Scottish Conservative Party leader Ruth Davidson has announced that she is pregnant and expecting her first child with partner Jen Wilson in the late autumn.

The couple will welcome the new arrival in late Autumn. Davidson, often touted as a future Tory Party leader, said she and her partner since 2014 are “exited and daunted” about the months to come and are “over-joyed” at the prospect of starting a family together.

Davidson, 39, said the news does not change her political commitment or her plans to lead the Scottish Conservatives into the 2021 Holyrood elections, saying she is “simply doing what thousands of working women do every year”.

The politician, who has made no secret of her desire to be a mother, found out in March that an IVF procedure had been successful.

She said: “Jen and I are delighted to be able to say that we are starting a family. We weren’t sure that it was going to happen for us, but we’re really, really happy that it has.”

Davidson, who says she has been affected by some morning sickness and fatigue during the early stages of her pregnancy, said it will be “business as usual” until she goes on maternity leave.

She said: “We have a very busy few months ahead, and I look forward to throwing myself into events with customary gusto.

“While it often goes unacknowledged, politicians have personal lives too, and I hope people will understand that I want to be able to combine my public role with a family life.

“Jen and I are incredibly lucky in the support we have received from our family and friends over the past few months – and we know we can rely on them in the months and years to come. I’d like to thank them all again today.

“We have always dreamed of starting a family and are pleased to be able to share our happy news.”

Prime Minister Theresa May said on Twitter: “Wonderful news! I’m very happy for you and Jen.”

Her deputy within the party, Jackson Carlaw, will hold the fort for a few months while she is on maternity leave, which she will share with Wilson.

For years I grew up reading the classic bed time stories and dreaming about ‘Prince Charming’ arriving on horseback to fight off the fire breathing dragon, armed with a modest sword and shield. He would sweep me off my feet and we would ride off into the sunset without a care in the world, and I simply couldn’t wait.

The year is 2018, and I am a 42-year-old divorced single mother to two wonderful children. I am an award winning entrepreneur with two beautiful homes in London and Rome, and a bestselling book set to launch in the UK in May. So where is the fairy tale covering my story? Where is the tale of the strong minded woman who overcame the weight of oppression thrust upon her by a nation of chauvinistic bigots in Italy, to establish two international businesses and land herself on the Spear’s 500 as one of London’s most influential service providers for high-net-worth individuals?

The ‘Prince Charming’ rhetoric is yet another product of our destructive tendency to construct unattainable dreams for our children to chase, only to be disappointed by the sobering truth of a murky reality. As a child, I would hide myself away in my room to indulge in the fictional tales of a princess dressed in the most spectacular of dresses, arm in arm with a tall, dark and handsome man. It was the perfect release to take me away from the struggles of an oppressive and often violent household. I yearned for my prince to arrive at my door and save me from my troubles, but it would transpire that the truth couldn’t be further away from the glitter laden, romanticised folk tale. Life would work out in a way that I never did make my way to the ball, and I learned to deal with that.

But what can be said for the young girl who never came to terms with the realisation that the charming prince is nothing more than a figment of our imagination? This is why I believe that the traditional fairy tales, as harmless as they may seem, are actually extremely dangerous. They end up brainwashing the little minds of vulnerable and easily influenced girls in their formative years, building them up to ultimately fall when they discover that the prince doesn’t exist 99% of the time.

I don’t want to sound like a spoil sport, and the fact that I am more than happy and proud to be a successful, single working mother, doesn’t mean that I have completely turned my back on a romantic happy ending. However, I do believe that it is now time that we changed the game and looked to create a new fairy tale for young children to dream about. Let’s invent new fairy tales based around the extremely intelligent woman conquering the world thanks to her innovation and drive. Let’s talk about the middle aged woman doing incredible things in the world through kindness and empathy. Let’s present new role models to our baby boys and girls, so that they grow up wanting to leave the world in a better place than they found it - instead of fixating around the idea that one day their foot will slide perfectly into the glass shoe, and they will fit into the size six dress. We should want our children to look past the fact that the princesses in fairy tales are always young, with perfect skin and perfect bodies. There are no other criteria – and this is wrong. We should not be conditioning our children’s minds to believe that they have to fit a certain look in order to be considered a princess, and we have a moral duty as parents to not fabricate such insecurities. We are living in an age where mental health amongst youth is rife, and much of this is to do with body confidence. Children see and hear of Cinderella frolicking around the ball like butter wouldn’t melt, blemish free with curves in all of the right places, and they see this as the perfect body image. Yet Cinderella was a cartoon, just as quixotic as the insecurities she created.

I want young girls and boys to know that the fairy tales are not a true representation of reality, and the fact of the matter is that if we can’t find happiness and salvation within ourselves, then no prince can save us. We need to teach our children that they are their own magical prince, and they should learn to embrace their strengths and imperfections in order to achieve the ‘happy ending’. Instead of killing off the witch, who conveniently always seems to be cast as an old lady, we should teach our kids to kill the lack of confidence - because this is the real danger that they will face in their lives – not a woman waving a poisonous apple in their faces, as per the Sleeping Beauty script!

My advice would be to be yourself, own independence and strive to make a positive impact in the world – the rest will come. If it doesn’t? Who cares?

When I saw the picturesque video of Kate Middleton standing outside the hospital doors holding her newborn baby in her arms for the world to see, looking fresh-faced, beautiful, and let’s face it, pretty much perfect, my first thought wasn’t, oh, how lovely!

My first thought was that she must be knackered.

I studied her immaculate makeup and perfectly styled red dress and imagined the team of people it must have taken to make her look so effortless before the big reveal. 

Only, it couldn’t have been effortless. She’d just given birth.

Your body, after all, doesn’t just ping back into shape hours later.

Things ache, things leak, and things feel a little, different.

I am all for body positivity and being proud of what you’ve got. Why hide it if you look or feel good? And Kate looks amazing. But bouncing back too quickly and having to keep up appearances is not realistic for most women out there.

Why do we feel we must present ourselves as if we’ve just stepped out of a salon, not a maternity ward?

I think I looked pretty fresh-faced after giving birth, but as far as the rest of me was concerned, you would not have found me looking so picturesque.

You would have found me roaming the maternity ward wearing an old nightie, massive pads, and granny pants (not my gran’s, by the way, these beauties were all mine). What I’m trying to get at here is, I didn’t have the energy to be anything other than how I was. I was keeping it real. I think you have to - for the sake of your sanity.

Having a baby is a huge deal both mentally and physically, and the last thing your mind and body need is to be overloaded with the pressure of your appearance. You don’t need to do anything other than look after your baby and yourself. Other stuff is just stuff, and it can wait. As for your body, just give it time - you’ll be surprised what will happen if you look after yourself mentally first.

When I left the hospital I suppose you could argue I looked stylish. I was rocking a sexy pair of stockings - compression stockings to help stop blood clots, complete with a pack of self-inject needles so they didn’t happen post-birth.

But I didn’t care.

In fact, I remember standing in the corridor crying. Not because I looked less than glamorous, but because I realised I was standing in the same corridor that I’d stood in the year before after suffering two miscarriages.

Only this time I was walking out with my living baby.

It wasn’t in front of the world’s press but it was a beautiful moment.

It’s different for Kate, of course. She has a role to upkeep, but for those of us that don’t, please remember, it’s ok to look less than perfect. Because you already are perfect - just the way you are.

 K E Y   P O I N T S

• Amber Rudd is under pressure to resign as Home Secretary in the wake of the Windrush scandal.

• The crisis has seen migrants who came to the UK after World War II and have a legal right to live here wrongly threatened with deportation by the Home Office.

• Responding to the outcry, Rudd initially told MPs she did not know if anyone had been deported or not.

• The home secretary then made matters worse when she claimed there were no government targets for how many people to deport - but it turned out there were.

• Dragged to Commons to explain herself, Rudd admitted she had not known about the targets imposed by her own department.

• Rudd, who campaigned for ‘Remain’ at the referendum, then got into more trouble after suggesting to a room of journalists in Westminster the UK may not leave the Customs Union after Brexit.

• She then had to tweet a clarification of her comments and said she ‘should have been clearer’ that the UK would leave the Customs Union - as is government policy.

S N A P   V E R D I C T  

From HuffPost UK Deputy Political Editor Owen Bennett:

It’s strange what leads to Cabinet resignations these days. Lying about looking at porn? You’re out, Damian. Holding meetings with Israeli officials without permission? You’re leaving on a jet plane, Priti. Undermining attempts to get a British woman freed from an Iranian prison? As you were, Boris. Heading up a department which may have actually deported British citizens who have every right to be here? Don’t worry, Amber, it’s fine.

Yet just when it seemed that Amber Rudd had avoided the rather whack-a-mole approach to Cabinet discipline, she poked her head out again this afternoon to invite another bash from May’s mallet. Her suggestion that staying in a customs union with the EU after Brexit is still up for discussion – a claim swiftly denied by Downing Street – might be the matter which sees her shipped out of Cabinet.

For May, Rudd’s latest gaffe might well be a godsend. Sacking the Home Secretary over the Windrush debacle would actually lead to more questions over why the Prime Minister is still in post. The wrong head has rolled, many will cry. Amputating her from Cabinet for not toeing the line on Brexit will be one way of stopping the Rudd infection of incompetence spreading to the rest of the Cabinet.

But Rudd going over her Brexit comments might be the worst move of all. Oversee a regime which is ruining people’s lives: you can stay. Make a comment which annoys Jacob Rees-Mogg and Peter Bone: you’re out of here.

R U D D’ S  C R I T I C S  

W H A T  N E X T 

Amber Rudd had been seen as a safe pair of hands, however her handling of the Windrush scandal has damaged her brand and likely damaged her chances of taking over from Theresa May as Tory leader. The outrage over the threats of deportations is unlikely to calm down soon, as Labour seek to exploit the row in the run up to next week’s local elections. The Opposition has scheduled a parliamentary debate on Wednesday designed to pile the pressure on Rudd and May over their immigration policy.

The family of Swedish DJ and music producer Avicii has issued a second statement about his death, in which they say he “could not go on any longer”.

Avicii - real name Tim Bergling - was found dead last week in Muscat, Oman, at the age of 28.

While his family has already shared a statement thanking the star’s fans for their support and kind messages in the wake of his death, a second was issued on Thursday (26 April), describing the singer’s final months.

They said (via Variety): “Our beloved Tim was a seeker, a fragile artistic soul searching for answers to existential questions.

“An over-achieving perfectionist who travelled and worked hard at a pace that led to extreme stress.

“When he stopped touring, he wanted to find a balance in life to be happy and be able to do what he loved most – music.

“He really struggled with thoughts about Meaning, Life, Happiness. He could not go on any longer. He wanted to find peace.”

The family’s statement concluded: “Tim was not made for the business machine he found himself in; he was a sensitive guy who loved his fans but shunned the spotlight.

“Tim, you will forever be loved and sadly missed. The person you were and your music will keep your memory alive. We love you.”

Earlier this week, police said that Avicii’s death was not being treated as suspicious, with Variety claiming that a report into his death is expected in the coming days.

Avicii topped the UK singles chart twice in his lifetime, with hits ‘Wake Me Up’ and ‘I Could Be The One’.

He also worked behind the scenes on tracks for stars like Coldplay, David Guetta and Madonna.

Useful websites and helplines:

• Mind, open Monday to Friday, 9am-6pm on 0300 123 3393
• Samaritans offers a listening service which is open 24 hours a day, on 116 123 (UK and ROI - this number is FREE to call and will not appear on your phone bill.)
• The Mix is a free support service for people under 25. Call 0808 808 4994 or email: help@themix.org.uk

Users of a special hotline set up to help Windrush generation Britons have been left feeling “very upset and afraid”, an MP has claimed, as questions mount over whether the service is failing to help people who are anxious about their citizenship status.

Gill Furniss said the line was “failing to deliver” on its mission to help people who came to the UK in the 1950s and 60s from the Commonwealth, some of whom are now being denied access to state healthcare, housing and have lost their jobs.

The Labour MP said her office had taken at least two Windrush immigration cases, and claimants told her office they had called the hotline and had been asked to provide extensive documentation, and had mixed messages in promises made by Home Secretary Amber Rudd and their experiences when calling the hotline. 

Rudd set up the hotline on April 16 to help those impacted by the scandal resolve their immigration status, but it has prompted data gathering fears and has been criticised for making claimants feel like it is their responsibility to prove their right to remain, despite having lived here in the UK for decades.

The hotline has received 3,800 calls, the Home Office has said, with 1,364 identified as potential Windrush cases to be called back.

It said 600 call backs had taken place, with 91 appointments booked as of Wednesday. 

Furniss told HuffPost: “Amber Rudd had made it very clear that this is something that people should have every confidence to ring up, and that they would be given every help to actually prove the case. Not: ‘Here you are, the onus is on you to sort it out’.”

One claimant, who is now working with Furniss’s office to resolve their case, called the hotline after being denied a passport.

She was asked to produce a “list of information”, Furniss said, including her parents’ passports, school records, medical records “and so fourth... and she was just absolutely shocked... she did feel very upset”. 

Furniss added: “This seemed like a golden opportunity but (the claimant) did feel like she was not been treated fairly or in the spirit of the promise that Amber Rudd had made.”

Rudd has defended the hotline, and said on Monday: “A new customer contact centre will be set up to make sure that anyone struggling to navigate the many different immigration routes can speak to a person and get appropriate advice.

“The centre will be staffed by experienced caseworkers who will offer expert advice and identify a systemic problem much more quickly in the future.”

The Windrush generation arrived in the UK shortly before the passing of the British Nationality Act, which automatically gave them the right to remain.

Many have since been treated as illegal immigrants because they are unable to provide evidence of their right to remain – a problem compounded by the Home Office destroying thousands of their landing cards.

As a result of days of uncertainty around the hotline and who is manning the phones, an immigration lawyer currently representing a number of claimants suggested anyone calling the line should first seek legal representation. 

“Experience tells us that the Home Office doesn’t always get decisions right and although they are going to be trying harder with this ... you can’t always trust that, that is going to be the case.” 

The Home Office is yet to reply to a request for comment. 

You can sign up for this briefing by clicking here, and you’ll receive it straight to your inbox every Thursday afternoon.

If you like what you read, make sure you subscribe to our Commons People podcast here for even more analysis about what goes on in Westminster. 

1) Amber Rudd Clearly Just Likes Being In The News 

I said it last week and I’ll say it again: the customs union just won’t die. The latest Prince Charming queuing up to give it a kiss of life was Amber Rudd, who seemed to let slip to journalists at a Press Gallery lunch that the issue was still up for grabs.

Asked if it was “more or less likely” the UK would stay in the customs union with the EU after Brexit, Rudd said: “I’m afraid I’m not going to be drawn on that - we still have a few discussions to be had in a really positive and consensual easy way with some of my Cabinet colleagues in order to arrive at a final decision.”

Her claim that the topic was very much up for discussion was, understandably, met with anger by Brexiteers. Tory MP Peter Bone just about stopped short of calling for her to ousted, tweeting instead: “We cannot have Home Sec not supporting this key plank of Brexit!”

The rumours of a betrayal kicked off over the weekend, and despite Downing Street repeating the line that the UK is leaving the customs union and not joining a new one, many are spooked.

On Tuesday, Jacob Rees-Mogg said such a move would be political suicide.

“Who would vote for us?” he asked, adding: “I don’t see how politically this is going to work…I don’t think it will happen in the first place but if it did it would be put right through ballot box.”

Theresa May seems to be quite clear there will be no customs union with the EU, and in PMQs on Wednesday she said: “As regards being in a customs union, that means that we would not be able to negotiate our own trade deals around the rest of the world, and we want to be able to do that.”

The suggestion from the BBC on Monday was that May would turn any vote on a customs union into a confidence vote, i.e. if you defeat this, I’ll call a General Election.

Thanks to the Fixed Term Parliament Act, that is not technically possible, as she would then have to go back to MPs in order the get the support of the necessary two-thirds required to call a snap election.

If she did make it into a confidence vote, it is more likely to be on her staying as Prime Minister. The threat to bring Anna Soubry, Dominic Grieve and others into line wouldn’t be “defeat this and you’ll put Jeremy Corbyn in Downing Street”, it will be “defeat this and you’ll put Jacob Rees-Mogg in Downing Street.”

2) Meanwhile in the Commons... 

Thursday’s big debate on the customs union was something of an anti-climax.

The Government kept up its practice of not voting in backbench debates, meaning it was difficult to get a sense of which Tories would be prepared to defy party orders and walk through the division lobbies with Labour.

One of the most entertaining speeches during the three-hour debate came from former Culture Minister Ed Vaizey. Reflecting on the many things he had learnt since Brexit, the Remain-backer quipped:

“Apparently the Windrush scandal is the European’s fault because they are in favour of people presenting papers, and that Brexiteers are very pro-immigration. I’ve learnt there’s no longer going to be a bonfire of regulations from the EU, that it’s actually alright we’re going to adopt all of the EU regulations.”

Vaizey was not one of the 11 Tories that helped defeat the Government on ensuring Parliament had a meaningful vote on the Brexit deal in December, but in the Commons on Thursday he showed every indication he would be willing to tie the Government in to keeping the UK in a customs union in its negotiation with Brussels.

Similarly, George Freeman, formerly Theresa May’s head of policy, was equally as vocal about his support of keeping the UK not just in the customs union but the Single Market as well.

The size of the rebellion is growing, but its all very well doing it in a friendly, will they turn up for the big match?

3) David Davis Insists He’s Not ‘Winging It’

The key question is when will the vote on the customs union take place. Sir Keir Starmer generously offered to give up Labour’s opposition day debate on Wednesday to allow the Government to bring forward one of its Brexit-related bills to put the matter to be “once and for all”. May did not take up the invitation.

Appearing before the Brexit Select Committee on Wednesday, David Davis suggested that pro-customs union MPs might not have to rely on amending minor bits of legislation to get their way – they could have an impact on the big one: the final deal.

The Government had previously insisted the options available to MPs when it came to the deal was ‘take it or leave it’. But Davis hinted that the Government would listen to any amendment passed.

The Brexit Secretary said in the autumn Parliament was likely to be presented with “a political declaration rather than a treaty draft” – suggesting it would be more a direction of travel document than a detailed map.

Committee chair Hilary Benn asked Davis whether that motion put before Parliament would be amendable, receiving the reply: “If you can tell me how to write an unamendable motion, I will take a tutorial.”

He added: “The government is unlikely to put a vote to the House which it doesn’t intend to take properly seriously. If the House rejects the proposed negotiation, that negotiation will fall.”

Perhaps realising he had said too much, Davis declined to play Labour MP Stephen Kinnock’s game of whether the Government would go back to Brussels with its tail between its leg if the “political declaration” was amended, but it was definitely softer language than the previous ‘take or leave it’ declarations.

4) It’s Starting To Get Real For Brussels

It is the moment many cynics believed Brussels feared the most: making a Budget without the milk from the UK cash cow.

The European Commission is drawing up its financial plan for the next cycle, which covers 2021 to 2027, and will have to do without the £13billion or so a year it gets from the UK.

According to Bloomberg, Brussels will call for cuts in farm and regional aid, but ask for an increase in security spending. Member states will be asked to put more into the collective pot, but analysis by the Financial Times suggest that an increase in growth across the EU might mean the Brexit black hole is not as big as initially feared.

Of course, that hole will be bigger and deeper if no deal is agreed between the UK and the EU, with the £40billion divorce settlement dependent on an agreement being reached.

Don’t Get Angry, Get Blogging…

At HuffPost we love a good blog, and here are the finest Brexit-penned entries from this week. Have a read, and if any of them provoke an urge in you to speak your brain, send a blog to ukblogteam@huffingtonpost.com and you could find yourself in this very newsletter.

Armida van Rij on why, thanks to Macron, France is replacing the UK in the ‘special relationship’

Libby Cherry on why young people are ‘reluctant’ Remainers and ready to be engaged

Robert Glick on how the clock is ticking to get the best Brexit for small businesses

A politician’s sandwich choice has inadvertently enthralled Westminster.

Housing minister Dominic Raab has been rocked by claims that the MP always buys the same baguette, a “superfruit” pot and a vitamin volcano smoothie.

It has been dubbed “The Dom Raab Special”.

An undercover Daily Mirror reporter got the scoop from a woman who works for Raab, who also reportedly sells sex on the side and suggested having sex in Raab’s office.

But it was existential angst of buying the same meal every day that captivated Fleet Street.

In a revelation set to make Raab’s lunch choice appear even more bland, Pret A Manger has told HuffPost the chicken caesar and bacon baguette, which he reportedly eats every single day, is in fact the chain’s most popular sandwich. 

Pret A Manger confirmed the baguette is its best seller. “You may be interested to know,” a spokeswoman said, before making the big reveal.

Pret had yet to confirm any hard data on how many of the sandwiches were sold each day – and what percentage of them Raab eats.

The spokeswoman said the company would track down the data “asap”.

She later confirmed the sandwich outsold the second most popular sandwich, the pole & line caught tuna mayo and cucumber, by 1,500 last week.

The New Statesman did an unscientific poll of its staff and found 52% bought the same lunch every day.

As this article went live, the chicken caesar and bacon baguette was leading an online Mirror poll of Pret sandwiches.

It is unclear whether Raab voted in it. 

The parents of Alfie Evans have pledged to work alongside doctors to give him “the dignity and comfort he needs”.

His father, Tom, 21, also appealed to the family’s many supporters to end their protests and allow them to “form a relationship” with Alder Hey Children’s Hospital and go on to “build a bridge and walk across it”.

Police remained outside the hospital on Thursday after Alder Hey said its staff had endured a “barrage” of abuse.

Earlier in the day, Evans said he and Alfie’s mother, Kate James, 20, hoped to have a “positive” meeting to discuss his son’s care with medics in Liverpool after they previously failed in an 11th-hour attempt to take the 23-month-old to an Italian hospital for treatment.

He said there had been no deterioration in Alfie’s condition since he was taken off a ventilator and he was not in pain.

Evans accused doctors of misdiagnosing his son and also vowed to return to court if the meeting did not go well.

But he later told reporters that in his son’s interests he and Kate would now work together with his treatment team and praised Alder Hey staff for their “professionalism”. 

Alfie has been at the centre of a life-or-death treatment battle, with his parents trying to block doctors from withdrawing life support in a sometimes acrimonious six-month dispute which has seen a series of court battles.

In a statement, he said: “Our lives have been turned upside down by the intense focus on Alfie and his situation. Our little family along with Alder Hey has become the centre of attention for many people around the world and it has meant we have not been able to live our lives as we would like.

“We are very grateful and we appreciate all the support we have received from around the world, including from our Italian and Polish supporters, who have dedicated their time and support to our incredible fight. We would now ask you to return back to your everyday lives and allow myself, Kate and Alder Hey to form a relationship, build a bridge and walk across it.

“We also wish to thank Alder Hey staff at every level for their dignity and professionalism during what must be an incredibly difficult time for them too. Together we recognise the strains (that) recent events have put upon us all and we now wish for privacy for everyone concerned.

“In Alfie’s interests we will work with his treating team on a plan that provides our boy with the dignity and comfort he needs.”

Evans added that no more statements or interviews would be given by him on the subject.

On Wednesday, chairman of the hospital trust Sir David Henshaw said in an open letter that staff had been the subject of “unprecedented personal abuse that has been hard to bear”.

Judges have heard that Alfie, born on May 9 2016, is in a “semi-vegetative state” and has a degenerative neurological condition that doctors had not definitively diagnosed.

Specialists say his brain has been “eroded”.

A Kensington and Chelsea council hustings event was abruptly stalled after a man who said he lost family in the Grenfell Tower fire stormed the stage.

Usama Ghamhi, 24, accused the Tory candidates of ignoring victims of the blaze when he confronted them at the town hall-style meeting.

Afterwards, he told HuffPost UK they “didn’t want to talk about” the tragedy. 

Conservative, Labour, Liberal Democrats and Advance party candidates attended the debate on Thursday night.

Held in Fox Primary School, in Kensington Place, it is believed to be the first time candidates from the local Conservative Party have attended a hustings in the northern part of the borough that includes the Grenfell estate.

The audience were told at the outset that recordings were not allowed during the hustings and that only still images were permitted.

The first hour of the debate was dominated by questions of pollution, schools and housing.

But tensions began to escalate after a member of the audience tried to defend the council over its handling of the disaster, saying the fire “could have happened” in other parts of London, adding “the council done (sic) everything they could”.

The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea (RBKC) has been plagued by accusations of incompetence since the fire broke out last year, killing 71 people.

When the chair of the hustings tried to move on, Samia Badani, who is head of Bramley House Residents’ Association – a residential block which stands just metres from the charred tower – yelled out: “Why should we vote for you? You let 71 people die, you let 71 people die.”

As the chairman tried to move the debate on to a separate topic, Ghamhi jumped on the stage and approached the Conservative candidates, repeatedly telling them: “Talk about Grenfell.”

In between loud applause from the audience, Ghamhi said: “I’ve been there since the day of the fire, none of you have come to see me.”

Organisers and the chairman stepped in to intervene as tensions continued to rise in the room, with the audience divided about whether Grenfell should be discussed in greater detail or not.

Speaking to HuffPost UK outside the meeting, Ghamhi, 24, who looked visibly upset, said: “I’m from the area, I have family in there, I’ve lost family in there [Grenfell], I’ve been in the area every day, doing things for that area. We’ve gathered donations and made it a community centre and they [the council candidates] didn’t want to talk about it.”

Soon after the meeting reconvened, Conservative candidates left the building. A reason was not given for their departure.

The Conservative party failed to send representatives to two hustings events in the north of the borough earlier this month.

One was held at Al Manaar, a Muslim cultural heritage centre, on April 12 and a second was hosted at Westway23 the following week.

The English Premier League has teamed up with Sky to encourage clubs and fans to stop using single-use plastics at football matches.

The announcement is part of greater efforts from the organisation to tackle waste at games, which can individually generate up to 750,000 plastic bottles and seven tonnes of waste, according to the UK government. 

Last week the environment secretary Michael Gove called on the Premier League to help tackle plastic pollution troubles in England, looking into schemes such as deposit return schemes for cups at matches. 

They will be supported by specialist teams of plastics experts who are dedicated to helping businesses reduce single-use plastic usage.

Richard Scudamore, executive chairman, Premier League, says: “We are extremely proud to be joining Sky Ocean Rescue in the fight to save our oceans.

“As an organisation with a global audience we, and our clubs, are able to encourage people around the world to think and take positive action to reduce their use of plastic.”

One club leading the way is Tottenham Hotspur. Its state-of- the-art new stadium, due to open next season, will be free from plastic straws, stirrers, cutlery and its retail outlets will phase out standard 5p carrier bags.

A handful of sport stadiums, such as Twickenham, have already introduced a deposit return scheme for ‘fan cups’, where supporters pay an extra £1 for their cup and then get the money back when they return it to the bar.

And plastic balloons were banned at this year’s Commonwealth Games.

The Premier League initiative follows an nnouncement made on Wednesday, where more than 40 of the UK’s largest businesses signed a groundbreaking ‘Plastics Pact’ committing to making 100% of packaging reusable, recyclable or compostable by 2025. 

The move is the first of its kind in the world and has united 42 household names including supermarkets such as Aldi, ASDA, Lidl, Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Waitrose and Morrisons. 

These businesses are responsible for over 80% of the plastic packaging on products sold through UK supermarkets.

“More of less straight after my daughter was born, I was struggling financially,” mum Rebecca Smith* tells HuffPost UK. “I began relying on credit to cover the essentials and it escalated over the course of last year. I am now in a debt relief order (DRO) as a direct result of maternity leave.”

Rebecca shared her story with HuffPost UK after a study has found a quarter of parents need to use credit to fund their maternity or paternity leave. The research by credit report service Noddle found one in four (25%) rack up debts of over £2,700, despite making efforts to prepare their finances in advance. Over half of parents (53%) put aside savings of around £3,000, while others made a conscious effort to clear down existing debts before having kids.  

Rebecca, 39, from Worcestershire, was made redundant when she was 12 weeks pregnant and tragically, in August 2015, her daughter was stillborn. Rebecca was entitled to Maternity Allowance (MA) and started working again in January 2016, however when she fell pregnant again her company had no obligation to pay maternity as she was a contractor.

Her partner was made redundant during her second pregnancy. He didn’t find work for three months but while his income covered the essentials, she needed to work too. “We didn’t want to just be existing,” she says. Since her daughter has arrived, she says the opportunities for securing permanent, flexible work with a salary that does little more than cover childcare costs has been difficult.

“I had to turn to StepChange for debt help,” she says. “I’m now in a DRO, I’ve been declared insolvent and it’s not a choice I made easily as it will have a huge knock on effect for me and my family for years to come.”

As a consequence of maternity leave, many new parents are facing money worries on top of the challenges of caring for a newborn, with over half (53%) saying they were anxious about this during their leave. Over a third of parents (35%) returned to work earlier than planned in an effort to mitigate money worries, and half (48%) stuck to a very strict budget throughout their leave. Others relied on support from family and friends, used their overdrafts or even took on a second job. 

Money struggles were apparent for mum Sarah Henderson, too, although her experience was slightly different. The 33-year-old mum from Liverpool had to return to work when he daughter was just nine months old. She’s self-employed, so is only entitled to Maternity Allowance (MA). “It was a struggle,” she says. “We ate through our savings and stretched my husband’s salary to the limit. Both of us had to use our overdrafts regularly - something we’d always sought to avoid. While I’d always envisaged taking a full year off and returning to work when my baby was one, we just couldn’t make it work any longer.” 

Sarah was entitled to £140.98 per week for 39 weeks. At first, the family managed by using this to pay half towards the mortgage and for household bills, but things were difficult. “The problem is once you’ve used your overdraft, it’s very hard not to use it the next month so it became a bit of a vicious cycle,” she adds. 

Before returning back to work, Sarah looked into whether she could take additional months off after her MA ended. “I saw the state of our finances on our online banking and realised we were pushing it as it was,” she says. “When it came down to it I just didn’t have a choice, I had to return to work when my MA was finished and that was that. I wasn’t remotely ready to leave my daughter with other people and I wasn’t in a good state emotionally to be working, let alone running my own business.” 

For Krishma Patel, 32, from Ealing, London, she knew as soon as she fell pregnant that she would struggle financially. “It was an unplanned pregnancy, we had just bought our first house and we have a child in full-time nursery,” she says. “Maternity leave was very stressful, worrying about making ends meet is an added concern. We had to watch outgoings, purchase secondhand baby items and sell maternity/newborn gear privately to raise funds. I even looked into working from home opportunities such as Avon and data entry work.” Since giving birth in August 2017, she has been unable to make ends meet and will be returning to work early due to finances.  

Going back to work earlier than planned is a reality for many new mothers, including Helena Stevens, 30, from Sussex. She has two children, born in August 2014 and February 2016. “Going from two, full-time salaries to one, while I was at home still trying to have a life and get out and do things with the girls, and keep my eldest in nursery so she was interacting with other children was hard,” she explains. “Nursery fees were a killer and got us into debt.”

Helena says it was a struggle with both of her daughters, but more so with her second child, when she hadn’t been at her job long enough to claim maternity pay from her employer. “We’d been able to save lots for the first while we had two full time salaries coming in, but second time round there was no savings or back up money pots,” she says. After giving birth the second time, she had to go back to work early to get some money coming in to start paying off their debt before it got out of control, “It was more of a shock than we’d imagined,” she adds.

The women believe there is a lot that could change to help relieve the stress of money struggles on maternity leave for women. Rebecca says firstly what needs to change is the fact maternity discrimination is rife among employers, as being made redundant was a spark that initiated her money issues. She also believes the changes in tax credits means working families are already squeezing income in those precious early days, “Aside from the emotional cost, the financial one has been huge,” she adds. “Our daughter is totally worth it but it’s a cause of massive embarrassment for me that it came to this. 

For Sarah, she says there should be some parity between MA and Statutory Maternity Pay so that self-employed women get the first six weeks at 90% of their average weekly pay too. “Ideally, both types of maternity pay would be improved to better reflect actual salaries because maternity leave is exactly the time you don’t want money to be tight,” she adds.

Helena adds that making it easier for woman to go back to work after having their babies is probably the most important. “I was lucky enough to have a full year off with my first but if I’d been able to go back part-time with a bit more flexibility then we could have avoided a lot of the initial debt,” she adds. “Better maternity packages in companies could also help - statutory really isn’t enough to feed and clothe a family.”

Did you struggle while on maternity leave? Do you want to share your story? Get in touch by emailing ukparents@huffpost.com. 

The leaders of North and South Korea have signed a declaration agreeing to work on the “complete denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula”.

At their first summit in more than a decade, the two sides announced they would seek an agreement to establish permanent and solid peace on the peninsula.

The declaration included promises to pursue military arms reduction, cease “hostile acts”, turn their fortified border into a “peace zone”, and seek multilateral talks with other countries, including the US.

The news came hours after Kim Jong-Un made history by crossing over the world’s most heavily armed border to greet his rival, South Korean president Moon Jae-in.

Pledging a “new history” in relations with his neighbour, Kim became the first North Korean leader to set foot in South Korea since the end of the Korean War in 1953.

US President Donald Trump responded to the meeting by saying that “good things are happening”, but cautioned, “only time will tell”.

Kim then invited Moon to cross briefly to the northern side with him, before they returned to the southern side for talks on North Korea’s nuclear arsenal.

“I feel like I’m firing a flare at the starting line in the moment of (the two Koreas) writing a new history in North-South relations, peace and prosperity,” Kim told Moon as they sat at a table to begin their closed-door talks.

Moon responded that there were high expectations that they produce an agreement that will be a “big gift to the entire Korean nation and every peace loving person in the world”.

Moon then grasped Kim’s hand and led him along a red carpet into South Korean territory, where school children placed flowers around their necks and an honour guard stood at attention for inspection.

Thousands of journalists were kept in a huge conference centre well away from the summit, except for a small group of tightly-controlled pool reporters at the border.

The two countries fought one of the 20th century’s bloodiest conflicts – and even today occupy a divided peninsula that is still technically in a state of war.

The historic summit follows months of heightened tensions between the US, its ally South Korea and the North, with Trump and Kim engaging in tit-for-tat threats that some feared would end in nuclear war. 

What next for diplomacy?

Beyond the ceremony and photo opportunities, it is still not clear whether Kim and Moon can make any progress in talks on the nuclear issue, which has hung over US and South Korean officials for decades.

North Korea’s nuclear and missile tests last year likely put it on the threshold of becoming a legitimate nuclear power. North Korea claims it has already risen to that level.

The Korean state news agency said that the leader would “open-heartedly” discuss with Moon “all the issues arising in improving inter-Korean relations and achieving peace, prosperity and reunification of the Korean peninsula” in a “historic” summit. 

And What Next For Nuclear Weapons?

Nuclear weapons are the top talking point of Friday’s summit. The meeting is set to provide the clearest sign yet of whether it is possible to peacefully negotiate with a country that has spent decades building its arsenal, despite crippling sanctions and near-constant international criticism.

Expectations are low, given that past so-called breakthroughs on North Korea’s weapons have collapsed amid acrimonious charges of cheating and bad faith.

Sceptics of engagement have long said that the North often turns to interminable rounds of diplomacy meant to ease the pain of sanctions – giving it time to perfect its weapons and win aid for unfulfilled nuclear promises.

Advocates of engagement say the only way to get a deal is to do what the Koreas will try on Friday: sit down and see what is possible.

South Korea’s Moon, a liberal whose election last year ended a decade of conservative rule in Seoul, will be looking to make some headway on the North’s nuclear programme in advance of a planned summit in several weeks between Kim and US president Donald Trump.

Kim, the third member of his family to rule his nation with absolute power, is eager, both in this meeting and in the Trump summit, to talk about the nearly 30,000 heavily armed US troops stationed in South Korea and the lack of a formal peace treaty ending the Korea War – two factors, the North says, that make nuclear weapons necessary.

North Korea may also be looking to use whatever happens in the talks with Moon to set up the Trump talks, which it may see as a way to legitimise its declared status as a nuclear power.

Janelle Monáe has discussed her sexuality for the first time, revealing she identifies as pansexual. 

The singer and actress silenced fan speculation by saying she considers herself to be a “free-ass motherfucker” during an interview with Rolling Stone. 

Janelle, who had not previously defined her sexuality, said: “Being a black queer woman in America, someone who has been in relationships with both men and women, I consider myself to be a free-ass motherfucker.”

The ‘Hidden Figures’ star admitted she originally thought she was bisexual until she began learning more about pansexuality, which is defined as attraction to people, regardless of their specific gender identity. 

“Later I read about pansexuality and was like, ‘Oh, these are things that I identify with too.’ I’m open to learning more about who I am,” she said.

Janelle also revealed she had been dropping subtle hints about her orientation in her music. 

“If you listen to my albums it’s there,” she said, explaining how her songs ‘Mushrooms & Roses’ and ‘Q.U.E.E.N.’ reference “Mary” as an object of affection.

In “Q.U.E.E.N” she sings: “Say is it weird to like the way she wear her tights?/And is it rude to wear my shades?/Am I a freak because I love watching Mary?”

Janelle also hopes her new album, ‘Dirty Computer’ inspires others to be who they truly are. 

“I want young girls, young boys, nonbinary, gay, straight, queer people who are having a hard time dealing with their sexuality, dealing with feeling ostracized or bullied for just being their unique selves, to know that I see you,” she said.

“This album is for you. Be proud.”

Read the full interview in this month’s issue of Rolling Stone, or online here. 

Useful websites and helplines:

• London Lesbian & Gay switchboard (LLGS) is a free confidential support & information helpline for LGBT communities throughout the UK | 0300 330 0630
• Manchester Lesbian and Gay Switchboard is a free support, information and referral service for the Manchester and North-West area | 0161 235 8000
• Stonewall for more information on other LGBT services and helplines | 08000 502020

As it’s #fashionrevolutionweek where we are asking #WhoMadeMyClothes, we are also stretching this attitude to what lies in our makeup bag. It’s no shocker that most beauty items come in plastic from shampoos to your favourite face wash - so here’s a guide on the top five items that won’t hurt the planet (or your wallet). 

It’s been a big week for the royal family, as the Duke and Duchess welcomed their third child. But it’s also been a big week for Princess Charlotte who, as well as becoming a big sister, has lost her youngest child status and now become the middle child.

As a middle child myself, I loved being able to both learn from my eldest sister who is two years older than me, and be silly and immature with my other sister, who is 10 years younger. There are countless studies looking at how birth order shapes our personalities: some say being a middle child can negatively affect self-esteem and life satisfaction, while others argue middle kids are more likely to be sociable and faithful in their relationships than their siblings.

With this in mind, we asked people to share their experiences of the highs and lows of being a middle child, to give Princess Charlotte an idea of how things may change:

“Everyone jokes you get ignored, but that certainly isn’t the case.” 

Lizzy Dring, 24, from Middlesex, loves being a middle child. She has an older sister, Victoria, 30, and a younger sister Ellie, 21. Lizzy believes being in the middle means she can have the best of both worlds, being more of a “grown-up” with her older sister (“she was my maid of honour and I am going to be her maid of honour in May″), and being more of a “best friend” with her younger sister. “I wouldn’t say I find anything particularly hard about being the middle child,” she says. “Everyone jokes about the ‘middle child syndrome’ where you get ignored, but that certainly isn’t the case.” 

“I hated feeling as though I was the least important.”

Darren Richman, 33, from London has a 28-year-old sister, Emma, and a 35-year-old brother, Robert. When Darren was younger he said at times he hated feeling as though he was somehow the least important because the first-born and the “baby” always took priority. “Although I sense, as the years pass, that this was probably largely in my head.” he adds. “I was referred to as ‘Mr hard-done-by’ for repeatedly suggesting I was somehow the neglected child.” 

“Being a middle child made me feel safe.”

Wajeeha Husain, 30, from Newcastle has two siblings: Madeeha, 32, and Anoosh, 25. “I loved having someone older and younger than me - it made me feel safe,” Wajeeha says. “I felt inspired by my older sister’s confidence but also excited by my younger sister’s energy and lack of care for the world.” Despite enjoying parts of being a middle child, Wajeeha says at times when she was younger, she did feel a bit lost and not noticed, “I lacked a lot of confidence then and also was extremely shy because I felt like I would never be like my sisters,” she adds. “I used to compare myself to them a lot.”

“I used to gain sympathy from my relatives.”

Parul, 34, who lives in London, has two brothers Saket, 36, and Abhishek, 28. Parul says one thing she hated about being a middle child was hand-me-downs, “which, for the most of my childhood, made me look like a boy”. She used to claim her dad was closest to her older brother and her mum was closest to her younger brother, and she “used that to gain sympathy from my relatives”. But she says the best part of being in the middle is that she is really close to both her siblings.  

“I hated feeling so useless.”

Lucy Hart, 23, from Leeds, has an older sister Helen, 26, and an 18-year-old brother, Harry. “One of the things I hated about being in the middle was feeling so useless,” Lucy says. “Both my siblings were quick with numbers and had very logical minds, and I just didn’t. I think it had a bit of an impact on my self-confidence.” But Lucy adds, as with many of the others, she found that being in the middle meant it was easier to be closer to both her siblings. “I think across the years I’ve had really close relationships with both Helen and Harry, and I’m really grateful now that I am in the middle.”

“I was never alone being in the middle.”

Sara French, 27, from Suffolk, has two brothers - Adam, 29, and Daniel, 20. Sara feels she got the “full sibling experience” being the middle child. “I was never alone,” she says. “When Adam left home to go to university I still had Daniel around to hang out with – poor Dan wasn’t so lucky when I moved away. I feel very lucky to have them both in my life, they are truly brilliant gents.” However, at times she did feel as if there was a lot to compete with on both sides, Sara adds: “I had a rebellious phase, which of course got me dubbed as the awkward middle child.”

Tracey Crouch is everything a Sports Minister should be – bright, independent minded, and above all passionate about her subject. But on this one I think she’s wrong.

Terracing in the top two divisions was outlawed after the Hillsborough disaster in 1989. The context was not just football’s greatest tragedy, but years of bad behaviour in the stands.

Football and stadiums have changed significantly since then and safety has been nothing short of transformed, with pens and perimeter fences thankfully confined to history. But one thing that hasn’t changed is that tens of thousands of spectators still stand up every week – they just do so in their seats in the face of unenforceable ground regulations saying they mustn’t.

To fall over whilst standing in front of a low backed seat is far more likely to lead to injury than standing in front of the waist high safety rail that puts the ‘safe’ in safe standing. In short, a refusal to change the law is the current weak point in UK stadium safety.

How do we know that safe standing is, indeed, safe? It has shown to be the case at Celtic and in Germany, where it has operated for many years. And if you don’t want to stand, you don’t have to. No ground in the world is all-safe standing, it is usually limited to one area for those who prefer to.

Safe standing probably wouldn’t increase capacities at existing grounds, as the concourse space and entry and exit routes will have been designed to serve a specific number of people. What is the point then? As well as making grounds safer, it would give football fans what they overwhelmingly want, according to polls by the Football Supporters Federation and dozens if not hundreds of others by clubs and supporters’ groups around the country. Some football fans just prefer to stand, as shown by the number who have continued to do so since the law was changed 40 years ago.

It is true there is no clarion call for safe standing amongst Premier League clubs, most of whom have full stadiums and make a profit with their tens of millions of TV money. But in the Championship, where grounds are 70% full, and nearly every club makes a loss, it could be a real help to improve atmosphere and encourage more fans through the turnstiles. 

The evidence about the low risk of safe standing is already decisive, but the politics needs to be carefully handled given the sensitive matter of public safety. The government should set up an independent review to look at the experience from Germany and Scotland, as well as the situation in England now, and use that to update stadium regulations and, if necessary, the law.

In 2017 the Liberal Democrats were the only one of the three major parties to include safe standing in their manifesto. It would be surprising if Labour hadn’t caught up by 2022, and the Conservatives shouldn’t get left behind.

If you’ve turned on the radio at any point in the last two years, it’s inevitable that you’ll have heard the voice of Anne-Marie, even if you didn’t realise it.

During this time, she’s had chart success with tracks like ‘Alarm’ and ‘Ciao Adios’, but it’s her features on songs by Clean Bandit and Marshmello  - the former was Christmas number one in 2016 - that have been her biggest hits so far.

With her debut album ‘Speak Your Mind’ out now, Anne-Marie hopes the release will give people an opportunity to get to know her as an artist in her own right.

“A lot of people know me through the collaborations that I’ve done,” she tells HuffPost UK. “So I just really wanted something that explains the way my brain is and how I feel about things. And I think that this album does that for me.”

All 16 tracks on ‘Speak My Mind’ feature a co-writing credit from Anne-Marie (apart from the aforementioned Clean Bandit collaboration ‘Rockabye’), and she notes that her new music is “very autobiographical”.

“I love to get inspiration from everywhere,” she says, “But definitely the initial feeling [for my songs] comes from personal experience. So it’s very personal, and I think that’s what makes the album ‘me’. I couldn’t have had it any other way, I just feel like I needed to be really honest, and that’s what I did.”

It turns out, going into a studio and bearing your soul to musicians and co-writers you hardly know is every bit as daunting and uncomfortable as it sounds, even for someone as outspoken as Anne-Marie.

“When I first started to write with other people, it was a bit weird,” she remembers, adding, with an infectious laugh: “I don’t think I actually ever got the best out of what I was trying to say, because I was probably trying to hold stuff back, and not show them, like, my whole damaged heart.

“I feel like the more I worked with [the same musicians and co-writers], I ended up getting a close group of people together, who I got totally comfortable with. So I could just go into the studio and be like, ‘this has happened, I need to write about it, help me write it’.

“That definitely makes me realise that putting the album out now is the best thing, because [earlier in my career], I would have been a different kind of person, and a different artist, and I would have created different… not as good music.”

Years in the making, Anne-Marie says, again with a giggle, that she had been feeling “a mixture of every emotion possible to the human brain”, in the lead-up to the release of ‘Speak Your Mind’, admitting that certain setbacks made her fear the project would never come together.

“At times, I totally felt like it was never gonna come,” Anne-Marie recalls, “It just seemed to be always going back and back and back… but yeah, it finally did, and now I have all the songs on it that I feel like my album needs.

“I feel very excited because it’s finally coming out, but also very nervous because it’s scary putting out something that you know you can’t adjust or change a little bit. To know that I can’t do that anymore is quite scary. I’ve wanted to put an album out every year for the past five years, so it is a total relief. But still, like… the nervousness and excitement is overriding that at the moment.

“I know I’m really proud of it, and I really love every song, so that’s, like, the first hurdle to get over when you’re putting an album out. I just really hope that everyone else likes it too.”

‘Speak Your Mind’ covers a range of themes, from heartbreak and toxic relationships to nostalgia and self-empowerment. Anne-Marie notes: “That was one of the main things that I wanted for this album. I wanted it to mean something. I wanted to have a lot of different subjects on there.

“I grew up listening to amazing artists like The Streets and Christina Aguilera… when people actually said stuff and wanted to talk about different things and have a meaning to [their music].

“I want people to go away from it feeling happy, feeling strong and feeling like they can speak to someone if they’ve got a problem. I just want people to feel good after they’ve heard it and make them think about things.

“I honestly always really try to get people to share their feelings. I always say to everyone that communication is key. And the struggle is, no one really talks to each other anymore. We need to just tell people how we’re feeling. So hopefully, the album will make people feel like they can do that even more.”

When Anne-Marie speaks to HuffPost UK, she’s in Milan (“I don’t really know how to say that, I don’t know if it’s Mil-ann or Mil-arn,” she laughs), and the more we talk, the more it becomes apparent just how much she values making her voice heard.

“I was always quite outspoken as a teenager, and quite cheeky in school and stuff,” she explains. “My sister’s a very strong woman, I surround myself with really strong females so I feel like that’s just naturally came as I’ve got older.

“I just think this career would be a really different experience for me, if I chose not to be that way. I made it a point that I was always going to say how I feel.

“I just couldn’t be any other way. I wouldn’t be able to hold in how I feel about something. For me, speaking my mind is a big part of my life, and I encourage other people to do that as well.”

The singer’s fresh honesty isn’t limited to just voicing her opinions on important subjects close to her heart, though, as she’s also brilliantly unfiltered when she’s on stage.

During her gig in London back in March, for example, she was heard asking the crowd if the heavy bass in the venue was “making anyone else’s arseholes go all funny”. That same night, she commented on her own sweaty top lip, before laughing to herself: “No, not that one.”

Her uninhibited and always-candid stage patter (or, as she puts it, “chatting shit”) is something Anne-Marie has over almost all of her peers on the emerging British pop scene, and it’s an aspect of her show that fans have grown to love.

“When I go on stage, I just talk a lot, naturally, in between songs,” she says. “I didn’t realise I did that, and I actually stopped for a while... but my band was like, ‘We really miss when you used to talk to the crowd. That’s when people really get to know who you are’. People can get to know you through the music, but I want them to feel like they know me as a person too.

“And nothing’s ever planned, that’s what helps as well. I don’t have a rehearsed speech in between songs, which is probably why it feels so natural, because even I don’t know what’s going to come out of my mouth.”

As talk turns back to the album, Anne-Marie says the song ‘Perfect’ is one of the album’s more personal offerings, revealing she hopes it will serve as a modern-day empowerment anthem, but without the clichés and tired tropes that similar songs often employ.

“On the way to the studio I had been watching loads of TED Talks on YouTube,” she recalls. “They were talking about body confidence, and loving yourself and feeling good about yourself, stuff like that. I arrived at the studio and I was like, ’I really want to write a song like this, but I don’t know how to do it without sounding really preachy and, like, ‘yeah love yourself, girls’!’. I never really knew how to do it.

“So, Jennifer Decilveo, who I wrote the song with, was like, ‘Anne-Marie just tell me everything that you don’t like about yourself, or that you’re insecure about, or the weird little things that you do, that you feel like no one else does’. So I literally sat down and told her everything, and she wrote it down on a piece of paper. And that became the song.

“I really wanted to do a song for other people to feel better with. When I was younger I used to play ‘Beautiful’ by Christina Aguilera so much, because it made me feel good. And I wanted to have that song for other people now, so, hopefully that makes people feel better.”

At the other end of the spectrum is one of the album’s more unorthodox tracks, ‘Bad Girlfriend’, in which Anne-Marie outlines the various ways she got revenge on those who mistreated her, when she first began dating.

“Say, for example, if I was with someone now and they cheated on me, I would just leave,” she says. “I would just be like, ‘whatever, your loss, see you later’.

“But when I was younger, I definitely didn’t have that attitude. I wanted to hurt them like they hurt me. So, ‘Bad Girlfriend’ is basically me just telling people what I was like when I wanted to basically give them their karma. It’s fun to sing that one live… it’s actually nice to just mug them off for a change.”

And if any of the exes written about should actually hear any of the many personal songs Anne-Marie has written about them, is she a little concerned?

“Oh I feel fine about that,” she says, with her distinctive laugh. “Yeah. If an ex hears it… I don’t care.”

Anne-Marie’s album, ‘Speak Your Mind’, is out now. Listen to her new single, ’2002’ below:

Update: The Duke and Duchess officially announced what they called their third child. 

Royal fans are convinced the Duke and Duchess have called their third royal baby Prince Albert after believing they detected an error on the royal family website. 

When searching the URL https://www.royal.uk/prince-albert, people are met with a page that says “Access denied: You are not authorised to access this page.” This is the same page that comes up when using the same URL with Prince George and Princess Charlotte.

However, when you add any other name in the royal website URL - from Arthur to Alexander - users are met with a page that says: “Page not found: The requested page could not be found.” 

As a result, fans on Twitter have been convinced that the couple have named their third child Albert - ‘Prince Albert’ has even started trending.

However one Twitter user helpfully pointed out that the reason the Prince Albert page comes up with the same message to Prince George and Princess Charlotte is because there is another page on Prince Albert, Queen Victoria’s husband.

She said if you add a ‘0’ to the URL for George and Charlotte, the page can be viewed. 

Either way, it just shows how eager the royal fans are to find out the royal baby name. 

HuffPost UK has contacted Kensington Palace for comment. As spokesperson was unable to confirm when the baby name would be released.

Matt Hancock’s dogged determination to avoid questions about Brexit and the customs union on Thursday night’s Question Time left the audience in laughter – and even forced a smile from host David Dimbleby. 

Despite insisting that he wanted to leave the customs union, the Culture Secretary refused to address whether remaining in it would be “in defiance of the 52% who voted to leave the EU”. 

“Brexit is leaving the EU,” Hancock said in an attempt to side-step the question. 

“But is it leaving the customs union?” asked a clearly frustrated Dimbleby. 

“You know that’s what is being argued in Parliament, argued today in Parliament, argued in the Cabinet. Is leaving the customs union leaving the EU or not?” 

Yesterday, Home Secretary Amber Rudd claimed the government was “still working” on its position whether the UK will remain in the customs union post-Brexit - despite Theresa May’s vow to leave it. 

It was Hancock’s third attempt to dodge the debate which finally broke Dimbleby’s serious demeanour. 

“The reason I’m answering the question in my way,” Hancock began. 

“That’s your way of saying you’re not answering the question,” Dimbleby interrupted with a wry grin.