| It is another grey morning, as it has been most of the week. It is penance for the run of sunny mornings the week before. Today is SAD. Not Seasonal Affective Disorder, the winter gloom to which I am prone, but Singles Appreciation Day. And here is Jackie McGregor on how being immune to a new romantic partner’s faults is a trick Mother Nature plays on us to ensure we keep multiplying. Dr William Kitchen, a defender of grammar schools, writes here that Lisneal is an excellent secondary that deserves its controversial recent funding allocation. Our political editor David Thompson writes about how Edwin Poots, the Stormont speaker, has backed his Sinn Fein deputy when she has twice slapped down attempts to raise the McMonagle affair. David also reports about how Alliance and nationalist MLAs criticised a women's rights group that called for single sex spaces for women and girls. Last week I wrote about the inquest ruling on the SAS killings of four IRA terrorists. This week I note that while Hilary Benn said he "felt the anger" of MPs on the judgment, such anger has flared up before over legacy yet the anti UK state juggernaut is allowed to roll on. And here is an update on my thoughts about the problems with President Trump. Each council area in Northern Ireland has struck its rates level, all of which are up between 3.6% and 6%. Here is the full list,
Finally, Ballymena man Del Currie on BBC Dragons’ Den this week got two dragons to invest £50,000 in his unique crisps business
Enjoy your weekend and your reading, Ben | 