Barometer | 14 May 2015

Plagued by stigma

The World Health Organisation told doctors to stop naming diseases after people, places and animals so as not to stigmatise them. But are diseases even really associated with things that gave them their name?
— Spanish flu. First identified in an army hospital in Kansas in March 1918. It gained its name because Spain was a neutral country, and uncensored newspaper reports made it appear uniquely affected. Subsequent theories have had it originating in China or at an army camp in France.
— Legionnaires’ disease. First identified after an outbreak at a convention of the American Legion at the Bellevue-Stratford Hotel, Philadelphia, in July 1976.
— Ebola. First recorded in the village of Yambaku, Democratic Republic of Congo, in 1976, by a Belgian doctor, Peter Piot. He named it after the Ebola river, 60 miles away, so as not to stigmatise the village.

Commons people

What awaits defeated MPs? A 2007 study of 184 ex-MPs by Leeds University found:
21% found work almost immediately.
32% found work within three months.
21% within six months.
13% within 12 months.
14% were unemployed after a year.
When they did find work:
40% were worse off.
20% earned about the same as an MP.
36% were better off.
4% were worse off initially but were better off within five years.

Scotland’s cash

Most popular

Tom Bower

Labour is destroying London’s nightlife

Nicola Sturgeon went cool on full fiscal autonomy for Scotland. A possible reason:
PROJECTED NET FISCAL BALANCE (% OF GDP)

Source: Government Revenue and Expenditure Scotland
 

Source: Government Revenue and Expenditure Scotland

Living in sin

Gay Muslims were reported to be joining Isis because of hostility from fellow Muslims in Britain. What percentage of Muslims believe homosexuality is morally wrong — and how does it compare with attitudes towards sex outside marriage?
% MUSLIMS SAYING MORALLY WRONG

Source: Pew Research Institute