Political news

• PM 'cheering on' Debbie McGee on Strictly Come Dancing

  30-11-2017 23:28 via bbc.co.uk
  Theresa May says her constituent is doing very well on BBC dance show.
  
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• DUP Threatens To Pull Support For Conservative Government Over Irish Border Deal

  30-11-2017 23:14
  The Democratic Unionist Party has warned it may withdraw its support for Theresa May’s government if Northern Ireland is treated as a separate customs and trading regime after Brexit.DUP MP Sammy Wilson suggested any attempt to “placate Dublin and the EU” over the Irish border could mean its ten MPs no longer prop up the Tories at Westminster.The party ratcheted up the pressure on Thursday amid attempts to avoid a deadlock over a potential “hard border” between the
  
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• NHS leaders warn cash shortfall means missed waiting-time targets

  30-11-2017 22:51 via ft.com
  Gauntlet thrown down to ministers on impact of continued austerity after Budget
  
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• Unionists warn May over Brexit Irish border talks

  30-11-2017 21:25 via ft.com
  DUP insists N Ireland must not be treated differently to rest of UK
  
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• Bath University's Six-Figure 'Golden Goodbye' Deal For Vice Chancellor Glynis Breakwell Sparks Huge Student Protest

  30-11-2017 21:21
  Hundreds of outraged Bath University students have marched through campus to protest the six-figure “golden goodbye” handed to the UK’s highest paid vice chancellor after she agreed to stand down amid a major row over pay.Waving banners and letting off coloured flares, crowds called for Professor Dame Glynis Breakwell - whose £470,000-a-year salary and benefits package amounts to three times that of the Prime Minister - to be ousted from her post immediately.“We are
  
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• Mocked By Cameron For His Suit, Now Jeremy Corbyn's A GQ Cover Star

  30-11-2017 21:00
  David Cameron once chastised him for dressing so shabbily the then Prime Minister’s mother would order him to “put on a proper suit [and] do up his tie”.But now, wearing a perfectly-fitted Marks and Spencer two-piece with a bold, brilliantly red tie, Jeremy Corbyn’s a GQ cover star.It’s a transformation befitting the tumult unleashed upon British politics since Cameron mocked his opponent during PMQs in February 2016.At the time, the topic of controversy w
  
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• Jeremy Corbyn tells Morgan Stanley: 'You're right, we are a threat'

  30-11-2017 21:00
  Labour leader hits back after investment bank warned clients his party could pose as much of a risk to UK business as BrexitJeremy Corbyn has told Morgan Stanley it is right to regard him as a threat, after the investment bank warned its clients that a Labour government could pose as much of a risk to British business as Brexit.The Labour leader hit back on Thursday, accusing Morgan Stanley of being part of the same “speculators and gamblers who crashed our economy in 2008”. In a vid
  
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• Corbyn lashes out at financial sector ‘speculators and gamblers’

  30-11-2017 21:00 via ft.com
  UK Labour leader singles out Morgan Stanley and warns he is a ‘threat’ to big banks
  
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• Donald Trump's Toxic Tweets Won't Ruin Britain And America's 'Special Relationship'

  30-11-2017 20:35
  Britain’s “Special Relationship” with America looks like it’s in trouble and looks is the operative word.America and Britain have had close operational ties on defence, security and intelligence in the decades since Winston Churchill coined the phrase in 1946, just after a devasting world war left Britain weaker and America emboldened.The US is Britain’s biggest trading partner outside the EU and the countries invest more than a trillion dollars in each other every
  
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• I have made my position on Trump clear, said May. Except she hadn't | John Crace

  30-11-2017 19:30
  PM faces barrage of questions on Jordan trip about president’s tweets as parliament shows the leadership she could notTheresa May made little effort to conceal her boredom long before she neared the halfway mark. Her voice became even more of a robotic monotone, her expression near dead. She’d hoped her speech on foreign policy in the Middle East and Britain’s exciting post-Brexit trading opportunities with Jordan would re-establish her as a global player, but since no one else
  
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• The UK’s new plan to fix the creaking railways

  30-11-2017 19:11 via ft.com
  It is not clear government has the answers to problems long foretold
  
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• Apple (RED) Raised The Equivalent Of 144 Million Days Of Lifesaving AIDS Medication In 2017

  30-11-2017 18:55
  In 2017 Apple’s Product (RED) partnership has raised the equivalent of 144 million days of lifesaving AIDS medication.That marks a new record for the company’s decade-long partnership with the AIDS charity and brings the grand total raised by the silicon valley giant to $160 million over the past 11 years.Apple donates money to (RED) through a product partnership that lets customers buy Product (RED) versions of Apple’s best-selling gadgets and accessories.This includes cases,
  
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• Uber Faces More Awkward Questions Over Safety Of Drivers And Passengers

  30-11-2017 18:54
  Uber faces questions over protection offered to drivers who work more than 60 hours a week amid fears passenger safety is being put at risk.Rachel Reeves, chair of the Commons Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy committee, has written to the taxi tech firm to clarify its policies for those who work much longer than the typical working week.Responding to an earlier submission of evidence from Uber, the Labour MP wrote (pdf): “I would be grateful if you could update the Committee on the
  
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• 9 (Other) Times Donald Trump Insulted The UK

  30-11-2017 18:37
  The President of the United States managed to surprise everyone once again this week, by publicly rebuking Theresa May.The PM criticised Trump for retweeting three propaganda videos from far-right group Britain First, prompting another online outburst in which he essentially told her to mind her own business..@Theresa_May, don’t focus on me, focus on the destructive Radical Islamic Terrorism that is taking place within the United Kingdom. We are doing just fine!November 30, 2017
  With the h
  
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• The Cost Of Loss

  30-11-2017 18:33
  I’ve just done my tax return. You wouldn’t expect a tax return to be a trigger for grief but it was. Being a hapless artist, I’m not finely attuned to financial cycles but I realised today that I lost my boyfriend right at the end of the last tax year. So as I trawled through all of the papers that I’d stuffed in boxes (mostly unopened envelopes), trying to remember what I’d earned and when, I had a trip down the fiscal memory lane of my first year of agonising grie
  
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• An Open Letter To The Girl Who Just Attempted Suicide

  30-11-2017 18:32
  Trigger warning: If you have personal experience of suicide or suicidal depression then you may find this post upsetting. If you’re currently struggling with suicidal thoughts and you’re in danger then please call 999 and request an ambulance immediately.My dear girlAs I write this letter to you, I have tears pricking the back of my eyes. My heart hurts thinking of you lying in that hospital bed.Because last night you tried to take your life. It was your fourth time. And it was your
  
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• The Slave Auctions In Libya Are Proof Of The Development Crisis In Africa

  30-11-2017 18:31
  Migration is an issue that has forever been so close to my heart, and hearing of the atrocities going on in Libya made me feel so heavy and disgusted. But what a lot of people don’t realise is that the horrific issue of slave auctions in Libya is part of the ongoing development crisis in Africa. The inhumane, brutal and sickening treatment of these individuals is not just a backward leap into a dark historic path but also serves as a reminder of the role of Africans and traditional rulers
  
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• Remembering A Loss On World AIDS Day

  30-11-2017 18:29
  It’s taken 12 years to write this. Every time World AIDS Day looms I think about it. I think about it the rest of the time, too. 2005 unleashed the most calamitous experience of my life (and that’s comparing it to falling 40 feet and breaking my back in 2012). I’d never seen a lifeless body before and there he was, Miguel, the one I loved, with a startled expression, mouth ajar, one arm raised as if readying itself to clutch at the last traces of life. I held his unyielding han
  
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• Brexit powers talks end without agreement

  30-11-2017 18:24 via bbc.co.uk
  Talks over the transfer of EU powers to Scotland break up without a deal - although both sides say progress had been made.
  
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• Brexit Briefing: EU All Saw That Coming

  30-11-2017 18:23
  The EU talked about €100bn, UK brexiteers didn’t want to pay anything, and well knock me down with a feather if they haven’t met halfway.It was reported this week that a figure of €50billion has been agreed between Brussels and Britain as the amount which needs to be handed over after Brexit.While no one has officially confirmed the deal, there are enough nods, winks and background briefings from various Brussels correspondents to suggest this is the real deal.Crucially, it
  
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• My Worlds AIDS Day Challenge to Penny: Don’t Let This Drop

  30-11-2017 18:05
  Our new Secretary of State for International Development, Penny Mordaunt, has been in her new role for less than a month. But World AIDS Day provides an early opportunity for her to make her mark on what could be one of the greatest global achievements of the 21st Century - the ending of AIDS as public health threat.The road has been long. Thirty years ago, the outbreak spun out of control and we lost too many lives through ignorance, stigma and slow medical progress. But the fightback has been
  
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• Smile Like You Mean It

  30-11-2017 18:03
  Some monsters don’t lurk under your bed; they lay right beside you in it.I’ll be honest with you, I wasn’t the coolest kid growing up. I’ve never had a ‘squad’ and I’ve always been more geek life than thug life. While everyone wore their Take That and Party t-shirts I was writing to my East 17 K9 pen pal #RestUponMyChest.When it came to the age of sexual maturity I was left behind in the wilderness as my friends coupled off.I’d been called so many
  
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• Benetton Re-Appoints Controversial Art Director Oliviero Toscani

  30-11-2017 18:02
  The art director behind some of advertising’s most controversial campaigns now has a fresh chance to woo a new generation.Oliviero Toscani produced campaigns for Benetton from 1986 to 2000 and his work was certainly iconic.One advert featured a newborn baby, still attached to the umbilical cord and covered in blood, and many will remember the poster featuring a pastor kissing a nun, which reportedly outraged the Vatican in 1992. Toscani has now been re-appointed as art director at Ben
  
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• Finding Alien Life Just Got A Lot Harder

  30-11-2017 17:51
  Our search for alien life has always been generally founded on the idea that whatever type of habitable atmosphere we discover, the chances are it’ll look vaguely similar to our own.Well now a simulation by researchers has shown that it could be a lot more complex than that.Looking at two very promising planets TRAPPIST-1d and Proxima b both are examples of planets that orbit their host star in a lightning quick 25 days or less.As a side-effect of this, one side of the planet is permanentl
  
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• Girls Aged 16-17 Are Among Highest Users Of NHS Mental Health Services

  30-11-2017 17:49
  Young women aged 16 and 17 were the most likely to have had an NHS referral for mental health, learning disability or autism services last year out of all young people, and among the highest service users across the population.For the first time, NHS Digital’s annual report on these services has included referral statistics for under 18s.According to the figures, 11% of girls aged 16-17 in England are known to have had an open referral for NHS secondary mental health, learning disabilities
  
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• Five Simple Ways To Empower Your Health

  30-11-2017 17:48
  On paper (or computer screen) I should be the last person to write a health blog as firstly, I’m a type 2 diabetic. However, after our son was born I decided to do something about it and lost a lot of weight and became... a health bore, telling even just casual acquaintances how much sugar is in things.Secondly, sometimes my factual articles can come across as patronising, smug, condescending and occasionally just plain rude. Quite an achievement to get all four into one article.For the fi
  
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• If Post-natal-depression Was A Male Issue It Would Be Higher On The Agenda?

  30-11-2017 17:41
  Last week I have the privilege of attending a session in Westminster on the importance of mental health provision during pregnancy. It was attended by about 200 mental health advocates - ranging from doctors, midwives and health visitors, to social media influencers and MPs.One of the speakers - from the Royal College of Midwives stated controversially that “if PND was a male issue it would be sorted by now”. The room buzzed with agreement and nods.I have to say I was nodding along t
  
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• Trump's tweets and the Irish border – Politics Weekly podcast

  30-11-2017 17:40
  Anushka Asthana is joined by Andrew Lilico, Polly Toynbee, Brian Klaas and Brendan Cox to discuss outrage at President Trump’s sharing of anti-Muslim videos. Plus RTE’s Tony Connelly on the Irish border and BrexitA series of presidential tweets have caused an unprecedented diplomatic incident between Britain and the US. Donald Trump shared anti-Muslim videos from the account of a leader of a far-right UK party prompting outrage in Britain and America alike. So should his state visit
  
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• Health Foods Or Stealth Foods?

  30-11-2017 17:36
   One of the main problems I come across with my clients is food, or, the inability to cook and prepare food. I’m one of those weird types that has no issue cooking and preparing food in advance and eating out of Tupperware as and when I have to. I recognise that not everyone has to be like me, but it makes so much more sense to be in control of your food if you are actively trying to manage your input. This leads me on nicely to convenience health foods.There are a multitude of compan
  
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• Girls Aloud's 15th Anniversary: 15 Iconic Moments That Earned The 'Popstars' Winners Their Place In Pop Culture History

  30-11-2017 17:28
  Exactly fifteen years ago three talent show hopefuls - Cheryl Tweedy, Kimberley Walsh, Nicola  Roberts, Sarah Harding and Nadine Coyle - were thrust together to form a band called Girls Aloud. Little did ‘Popstars: The Rivals’ viewers, realise the group would go on to become one of the most important pop acts of the 21st century, as well as one of the best girl bands of all time. And while they called time on their chart reign four years ago now (where did that time go
  
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• More Than Half A Million Kids Have Been Referred To Mental Health Services, And This Is Just The Tip Of The Iceberg

  30-11-2017 17:27
  Children’s mental health statistics have been included in NHS Digital’s annual Mental Health Bulletin for the first time.The report includes a breakdown of statistics on the number of kids and young people who have been referred to NHS-funded secondary mental health, autism and learning disabilities services in England.Out of the 2.6 million people known to have been referred to these three services in 2016/17, 556,790 were under 18.However, the report hinted that the
  
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• Supporting Parents With PTSD After A Traumatic Birth

  30-11-2017 17:23
  You may have seen the BBC article recently stating “more than a third of mothers have experienced mental health issues and 17% of fathers.”I am one of those women. I have experienced post natal depression and post traumatic stress disorder following a traumatic birth. I did not get the right support I should have from my midwifery team during or after birth.I am writing this article to share my experience of PTSD and explain how I got the help and support I should have rece
  
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• Kellogg's Axed Ricicles And The Internet's In Mourning

  30-11-2017 17:19
  Thursday 30 November marked a very sad day indeed: Kellogg’s announced it would be ditching Ricicles from its cereal family. Forever.Most people haven’t eaten Ricicles in years and it’s arguably the least popular cereal in variety packs, but that didn’t stop the internet from being thrown into a state of shock and panic.The move is part of the brand’s commitment to tackling obesity by slashing the amount of sugar in its cereals by up to 40%. Unfortunately, Ricicles
  
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• Dear Louise Thompson, This Is What 'Body Positivity' Really Means

  30-11-2017 17:19
  The body positivity movements sticks two fingers up to narrow beauty ideals: it’s about body acceptance, celebrating diversity and shutting out negativity.What it’s absolutely not about is fuelling the relentless pursuit of society’s definition of ‘perfection’, that one-size-fits-all (read: slim, toned) body type that’s so often idolised by the media. But is the popularity of the movement leading to its eventual demise? The term, once a rad
  
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• Friends forever?

  30-11-2017 17:10 via bbc.co.uk
  Could a war of words between Theresa May and Donald Trump damage US-UK relations?
  
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• Where's My Fairy Tale? Why It's A Bad Idea To Wait For Prince Charming

  30-11-2017 17:08
  Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have agreed to tie the knot, sparking reams of copy about fairy tales. But if you’re holding out for your Prince or Princess Charming, you could be in for a long wait.I’m speaking from experience.For years, I searched for ‘The One’. I waited for that moment when I would just know that I’d met the man I would spend the rest of my life with. I held out for the guy who would tick all or most of my boxes. I dated a lot but nobody matched u
  
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• Theresa May says Trump’s Britain First retweet ‘was wrong’

  30-11-2017 17:05 via ft.com
  UK government refuses to call off state visit despite backlash from MPs
  
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• Ways To Help With Depression: Yoga

  30-11-2017 17:01
  Before I start, I will admit to being relatively new to the yoga game. As of this writing, I’ve only been to five one-hour classes. But I do have over 31 hours of yoga completed on the Daily Yoga app (highly recommend it!). So I’ve done enough to be able to feel the benefits.For me, yoga combines two things that I find incredibly beneficial to mental health: exercise and meditation.Not only that, but it’s something that I initially sucked at. Don’t get me wrong, I’m
  
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• Maison Talbooth And Le Talbooth - Essex Beauties For Discerning Families

  30-11-2017 16:55
  It’s been a while since we visited a Milsom’s Hotel. One child later and here we are back at this boutique hotel group’s flagship property, Maison Talbooth. It’s actually a stroke of luck that they are perpetually booked throughout the summer months - its 12 luxurious bedrooms make it  feel more like a  home than a hotel and its garden, cosy spa, gorgeous outdoor pool (heated to a bath-like temperature of 85 degrees all year round) and pool house complete with r
  
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• How To Parent Like It's The Christmas Of 1986

  30-11-2017 16:40
  The summer has well and truly left us but now it’s time to cosy up and get ready for Christmas. Forget Elf on the Shelf, ice skating and booking Santa visits in August (we have all done that once), here’s how I remember Christmas in the 80s.StockingsStockings should be knitted or your Dad’s football sock. This should be stuffed with “smellies”, bubble bath or even bath pearls shaped as various animals, stars and maybe something Christmas themed. A big tube of fruit
  
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• Volunteers Fundraising To Give Every Child Affected By The Grenfell Tower Fire A Christmas Gift

  30-11-2017 16:36
  Children affected by the Grenfell tower fire will receive a special present for Christmas thanks to a fundraising appeal by a group of volunteers.The ‘Christmas for Grenfell’ appeal has been set up by volunteers affected by the fire, which killed 71 people and injured hundreds.Stevan Racz, whose uncle died in the fire, is one of the people behind the fundraiser. He began volunteering as a way of dealing with his grief.Racz said the appeal was set up after another volunteer, 
  
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• Being A Step-parent – What You May Want To Consider

  30-11-2017 16:36
  If you are a step-parent, congratulations!You are one hell of a person!You have taken on this role nothing could have prepared you for when – tadaaa! – you were presented with a little family in a box; an instant family.Becoming a step-parent comes with a range of challenges in the form of unknown territory paved with a few roadblocks. But don’t fret! As the saying goes“Behind a lot of great kids is a step-parent that stepped up, stepped in and gave a shit.”You have
  
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• Donald Trump’s UK state visit — a few teensy tweaks to the itinerary

  30-11-2017 16:34 via ft.com
  A top secret Foreign Office memo of the president’s plans has been fictionally leaked to the FT . . .
  
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• Traumatic Grief: The Ever-present Pain And How It Impacted Upon My Suicide Risk

  30-11-2017 16:28
  It has taken me five years to allow myself to think of my mother. Since her death in 2012 I have tried to shut out all thoughts of her during my waking hours. I dreamt about her most nights, though. In my dreams, she had somehow defied death. I knew she should be dead and didn’t understand how she was now alive. All I knew was that she was. Until the moment I awoke each morning.In recent weeks I have found myself thinking of conversations I had with my mum as a child. This small step is a
  
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• Prevent And The Rising Threat Of The Extreme Far-Right

  30-11-2017 16:24
  The latest data showing referrals to the Government’s counter-radicalisation Prevent programme, demonstrates a rising far-right risk that professionals including myself have been aware of for some time. In the year 2015/2016, one quarter of those supported by the Channel programme were as a result of far-right concerns. Indeed, for those of us who have been working side by side with community organisations for several years, this fact will not have come as much of a surprise. They confirm
  
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• The Beard Is Dead

  30-11-2017 16:22
  At men-ü, we recently conducted some extensive research into the grooming habits of men up and down the country and it revealed a number of interesting insights - none more so than those to do with the act of shaving.Recent years have seen an increase in the number of men opting for a beard, (reflected in a 5% decline in razor blade sales), but that looks like it may be changing. In fact, 60% of men in the UK now opt for a clean shaven look, whilst less than a quarter (23%) are bearded. Thi
  
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• MPs call for delay in change to UK injury payouts

  30-11-2017 16:18 via ft.com
  Setback for insurance industry case that compensation pushes up premiums
  
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• Talking My Health, My Rights On World AIDS Day

  30-11-2017 16:15
  Friday is World AIDS Day and this year’s motto is My Health, My Right. It might sound like a simple phrase but the UNAIDS theme for 1 December 2017 is actually sending us a powerful reminder. Your health is not just one metric, like your blood pressure or your heart rate. It is a combination of lots of very personal factors, including your sexual health.For us at ILGA-Europe, (the European Region of the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association) – the right
  
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• Noel Gallagher: Politicians are idiots

  30-11-2017 16:13 via bbc.co.uk
  The former Oasis star, currently promoting a new album, was talking to an online magazine.
  
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• Theresa May says she is not afraid to criticise Donald Trump

  30-11-2017 16:09
  British PM makes first personal response following US president’s retweeting of videos by far-right Britain First groupTheresa May has said she will not be afraid to criticise Donald Trump and the United States as she reiterated her criticism of his retweeting of the “hateful” far-right group Britain First. Related: Theresa May says Trump retweeting Britain First was 'wrong thing to do' – Politics liveContinue reading...
  
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