Barometer

Lab test Labour MP Jenny Riddell-Carpenter described black labradors, pubs and warm ale as a ‘far right fantasy’. Do labradors have right-wing roots? The labrador, as its name suggests, had its origins in Newfoundland. The breed was derived from the St John’s water dog, favoured by Portuguese fishermen for its strong fishing ability. Dogs of this breed were brought to Britain by the 10th Earl of Home to be trained as gun dogs. They were cross-bred with other hunting dogs, and the labrador was recognised as a distinct breed by the Kennel Club in 1903. Some were employed in the fight against fascism through bomb-detection duties in the war (although they would no doubt as happily have worked for the other side).

Orange prize What is so special about the Garvaghy Road to Ulster Unionists? The area around Portadown attained significance for loyalists thanks to the Battle of the Diamond in 1795 when Protestant and Catholic forces clashed at a road junction. Twelve years later, Orangemen started their annual march from Portadown to the church at Drumcree, returning via the Garvaghy Road, which was then in the countryside. It wasn’t entirely peaceful then, with a Protestant magistrate remarking in 1835 that the Orangemen had gone out of their way to pass by a Catholic chapel, stirring up the locals. But the march became more of a flashpoint after a council estate inhabited mostly by Catholics was built along the Garvaghy Road in the 1960s.

Poll positions Lord Kinnock called on Andy Burnham to make voting compulsory. Around 24 countries have some kind of compulsory voting, including: – Australia, where it was introduced in 1924. Turnout increased to about 90%.– Belgium, where in theory repeat offenders can be banned from voting for ten years (which rather defeats the object).– Greece, where until 2000 non-voters could be refused passports.– Egypt, where you can in theory be jailed for not voting.– Luxembourg, which has the power to hit offenders with €1,000 fines.

Before 9/11 11 September will always be remembered for the attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon 25 years ago. What else has happened on 9/11 through the ages? AD 9 Barbarians defeat the Romans at the Battle of Teutoburg Forest. 1297 William Wallace defeats the English at the Battle of Stirling Bridge. 1609 English explorer Henry Hudson arrives on Manhattan Island. 1852 Buenos Aires declares independence from the Argentine Confederation. 1857 The Mountain Meadows Massacre, when Mormons attacked a convoy of wagons driven by settlers travelling from Arkansas to California, killing 120. 1954 Hurricane Edna makes landfall in New England, killing 29. 1976 TWA flight 355, hijacked after taking off from LaGuardia airport, arrives in Paris.

Stitch in time Some facts and figures on the Bayeux tapestry, which is going on display at the British Museum this month: — It is 230ft long and depicts 58 individual scenes. There are 626 people, 190 horses and 35 dogs. — There are many theories as to where and by whom it was embroidered, from the Loire Valley to Canterbury, or even Barking, Essex. — It was not recorded as being in Bayeux until 1476. — Some 40,000 people signed a petition to try to stop it being transported to London. — Technically it is not a tapestry at all as it is embroidered. Poll position How common are autumn elections? Until the 1970s, autumn elections were more common than spring ones. Since 1918, election day has fallen in every month except January, August or September.

Made to run A robot at the Robotic Olympiad in Beijing bettered Usain Bolt’s 100 metres record by 0.19 seconds. – It has taken a century, however, for reality to catch up with fiction. The term ‘robot’ comes from a play, R.U.R., written by the Czech writer Karel Capek. The title stood for Rossum’s Universal Robots, a company which manufactured machines to replace humans in factory production. It was derived from Robotnik, a Czech term from a slave or drudge. Channel passengers Virgin Trains won permission from the Office of Rail and Road to run up to 20 services through the Channel Tunnel, taking on the current monopoly operator Eurostar. How have Eurostar passengers numbers changed over the years?

Star turn Britain experienced a solar eclipse but not the total eclipse visible in Iceland and Spain. How often do eclipses occur? – During the decade 2021-30 there have been, or will be, 22 eclipses visible somewhere on Earth. Of these, 6 were or will be total eclipses in some locations. – The average location on Earth could expect to experience a partial eclipse every 2.6 years and a total eclipse every 374 years. – However, eclipses are more common above the Arctic Circle (once every 2.2 years) than at the Equator (2.8 years).

Diverse academia Jason Arday was heralded as Cambridge’s youngest-ever black professor when appointed professor of sociology of education in 2023. How many ethnic-minority staff are there at UK universities? – In 2024/25 there were 244,755 academic staff working in British universities. Of these, 26% were recorded as being of ethnic minority. In the same year, 16% of the UK population identified as ethnic minority. – Of 23,900 professors, 14% were ethnic minority. – Between 2023/24 and 2024/25 the number of professors of ethnic minority increased by 4%, while the number of professors who are white rose by 1%. – While HESA statistics subdivide ethnic minorities into ‘black’ and other groups, they are only listed in bands to the closest five.

Common ground The Commonwealth Games began as the British Empire Games in 1930, yet they did not originate in Britain. The event was instigated by a Bobby Robinson, a sports reporter on a local newspaper in Hamilton, Ontario, who also acted as manager for the Canadian track and field team at the 1928 Olympics in Amsterdam. The games were held in his home town, Hamilton, and 11 countries participated: Canada, England, Scotland, Wales, Ireland (which meant the Irish Free State as well as Northern Ireland), Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, British Guiana, Newfoundland and Bermuda. The only women’s events were in swimming.

Lost counties Rutland is to be abolished for the second time, having first been taken off the map in 1974 but then reinstated in the mid-1990s. Some other lost counties of England: Middlesex: Abolished in 1965 and subsumed into Greater London. Huntingdonshire: Merged with Peterborough in 1965 and then subsumed into Cambridgeshire in 1974, though it lives on as the name of a district. Soke of Peterborough: Semi-detached part of Northamptonshire with its own county council until merged with Huntingdonshire. Winchcombeshire: Area of what is now Gloucestershire, abolished shortly before the Norman Conquest. Hallamshire: Area centred on Sheffield which was taken into Yorkshire. Hullshire: Became the borough of Kingston upon Hull before becoming Humberside in 1974.

Dying of heat Have this year’s heatwaves really killed 2,700 people? The claim has been made in a paper by Imperial College. – The figure was arrived at by taking the temperature recordings and modelling the theoretical number of deaths based on past heatwave events. However, actual data on deaths tells a different story. The UK Health Security Agency, which measures recorded deaths against a five-year average, declares there was ‘no signal of high mortality above the baseline’ for the week ending 31 May, the first heatwave this year. – As for the second heatwave, provisional data shows there were 768 fewer deaths (or 7.4%) than would have been expected from the five-year average. The later figures might yet be revised upwards.

To go or not to go? Would Andy Burnham be wise to call a general election? The record of PMs since 1945 who took office mid-term: Anthony Eden called an election straight away and increased the Conservatives’ majority to 60. Alec Douglas-Home waited almost a year after taking office. Lost his majority. James Callaghan didn’t call an election until three years after taking office, when he lost to Margaret Thatcher. John Major didn’t call an election for 16 months, when the parliamentary term was nearly up. Won on a reduced majority of 21. Gordon Brown blinked when he might have called an election in autumn of 2007. Didn’t do so until 2010. Lost his majority. Theresa May called an election roughly nine months after taking office.

Absolute mayor Andy Burnham wants more devolution and elected mayors. Do voters want that? – Since 2001 there have been 55 referendums on whether to establish the post of elected mayor. Only in 17 cases was there a majority in favour. – The towns and districts keenest on having an elected mayor were Middlesbrough (84% in favour), Croydon (80%) and Mansfield (70%). – The areas least keen on an elected mayor were Guildford (81% against), Bath (79%) and West Devon (77%). Ratings game Which attracts the biggest TV audience in Britain: Wimbledon or the World Cup? – England’s opening match in this World Cup, vs Croatia, attracted a peak audience of 15.4m. England’s quarter-final defeat to France in 2022 had an audience of 19.4m. – This compares with the 8.

Prime numbers It looks as if Britain will just miss out on having seven prime ministers in the space of a decade as nominations for the Labour leadership election will not open until 9 July (David Cameron left office on 13 July 2016). Have we ever had seven PMs in the space of ten years? – After Lord Liverpool left office on 9 April 1827 Britain saw a further eight premierships within the following decade. Two, however, saw the same person returning to office, so we had seven different prime ministers within the space of ten years.

Football fiasco With 48 teams, this is the largest World Cup ever. How does it compare with the first? – The inaugural World Cup was held in Uruguay in 1930. It should have had 16 teams, in a format which endured until 1970. However, only 13 turned up. Siam (now Thailand) and Japan accepted invitations but then withdrew. – Egypt were supposed to travel by ship with the French team, via Marseille. However, a storm in the Mediterranean prevented them making the connection. – England didn’t compete until 1950, when they were eliminated in the group stage after defeats to the US and Spain. Health and safety How have defence and welfare spending changed as a proportion of GDP?

Badger over Bard The Bank of England is to discontinue issuing banknotes with historic figures in favour of animals. Which figures have appeared on which notes since the Bank began the practice in 1970?

Red Wales Labour lost power in the Welsh Assembly for the first time since it was set up in 1999. Labour’s domination in Wales began early. The party’s founder, Keir Hardie, was born in Lanarkshire and made his name as a trade union activist in the Scottish coalfields. He first won election for the constituency of West Ham South. Yet it was during his second Commons stint, as MP for Merthyr Tydfil, that he established the Labour party in 1900. In the 1922 general election Labour won a majority of seats in Wales, a feat it has repeated in every one of the 27 general elections since – a run unparalleled among political parties in the world’s genuine democracies, but which is unlikely to be extended. Space oddity Donald Trump declassified many files relating to UFOs.

Travel sickness Three people were reported to have died in an outbreak of hantavirus on a cruise ship returning to Europe from Antarctica. How likely are you to fall ill with an infectious disease on a cruise? A European study that analysed US data on 760 cruises between 2010 and 2013 found an overall illness rate of 2.81 cases per 10,000 traveller-days, while 97% of cases involved norovirus. The rate of outbreaks was highest on ships which had a home port in Cuba or Egypt and lowest on ships with a home port in France, Greece, Italy or the UK. Local difficulties Does a governing party ever do well in local elections?

Marathon sprints The Kenyan marathon runner Sabastian Sawe broke the world record by running the first official sub-two-hour marathon. – The world’s first official sub-three-hour marathon was also run in London, at the 1908 Olympics at White City. – The record could have gone to an Italian, Dorando Pietri, but he collapsed just short of the line and was helped over it, leading to his disqualification. The record went instead to Johnny Hayes, at a time of two hours 55 minutes and 18 seconds. – The two and a half hour barrier was broken in 1925, in New York. The price of energy Is renewable energy really helping to keep down bills? The table shows domestic electricity price alongside the share of electricity made up of wind and solar. South Korea 10.