Crossing the floor
Danny Kruger defected from the Tories to Reform, the first sitting MP to do so. Which parties have gained, and lost, the most MPs from defections since 1979? Direct defections, ignoring MPs who have resigned the whip to sit as independents:
Lost Gained
Conservative 16 1
Labour 32 7
SDP 3 26
SNP 3 0
Liberal Democrat 0 3
Alba 0 2
Change UK 0 8
Ukip 0 2
Referendum party 0 1
Labour have lost the most, thanks to the defections to the SDP in the 1980s. Since 1987, the Tories have suffered the most.
Land fill
How much of Britain’s agricultural land is used for growing biofuel?
– Wheat: 45,000 hectares used to grow wheat for biofuel, out of a total of 6m hectares planted with wheat.
– Sugar beet: 2,000 hectares out of 99,000 hectares are used for biofuel.
– Maize: 73,000 out of 240,000.
– In all, 0.8% of arable land is used for growing liquid biofuels and a further 2.2% for growing other sources of bioenergy.
Race tracks
Is the countryside racist? Police force areas with the highest race hate crime rate in 2022/23, per 100,000 population:
West Midlands 301
West Yorkshire 297
Greater Manchester 287
Merseyside 227
Metropolitan 222
South Yorkshire 206
Leicestershire 201
Humberside 172
Kent 171
Essex 158
Papal pay
Pope Leo XIV said: ‘Elon Musk is going to be the first trillionaire in the world… If that is the only thing that has value any more then we’re in big trouble.’ How wealthy is the Pope?
– According to David Rober, of Sacred Heart University, the Pope is entitled to allowances of around €30,000 per month – although it is not clear how much, if any, he accepts. His predecessor, Pope Francis, was reported to have turned down the money.
– Even without an allowance, the Pope enjoys the run of an apartment, five cars and other perks.
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