Barometer | 9 April 2011

Intern affairs

— Nick Clegg called for internships to be made available to students from poor backgrounds, although it was then revealed that the young Clegg was himself parachuted into an internship at a bank thanks to a phone call from his dad.

— The word ‘internship’ first entered public consciousness in Britain after the Monica Lewinsky scandal in 1998: she was a White House intern who ended up in unexpectedly close contact with the president, Bill Clinton.

— Internships can be first traced to the US in 1879. But the concept is French: the word is derived from ‘interne’, an assistant doctor.

The world behind bars

The number of foreign nationals arrested in Britain has doubled in the past two years. Of the 83,055 people in prison in December 2010, 10,866 were foreign nationals. Which countries supplied the most prisoners?

Jamaica 820

Ireland 659

Nigeria 649

Poland 647

Vietnam 536

Source: Ministry of Justice

Nine to five

A study has found that people who work more than 11 hours a day have a 67 per cent greater chance of developing coronary heart disease than those who work seven to eight hours a day. Which occupation should you choose for the shortest working week?

Average hours worked weekly:

Elementary admin and services – 25

Sales – 25.8

Caring and personal service – 28.8

Secretarial – 28.9

The longest-working employees are in the transport and mobile machine-drivers and operators, who work an average of 43.1 hours a week.

Source: ONS

Escape from Sheffield

Oliver Letwin was pressed to apologise after allegedly telling Boris Johnson he didn’t want people from Sheffield flying off on cheap holidays. Just what is the cheapest half-board holiday you can buy next week, flying from Doncaster-Sheffield airport?

Price per person per week

Majorca – £335

Tenerife – £368

Torremolinos – £409

Benidorm – £436

Bed, breakfast and evening meal in three-star hotel in Bakewell, 20 miles away in Peak District (travel not included) – £486

Source: Thomson, AA