Is it normal for monarchs to abdicate? Yes!

Game of thrones

The Spanish king, Juan Carlos, announced that he is to abdicate in favour of his son, Prince Felipe. Is the Queen becoming unusual among Europe’s remaining monarchs in declining to abdicate with age?
Belgium: Philippe became king in 2013 following the abdication of his father, Albert II, at the age of 79.
Denmark: Queen Margrethe, 74, became queen after the death of her father, Frederik IX, in 1972.
Luxembourg: Grand Duke Henri ascended after his father, Grand Duke Jean, abdicated in 2000 aged 79.
Netherlands: Willem Alexander became king after the abdication of his mother, Queen Beatrix, in 2013 aged 75.
Norway: Harald V became king on the death of his father, Olav V, in 1991.
Sweden: Carl XVI Gustaf, aged 68, became King after the abdication of his grandfather, Gustaf VI Adolf, in 1973.

The biggest con

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Matthew Parris

What if Trump is just bonkers?

The National Crime Agency warned bank customers of a new computer virus. The National Fraud Authority estimates fraud against individuals was £9.1 billion in 2013. How were we defrauded?
£3.5 billion Mass-marketing scams
£3.3 billion Identity fraud
£1.5 billion Online ticketing fraud
£755 million Rental property fraud
£2.7 million Prepayment meter fraud

Rubbish statistics

Charity FareShare said 100,000 tonnes of edible food a year is being turned into bio-gas. Some other claims about food waste:
18 million tonnes a year end up in landfill in UK (Food Aware).
7 million tonnes are wasted by consumers each year (WRAP, Waste Resources Action Programme, the waste quango).
30% of all food is wasted (Institution of Mechanical Engineers).
Food waste is costing households £700 a year each (Tesco).
£3.6 million a year is spent by WRAP on compiling statistics on food waste.

Good cop, better cop

Have recent scandals harmed the public standing of the police?
How people rate the police in surveys:

Source: ONS