A better class of tourist
— The Seychelles tourism industry received a boost with the announcement that the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge are to spend their honeymoon there.
— Like many island states in the tropics, tourism is a huge part of the economy: just over half the country’s GDP and 70 per cent of its foreign currency earnings. When 12 dead sharks were discovered on a tourist fishing trip in 2006 it was a national crisis.
— Yet the Duke and Duchess won’t have to share the beaches with too many grockles: hotel beds have been limited to 5,000, and annual tourist numbers have been capped at 150,000 a year, less than double what they were at the end of the 1970s.
Coalition terms
The coalition celebrated its first birthday. How much longer before it overtakes other coalitions of British history?
Years and days
Lloyd George 1916–22 5+316
National government 1931–1940 8+260
Wartime coalition 1940–45 5+10
Lord Aberdeen 1852–55 2+42
Getting to yes
Do the Scots want independence? It depends how you ask them.
Percentage for ‘yes’:
Do you want a referendum on independence? (ICM 2009) 58%
Should Scotland become an independent country? (ICM/ Sunday Telegraph 2006) 52%
Should the Scottish Parliament have the powers and responsibilities to enable independence? (TNS 2010) 40%
Should Scotland negotiate independence? (TNS/SNP 2009) 38%
Should Scotland become an independent country? (YouGov 2007) 23%
Missing dates
Samoans shouldn’t plan much for 30th December. The Pacific state will miss out the day altogether as it switches from being east to being west of the International Date Line. Some other days that never were:
5 October – 14 October 1582 in Spain, Portugal and Italy: missed out due to the switch from Julian to Gregorian calendar
3 September – 13 September 1752 in Britain: missed out for the same reason
1 January – 24 March 1599 in Scotland: New Year’s day switched from 25 March to 1 January
1 January – 24 March 1751 in England and Wales: missed for same reason
29 February 1900: under the Gregorian calendar years ending in 00 are not leap years unless divisible by 400
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