Barometer | 18 September 2010

Papal visit
Pope Benedict XVI visits Britain this week, only the second pope to do so. The first was John Paul II in 1982. Some facts and figures from his visit:
— John Paul II’s native Poland was still behind the Iron Curtain and it was to be another 22 years before it joined the EU. Nevertheless, 24,000 Poles then living in Britain attended a mass at Crystal Palace.
— As the media coverage intensified, 350,000 people attended open-air mass at Coventry Cathedral, a million lined the streets in Liverpool and 180,000 attended mass at York racecourse.
—By the time the Pope reached Manchester, interest had waned. Only 200,000, compared with an estimate of 1 million, attended mass in the city.
—While the Pope delivered a sermon on the feeding of the 5,000, caterers had to throw away £2,000 worth of unsold burgers and sausages.

Education
%      MPs v UK population     %
90      University educated     20
28      Oxbridge educated     0.5
35      Independent school educated     7
41      State comprehensive educated     90

Source: Sutton Trust, Department of Education, Higher Education Statistics Authority

The death sentence
The European Parliament has voted, 658 votes to nil, to pass a motion condemning Iran’s threat to stone to death a woman, Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani, for adultery.
— 58 countries still have the death penalty, but only 18 carried out executions last year.
—After China, which does not release figures but is thought to have carried out thousands of executions, the next five most enthusiastic users of the punishment last year were:
Iran 388
Iraq 120
Saudi Arabia 69
USA 52
Yemen 30
Source: Amnesty International

Cameron in America
Q: When you hear the name ‘David Cameron’, what profession comes to mind?
Answers:
Film director…………………27%
Foreign head of state………14%
Professional soccer player…11%
American Idol winner…………8%
Don’t know……………………40%

Source: CBS News interviewing a random sample of 1,167 adults across the US, 5-8 July