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Rishi Sunak Scraps Dedicated Disabilities Minister Job During Disability History Month

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Rishi Sunak has scrapped the dedicated post of disabilities minister — during UK disability history month.

Downing Street confirmed on Thursday that an “existing” minister will be handed the disabilities brief on top of their current job.

It was later announced that health minister Mims Davies will take on responsibility for disbaility issues.

She said: “I’ll work as hard as I can to ensure disabled people’s voices are heard loud and clear.”

Until last week the position was its own minister of state level job, having first been created when Labour came to power in 1997.

Davies holds the more junior parliamentary under-secretary post and shadow disabilites minister Vicky Foxcroft said that showed the disabilities brief had been “downgraded”.

The last MP to hold the standalone disabilities role was Tom Pursglove, but he was made minister for legal immigration earlier this week.

The prime minister also appointed Michael Tomlinson as minister for illegal immigration.

It means there are now two dedicated immigration ministers but no specialist disabilities minister.

The move comes during UK disability history month, which runs from November 16 until December 16.

Sunak’s official spokesperson denied the change was a “downgrading” of the role.

“It’s not right. We will have a minister for disabled people who will lead on that important work,” the spokesperson said.

“It is actions that matter. What you will continue to see is a government showing strong support for disabled people and for disabled issues.”

But Foxcroft said: “Shocking that Rishi Sunak has chosen not to appoint a new minister for disabled people, health and work.

“After 13 years of Tory austerity, pandemic and cost of living crisis, disabled people feel their voices aren’t being heard and represented in Government. This confirms it.”

James Taylor, director of strategy at disability equality charity Scope, said: “This is an appalling and retrograde move by the government.

“What kind of message does this give to Britain’s 16 million disabled people? That – in the middle of a cost-of-living crisis – we are now less important?

“Life costs more if you are disabled. There hasn’t been cost of living payment for disabled people this winter. And negative welfare rhetoric has ramped up this year.

“We must have a Minister for Disabled People in government, to be a champion of disabled people and disability, and make sure policy doesn’t leave disabled people behind and disadvantaged.”

A government spokesperson said: “Minister Davies will build upon this Government’s track record of supporting disabled people, having delivered millions of cost of living payments and helping over one million more disabled people into work five years earlier than planned.

“The minister will help ensure there is always a strong safety net for the most vulnerable in our society, while tearing down barriers so that every disabled person can realise their potential and thrive.”

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Hugh Grant Makes Surprising Admission About Some Of His Most Popular Roles

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From the early 90s onwards, Hugh Grant became known as the undisputed king of the romantic comedy.

With the likes of Four Weddings And A Funeral, Notting Hill, Love Actually and Bridget Jones’s Diary already under his belt, the British actor later went transatlantic in rom-coms like Music And Lyrics, Two Weeks Notice and Did You Hear About The Morgans?.

However, while you might think the genre pretty much came as second nature to Hugh, he told former co-star Drew Barrymore on her US talk show that he “never felt comfortable” doing his famous romantic comedies.

“I love those films. I love the fact that people still like them, but I never felt comfortable really doing them,” he said.

“I don’t know about you, but I prefer more of a mask. I want to be someone else. Then it frees me up and then I quite like acting.”

Seasonal fave Love Actually is another of Hugh's biggest rom-com roles
Seasonal fave Love Actually is another of Hugh’s biggest rom-com roles

Universal/Dna/Working Title/Kobal/Shutterstock

Elsewhere in the interview, Hugh claimed he’d become “a bit better” in his job and “a little less bad after I had children, got married, got happier”.

“I got too old and fat and ugly to do romantic comedies obviously,” he joked, claiming that since saying farewell to romantic comedies he’s been “offered more interesting things” that have made his career more varied.

Hugh Grant at the Wonka premiere
Hugh Grant at the Wonka premiere

Axelle/Bauer-Griffin via Getty Images

Indeed, the past few years alone have seen Hugh take a prominent role in Charlie Brooker’s satirical Netflix special Death To 2020, the award-winning drama A Very English Scandal and, of course, the much-loved Paddington films.

You can also see Hugh in action in what must surely be his unlikeliest role to date, playing an Oompa Loompa to Timothée Chalamet’s Willy Wonka in the new musical Wonka (even if it doesn’t sound like the filming process was Hugh’s favourite on-set experience…).

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We’re Obsessed With The ‘Dating Wrapped’ Trend On TikTok, But Is It Healthy?

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Have you heard of PowerPoint parties? There are lots of variations from kids proposing Christmas presents to their parents to friends dunking on each other using PowerPoint formats.

Now, though, singles on TikTok are inviting us to their own PowerPoint parties with the ‘dating wrapped’ trend. In this, singles give us a breakdown of their year in dating. The people they met, the experiences they had and where they are now, all broken down into digestible slides for our entertainment.

This is the year that Tinder was described as being “for the plot” so it’s not surprising that this approach to storytelling has taken off on the social media app but is it healthy?

Should we be joining trends like ‘dating wrapped’?

Of course, this is a very fun trend and we can’t get enough of learning about people’s dating lives via aesthetically-pleasing slides, but is it actually healthy to do this so publicly? And what does it tell potential future partners about us?

HuffPost UK spoke to Emma Hathorn, in-house dating expert at luxury dating site Seeking.com about the trend and to find out whether it’s something we should be joining in with.

She believes that it’s not inherently harmful but we should still proceed with caution. She said, “while ‘Dating Wrapped’ offers a playful and engaging way to share our romantic experiences, there’s a subtle risk involved.”

“Sharing specifics like the number of times you’ve been ghosted might make a potential partner second guess you, wondering if there’s a pattern or if there’s more to the story. It could unintentionally raise questions about your approach to dating or inadvertently create doubts about your experiences.”

Really, this makes sense. After all, how many of us have had a pre-date snoop at the social media presence of potential partners or even asked our friends to? If you saw a potential partner spilling all on TikTok, would it raise alarm bells for you about dating them?

With this in mind, Hathorn added, “while it’s tempting to spill all the numbers, consider leaving some room for mystery and focusing on the fun, exciting parts of your dating journey instead.”

She added, “remember — while dating is about the fun, it is also about how you utilise your time and attention. Connecting with new partners isn’t always about the past, but about what you’ve learnt from that past and how you move forward, uplifting both yourself and them”.

Maybe keep the deep dives for your private PowerPoint Parties and group chats.

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Netflix’s Most-Watched Show Of 2023 So Far Probably Isn’t What You’re Expecting

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While Netflix has famously been guarded in the past when it comes to viewing figures for its most popular shows, the streaming service has decided to give its users a small peek behind the curtain.

These newly-released figures show that, perhaps surprisingly, the action thriller The Night Agent accrued the most minutes watched among Netflix subscribers between January and June.

According to this data, viewers spent 812.1 million hours watching the US show, which began streaming in March, with a second season being commissioned shortly after its debut.

In runner-up position was the second season of Ginny & Georgia (665.1 million hours), followed by the South Korean revenge thriller The Glory (622.8 million hours) and the first season of Wednesday (507.7 million hours, particularly impressive given that the Addams Family spin-off actually debuted on Netflix in 2022).

Next on the list was the Bridgerton prequel Queen Charlotte (503 million hours) and the latest season of You (440.6 million hours), which will come to an end next year with its fifth and final season.

More recently, Netflix has had hits with original shows like Squid Game: The Challenge, David Beckham’s self-titled documentary and the final season of The Crown, although these all began streaming in the second half of 2023, and therefore aren’t yet counted in this data.

If you’ve still not watched The Night Agent for yourself, but this news has got you feeling intrigued, give the trailer a quick watch below:

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Mark Drakeford Stuns Politics By Quitting As Welsh First Minister

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Mark Drakeford is stepping down as the Welsh Labour leader with immediate effect, he has announced.

In a major shock, the veteran Labour politician said his replacement as the country’s first minister will be elected before Easter.

Drakeford, who became first minister exactly five years ago, posted on X (formerly Twitter): “When I stood for election as Leader of Welsh Labour, I said I would stand down during the current Senedd term. That time has now come.

“It has been a great privilege to serve as leader of this party. Together, we have achieved a huge amount over the last five years in some of the toughest times we have known.

“Despite all the chaos in Westminster, the ongoing impact of Brexit, climate change and the pandemic, by working together, we have delivered record results for Welsh Labour in the local government and Senedd elections.

“Our greatest task is still ahead of us – to return a Labour UK Government and start repairing the huge damage which has been inflicted by the Tories over the last 13 years.

“I will work tirelessly to secure that Labour victory and to continue delivering on the promises we made to people all across Wales in 2021 to deliver a stronger, fairer and greener Wales.”

Former Scottish first minister Nicola Sturgeon was among the first to pay tribute to Drakeford.

Writing on X, she said: “He was without doubt one of the most decent, dedicated, principled, and impressive politicians I had the privilege of working with in my time as FM. He will be the hardest of acts to follow.”

Rishi Sunak said he wished Drakefors “all the best as he moves on from his many years of public service”.

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Tucker Carlson Addresses Trump Running Mate Speculation With Next-Level Toadying

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Former Fox News personality Tucker Carlson has poured cold water on speculation that he may join former President Donald Trump on the Republican 2024 ticket.

Trump himself has suggested he may be open to the idea of the conspiracy theorist — who frequently promoted racist and far-right talking points on his prime-time Fox show until he was fired in April — as his running mate if he secures the Republican nomination.

But when fellow Fox alum Megyn Kelly asked Carlson on her SiriusXM show on Monday if he would serve as Trump’s right-hand-man if requested, Carlson said it would be “so unimaginable.”

“I mean, I haven’t led a life that prepares a person for politics,” Carlson told Kelly. “As I said, I don’t think I have any horrible skeletons or anything. It’s not that. It’s just that that’s not how my brain works. I’ve never done anything like that. I can’t imagine spending time with politicians.”

In private messages that were released in March as part of Dominion Voting Systems’ defamation lawsuit against Fox News, Carlson said he hated Trump “passionately.”

To Kelly on Monday, though, Carlson ― who on the same day launched his own streaming platform ― had nothing but praise for the four-times-indicted former president.

“I’m a total sucker for Trump,” he claimed. “Personally, I get along with Trump really well. The closer I am physically to Trump, like if I’m with him in the room, I always love Trump and I think it’s impossible not to, and you know the experience. He’s just charming.”

Carlson called Trump “funny as hell” and “brave in his way” and said he agreed with many of his policies and was “kind of psyched to vote” for him if he becomes the GOP nominee next year.

“But serving in politics with anybody, I mean, that’s just a lot for me to think about because I just don’t think I’m really suited for that. Would anyone want to see a guy like me run for office?” Carlson asked.

“Yes,” replied Kelly. ”I thought about it a million times.”

She predicted, “You’re not gonna end your life without having been probably president, maybe vice president. I just don’t think you will.”

Watch the exchange here:

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