Ten Things You Need to Know Today: Sunday 3 Dec 2017

1. May's mobility commissioners stand down amid 'little hope'

All four members of the government's Social Mobility Commission have stood down in protest at the lack of progress towards a "fairer Britain". The chair of the commission, Ex-Labour minister Alan Milburn, said he had "little hope" the current government could make "necessary" progress. Tory former minister Baroness Shephard also quit. The government said it was making "good progress" on social mobility.

2. Trump adviser says North Korea war prospect growing

Donald Trump’s national security adviser says the prospect of war with North Korea is growing each day. Speaking at the Reagan National Defense Forum in California, HR McMaster said the chance of war is "increasing every day, which means that we are in a race, really, we are in a race to be able to solve this problem". It is believed that North Korea’s latest missile is potentially capable of striking Washington.

3. Majority of Brits 'want a second EU referendum'

One in two Britons say there should be a second referendum on a final Brexit deal, according to a new poll by Survation. After reports that Theresa May is prepared to pay around £50bn to keep negotiations on track, a total of 43% said the EU had got the best deal. Asked why the EU had demanded so much, the leading answer was "because the EU wants to punish us".

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

4. Jayda Fransen 'tried to hush up sex assault complaint'

Jayda Fransen, deputy leader of Britain First, has been accused of trying to persuade the victim of an alleged sexual assault from making an official complaint. The 31-year-old is said to have tried to persuade the victim not to complain after she alleged she was sexually assaulted by the group’s leader, Paul Golding. The far-right group’s posts were retweeted by US president Donald Trump last week.

5. Hague scrambles to prevent further suicides

Investigators at The Hague are launching a security clampdown amid fears other inmates will "do a Slobodan Praljak" - emulating the Bosnian Croat warlord who killed himself with cyanide last week. Gambia’s chief justice Hassan Jallow is investigating how Praljak obtained the bottle of potassium cyanide that Netherlands prosecutors said killed him. Praljak’s suicide in the dock was broadcast globally.

6. OMG - text messaging turns 25 years old today

The text message is 25 years old today. The very first such message sent simply read: "Merry Christmas." It was sent by Neil Papworth, a British programmer. "I don't know if [we] really thought it was going to be a big thing," Papworth says. By 2007, Brits were sending 66bn SMS messages a year, in 2012, they sent 151bn. Britains now send 96bn text messages every day.

7. Therapists sent to classrooms to tackle crisis

An "army" of therapists will offer children counselling in British classrooms in a bid to tackle a mental health crisis among the young, reports the Sunday Telegraph. Under government plans, some 3,000 health professionals will be trained to counsel anxious pupils, in a bid to tackle soaring levels of mental distress and self-harm. Each school will also be asked to have a designated teacher in charge of mental health. Experts say social media is increasing emotional pressures on children.

8. Favourable forecasts as supermoon is expected today

A "supermoon" - when the Moon seems larger and brighter in the sky as it moves closer to Earth – is expected later today. The moon will appear about 7% larger and 15% brighter, although experts say the difference is scarcely noticeable to the human eye. The Met Office's UK forecast suggests there will be clear spells this afternoon, so the supermoon may be visible. It is expected at 15:47 GMT.

9. Theresa May warned against 'compromise' Brexit

Theresa May is heading for a Brexit that effectively fails to withdraw Britain from the European Union, according to a former senior judge and an ex-leader of the Conservative Party. Sir Richard Aikens told the Prime Minister that a proposed "compromise" on the European Court of Justice was "dangerous". Iain Duncan Smith agrees, warning that the move could lead to European judges overseeing trade disputes.

10. Donald Trump says he has 'nothing to hide'

Donald Trump insists he has "nothing to hide" after one of his former advisers, Michael Flynn, admitted lying to the FBI over conversations with Moscow's ambassador to Washington. However, the US President has opened himself up to obstruction of justice claims by admitting in the same tweet that he knew his former national security adviser had lied to the FBI.