In fact

April 27, 2010

In India, more people have access to a mobile phone (545m) than a toilet (366m). United Nations University

In the 2005 general election, 52 per cent of votes were not cast for the MP who won. Voter Power Index

Judges and lawyers in Florida can no longer be Facebook friends. New York Times, 10th December 2009

Pound for pound, an aircraft engine is six times more valuable than silver. John Rose, chief executive of Rolls-Royce

One third of British citizens live within five miles of their birthplace. Geoff Mulgan, Young Foundation

China has some 170 cities with a population above 1m; the US has nine and Britain two. Financial Times, 10th March 2010

In Britain, the recession has shifted the average weekday bedtime to 10.30pm—one hour earlier than two years ago. Daily Telegraph, 14th April 2010

There are 822 creative writing programmes in the US. If they admit just five to ten students per year, they will produce some 60,000 writers in the next decade. Mother Jones, January/February 2010

Alec Douglas-Home is the only British prime minister to have played first-class cricket. Wikipedia (and see Sporting Life in this issue)

A road in Derby will be named “Lara Croft Way,” after the Tomb Raider character Derby Telegraph, 27th February 2010