The Spectator

Barometer | 28 April 2016

Also in our Barometer column: academy performance, big employers, and casualties of Chernobyl

Getting a head

Barack Obama dismissed Boris Johnson’s accusations that he shown disdain for Sir Winston Churchill by removing a bust from the Oval Office. What’s the going rate on eBay for such a bust?

One-sixth scale resin bust of Winston Churchill (removable head) £12.50
Sir Winston Churchill bronze/brass bust £44
English-made marble bust of Sir Winston Churchill £70
Signed classic Winston Churchill bust by Oscar Nemon £80
Tallent Winston Churchill Terracotta Bust Cigar Lighter (used) £165

The academy difference

Education Secretary Nicky Morgan partially retreated on plans to turn all schools into academies, free from council control. How do academies perform against maintained schools at GCSE?

Sponsored academies
Capped point score at GCSE stage 276
Proportion of pupils who pass five GCSEs at A*–C 43%
 ‘Value added’ 985
Similar maintained schools
Capped point score at GCSE stage 278
Proportion of pupils who pass five GCSEs at A*–C 42%
 ‘Value added’ 984.5

Source: National Foundation for Education Research

What about the workers?

11,000 jobs were put at risk by the collapse of BHS. Which British-listed companies carry with them the fate of the largest number of employees worldwide?

G4S 623,000
Tesco 480,000
Compass Group 470,000
HSBC 266,273
Unilever 172,000
Sainsbury’s 161,000

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Casualties of Chernobyl

What is the death toll from the Chernobyl nuclear disaster, 30 years on?
2 emergency workers died at the scene.
134 workers in total suffered acute radiation syndrome (ARS), with 28 dying from it within three months of the disaster.
— A further 19 workers who had ARS had died by 2006 of various causes, though not necessarily as a result of radiation exposure.


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