Political news

• Brexit: cabinet seeks to present united front after Hammond spat

  26-01-2018 23:03 via theguardian.com
  Downing Street attempts to ease Tory tensions after chancellor calls for ‘middle way’ after backlashTheresa May’s cabinet has attempted to paper over its divisions on Brexit as Philip Hammond urged both sides of the Conservative party to seek a “middle way”. A spokesman for the prime minister insisted that she had full confidence in her chancellor, despite distancing herself from remarks he made in Davos on Thursday, where he said the UK should seek to diverge only
  
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• Dan Jarvis Applies For Labour's South Yorkshire 'Metro Mayoralty' Selection

  26-01-2018 22:50
  Former shadow minister Dan Jarvis has applied to become South Yorkshire’s new “metro mayor”, HuffPost UK has been told.The Barnsley MP, who at one stage was tipped as a future Labour leader, has joined former minister Richard Caborn and local councillor Ben Curran on the list of contenders for his party’s selection contest, party sources said.The election for the newly-created South Yorkshire mayoralty takes place in May along with other local elections across the country
  
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• ‘Golden era’ of UK-China trade links in peril

  26-01-2018 22:22 via ft.com
  May visit comes amid disagreements over Beijing’s overseas investment drive
  
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• John Worboys' Prison Release Halted So Victims' Legal Challenge Can Be Heard

  26-01-2018 22:19
  The release of black cab rapist John Worboys has been halted so a legal challenge to it by two of his victims can be heard.Worboys, 60, who attacked more than 100 women but was only convicted of attacks on 19, is due to be released after a decade in prison, amid intense public anger.Lawyer Harriet Wistrich said an “urgent application” had been made to the High Court on behalf of two of his victims for a stay of his release pending a further permission hearing.“Update - we have
  
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• Can Theresa May survive as prime minister?

  26-01-2018 21:28 via ft.com
  No 10’s policy vacuum on Brexit risks causing irreparable damage
  
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• Theresa May helped to scrap anti-sexual harassment law

  26-01-2018 21:08 via ft.com
  Lawyers say clause would have given Presidents Club hostesses more protection
  
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• David Davis seeks Brexit transition agreement in March

  26-01-2018 20:01 via ft.com
  EU urged not to use 2-year period to impose laws on Britain
  
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• Barry And Honey Sherman Were Murdered, Police Announce

  26-01-2018 19:32
  Canadian pharmaceutical billionaire Barry Sherman and his wife Honey’s deaths were murder, Canadian police announced on Friday, but no one has been charged in their deaths.“Through the six weeks of work review we have sufficient evidence to describe this as a double homicide investigation,” Detective Sergeant Susan Gomes told reporters at a press conference Friday afternoon, according to Global News.A post-mortem examination found the Shermans died of “ligature neck compr
  
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• One Call fined £684,000 for mismanaging client money

  26-01-2018 19:28 via ft.com
  FCA to implement temporary ban on part of insurance intermediary’s business
  
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• Gavin Williamson: ruthless, brilliant and a little bit Alan Partridge

  26-01-2018 19:15 via theguardian.com
  Defence secretary’s rapid rise has some calling him a future party leader, but not everyone has welcomed him inFar from uniquely in Westminster, Gavin Williamson’s self-image doesn’t always accord with how others see him. The 41-year-old defence secretary cultivates the aura of a modern-day Machiavelli, with a pet tarantula in a tank in his office signifying a ruthless approach to his enemies.The biggest noise he has made so far at the Ministry of Defence was his blood-curdling
  
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• Defence secretary refuses to answer questions about relationship with past colleague

  26-01-2018 19:15 via theguardian.com
  Gavin Williamson tells Mail of relationship hours after his lawyers refuse to answer Guardian questionsGavin Williamson, the defence secretary, has refused to answer a series of questions about the circumstances surrounding a relationship with a colleague which he disclosed in a Daily Mail interview.Williamson, who has been tipped as a future prime minister, gave the interview during a day of frenetic activity during which he also made a keynote speech to parliament and raised eyebrows with an i
  
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• Martin Rowson on Theresa May and the Tory Brexit revolt – cartoon

  26-01-2018 19:08 via theguardian.com
  Continue reading...
  
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• Thurrock's 17 UKIP councillors all resign from party

  26-01-2018 18:56 via bbc.co.uk
  All of Thurrock Council's 17 UKIP councillors leave and form a new opposition party.
  
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• Donald Trump prepared to apologise for Britain First retweets

  26-01-2018 18:54 via bbc.co.uk
  The US president says he knew nothing about Britain First before retweeting the group's videos.
  
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• Ukip Loses All 17 Councillors In Thurrock, As They Ditch Party To Form New Local Group

  26-01-2018 18:46
  All 17 Ukip councillors on an Essex council have quit the party and formed a new group, denouncing the “bitter reality of party politics”.As the party’s leader of four months Henry Bolton clings on despite a vote of no confidence, the Thurrock councillors suddenly announced on Friday they were quitting to form an independent local party for the area.The defectors include MEP Tim Aker, a key member of the party who stood for the seat in the 2017 general election and was a policy
  
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• Picture perfect

  26-01-2018 18:33 via bbc.co.uk
  Could the picture-sharing app become politicians' social media platform of choice?
  
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• Bid to re-run Unite leadership election begins

  26-01-2018 18:23 via bbc.co.uk
  A judge will examine defeated candidate Gerard Coyne's claims the poll should not have taken place.
  
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• David Davis plays down Tory row over Brexit transition

  26-01-2018 18:22 via bbc.co.uk
  David Davis says there is "no difference" between him and the chancellor over their transition aims.
  
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• Tessa Jowell is right about cancer treatment: Britain must do better | Christina Patterson

  26-01-2018 18:18 via theguardian.com
  Her fearless speech was also a reasonable demand for more shared knowledge, faster diagnosis and wider access to experimental treatmentsOn 24 May last year, Tessa Jowell found she could not speak. Two days later, she was diagnosed with a brain tumour. Two weeks after that, the tumour was cut out. Six months on, she can’t say she was cured, but she sure as hell could speak this week.“I don’t think I immediately leapt to the inevitability of cancer,” she told Nick Robinson
  
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• For Fundraisers, The Presidents Club Is An Extreme Example Of Appalling Behaviour - But Far From A One-Off

  26-01-2018 18:18
  This week’s press coverage of the Presidents Club has cast light into yet another dark corner of society. The initial story in Tuesday’s Financial Times shocked. The stories that continue to emerge appal. The catalogue of awful behaviour is an extreme example but not a one-off.  Anyone who has attended or worked at a charity ball will recognise much of it. Many women working in fundraising will have followed the revelations and thought ‘me too.’ A
  
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• For Fundraisers, The Presidents Club Is An Extreme Example Of Appalling Behaviour

  26-01-2018 18:18
  This week’s press coverage of the Presidents Club has cast light into yet another dark corner of society. The initial story in Tuesday’s Financial Times shocked. The stories that continue to emerge appal.The catalogue of awful behaviour is an extreme example but not a one-off.  Anyone who has attended or worked at a charity ball will recognise much of it. Many women working in fundraising will have followed the revelations and thought ‘me too.’ As one
  
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• Davos: the latest humiliation in Britain’s rolling cycle of indignity | Marina Hyde

  26-01-2018 18:14 via theguardian.com
  From Theresa May’s sparsely attended speech to David Cameron’s brush-off by Lakshmi Mittal, it was all excruciatingGavin Williamson is so desperate to be prime minister that he’s done a kiss-and-tell on a Scarborough fireplace saleswoman. Stay classy, secretary of state! It helps to consider the Tories as not simply the natural party of government, but also the natural party of dignity. You should particularly admire the way that Gavin tried to distract us from his kiss-and-tel
  
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• Warnings over proposed 500% council tax rise in Yorkshire Dales

  26-01-2018 18:13 via ft.com
  Park authority wants to multiply levy on second homes to force out occasional residents
  
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• Men (Still) Behaving Badly

  26-01-2018 17:58
  They just don’t get it, do they?‘One longstanding attendee said it was “a boys’ night out” and compared it to “a rugby club dinner”.’‘These are not underage girls. They are all over 18 ... They all know it’s a bit racy.’‘The girls were told to wear short skirts and sexy underwear and sign a non-disclosure agreement. Where on earth did they think they would be working, a vicar’s tea party?’And more, much more, in
  
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• Chicken safety scandal: government failed to take ‘definite action’, say MPs

  26-01-2018 17:55 via theguardian.com
  Parliamentary committee says no concrete steps have been taken to improve food inspection regime despite inquiry The government has failed to take “definite action” following a parliamentary inquiry last year into food standards at the country’s largest supplier of supermarket chicken, a committee of MPs has said.The environment, food and rural affairs (Efra) committee is pressing Whitehall to implement specific recommendations to improve the wider food standards inspection reg
  
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• The Guardian view on Theresa May’s government: divided they drift | Editorial

  26-01-2018 17:52 via theguardian.com
  The crowds turned out for Donald Trump in Davos, but not for Theresa May. The reason is simple. Her government embodies a national decision that Britain does not wish to be taken seriously in the worldSolipsistic, dangerous and unpredictable as ever, Donald Trump commanded centre stage at Davos on Friday. Sober, conscientious and careful as ever, Theresa May played only a walk-on part when she made her own visit to the World Economic Forum earlier in the week. In one sense, it is no surprise tha
  
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• Donald Trump Shouldn't Be Invited To Prince Harry And Meghan Markle's Wedding, Say 69% Of Brits

  26-01-2018 17:48
  More than two thirds of Britons oppose inviting Donald Trump to Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s wedding, a poll has revealed.Some 69% think the US President should not go to the wedding in Windsor on May 19, compared with just 23% who thought he should.Even if ex-president Barack Obama, a friend of Harry’s, were invited, 54% of people would still oppose inviting Trump, the Ipsos Mori poll found.Women are much likely to oppose Trump’s invitation - 78% compared with 58
  
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• What Phil Neville’s Hiring Says To Young Women Like Me

  26-01-2018 17:37
  Another week, another controversy. It seems we can’t go even a day without someone’s digital past coming back to haunt them. On this week’s edition of Twitter Sexist of the Week? Phil Neville, the newly appointed manager of the England women’s football team.Neville has come under fire for such comments, made on Twitter some years ago, as “just battered the wife” and “women [have] always wanted equality until it comes to paying the bills”. He also e
  
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• 'We're not morons': Brexit divisions harden across Britain

  26-01-2018 17:31 via theguardian.com
  Guardian reporters speak to voters in Mansfield, Bristol, Torbay and Leeds about their post-referendum positions
  Brexit: Britons favour second referendum by 16-point margin – pollWhen Marvin Salisbury was growing up in Mansfield, the market packed the town square and stretched far up the surrounding streets. “There were proper butchers’ stalls, fish, everything,” the former miner said, sitting in the winter sunshine outside the town hall. “You could get anything you
  
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• Labour support on rise for rethink of leaving EU, survey finds

  26-01-2018 17:31 via theguardian.com
  Guardian/ICM poll shows nearly as many of its leave voters back second referendum as oppose itLabour voters are becoming increasingly receptive to reconsidering Brexit, according to a poll that shows even many leave supporters are growing more comfortable with the idea of a second referendum.The findings of the Guardian/ICM survey may throw into sharp relief the continuing divide among Labour MPs over whether to support the government’s Brexit strategy or call for a wider rethink of the de
  
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• How Britain's views have changed – full Brexit poll results

  26-01-2018 17:31 via theguardian.com
  Guardian/ICM survey of more than 5,000 Britons shows a nation increasingly divided by age, region and partyAcross all respondents, excluding don’t knows, remain leads leave by 51% to 49%. However, the same ratio of responses was seen in 2016; that is, the sample had a slight remain bias against the result of the referendum. Opinion polls before the referendum also underestimated the leave vote. Continue reading...
  
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• Brexit: Britons favour second referendum by 16-point margin – poll

  26-01-2018 17:31 via theguardian.com
  Guardian/ICM survey finds rising interest in vote on final deal as concerns mount over EU talks
  Voters support the idea of holding a second EU referendum by a 16-point margin, according to one of the largest nationwide opinion polls since the Brexit vote.The ICM survey, conducted as part of a Guardian reporting project, found 47% of people would favour having a final say on Brexit once the terms of the UK’s departure are known, while 34% oppose reopening the question. Continue reading...
  
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• The Government Says It's Committed To Halving Rough Sleeping - This Week's Numbers Tell A Different Story

  26-01-2018 17:23
  Let’s run through some news you may have missed in the last couple of weeks. In Bournemouth, a coroner launched an investigation after a rough sleeper, identified as Kev, was found dead in a carpark. Near Maidstone, two men were jailed for killing 21-year-old Razvan Sirbu who had been living in a tent.These two stories highlight the often frightening reality of sleeping rough. The fact that anyone is forced to sleep on the streets in 2018 is a stark and painful reminder of t
  
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• Google Now Lets You Hide Those Creepy Ads That Follow You Around The Web

  26-01-2018 17:19
  Ever looked at something online and then immediately started seeing adverts for it all over the internet? Well we’re here to confirm that it’s not divine intervention, it is in fact a little tool known as Google Ads.These ads actually have a name, they’re called ‘Reminder ads’ and they exist to literally remind you of something you’d seen earlier but clearly decided not to buy.How it works is remarkably simple, you simply go onto a website that supports Google
  
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• Teaching Has Become A Toxic Profession

  26-01-2018 17:10
  Recently constantly juggling family life and being a teacher has taken its toll. But I can’t work out why.  Family life is the same as ever – a mixture of chaos and cuddles – and on the face of it my job is the easiest its ever been. My timetable is lovely.  The students are lovely.  My colleagues are lovely. So everything is lovely, right?Wrong. To paraphrased Hamlet – there is something rotten in the state of education and it is draining many members of t
  
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• Employing Disabled People Like Me Isn't An Act Of Charity

  26-01-2018 17:08
  After being diagnosed with a chronic illness halfway through my time at university, one of my biggest achievements to date has been continuing my studies, and graduating with a 2:1 BSc degree from a Russell Group institution in 2016. What I didn’t know at the time was that this was only the beginning of the battle; that the subsequent search for accessible employment opportunities would be even more difficult to navigate.We’re now into 2018, and what the world needs more than ever is
  
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• Theresa May is coming home to Brexit’s toxic transatlantic trade-off | Letters

  26-01-2018 17:05 via theguardian.com
  Theresa May’s new invitation to Donald Trump is a sign of her desperation, according to Glyn Roberts. Plus advice for the prime minister from Les Bright, and Roy BoffyNews that Downing Street is preparing for a visit to Britain by Donald Trump in 2018 (Report, 26 January) will herald a PR drive by the UK government to sanitise the US president’s tarnished image for public consumption. Boris Johnson struck an early blow in this “manufacturing consent” campaign earlier this
  
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• Will Smart Cities Inevitably Worsen Social Inequality?

  26-01-2018 17:04
  Our world is becoming more unequal. The disparities are perhaps most evident in our cities, where rich and poor are often neighbours, with slums standing in the shadow of skyscrapers. Large cities are less equal than the nations that host them – as well as being more unequal than smaller towns.While smart cities can potentially benefit all citizens through increased efficiency, critics say that the application of digital technologies in the urban realm – far from addressing these div
  
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• McDonnell takes aim at “big four” accountancy firms

  26-01-2018 16:58 via bbc.co.uk
  The Shadow Chancellor says accountants must work to maximise the amount of tax their clients pay.
  
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• Is Faux Fur As Bad As Real Fur?

  26-01-2018 16:57
  Faux fur is poised to be one of this year’s biggest fashion trends.Italian fashion house Gucci removed fur completely from its S/S18 collection, saying it “was not modern” and that it was looking to find more creative ideas in its place.Michael Kors also followed suit, joining luxury brands Calvin Klein, Giorgio Armani, Hugo Boss, Ralph Lauren, Tommy Hilfiger, Vivienne Westwood and of course Stella McCartney, who are all finding alternative ways to emulate fur without the cruel
  
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• 52 Baboons Break Out Of Paris Zoo

  26-01-2018 16:56
  More than fifty baboons reportedly escaped their enclosure at a zoo in Paris on Friday, prompting evacuation of the premises.The alarm was raised at the Paris Zoological Park when an employee bumped into one of the monkeys in a corridor.Le Parisiene writes 52 of the animals escaped in total and that 48 were captured using a net shortly afterwards.Suite à une échappée de #babouins dans le Grand rocher, la situation a été mise sous contrôle : l'ensemble du
  
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• Harry Kane Reveals Fianceé Katie Goodland Is Pregnant With Their Second Child

  26-01-2018 16:28
  Harry Kane is going to be a dad-of-two.The Tottenham and England footballer, 24, who already has a one-year-old daughter called Ivy with his fianceé Katie Goodland, shared a photo on Twitter to announce the news. “Our beautiful Ivy is going to be a big sister,” Kane wrote on 26 January. ”Exciting times ahead!”Our beautiful Ivy is going to be a big sister!Exciting times ahead!@KateGoodlandx#bigsister#pregnant#familypic.twitter.com/f9Z00sAUcN— Harry Kane (
  
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• Ancestry of Johnson, May, Corbyn and Cable

  26-01-2018 16:23 via bbc.co.uk
  A genealogist says the PM's background was "very ordinary" while Jeremy Corbyn was "very much a man of the people".
  
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• Laura Plummer, Briton Jailed In Egypt Over Illegal Painkillers, ‘To Be Freed After Pardon’

  26-01-2018 16:14
  A British woman jailed in Egypt for bringing painkillers in her luggage is reportedly to be freed within the next two days.Laura Plummer’s family told The Sun she is to be pardoned from serving the rest of her three-year sentence for having 290 Tramadol tablets, which are banned in Egypt.The newspaper says President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, who can issue pardons to prisoners as part of Egypt’s Revolution Day celebrations, is expected to announce her release on Saturday.Plummer’s s
  
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• UK defence secretary is scaremongering about Russia - energy experts

  26-01-2018 16:13 via theguardian.com
  Gavin Williamson said disruption to UK electricity interconnectors by Russia would cause chaosExperts have accused the UK defence secretary of scaremongering by claiming a Russian disruption of Britain’s electricity interconnectors to Europe would cause chaos and kill thousands of people.Gavin Williamson told the Daily Telegraph that Moscow was looking at energy cables and pipelines between the UK and the EU, and sabotage could come by a cyber-attack, missile or undersea activity. Continue
  
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• MPs call for British ban on Hezbollah's political wing.

  26-01-2018 16:02 via bbc.co.uk
  Hezbollah's militant wing is classed as a separate organisation, and is banned in Britain, but that distinction is criticised by backbenchers.
  
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• Julian Assange Arrest Warrant Judgment Due Next Month After Five-Year Embassy Standoff With Police

  26-01-2018 15:51
  Julian Assange will learn next month if the warrant for his arrest will be dropped, after his five-year standoff with police.A court heard the Wikileaks founder was suffering from depression, a frozen shoulder and painful toothache after hiding in Ecuador’s London embassy from rape allegations and arrest for skipping bail since 2012.His lawyer told Westminster Magistrates’ Court the arrest warrant for the bail issue should be dismissed, as Swedish prosecutors had dropped their invest
  
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• As A Child I Took The NHS For Granted - Can Future Generations Afford To Do The Same?

  26-01-2018 15:50
  A service that meets the needs of everyone, is free at the point of delivery and based on clinical need – three core principles that have defined our National Health Service since its establishment in 1948. For the first time in my life, I worry whether this can and will be maintained.I was born in Newham General Hospital 50 years after Bevan and Attlee created the NHS. My parents had moved to the UK in search of a better life and being able to have their first child in a safe, clean hospi
  
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• Donald Trump Booed At Davos, Fox News Host Insists It Didn't Happen

  26-01-2018 15:46
  Donald Trump was booed during a Q&A session at Davos after he attacked the “vicious” and “fake” media.Speaking at the World Economic Forum (WEF) annual meeting, the US President stayed on script during his main speech to a room full of the very global elite he railed against during his election.But during apparently ad-libbed comments afterwards, he said: “It wasn’t until I became a politician that I realised how nasty, how mean, how vicious and how fake t
  
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• This ‘Witch Hunt’ Is The Most Important Women’s Movement Of This Century

  26-01-2018 15:42
  I have been harassed. On numerous occasions, by numerous people, in numerous locations, against numerous contexts. Some, I remember distinctly. Others, I’ve forgotten. That is not to say that those experiences were not disturbing, or significant; rather, only that my life, like many women’s lives, has been, almost routinely, punctuated by acts of harassment. The findings of the Fawcett Society’s Sex Discrimination Law Review (SDLR), though at first blush depressing, do not surp
  
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