Labour’s Yvette Cooper on immigration, £10 visas and Ukip’s make-believe “nostalgia” November 18, 2014 Labour will charge visitors entering the UK from the US and 55 other countries around £10 a go as part of a wider pledge to get immigration under control. Shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper – who some say is a contender for the next Labour leader – outlined the plans today, saying the funds [...]
Tube, train or bus? What your daily commute says about how you spend your time travelling November 18, 2014 Londoners waste hours of their lives commuting. If ever Jane Austen was looking for another truth universally acknowledged that would be it. But what exactly do we do with that time? Turns out it really depends on what kind of commuter you are. According to a Kantar Worldpanel study of 15,000 people, our time-wasting [...]
London ice rinks map: Where is the best place to go skating this Christmas? From Somerset House to Canary Wharf November 18, 2014 Some people might want to get their toes as close to the chestnut-roasting fire as they can, if you can slurp down a couple of glasses of mulled wine and get your skates on, why not? London has more than a few rinks to tempt you with – here's our round up of [...]
Supermarket price war fails to save sector as it enters negative sales territory for first time on record November 18, 2014 The supermarket "price war" has failed to help kick-start sales, with the sector falling into negative territory for the first time since records began in 1994. Sales were down 0.2 per cent for the 12 weeks to November 9, according to Kantar Worldpanel. The average basket price of everyday goods such as milk, bread [...]
From Gotham City to Fidelity and Canaccord: The unfortunate tale of Quindell’s share price November 18, 2014 You'd be forgiven for forgetting the full detail behind the story of Quindell – here, we wrap up the last seven months of headache-inducing stories that kept the insurance outsourcer in the headlines. April 23 – Mysterious short seller Gotham City Research publishes a 74-page dossier, claiming Quindell had “magical… paper profits” and raising [...]
Will Ukip win the Rochester & Strood by-election? And who is Ukip taking votes from? November 17, 2014 If bookies and pollsters are anything to go by, it's going to be another shoe-in for Ukip this week. Coral has already started paying out for people who backed the anti-European party ahead of the November 20 by-election. Coral has backed Ukip as the favourites to win since Douglas Carswell romped home to victory [...]
Are you a Waitrose Wendy or a Tesco Tracey: How do the UK’s supermarket shoppers look? November 17, 2014 What does a Waitrose shopper look like, and how would you tell them apart from a Sainsbury's regular? There's actually not much to choose between them, according to YouGov, which has just released the best visualisation tool we've seen for a while. What YouGov says is particular (as opposed to generally true) about [...]
Fifa whistleblowers Phaedra Almajid and Bonita Mersiades claim corruption report breached confidentiality and questioned credibility November 17, 2014 Whistleblowers who tried to raise the alarm bells over the Qatar and Australia World Cup bids have accused Fifa of trying to discredit them, and breaking promises to keep their identity confidential. Phaedra Almajid, a former member of the Qatari team who quit in 2010, and Bonita Mersiades, who worked on the Australian bid, [...]
Bird flu in the UK: Could the disease lead to a shortage of Christmas turkeys? November 17, 2014 The re-emergence of bird flu in the UK is unlikely to pose a major threat to human health – but it could have a serious impact on your Christmas turkey. Although the East Yorkshire farm in which the case of avian flu has been confirmed breeds ducks, the local area has several turkey farms [...]
Sainsbury’s Christmas advert, forex fines, Rosetta and the Double Donut Burger: 10 things we learned this week November 14, 2014 1. Sainsbury's has stolen the Christmas ad crown from John Lewis. Maybe. But have either of them done enough to be considered for our Christmas ad hall of fame, which includes a 1950s Coca-Cola number and the 1992 Yellow Pages classic? 2. Bankers' forex rigging was £1.1bn of bad. RBS, HSBC, UBS, JPMorgan and [...]
