Flat pack
Some facts about Glasgow’s Red Road Flats, built in 1968, which are to be demolished as part of the opening ceremony for the Commonwealth Games.
— The original plans were for four-storey maisonettes rather than tower blocks.
— At 31 storeys and 292 feet, the first blocks were the highest residential buildings in Europe when opened.
— The flats were clad in asbestos, which was later covered up.
— In 1980, two of the blocks were declared unfit for habitation by families, and
were let to students and the YMCA. Asylum-seekers followed from the 1990s
onwards.
Qualified advice
The House of Commons select committee on science and technology said that BBC producers should need special permission before ‘interviewing non-experts on controversial scientific topics such as climate change’. How expert in scientific matters is the committee?
— Andrew Miller (chairman): former lab technician at Portsmouth Poly turned union official
— Jim Dowd: former telecoms engineer
— David Heath: degree in physiological sciences followed by career as an optician
— Stephen Metcalfe: runs family printing business
— David Morris: former hairdresser
— Stephen Mosley: chemistry degree from Nottingham University; career as IT consultant
— Pamela Nash: degree in politics from Glasgow University
— Sarah Newton: history degree from King’s College London, followed by career in marketing
— David Tredinnick: MBA from University of Cape Town followed by career as stockbroker and word processor salesman
— Hywel Williams: degree in psychology followed by career in social work
— Graham Stringer: degree in chemistry from Sheffield University followed by career as analytical chemist.
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