Where will you find the most shoplifters?

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Nigel Farage claimed he would put together the biggest political rally in British history to launch Reform UK’s local election manifesto in March. How many people will have to assemble to fulfil his promise?

– The Chartists claimed to put together a crowd of 500,000 when presenting a petition demanding electoral reform to parliament in 1842.

– The Stop the War Coalition claimed 1.5m for its march against the Iraq War in 2003 (although the police put it at half that).

– The People’s Vote movement claimed 1m took part in its rally in March 2019 demanding a second referendum.

– But when it comes to political rallies, we are amateurs. Italian trade union CGIL claimed a 3m-strong crowd when it held a rally at the Circus Maximus, Rome, on 23 March 2002. 

Heavy duty

Which countries levy the highest tariffs on goods under ‘most favoured nations’ rules (i.e. it includes imports from all countries with which a country does not have a formal trade deal)?

agricultural goods

South Korea 57%

Turkey 39.8%

India 39%

Lebanon 33%

Norway 31.1%

(For the UK it is 9.2%, the EU 10.8% and the US 5%.)

all goods

Algeria 18.9%

Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Congo 18.1%

Turkey 16.2%

Uganda 15.6%

(For the UK it is 3.8%, the EU 5% and the US 3.3%.)

Source: World Trade Organisation

Stealing the limelight

The number of cases of shoplifting rose by 23% to 492,914 in the year to September 2024. Which police force areas were worst and least-worst?

Incidents of reported shoplifting per 1,000 population

highest

Nottinghamshire 13.2

Cleveland 13.1

Durham 11.1

Northumberland 10.4

Sussex 10.4

lowest

Dyfed Powys 3.9

Devon and Cornwall 4.3

Cumbria 4.5

Surrey 4.6

Suffolk 4.6