Long-serving leaders
Hosni Mubarak entered Egypt’s crisis as one of the world’s longest-serving political leaders. Here are five others:
Leader Achieved power
Robert Mugabe, Zimbabwe 1980
Jose Eduardo dos Santos, Angola 1979
Teodoro Obiang Ngeuma Mbasogo, Equatorial Guinea 1979
Ali Abdullah Saleh, Yemen 1978
Muammar al-Gaddafi, Libya 1969
Trees ain’t free
The government has aroused protest for its proposal to sell off Forestry Commission land, with implications for public access. The sale is expected to raise £230 million over ten years. This sum is dwarfed by the subsidies going to owners of private woodlands.The Woodland Grant scheme has a budget of £230 million to be spent between 2007 and 2013. Among these are…
Woodland Regeneration Grant for replanting a piece of ancient woodland:
£1,760 per hectare
Woodland improvement grant:
up to 80 per cent of capital cost
Farm woodland payment:
up to £300 per hectare
Woodland Planning Grant for producing a management plan for a three-hectare wood:
£1,000
In addition, farmers may still claim agricultural subsidies on fields they have planted. Income from forestry is exempt from income and corporation tax. Forest land is also free from inheritance tax if owned for more than two years.
Source: DEFRA
Street of crime
Police forces put an interactive map of recorded crimes online. This is the litany of crimes recorded in the worst street, Glovers Court in Preston, in just one month:
Violent crimes 44
Robberies 1
Burglaries 1
Acts of anti-social behaviour 73
Other crimes 33
Source: www.police.uk
Slightly taxing
The Institute of Fiscal Studies calculated that 750,000 more people will be sucked into the 40 per cent tax bracket in April as a result of tax changes. The number of people paying tax at a marginal rate higher than the basic rate keeps growing:
1979 700,000
1989 1,600,000
2009/10 3,000,000
2010/11 3,750,000
Source: IFS
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