"why has that child got hearing aids? why does that child sit in that chair?" the grown—up might answer them and say, "oh, he's got hearing aids because he needs those so he can hear," and that's what it's about, that opportunity for a small child to ask the question, to receive the answer, and then move onto the next thing, because that's what children do. this is one that angie's made for all children going to school. angie and ted are meeting up with the actor and writer sally phillips and her son olly. last year, sally made a documentary looking at a new prenatal test that some believe could eradicate the condition. she's endorsing the book and believes it makes a difference. yes, because we're afraid of things we don't know. we don't recognise, different things, we all are. and so i think making little kids with down‘s syndrome familiar and unthreatening to other children is a great thing. back home, and ted's main aim

is to beat his sisters at snap. but for his mum and the other volunteers, their ambition is to help every child, whether with down‘s or not, to take those first crucial steps into their brave new world. the deal to end the dispute in southern rail has been reached but that only one of the two unions involved. the government has set out its vision for the uk outside the european union, it said. back row cases brought by human rights lawyer phil shiner against british soldiers will be reviewed by the british government after he was struck off for dishonesty. an update on the market numbers for you — here's how london's and frankfurt ended the day. sophie kinsella's new novel is called my my not so perfect life,

which gives you a clue. it's about a woman in her 20s who leads an apparently glamorous life in london, although the truth is much more prosaic, and has to move back home to the country when she is sacked, to work for her father. but the life she finds there is not quite what she expected. sophie kinsella has written a string of worldwide bestsellers, including the confessions of a shopaholic series, picked up by hollywood. and if you are wondering — well, she does not mind the term "chick—lit", but she much prefers what one book shop called her novels — "wit—lit". welcome. you are talking in the book, introducing us to a metropolitan life. it's not quite what it seems.

do you think that that is the truth about the way that people live these days, particularly in london? i think that all of us are suckered into projecting the perfect life. i think that social media has not helped this tendency. which i think was always in us. you know, back in the day you would have your portrait painted, wouldn't you 7 speak for yourself! well, 100 years ago. but i think my forebears would have aimed to look as rich and prosperous and happy and wonderful as they possibly could. then, the portrait would be hung on the wall and you could go about your everyday life. i think now what we do is constantly throw out portraits of ourselves through social media, and also through our professional demeanour, just this sort of image. then we look at other people. although we know that it is invented, we sort of believe it anyway. this book seems very much of the moment, in that this picture which is built up, say, on instagram, which really is a construction

which is quite fake. she goes back and lives in a little one room place, although when she is out and about, she looks quite glamorous. this really is a bit of a problem for us, not for us all, but a problem of our time? i think it is. it is sort of accelerating. i mean, social media has exploded, certainly in my lifetime, from not existing to almost being a planet that we have discovered, and now we live on! we have colonised it and had to make it work for us as humans and i think it brings out the best and the worst. i love the connection but this measuring and judging is not good. you write about women with particular feeling, notjust women, but particularly for young girls, teenage girls, and so on. the world that they are introduced to, you talk about measuring, testing, living up to expectations. whether it is how you look, your sexual experience, whatever — it is the sort of thing where, in your young life and my young life, didn't exist.

absolutely didn't exist, you had your own teenage struggles. perhaps you would tell your diary about them, and maybe your close friend. we spent a lot of time with one person, whose voice you could hear, by the way. as humans, we respond to so many signals. voice, touch, eyes. and on social media, there is a barrier. there is a visual construct and this wretched "liking" which everyone becomes addicted to, and a validation that we have all got hooked on. it is not good. where can it end? it can only lead to addictive reliance on it. we should not give the idea that the book is a meditation on contemporary society! it is not. it is a story. but that is the theme, really. when you get an idea like that, does it gnaw away at you until you've written the book? yeah, i think that i go around the world with a sort of radar. whatever i see goes into my stories. so, when i see people shopping too much, that goes in. and when i see people projecting lives and feeling anxious because they are not living up

to some sort of measure of success, it goes into a story. but what i try to do, as you say, i try to make people laugh, whip over the pages, see what is coming next. it's not a thesis, the thesis is sort of there between the jokes. what do you think you have got that makes you a good storyteller? i think from what my readers say, they relate to my characters. they sort of see themselves in the characters, they see those flaws and foibles. they think, ah, i have done that. in everyday life? in everyday life. but what i do is push it to the nth degree, whether it is getting into ridiculous situations. i love a bit of farce, silly situations, and quite intricate plots. i'm a real geeky plotter. but you start off with somebody that you relate to. so go with them through the story. it is the old story, isn't it, that if the reader doesn't care

about the character, not necessarily total affection, but does not care in the sense that is not interested in... then, the thing is a dead duck? i completely agree. you can have an antiheroine, but you need someone that is interesting. all of my sophie kinsella novels i have written in the first person. that makes them quite intimate. there is a connection. what is the advantage of writing in the first person? i find an instant intimacy with the character. i know these characters so well, and i did used to write in the third person. there was a slight level of detachment. you were moving chess pieces around. now, it is like method acting. you are in one person's head? i live these plots, and actually my husband can tell when things are going badly for my character, they go badly for me! i weep, i laugh... you know, it is quite an emotionaljourney. and when you're in the throes of a story, once you have got the idea, you think that you are there as a character who has begun to form in your mind?

you just go at it, hammer and tongs? i do, i do. i'm a real planner in terms of plot. i love a plot, i love structure. i spend quite a lot of time working things out, turning points and getting it all clear in my mind. also working out what i want to say, because you can have an idea for a story but you're not sure what you are trying to say about the world. once i've got that, i'm impatient. i want to see how it turns out. what do you want to say about the world? i think all of my books want to say, look at us, we are human! aren't we ridiculous? look at the pickles we get ourselves into... it is about absurdity? it really is. and, by the way, we are all like this, but never mind. let's notjudge ourselves. are you one of those writers who goes around either literally with a notebook in the pocket, where you scribble down things. or, at least a notebook in your head, and you spot somebody in a coffee shop or somewhere and go right, i've got her...? i do, and i think i do it all the time. i've got you, right now! well, good luck! i never have the right person for the right chapter.

if i could go to a coffee shop and find the right character and put them in now, that would be very handy. it doesn't work like that? it never works. but you store them up, or store up a little facet of something you've heard, and it comes back to you later. do you think about your readers when you are doing this? you have a vast army of readers out there, do you ever think about them and what they want? i connect with them, and when i meet them, interestingly it is the same wherever i go. they have a sort of human... what do they ask you, what kind of questions do they ask? they want to know what is happening next with my characters. i know that they love to laugh, but to be honest, i don't visualise them when i am writing. i think that would freak me out. so i write the book that would please me as a reader. what would i love to read? i love a plot, some comedy and something to think about. what about endings? have you thought of... you know, a really tragic ending? well, i sometimes think, you know what? i should do that sort of... because you haven't, have you?

gut—wrenching. .. no, i haven't, i haven't done the gut—wrenching tragedy where you just think, "why?" as you turn the page. so far i've not been ballsy enough to do it. maybe someday? bit of resolution. maybe one day. sophie kinsella, thank you very much. thank you. the winds have caused a bit of a storm. there have been power outages on the west of the uk. tomorrow's developing more pressures showing in the atlantic. what's going on at the moment. severe gales in the irish sea. this is how it looks not far away from belfast today. a lovely weather watchers picture. contrast that with the north sea coast. a

windy day across the board. further strong winds this evening and overnight. more showers to come. showers, clive, wind, equating to a mostly mild night. however behind me trouble is brewing towards dawn. a potential storm. there are a storm warnings across northern france, the channel islands are likely to get a battling, it is likely severe gales will develop in the west and pushing east in the south of the country. quite a lot of rain across wales, the midlands, the south—west. scotla nd the midlands, the south—west. scotland and northern ireland should feel quite well for most of the day. gusts of 50 mph, possibly 70 mph on the south coast, more than that for the south coast, more than that for the channel islands and france. winds escalating into the evening. snow over higher grounds. perhaps the peak districts and pennines and

into scotland. strongest winds hitting east anglia. moving northwards into scotland for the start of saturday another low— pressure start of saturday another low—pressure hot on its heels. stormy weather for france, wet weather for ourselves to stop. some sunshine hopefully. let us move forward into the second part of the weekend. possibly close to eastern scotland. we think at this stage the rain holds off. drierfor the scotland. we think at this stage the rain holds off. drier for the south and east. there could be some showers and brisk winds running along the side coast and a chilly start, frost potentially first thing on sunday morning. it does not look like a bad weekend particularly after what we have had to date and the potential leak stormy weather later in the day tomorrow. hello, i'm phillip thomas and this

is outside source. after a series of public rows with iran australia and mexico, president trump has these words of reassurance. when you hear about the tough phone calls i'm having, don't worry about it, we are being taken advantage by every nation in the world virtue, it is not going to happen any more. but on his first day in the job, his top diplomat was more diplomatic. each of us is entitled to the expression of us is entitled to the expression of our political beliefs but we cannot let our personal convictions overwhelm our ability to work as one team. we will be live to the state department. france working on, the man who was favoured to be the next president of france, is facing new