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Environment Agency teams are continuing to work hard to reduce flood risk by putting up temporary barriers, operating flood gates and using pumps. Teams are out on the ground monitoring river levels, checking and maintaining flood defences and clearing blockages in watercourses.

Last week at the Foreign Affairs Council (Defence), the Defence Secretary called on European partners to do more and increase their defence spending to the NATO 2% commitment, meaning they are better positioned to tackle the new and emerging threats to European security.

We estimate that the £7.50 rate will raise coverage - the number of workers paid at or below the NLW - by up to 390,000, from 1.6 million jobs (6.7 per cent of the cohort) in April 2016 to up to 2.0 million (8.3 per cent) in April 2017. Looking at progress towards the 60 per cent target, we estimate that the £7.50 rate will represent an increase in the relative value of the NLW for workers aged 25 and over of 1.1 percentage points, up from 55.8 per cent of the value of typical earnings (October 2016) to 56.8 per cent (October 2017).

The Autumn Statement announces for the first time that the UK government will also open negotiations with Stirling. This means that the UK government will have agreed, or be in discussions with, each of Scotland’s cities.

So what more can be done? Well, the United Kingdom is already active in helping to tackle this set of problems.