Paradise Papers: not all is lost | Editorial

  10-11-2017 19:59
  The tax avoidance revelations have unleashed a demand for reform and social justice. Only a rash government would ignore itBono owns a bit of a Lithuanian shopping centre. The Queen finances a whisker of BrightHouse, the household goods business accused of exploiting its customers. Lewis Hamilton dodged VAT on his private jet with the finesse of an F1 champion. These are just a few of the headline details that have emerged this week out of the Paradise Papers, a leak of 13.4m files from the offs
  
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• Carwyn Jones Calls For Inquiry To Examine His 'Actions And Decisions' In Relation To Carl Sargeant

  10-11-2017 19:56
  Welsh First Minister Carwyn Jones has asked for an independent inquiry to examine his “actions and decisions” in relation to Carl Sargeant, a spokesman has said.It comes after Sargeant’s family called for an independent inquiry to start “immediately”.Sargeant was removed as a Welsh Government minister and suspended from the Labour Party because he was facing allegations of “unwanted attention, inappropriate touching or groping”.The Alyn and Deeside
  
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• EU gives UK two-week deadline on Brexit divorce bill

  10-11-2017 19:23
  Michel Barnier says progress is needed on financial settlement as Irish border issue emerges as challenge for UK government
  The EU’s chief Brexit negotiator, Michel Barnier, has set the British government a deadline of two weeks to give “vital” clarification on the financial commitments it is willing to honour, at the end of a sixth round of Brexit talks that offered scant evidence of any progress.The issue of the border on the island of Ireland has also emerged as a serious ch
  
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• Who’ll win the Tory biathlon of cabinet chaos? They all will | Marina Hyde

  10-11-2017 19:15
  If we think of the week as a contest to prove ministerial stupidity and ineptitude, a single winner is impossible to pickAnother edifying week on the Mount Olympus of British politics, as the Tory gods continue to operate on a one-in, one-out policy. No one’s eaten their own children yet, although some of the parenting is starting to look fairly idiosyncratic. Still, which of us holidaymakers hasn’t palmed our kids off with the iPad for a couple of days while we take some much-needed
  
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• UK can ignore Brexit and stay in EU, Article 50 official says

  10-11-2017 18:55
  Lord Kerr claims exit process is reversible without loss of Britain’s budget rebate
  
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• After The John Lewis Christmas Ad, People Share The Monsters They Were Scared Of As Children

  10-11-2017 18:44
  John Lewis’ latest Christmas advert has reminded us all about the monsters we imagined as children.In the ad a giant monster called Moz makes friends with a young boy whose bed he is sleeping under.We ask Londoners and HuffPost UK staff to describe the monsters that kept them awake at night.
  
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• Alex Salmond criticised over plans for Russia Today talk show

  10-11-2017 18:40
  Sturgeon says she would have ‘advised against’ link with Kremlin-backed broadcaster
  
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• RHI inquiry: 'Conspiracy of silence' around scheme

  10-11-2017 18:37 via bbc.co.uk
  The public inquiry into the botched heating scheme has been told there was a "conspiracy of silence" around it.
  
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• Labour MP accuses Kelvin Hopkins of inappropriate behaviour

  10-11-2017 18:30
  Kerry McCarthy reveals correspondence that shows she has received unwanted attention from fellow party MP since mid-1990s
  Kelvin Hopkins, who was suspended from the Labour party over sexual harassment claims, faces fresh allegations from a fellow MP about inappropriate behaviour towards her over more than two decades.Kerry McCarthy, the MP for Bristol East, said she began receiving unwanted attention from Hopkins in the mid-1990s – when the pair were both active in the Luton Labour party &
  
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• The Dead Parrot Of Downing Street

  10-11-2017 18:25
  Theresa May's government is finished. It is no more, it has ceased to be. It has expired and gone to meet its maker.It has, in the immortal words of the Monty Python dead parrot sketch, kicked the bucket, shuffled off its mortal coil, run down the curtain and joined the bleedin' choir invisible. It is, in other words, an ex-government. (If you haven't seen the Monty Python sketch, or want to see it again, click here. You won't regret it.)The government is a total shambles. Cabinet discipline has
  
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• Topshop's 2017 Christmas Collection Is Here To Make You Glisten

  10-11-2017 18:13
  Topshop has just released details of its Christmas party collection and it sure is glistening. So what do we have in store? From rich blue velvet blazers to the modern and oddly pretty take on the Christmas jumper - a slick black number with festive decoration, the designers must have had a ball creating this collection. Favourites? An Eastern-Asian inspired wrap dress in a colour that can only be described as a mix between watermelon red and fuchsia pink. Topshop also presen
  
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• Brexit bill: Barnier gives UK two weeks to clarify key issues

  10-11-2017 18:11 via bbc.co.uk
  The EU says Britain has two weeks to say what it will pay when it leaves the bloc, among other issues.
  
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• Acid Victim Begged Police For Help Weeks Before Attack That Left Him Blind And Paralysed

  10-11-2017 18:00
  An acid attack victim begged police for help just three weeks before his girlfriend allegedly attacked him, a court heard on Friday.Mark van Dongen made a frantic 999 call telling an operator “something needs to be done”.The 29-year-old accused ex-lover Berlinah Wallace, 48, of blackmail and also told a colleague she threatened to kill him if he left her.He told an operator she was threatening to tell police he had downloaded child abuse images unless he met her and was making silent
  
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• Ending Politics As Usual Means Making The Labour Party More Inclusive

  10-11-2017 17:52
  A big part of my life is fighting for people who don't have a strong voice of their own. Being an actor and performing stand up is what I do for a living, but being a social and political activist has been part of me for a long time. I have always fought for the campaigns that I believe in, even when they are unpopular or I've been advised against it.
  I came out as trans in 1985, joined the Labour Party in 1995 and I have now campaigned for LGBT rights, for the Labour Party, for Europe and have
  
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• What Do Renewable Energy And Ice Cream Have In Common?

  10-11-2017 17:50
  Renewables and ice-cream are both incredibly popular. It's quite possible that renewable energy is even more popular than ice-cream. According to some stats on the internet just three quarters of people eat the frozen stuff, while according to the government's official tracking polls four-fifths of people support renewables.You'd never know though, would you?The government remains dogged in its pursuit of polluting fossil fuel projects like fracking, and committed to drilling every drop of oil i
  
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• Ed Westwick’s Two BBC Shows Postponed Following Rape Allegations

  10-11-2017 17:47
  The BBC has made the decision to postpone two shows starring Ed Westwick, following rape allegations made against the actor. Westwick has vehemently denied the claims and the news comes just one day after the ‘Gossip Girl’ actor told his followers that he was “cooperating with the authorities” so they could “clear his name as soon as possible”.‘Ordeal By Innocence’ was due to form part of BBC One’s Christmas programming but in a statement iss
  
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• Women's Views Need To Be At Heart Of Support Services And Policy - Not An Afterthought

  10-11-2017 17:36
  Women who have lived through abuse, addiction, homelessness and mental health issues have been through so much. The resilience and the experiences that they bring are valuable and the skills they have can be turned into positives for themselves, their families and society as a whole.
  In order to transition to the other side, and rebuild their lives, women need support and so many are not receiving it or are not able to gain access to suitable services to help them.
  As a woman now in recovery fro
  
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• Women's Views Need To Be At Heart Of Support Services And Policy

  10-11-2017 17:36
  Women who have lived through abuse, addiction, homelessness and mental health issues have been through so much. The resilience and the experiences that they bring are valuable and the skills they have can be turned into positives for themselves, their families and society as a whole.In order to transition to the other side, and rebuild their lives, women need support and so many are not receiving it or are not able to gain access to suitable services to help them.As a woman now in recovery from
  
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• Why LGBT Support Groups Are Essential To People Living With Prostate Cancer

  10-11-2017 17:34
  I've been living with prostate cancer for nearly ten years now. I was diagnosed with prostate cancer in December 2007 resulting in having a radical retro pubic prostatectomy in February 2008, then three months later having to have 5 weeks of radiotherapy coupled with 30 months of chemical castration.I'm a 63-year-old gay guy on the autistic spectrum, I experience the world in a way that is different to many people; for me it means I ask questions others seem not to ask. I was born in 1954 into a
  
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• Nicola Sturgeon questions Alex Salmond's choice of Russian TV channel

  10-11-2017 17:34 via bbc.co.uk
  The first minister says she would have advised her predecessor against hosting a show on Russian channel RT.
  
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• 25 Million UK Porn Viewers At Risk Of Their Sexual Preferences Being Leaked

  10-11-2017 17:32
  Derek Jarman's notorious 1976 film 'Sebastiane' not only featured dialogue exclusively in Latin, it was also reportedly the first movie certified by the British Board of Film Censors (as they were then) to depict an erection. According to fellow British film-maker Alex Cox, Jarman claimed they "hid" the erection in question in order to smuggle it past the censors; a claim which Cox states the former BBFC chief censor James Ferman completely refuted.Forty years later and the British Board of Film
  
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• Isolation Isn't Just A 'Senior' Issue - How Big Changes Cause Isolation Across Generations

  10-11-2017 17:31
  When speaking publicly on the epidemic of loneliness, I often open with the same line. Not to shock, not to seek pity, but to inform. My story is true: if I had died aged 22, it would have taken weeks for anyone to find me. At 22, I was studying, I was alone, and I had pulled myself away from everyone. I was lonely.It seems shocking, doesn't it? To think that someone in their early twenties would be so distanced from their peers, and so cut off from those around them. In actuality, when it comes
  
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• I Created A Theatre Show To Stamp Out The Stereotypes Of A Young Black Man

  10-11-2017 17:27
  "I thought people from South East London just stabbed and killed each other. I didn't know you get an education."This was the response I was met with during my Fresher's Week at East 15 Acting School when a young lady asked where I was from, and I proudly replied "South East London."I'd be lying if I said I wasn't irritated, but I realised that her perception was a common stereotype of young black males that many also shared.Growing up I constantly battled with how I was perceived by teachers, t
  
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• Louis C.K. Film I Love You, Daddy's Cinema Release Cancelled Following Sexual Harassment Allegations

  10-11-2017 17:05
  Film distribution company The Orchard has announced they will no longer be releasing Louis C.K.’s film, ‘I Love You, Daddy’, in the wake of sexual harassment accusations that have been levelled against him.On Friday (10 November), The Orchard confirmed that the film would no longer be getting a cinematic release, having initially been slated to hit cinemas in the US next week.Hours before five women’s allegations against the comedian were published in the New York Times,
  
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• ‘We can't be quiet’: Gruffalo co-creator and fellow illustrators respond to Brexit

  10-11-2017 16:52
  Axel Scheffler among children’s illustrators across EU to channel ‘anger and sadness and disbelief’ into gallery of images The Gruffalo’s co-creator, Axel Scheffler, has enlisted leading children’s illustrators to create thought-provoking visions of Europe in response to Brexit.Drawings for Europe brings together 17 illustrators from across the continent in a project that aims to promote the strengths of the European community. Continue reading...
  
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• Politics Advancing: All You Need To Know About The Newest Party Preparing For Local Elections

  10-11-2017 16:50
  If the events of the last few weeks in Westminster have taught us anything, it’s that politics as we know it has taken a huge hit.It has been badly damaged - maybe irreparably so - not just by shocking allegations of sexual abuse and harassment, but by deep divisions years in the forging and an ever-growing sense of mistrust towards mainstream politicians - and their parties - from huge sections of the public expected to vote for them.Wracked with election fatigue, the next time (some) Bri
  
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• Christmas Tesco Ad Featuring Muslims Prompts Messages Of Inclusion After Racist Backlash

  10-11-2017 16:44
  Christmas lovers have been sharing their messages of sharing and inclusion after a festive Tesco ad featuring a Muslim family sparked a racist backlash.Some customers threatened to boycott the supermarket after noticing that its Christmas included scenes of a Muslim family exchanging gifts, while others called it “very wrong”.In response, fans of the “Everyone’s Welcome” ad have taken to social media to explain why its “wonderful to share the day with everyone
  
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• Babbling about Brexit progress, Dave only oozes defeat | John Crace

  10-11-2017 16:44
  Michel Barnier has clearly had tougher negotiations with his kids about watching TV than he’s had with British politiciansIt’s all starting to get a bit embarrassing. In the press conferences following the early rounds of negotiations, Michel Barnier used to make a point of making most of his remarks in English to make things easier for David Davis. But at the sixth time of asking he’s clearly decided there isn’t any language that Davis properly understands, so he might a
  
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• John Lewis Christmas Advert 2017: All The Best Reactions To Moz The Monster's Star Turn

  10-11-2017 16:35
  In one of the nation’s most bizarre festive traditions, there’s only one topic up for discussion in Twittersphere right now, and that’s the new John Lewis Christmas advert.Despite the ad only being unveiled this morning (10 November), Moz the Monster is already a trending topic on Twitter and near-enough household name thanks to his antics in the retailer’s new campaign, which focuses on the friendship between a young boy and the monster who lives under his bed.Of course,
  
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• Time For Women To Down Tools?

  10-11-2017 16:06
  Today is the day women stop earning but just keep right on working.It's Equal Pay Day. 10th November is the day this year when, because of the gender pay gap, women effectively stopped earning money, a full 51 days before their male counterparts.A lot of people seem to think the battle for equality has been won in Britain. We have an Equality Act which has teeth and can be effective. What we don't have is a country where gender makes no difference socially, politically or in employment terms.Tho
  
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• The Sound Of Music Is The Perfect Film For Our Times

  10-11-2017 15:55
  There's no denying these are strange times. A reality TV star in the White House threatening to destroy the world in a nuclear war and Britain being chased around the ring by the EU negotiators, who are just waiting to deliver the knock out blow. 2016 took so many of our heroes but there's one person left who can save us all - Julie Andrews.To be honest, we don't even need 2017 Julie. But the three hours she committed to screen back in 1964 will get us through the difficult times ahead. And I'm
  
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• Business can sugar the Brexit pill

  10-11-2017 15:37
  Two food producers believe leaving EU will help raise agricultural productivity
  
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• Brexit: Barnier seeks solutions to avoid hard Irish border

  10-11-2017 15:28 via bbc.co.uk
  The EU's chief Brexit negotiator, Michel Barnier, says solutions need to be found to avoid a hard Irish border
  
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• Brexit: David Davis rules out new border for N Ireland

  10-11-2017 15:27 via bbc.co.uk
  The Brexit secretary told reporters that a "new border in the UK" is not the way to avoid customs checks between Northern Ireland and the Republic.
  
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• Barnier: UK must offer concessions within two weeks to ensure Brexit progress - Politics live

  10-11-2017 15:26
  Rolling coverage of the day’s political events as they happen, including David Davis and Michel Barnier holding their press conference after the latest round of Brexit talksDavis/Barnier press conference - Summary 2.26pm GMT 2.22pm GMTThe deputy leader of the Democratic Unionist Party has knocked back the EU’s suggestion that Northern Ireland remain in the customs union and the single market in order to achieve an invisible border with Ireland.Nigel Dodds has told the BBC’s Joh
  
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• Spend It Well?

  10-11-2017 15:11
  So this year's Christmas adverts are premiering at a rate of one or two a day.As I write this, the John Lewis advert has just been released, the Marks & Spencer advert is a few days' old and Aldi's Kevin the Carrot has been entertaining us for a few days too.It seems to me, so far, that #Christmas2017 is all about burglars on the roof, monsters under the bed and guilt about eating root vegetables which might not just be animate but have a love life too. So far, so scary - maybe not that fest
  
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• 'John Lewis' Moz The Monster Toy: Where To Get Monster Merchandise For Kids

  10-11-2017 15:10
  In this year’s John Lewis Christmas advert a giant monster takes centre stage.The advert tells the story of a boy named Joe, who was kept awake at night by Moz - the imaginary, 7ft monster living under his bed.The lovable monster and Joe formed an unlikely bond, so we have no doubt that children watching the programme will want their very own Moz, too.So, of course John Lewis is selling a plush ‘Moz’ toy for kids (and grown-ups) for £20, (10% of every toy sold will b
  
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• Politicians make an easy target from the touchline

  10-11-2017 15:07
  In football as in politics, you need to position yourself before you can really mess up
  
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• This Is How To Eat Sustainably When You Live In The City

  10-11-2017 15:06
  You want to eat sustainably. I want to eat sustainably. We all want to eat sustainably.But while we can do the obvious, (more plants, less livestock; no strawberries from South Africa) if you live in a city, your life is likely to be more 7pm dashes to Tesco Metro, less rummaging at the farmer's market for charmingly misshapen parsnips.You've also probably got half a metre of concrete masquerading as your garden, (as convincingly as strips of butternut squash telling you that they're 'spaghetti'
  
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• Giles Coren. Again

  10-11-2017 15:05
  It is rare these days that I get so incensed that I stop what I am doing and start bashing out a blog post. Ferociously bashing away at the keys, raging inside so much that the words spill out onto the screen and I hit publish the instant it is finished. But here we are again Giles Coren. Here we are again. I was pissed at you a while ago when you were on your high horse about "tattooed fatties in Plymouth" and now here we are again.This time you have written in Esquire about, well, here is the
  
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• UK Weather: Met Office Forecasts An Arctic Blast With Some Snow

  10-11-2017 15:02
  Prepare to engage in full hibernation mode – this weekend is, aptly for November, going to be wet and cold with a chance of snow.While Friday has been largely fine and dry with some showers in Scotland, a band of wet weather is moving across the west, bringing a grey, soggy start to south and central England and Wales on Saturday morning.Things will be looking brighter in Scotland and Northern Ireland, though there will be some showers along the coast.An Arctic Maritime air mass will move
  
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