Back to the palace
Donald Trump was invited for what will be his second state visit to the UK. Who else has been on more than one?
– Olav V of Norway was entertained twice, in October 1962 and again in April 1988, although never at Buckingham Palace. On the first visit he was received at Holyrood Palace and the second Windsor Castle.
– Margrethe II also undertook two state visits, in April 1974 and again in February 2000, both times to Windsor Castle.
– Monarchs have an advantage as they tend to hang around for longer. Trump will be the first president to enjoy a second. Curiously, South Korea has had three state visits since 2004, but each with a different president.
Low-flying planes
How much low flying does the military undertake over the UK?
– In 2023/24 aircraft spent 34,819 hours ‘low flying’, defined as below 2,000ft. This was a drop of 4.2% on 2022/23. Of this, all but 16 hours were classified as ‘routine’. Of the routine flights, 9,782 hours were clocked up by planes and 25,021 by helicopters. In spite of the fall in low-flying hours, complaints from the public increased by 7.5% to 908.
Source: Ministry of Defence
Lease resistance
The government again promised to abolish residential leasehold. How many people live in leasehold properties?
– Data from the English Housing Survey in 2021/22 showed there were 4m households in England living in leasehold properties. That is 15% of all households, although in London the proportion is 28%.
– 2.3m are owner-occupiers, of whom 62% are buying with a mortgage and 38% own their homes outright. 1.5m are renting leasehold properties in the private sector.
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