Repeat until fade
More than three million voters disappointed by the result of the EU referendum have signed a petition demanding a re-run.
— They may have in mind the Danish referendum on the Maastricht Treaty in 1992, rejected by 50.7% of voters. A year later, after exemptions were offered to Denmark, the country voted again and approved the treaty by 56.7%.
— Or it could always go like the 1997 Winchester by-election. Having lost his seat by two votes in the general election, Conservative MP Gerry Malone challenged the result. In the re-run, Lib Dem Mark Oaten won with a majority of 21,556.
Jam yesterday
Concert-goers on the way to Glastonbury were stuck in a five-hour traffic jam. They were the lucky ones.
— In August 2010 motorists on National Highway 110 from Inner Mongolia to Beijing were caught in a 60-mile jam caused by roadworks. It lasted 11 days, with some motorists stuck for six days.
— In February 1980, motorists returning from skiing holidays caused a 109-mile jam on the A6 between Lyon and Paris.
— In April 1985 there was a 40-mile M1 jam between Milton Keynes and Rugby.
Singles market
The Wimbledon men’s singles champion will win £2 million, against £2,000 for the first professional championships in 1968. How much would winners get if the prize had merely gone up with RPI inflation?
| Actual prize | |
| 1968 | £2,000 |
| 1976 | £12,500 |
| 1986 | £140,000 |
| 1996 | £392,500 |
| 2006 | £655,000 |
| 2016 | £2 million |
| RPI adjusted | |
| 1968 | £2,000 |
| 1976 | £5,000 |
| 1986 | £11,700 |
| 1996 | £18,100 |
| 2006 | £23,000 |
| 2016 | £28,000 |
Bubbling up
Ten people were injured on a rollercoaster in Motherwell. How does the accident rate on such rides compare with that on ordinary trains?
— From 1990 to 2004 52 people died on rollercoasters, averaging 3.5 a year.
Source: International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions
— Americans take 1.7 billion rides a year, averaging around 1 mile, giving a fatality rate of two per billion passenger-miles.
— The death rate among US rail passengers is 0.15
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