Announcements made as jokes in the Budget have cost £2 billion in lost revenue, according to The Times of 3 November 2018. This year’s rate relief for public lavatories so that “local authorities can at last relieve themselves” cost a few hundred million pounds. Last year’s relief for driverless vehicles cost £540 million. It was announced as...Read More

The Earth BioGenome Project started in November 2018 to store the DNA for all 1.5 million species of animal, plant and fungus on the planet. It is seen as an insurance policy against catastrophic loss of species. The project has been called a modern Noah’s Ark. The project is expected to take ten years. It...Read More

Mark Carney, governor of the Bank of England, said that interest rates could rise if the UK left the EU without a deal. The problem is that he said the same thing in 2016 before the referendum, that a leave vote would cause higher rates. In fact, rates were reduced. [18.11]Read More

The UK population is expected to grow from 66 million to 73 million by 2041, according to the Office of National Statistics (ONS) in November 2018. It also predicts that one quarter of the population will be over 65 by 2037. The current percentage is 18.2%. [18.11]Read More

Three thieves stole more than £1,500 from a poppy seller at the beginning of November. Maurice Bastable, who is 84, was selling poppies dressed in his uniform of the Coldstream Guards. He has been selling poppies for 12 years. He was selling poppies outside Marks & Spencer in Basingstoke. The money has been more than...Read More

Employees of Google in 50 offices around the world, including London, staged a walk-out on 1 November 2018 in protest at harassment and discrimination. The action was prompted by disclosure that executive Andy Rubin had been given a €90 million pay-off despite “credible” allegations of sexual misconduct.  [18.11]Read More

On 1 November 2018, 20 Labour MPs voted against the Budget proposal to increase the personal allowance to £12,500 a year from April 2019. The party had been whipped to abstain. The rebels included Yvette Cooper, David Lammy and Dame Margaret Hodge. They wanted lower allowances. The official party line was that, although this is...Read More