Today, in response to the confirmation of the news that the BBC intends to close BBC 6 Music and BBC Asian Network, I’ve lodged a Freedom of Information request in order to find out how much the various national radio stations cost – and thus whether the two stations facing closure represent sufficiently poor value [...]
“A quarter of people living in England’s countryside will be over 65 by 2020, a campaign group has said. The National Housing Federation said figures estimate a 40% rise in older residents over the next 10 years. The federation, which represents England’s housing associations, said the number of over 65s living in rural England is expected [...]
“The British armed forces could be forced to shrink by up to a fifth because of a lack of money, a military think tank has predicted. The Royal United Services Institute said the number of trained military personnel could fall from 175,000 to little more than 140,000 by 2016″. So? It’s already widely discussed that [...]
“Cheques will be phased out by October 2018, but only if adequate alternatives are developed, the UK Payments Council – the body that oversees payments strategy – has said. The Council said there should be ‘no scenario’ for using cheques by 2018. The target date for the closure of the system that processes cheques has been [...]
In the best traditions of lazy journalism where the answer to any headline posed as a question is almost certainly ‘no’, the answer to this question – the title of the Big Debate Birmingham (hosted jointly by the Birmingham Post and Birmingham City University) – is almost certainly ‘no’. Fortunately in the course of the [...]
“It all began with a tin of cat food, an empty coffee tin and a hairdryer. When air was forced between the two tins, the ensemble began to float on its own little cushion of air. Thus, through a combination of eccentricity and genius, Sir Christopher Cockerell invented the hovercraft, in a shed, in a [...]
“Britain is vulnerable to terrorist attack from the sea because no single body is responsible for protecting the UK’s coast, MPs have warned. Just nine Royal Navy ships along with a ‘motley collection’ of police and coastguard boats guard a shoreline more than 7,000 miles long”. If there’s a point being made about having so [...]