Political news

• Theresa May orders legal review of social media behaviour

  05-02-2018 23:30 via ft.com
  PM says political debate is being ‘coarsened’ by bitterness and abuse
  
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• Wall Street In Turmoil As Dow Jones Plummets 1,150 Points – Its Largest Single-Day Drop Ever

  05-02-2018 23:11
  US stocks plunged during a highly volatile day of Wall Street trading with the Dow Jones falling by more than 1,150 points, erasing all the gains it has made for the year.At the end of a rollercoaster day, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell by 1,175.21 points, or 4.6%, to 24,345.75.At one point, the Dow fell 6.3 percent or 1,597 points, as it breached both the 25,000 and 24,000 levels during trading.Fears of interest rate rises in the US in an effort to keep inflation under control  are
  
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• May’s Post-Brexit Customs Partnership Is ‘Unrealistic’, EU Officials Warn

  05-02-2018 21:10
  Brussels officials have dismissed Theresa May’s latest plan for a customs ‘partnership’ with the EU as “unrealistic” and warned that time is running out for her government to reveal what kind of Brexit it wants.As EU negotiator Michel Barnier declared barriers to trade would be ‘unavoidable’ if Britain left the EU customs union, senior officials told HuffPost UK that they were still waiting for clarity and precision from the UK.And they warned that May&r
  
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• May’s Post-Brexit Customs Partnership Plan Is ‘Unrealistic’, EU Officials Warn

  05-02-2018 21:02
  Brussels officials have dismissed Theresa May’s latest plan for a customs ‘partnership’ with the EU as “unrealistic” and warned that time is running out for her government to reveal what kind of Brexit it wants.As EU negotiator Michel Barnier declared barriers to trade would be ‘unavoidable’ if Britain left the EU customs union, senior officials told HuffPost UK that they were still waiting for clarity and precision from the UK.And they warned that May&r
  
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• East Coast mainline on brink of collapse, says Grayling

  05-02-2018 20:48 via ft.com
  Stagecoach/Virgin-run rail franchise faces option of state control
  
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• East Coast mainline on brink of collapse, admits Grayling

  05-02-2018 20:48 via ft.com
  Stagecoach/Virgin-run rail franchise faces option of state control
  
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• Theresa May Used Misleading NHS Figures To Attack Jeremy Corbyn, UK Statistics Watchdog Rules

  05-02-2018 20:23
  Theresa May has been rebuked by the head of the UK statistics watchdog for misusing NHS waiting times figures in Prime Minister’s Questions.Sir David Norgrove, chair of the UK Statistics Authority, said May’s comparisons between A&E waiting times in Wales and England were “not valid”.In an embarrassing climbdown, Downing Street said it accepted the watchdog’s verdict, which followed a complaint about the PM’s of “selective misuse” of data.At PM
  
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• Ministers Warned 'Another Grenfell' Is 'Possible' As Safety Delays Drag On

  05-02-2018 20:05
  Ministers were warned it is “possible to have another Grenfell ” as delays to a national fire-testing programme drag on.Just three out of 300 high-rises found to have unsafe cladding in the seven months since the tragic North Kensington inferno have had the casing removed, Housing Minister Dominic Raab was told.Scores of privately-owned flats with the “same suspect cladding” have also not sent samples for testing, despite appeals from Government, and fears are mounting th
  
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• Draghi warns on difficulty of striking Brexit transition deal

  05-02-2018 20:04 via ft.com
  ECB chief says ‘frictions’ from Britain’s departure are inevitable
  
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• Time for UK to make a choice on Brexit trade future, warns Michel Barnier

  05-02-2018 19:51 via ft.com
  EU frustrated Britain still toying with trade ideas bloc thinks impractical
  
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• Why Are The Tories At War Over Europe (Again)?

  05-02-2018 19:11
  Will the UK stay in a customs union? Is Jacob Rees-Mogg about to become Prime Minister? Are civil servants working to undermine Brexit? The Tory civil war has more back-stabbing, front-stabbing and sub-plots than Game of Thrones.Here’s the guide we all need to what is going on, and why.What are they fighting about this time?It is, of course, all about Brexit. Forget for a second whether you are for or against the UK leaving the EU, and just put yourselves in the shoes of those who are desp
  
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• Rural MPs threaten revolt over council funding cuts

  05-02-2018 18:57 via ft.com
  Local authority settlement at risk after Northants imposes emergency controls
  
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• Jacob Rees-Mogg pounces on Britain’s vulnerable institutions

  05-02-2018 18:49 via ft.com
  Attacks on Treasury forecasts undermine a state Tory Brexiters claim they want to defend
  
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• Chris Grayling Admits East Coast Rail Franchise Has Collapsed

  05-02-2018 18:43
  Transport secretary Chris Grayling has admitted the beleaguered East Coast mainline rail franchise has collapsed.The government had previously allowed Stagecoach and Virgin, who were supposed to run services on the line until 2023, to walk away from an agreement three years early.But Grayling told the Commons on Monday that the arrangement would come to a end much earlier than expected - within months - as Stagecoach had “got its numbers wrong” in its franchise bid and breached a key
  
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• Justin Timberlake Speaks Out Over Controversial Prince Tribute During Super Bowl Performance

  05-02-2018 18:30
  Justin Timberlake has opened up about his decision to include a tribute to Prince in his Super Bowl Halftime Show performance.On Sunday (4 February), hours before Justin was due to take to the stage in Minneapolis, it was rumoured that he would be including a hologram of Prince during his Halftime Show.These rumours were met with a negative reception online, particularly due to the ‘Purple Rain’ singer having previously expressed disdain for holograms of dead celebrities being used d
  
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• Michel Barnier: It's time for UK to make a choice

  05-02-2018 18:23 via bbc.co.uk
  The EU's Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier says he wants more clarity from the UK on what kind of economic relationship it wants after it leaves next year.
  
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• My Great-Grandmother Emmeline Pankhurst Marched 100 Years Ago - And I'm Still Marching Today

  05-02-2018 18:18
  In the history of women’s rights, in the UK, 1918 is symbolically massive. It was the year women finally gained the right to vote in parliamentary elections.  This landmark came on the back of more than 16,000 petitions, more than 50 years of campaigning, and many, many sacrifices.Yet the People’s Representation act of 1918 was only a partial win -  only women over 30 with property or a university education could vote. Equal voting rights was granted only 10 years later - a
  
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• My Great-Grandmother Emmeline Pankhurst Marched 100 Years Ago

  05-02-2018 18:18
  In the history of women’s rights, in the UK, 1918 is symbolically massive. It was the year women finally gained the right to vote in parliamentary elections.  This landmark came on the back of more than 16,000 petitions, more than 50 years of campaigning, and many, many sacrifices.Yet the People’s Representation act of 1918 was only a partial win -  only women over 30 with property or a university education could vote. Equal voting rights was granted only 10 years later - a
  
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• Doritos' New 'Lady-Friendly' Crisps Go Down Like A Sack Of Potatoes

  05-02-2018 18:16
  Doritos has announced plans to create new, quieter crisps especially for women, that will be downsized in order to fit neatly into our handbags.The mind-boggling “lady-friendly” creation, dubbed “Lady Doritos” on social media, is apparently the product of consumer research conducted by PepsiCo, the parent company of Doritos.Speaking to Freakonomics Radio, PepsiCo CEO Indra Nooyi said women “don’t like to crunch too loudly in public” or “l
  
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• Theresa May Rebukes Donald Trump Again As Prime Minister Says She Is 'Proud' Of NHS

  05-02-2018 18:10
  Theresa May has issued a thinly-veiled rebuke of Donald Trump after his attack on the NHS, with the Prime Minister saying she is “proud of having an NHS that is free at the point of delivery”.The US President had blasted the UK’s “broke” health service in a tweet that came just minutes after Nigel Farage appeared on Fox News and blamed immigrants for the pressures on the NHS.UK Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt immediately retaliat
  
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• Donald Trump 'Does The Impossible' And Makes People Agree With Jeremy Hunt

  05-02-2018 18:04
  The row over Donald Trump’s assertion the NHS is “broke” has had one consequence that a few people are feeling very uneasy about - they’re agreeing with Jeremy Hunt. 
  The Health Secretary hit back at the President’s claim - apparently informed entirely by a Nigel Farage segment on Fox News this morning - and launched a passionate defence of the UK’s health service.
  I may disagree with claims made on that march but not ONE of them wants to live i
  
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• Duchess Of Cambridge Will Host A Commonwealth Fashion Exchange During London Fashion Week

  05-02-2018 18:00
  The Duchess of Cambridge will be making an appearance at a fashion show held during London Fashion Week (LFW) this February.Kate is backing an initiative that aims to bring the 52 countries of the Commonwealth together by staging a collaborative fashion show at Buckingham Palace.The Commonwealth Fashion Exchange, created and managed by Livia Firth’s brand consultancy Eco Age, will take place on 19 February. The Duchess will host the reception on behalf of the Queen
  
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• The Current Debate About Whether Trans Women Are Women Scares Me

  05-02-2018 17:53
  Trans women and trans-historied women have been around for a long time. They have a long history of fighting oppression. Encouraged by my mother, I grew up in awe of Germaine Greer. Approaching womanhood and associating with others, I came to understand the roles played by Marsha P. Johnson and Sylvia Rivera in the Stonewall Riots. An activist, I felt inspired by the example of these women. Now I’m grappling with the notion that some, Greer included, would consider Rivera and Johnson
  
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• It's Been Five Years Since My Diagnosis Of Breast Cancer And I'm Only Just Beginning To Move On

  05-02-2018 17:53
  When I was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2009, I discovered that it’s possible to stay in the same place while simultaneously moving into an entirely new world. I still lived in the same place. I still had the same job and many of the same colleagues. To the unobservant, I even looked the same - once my hair grew back that is. To the outsider, nothing about my life seemed to have changed but in fact everything had changed, everything was different.My BRCA1 mutation was only discovered be
  
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• Australia And Tesla Are Building The First 'Virtual Power Plant'

  05-02-2018 17:48
  Not content with having the world’s largest battery, Australia is pushing ahead with another remarkable project using Tesla’s battery technology.South Australia plans to create the world’s first ‘virtual power plant’ by equipping some 50,000 homes with solar panels and Tesla’s new Powerwall 2 batteries.Combined it would effectively create a vast grid of homes that can produce clean energy and then feed it back into the national grid.South Australia energy hope
  
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• Minister Insists Tory Party Is Not Run By 'Extreme Right-Wing Cabal'

  05-02-2018 17:35
  A minister has denied the Conservative Party is being controlled by an “extreme right-wing cabal” over Brexit.On Monday, Caroline Nokes, the newly appointed immigration minister, was dragged to the Commons to explain why the government had delayed publication of its immigration white paper.The document, first due to be published last summer, is a key staging post in the formation of a post-Brexit immigration policy for the UK.Labour MP Clive Efford said ministers were unable to publi
  
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• 'Solo: A Star Wars Story': Get To Know Alden Ehrenreich, The New Han Solo

  05-02-2018 17:11
  Alden Ehrenreich is starring in one of 2018′s most hotly-anticipated films, but given the secrecy that’s surrounded it, you probably haven’t heard much about him... yet.Back in 2016, Alden landed one of the most highly-coveted roles in Hollywood and will make his debut as a young Han Solo in a new ‘Star Wars’ spin-off film in May.And while he wasn’t exactly plucked from obscurity, as Daisy Ridley was, the majority of film fans still kn
  
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• EU to UK on Brexit: ‘The time has come to make a choice’

  05-02-2018 16:56 via ft.com
  Chief EU negotiator Barnier says UK govt stance makes trade barriers ‘unavoidable’
  
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• Hugh Grant attacks Mirror Group over decade of ‘criminality’

  05-02-2018 16:48 via ft.com
  Actor criticises newspaper over phone hacking after agreeing financial settlement
  
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• Brexit Minister Steve Baker Accused Of 'Behaving Like Donald Trump' And 'Bullying' The Civil Service

  05-02-2018 16:40
  Brexit minister Steve Baker has been accused by members of the House of Lords of behaving like Donald Trump and “bullying” the civil service.In an extraordinary exchange in the Commons on Thursday, Baker had said it was “essentially correct” that Treasury officials had tried to sabotage Brexit by producing economic forecasts that warned the UK would be worse off after it left the EU.He aplogised the next day and told MPs the next day he should have “corrected or dis
  
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• Progress is pending on China investment deals

  05-02-2018 16:39 via ft.com
  Securing non-binding agreements is one thing. Actually doing business quite another
  
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• Headline numbers rarely add up in China trade deals

  05-02-2018 16:39 via ft.com
  Securing non-binding agreements is one thing. Actually doing business quite another
  
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• Hatton Garden Jewellery Heist Member Terry Perkins Dies In Prison

  05-02-2018 16:15
  Hatton Garden jewellery raider Terry Perkins has died in HMP Belmarsh, a prison service spokesman said on Monday.It comes days after a court was told another of his co-offenders, who are all in their sixties and seventies, was also likely to die behind bars.Last week a court heard Perkins, 69, had been diagnosed with severe heart failure as a judge ordered the four ringleaders of the heist to pay back £27.5 million or each face another seven years in jail.Perkins’ lawyer, P
  
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• 'Slider': Should Disabled Athletes Be Allowed to Compete Against Able-Bodied Athletes?

  05-02-2018 16:14
  The advertisement of the upcoming Winter Olympics and Paralympics in Pyeongchang next month, has shown the evident lack of involvement of disabled athletes in the winter games. The Winter Olympics is set to host around fifteen winter sports; the Paralympics in comparison, around six. This is due to the fact that winter sports such as the Skeleton, are deemed unsuitable, or too dangerous for those with a physical impairment. Micky Yule – Paralympic powerlifting champion and double amputee,
  
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• Remainers Are Speaking With A Single Voice - We Leavers Must Do The Same

  05-02-2018 16:13
  In between Cameron’s resignation, May’s honeymoon period and the shock General Election – a hardcore group of undemocratic, angry, hostile remainers, from all wings of British politics, have pounced on government instability, mobilised and grown in strength.Their aim? To stop Brexit and to reverse the decision made by 17.4million people 18 months ago.Lord Digby Jones calls them the ‘ABC club’ (Adonis, Blair, Clegg). But this group spreads its net wider. They are ult
  
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• What We Need Now is a Government of National Conciliation!

  05-02-2018 16:10
  I am now convinced that Brexit won’t happen, and I think that there will be a second vote that will confirm this.  The reason for this is common sense in the face of overwhelming evidence that Brexit has turned out to be a kamikaze mission.  What’s also clear is that sadly, for Theresa May, time is up at Number 10.Last week Philip Lee, a Justice Minister no less, took the remarkable step of publicly questioning the very essence of his Prime Minister’s stance on B
  
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• Brexit is a Busted Flush - What We Need Now is a Government of National Conciliation!

  05-02-2018 16:10
  I am now convinced that Brexit won’t happen, and I think that there will be a second vote that will confirm this.  The reason for this is common sense in the face of overwhelming evidence that Brexit has turned out to be a kamikaze mission.  What’s also clear is that sadly, for Theresa May, time is up at Number 10.Last week Philip Lee, a Justice Minister no less, took the remarkable step of publicly questioning the very essence of his Prime Minister’s stance on B
  
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• Briton accused of computer hacking wins extradition appeal

  05-02-2018 15:58 via ft.com
  Judges say it would be oppressive for Asperger’s sufferer Lauri Love to stand trial in US
  
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• Forget The Tatler Guide, A Real Dinner Party Should Have Plenty Of Politics And A Course Of Brexit

  05-02-2018 15:57
  Forget Tatler’s ban on Brexit chat, if you want to host a proper dinner party then politics should not be off the menu. Instead it should be the focus of the whole event.The Tatler approach, as outlined in the Daily Mail, suggests that ‘in these troubled times it is advisable to impose a Brexit moratorium’. Whilst ‘nothing else is out of bounds’, to ban Brexit would be to curtail discussion on a whole range of political and social issues.Accepted, there may be a lev
  
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• Cheaper Teeth Whitening Options Could Cause Long Term Damage

  05-02-2018 15:45
  Visiting a high street beautician for teeth whitening is often less expensive than seeing a dentist, but don’t be tempted by the reduced price tag. It is illegal to carry out any oral work on another person - including teeth whitening - if you are not a registered dental therapist or dental hygienist. Before having treatment, you can ensure the person whitening your teeth is correctly qualified by accessing the General Dental Council register online or calling 0207 167 6000.
  
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• Brexit games risk EU’s financial efficiency

  05-02-2018 15:44 via ft.com
  Paris may make some short-term gains but market fragmentation will hurt Europe
  
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• Civil servants are no Brexit wreckers

  05-02-2018 15:31 via ft.com
  Foreign Office policymakers proceed from unshakeable assumption that UK will leave EU
  
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• ‘The Cloverfield Paradox’: Everything You Need To Know About J.J. Abrams’ Cinematic Universe

  05-02-2018 15:26
  It’s not uncommon for film trailers to debut during the the Super Bowl - ‘Jurassic World’ and ‘Star Wars’, we see you - but Netflix went one better in promoting their latest original. As many movies fans predicted would be the case, a third ‘Cloverfield’ movie was trailed during one of the breaks, but the streaming service then stunned everyone by announcing that ‘The Cloverfield Paradox’ would be avaliable online as soon as the football game
  
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• Here's Donald Trump In 2015 Describing The NHS As 'Great'

  05-02-2018 15:16
  Donald Trump’s claim the NHS is “broke” is in stark contrast to the view he expressed in the run up to the US presidential election, when he described it as a “great system”.The President was speaking on the David Letterman show in 2015 and described a friend’s experience in Scotland where he has a major golf course.He said: “I had an incident in Scotland... a friend of mine in Scotland, he got very, very sick and they took him by ambulance, he was there
  
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• Victims Of Contaminated Blood Scandal Forced To Undergo Benefit Reassessments

  05-02-2018 14:49
  Contaminated blood scandal victims and their families are being forced to undergo government benefit reassessments - despite many of them being unable to work for decades.Thousands of people died after they were given blood infected with HIV and hepatitis during the 1970s and 80s while undergoing medical treatment, and many more were left with devastating health problems.Some of the victims - many of them haemophiliacs and most of them male - unwittingly infected their partners, leaving several
  
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• Met Office Warns Snow Could Hit Every Part Of The UK This Week

  05-02-2018 14:45
  Snow will fall in almost every part of the UK over the coming days, forecasters have warned as bad weather brought disruption to south-east England.Wintry conditions are expected to grip much of the country by Tuesday evening, having already swept across Kent and Essex, the Met Office said.Kent Police said the “heavy snowfall” had led to treacherous conditions for drivers on Monday morning, leading to several crashes on the M20.Weather experts believe it will be one of the coldest we
  
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• Why I Don't Think Februdairy Will Work

  05-02-2018 14:43
  The dairy industry is in decline. A report published by Mintel revealed that US dairy sales will drop by over 10% by 2020 and similar trends can be seen across the Western world. In parallel, the consumption of dairy-free alternatives is on the rise. In the UK, sales of “free from” milk have recently increased 10% year on year, and plant-based cheese has grown an astonishing 80%. Supermarkets are overflowing with dairy-free alternatives, and books like ‘This Cheese is Nuts&rsqu
  
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• Blighty Cafe Protest That Branded Churchill A Racist Drives It Into TripAdvisor’s Top 20

  05-02-2018 14:31
  A student protest against a Winston Churchill-themed cafe in North London that branded the wartime leader a racist has unexpectedly propelled the eatery to being rated as one of the top-rated cafes in the capital.The Blighty Cafe in Finsbury Park was stormed by 14 members of the SOAS Students Union, who described Churchill as a “war criminal” and read out sections of Heathcote Williams’s condemnatory poem ‘Great Britain’s Greatest Beast.’Members of the group c
  
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• When Your Kids Always Think You’re Mad At Them – Even When You’re Not!

  05-02-2018 14:26
  Tone of voice is a huge topic of conversation in our house.I have three adopted teenagers with FASD, you see, and they are all hyper sensitive to tone of voice. They find the world around them bewildering and struggle to make sense of human interaction. They sadly seem to start from the position that no one likes them. They believe that everyone is looking at them weirdly on the bus. They often don’t understand when they’ve done something wrong so live every moment in the constant fe
  
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• When Your Kids Always Think You’re Mad At Them

  05-02-2018 14:26
  Tone of voice is a huge topic of conversation in our house.I have three adopted teenagers with FASD, you see, and they are all hyper sensitive to tone of voice. They find the world around them bewildering and struggle to make sense of human interaction. They sadly seem to start from the position that no one likes them. They believe that everyone is looking at them weirdly on the bus. They often don’t understand when they’ve done something wrong so live every moment in the constant fe
  
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