The Spectator

Portrait of the week | 19 February 2015

issue 21 February 2015

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The annual rate of inflation fell to 0.3 per cent as measured by the Consumer Prices Index (or to 1.1 per cent by the Retail Prices Index). The Bank of England predicted a touch of deflation in the spring. Unemployment fell by 97,000 to 1.86 million in the last quarter of 2014. The FTSE share index rose to 6,914.62, close to its record of 6,930.2 on 30 December 1999. In a lecture at King’s College London, Sir John Sawers, who was until November head of MI6, said: ‘The Ukraine crisis is no longer just about Ukraine. It’s now a much bigger, more dangerous crisis, between Russia and western countries.’ Sex-and-relationships education should be compulsory in all state primary and secondary schools in England, the Commons Education Committee said in a report. In England and Wales, 51 per cent of adults are single, according to the Office for National Statistics.

David Cameron, the Prime Minister, said that people who were too fat to work should not be able to claim benefits if they refused help to lose weight.

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