Lords spiritual
The bishops in the House of Lords, who led a successful rebellion against plans for a benefits cap this week, are a remarkable survival of Lords reform.
— While most hereditary peers lost the right to sit in the Lords as part of the House of Lords Act 1999, the number of bishops remained at 26, the number fixed by the Bishopric of Manchester Act 1847.
— The archbishops of Canterbury and York, plus the bishops of Durham, London and Winchester, are automatically granted seats; the remaining 21 are drawn from the longest-serving bishops from the other 39 dioceses of the Church of England.
— Lords spiritual serve until the age of 70, after which they may be made life peers. There is no representation, however, from the Welsh and Scottish churches.
Big oil
The EU moved to boycott Iranian oil, but can the world do without it? Iran produces 4.2 million barrels of crude oil a day, approximately 5 per cent of the total global production of 87 million. The remaining 95 per cent comes from 124 other countries, down to Slovenia (five barrels per day). The UK is 21st on 2.2 million barrels per day. Here is the top five:
Barrels per day
Saudi Arabia 10.5m
Russia 10.1m
US 9.7m
China 4.2m
Iran 4.2m
Source: CIA
Leveson
The first three months of the Leveson Inquiry, from July to October, cost £855,300. How could a tabloid spend that money, according to figures quoted in the inquiry?
Top-class kiss-and-tell story £500,000
One disk of MPs’ expenses £150,000
Photo of Hugh Grant’s girlfriend £125,000
Serialisation of bestselling book £50,000
Phone bills for 26 sports stars £20,800
100 ex-directory phone numbers £7,500
Hire of a rent boy to expose paedophile priest £2,000
Pound-store prices
The chain of 99p stores was put up for sale at £60 million: a discount on the £80 million demanded when it failed to sell last year.
Comments
Join the debate for just £1 a month
Be part of the conversation with other Spectator readers by getting your first three months for £3.
UNLOCK ACCESS Just £1 a monthAlready a subscriber? Log in