tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29971592011-07-07T14:48:56.283-07:00'UK shamed again...'We're not as smart as we'd like to think we are - Dean FreidmanSMchttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11603692321695041170noreply@blogger.comBlogger1751100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2997159.post-31490545836680916412009-08-16T08:03:00.000-07:002009-08-16T08:09:33.682-07:00Society: British homes have smallest rooms in Western Euorpe' / The Guardian 10/8/09'Welcome to 'rabbit hutch Britain'. Homes in Britain have the smallest rooms in western Europe, with the average floor space almost a quarter smaller than in Denmark, which boasts western Europe's most spacious living accommodation. The rooms in newly built private housing are so small that close to half of buyersSMchttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11603692321695041170noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2997159.post-13684587637435866912009-07-14T11:56:00.000-07:002009-07-14T12:39:09.906-07:00Society: 'British tourists named the worst behaved in Europe' / Expedia 10/7/09'British tourists have been named as the worst behaved in Europe, according to new research out today. For the third year running, Europeans have also voted the Brits messy, bad tippers and very likely to complain. The Expedia Best Tourist Index, running annually since 2002, gauges the opinions of over 4,500 hoteliersSMchttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11603692321695041170noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2997159.post-83557169232225943712009-05-17T07:40:00.000-07:002009-05-17T08:12:45.778-07:00Society: 'Britain has the lowest rape conviction rate in Europe' / The Times 14/5/09'Rape victims are to be asked why they feel that they are being failed by the criminal justice system as new research suggests that Britain has the lowest conviction rates in Europe. Britain came bottom of 33 countries in the study, which is based on 1,100 case files and takes account of varying official SMchttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11603692321695041170noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2997159.post-68771046921586731002009-03-28T06:55:00.000-07:002009-03-28T11:42:23.863-07:00Health: 'UK has worst cancer survival rate in Western Europe' / Daily Mail 24/3/09'Britain has the worst cancer survival record in Western Europe. Survival rates are on a par with Poland and the Czech Republic, even though they spend two-thirds less on cancer. A damning league table shows that Britain is 16th out of 19 countries surveyed. Patients in some European countries are 15% more likely toSMchttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11603692321695041170noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2997159.post-24694146536759956392009-02-22T07:22:00.000-08:002009-02-22T08:13:11.011-08:00Society: 'British children worst in Europe for cannabis use' / Daily Telegraph 19/2/09'Children in Britain are the worst in Europe for cannabis abuse, after UN [International Narcotics Control Board] researchers found that almost half of youngsters admitted having used the drug. Some 44% of 15-16 year-olds said they had tried the drug. In comparison countries such as Norway, Sweden and Greece SMchttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11603692321695041170noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2997159.post-43055740595613839422009-01-25T12:01:00.000-08:002009-02-22T09:57:15.483-08:00Society: 'British youths are most alienated in Europe' / Daily Telegraph 23/01/08'British youths feel more alienated than those in any other European country, according to a new happiness league table. Interviews with more than 40,000 people across the continent found that 16- to 24-year-olds in the UK have the lowest levels of trust and belonging. Among adults, only those in Slovakia and SMchttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11603692321695041170noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2997159.post-42630734846191689502008-12-02T09:11:00.000-08:002008-12-02T09:30:03.022-08:00Society: 'Britain on top in casual sex league / Sunday Times 30/11/08'A new study has found the British are the most promiscuous western nation. In an international index measuring one-night stands, total numbers of partners and attitudes to casual sex, Britain comes out ahead of Australia, the US, France, the Netherlands, Italy and Germany.' (more)[See also: 'The number of women having an SMchttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11603692321695041170noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2997159.post-83715501344027300292008-11-27T09:38:00.000-08:002008-11-27T09:48:43.028-08:00Economy: 'Free-spending Brits have highest credit card debt' / Forbes 26/11/08'Free-spending Britons have the highest credit card debt of 14 European countries studied by the Datamonitor research group. [Their] propensity to pay for everything from washing machines to weddings on their credit cards has led to the average person having 1,349 euros worth of outstanding credit card debt as of the SMchttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11603692321695041170noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2997159.post-77428795157536593562008-11-06T09:09:00.000-08:002008-11-06T09:59:50.694-08:00Society: UK retains EU cocaine abuse title / Guardian 6/11/08'The UK remains at the top of the European "league table" for cocaine abuse for the fifth consecutive year, according to the annual report of the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction. Britain's continuing position at top of the table of 27 EU countries is based on the fact that 12.7% of young adults aged 15 to 34 SMchttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11603692321695041170noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2997159.post-52854729497129646402008-08-26T08:13:00.000-07:002008-08-28T09:56:39.378-07:00Education: 'British primary schools offer least PE in EU' / Independent on Sunday 17/08/08'In a league table of time spent on physical education in primary and secondary schools, Britain came 15th out of 27 EU nations. In primary schools, some pupils aged between five and 11 are offered just 30 minutes of PE a week – which, together with Ireland, is the lowest in the EU. Schoolchildren in France SMchttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11603692321695041170noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2997159.post-49746813518501605752008-07-08T09:31:00.000-07:002008-07-08T09:55:03.420-07:00Economy: 'Britain has worst and most expensive fruit and veg in Europe' / Belfast Telegraph 7/7/08'Britain has the worst supply of fruit and vegetables in the EU, a new Eurostat report [pdf] claims, putting the UK on a par with Lithuania when it comes to the availability of fresh produce. The findings – which also demonstrate that British fruit and vegetables are among the most expensive in SMchttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11603692321695041170noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2997159.post-56680115146963544192008-06-09T09:20:00.000-07:002009-02-22T09:04:50.536-08:00Society: 'Britain detains more children than any other country in Western Europe' / The Times 09/06/08'Britain detains more children than any other country in Western Europe, with 2,900 under18s locked up in the past year. The four Children’s Commissioners for England, Scotland, Wales and N.Ireland have issued a report for the United Nations condemning the punitive youth justice system and the SMchttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11603692321695041170noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2997159.post-16144322370023463462008-03-02T08:22:00.000-08:002008-06-10T08:28:16.614-07:00Education: 'UK schools worst in Europe for bullying' / The Guardian 29/2/08'Bullying in secondary schools is worse in the UK than the rest of Europe, a new British Council survey has found. The study, published today, found that nearly half of UK secondary school pupils (46%) think that bullying is a problem in their school. The situation is perceived to be worse in England, where 48% of pupils SMchttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11603692321695041170noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2997159.post-18608375108207268212008-01-30T05:08:00.000-08:002008-01-30T05:56:37.260-08:00Transport: 'UK roads more congested than any major EU country' / Policy Exchange Jan08'In no other major European country are roads as congested as in the UK. On every kilometre of Britain’s road network more than 1.6 million passenger kilometres are travelled every year – more than twice the European average.* It has been estimated that traffic congestion costs the UK economy as much as £21 SMchttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11603692321695041170noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2997159.post-78944951032808160952008-01-08T04:45:00.000-08:002008-01-30T04:49:49.139-08:00Society: 'Britain rated worst in Europe for protecting privacy' / Guardian 31/12/07'Britain, the country with the world's biggest network of surveillance cameras, has the worst record in Europe for the protection of privacy, according to a report from a London-based international watchdog. The UK is billed as "an endemic surveillance society" alongside Russia, the US, Singapore and China in the SMchttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11603692321695041170noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2997159.post-21900933126313381802007-12-18T08:12:00.000-08:002008-01-11T05:36:37.375-08:00Society: 'Britain stuck at bottom of social mobility league' / Reuters 13/12/07'Social mobility has not improved in Britain in 30 years with bright children from poor families being overtaken by less able youngsters from rich homes by the age of seven, a report [says]. The findings show that the academic progress of children is still overwhelmingly linked to parental income, providing few SMchttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11603692321695041170noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2997159.post-22016686885215045602007-11-22T05:40:00.000-08:002007-11-22T05:50:46.360-08:00Economy: Britain retains European shoplifting supremacy / Times 20/11/07'Britain is the shoplifting capital of Europe, with more than £1.5 billion worth of products a year being stolen by customers. The annual Global Retail Theft Barometer [compiled by the Centre for Retail Research in Nottingham and Checkpoint Systems] looked at more than 800 retail giants, covering 32 countries, and SMchttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11603692321695041170noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2997159.post-54820617936884138332007-11-19T06:06:00.000-08:002008-01-11T05:47:49.954-08:00Environment: 'UK still top of the rubbish heap' / EDIE 13/11/07'The UK is the "dustbin of Europe" and dumps more household waste into landfill than any other EU country, the Local Government Association has said. More than 22.6m tonnes of UK rubbish was buried in landfill in 2005 - the same amount of rubbish as the 18 EU countries with the lowest landfill rates combined, although together they SMchttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11603692321695041170noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2997159.post-90042828341030059932007-10-24T08:58:00.000-07:002007-10-24T09:11:22.736-07:00Health: 'British are the fattest in Europe, says Government' / The Independent 23/10/07'British people are the fattest in Europe, drink more alcohol, eat less fruit and vegetables and are more likely to die from smoking than the average across the European Union. Despite declining teenage pregnancy rates, the UK still has the highest proportion of births to under-20s compared with other western SMchttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11603692321695041170noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2997159.post-11178710789685680502007-10-22T04:59:00.000-07:002007-10-22T05:15:39.908-07:00Society: Britain still top for teenage pregnancies / Daily Telegraph 18/10/07'Britain has the highest teenage pregnancy rate in western Europe, according to a worldwide report into sexual and reproductive health risks to women. The authors of the report A Measure of Survival: Calculating Women's Sexual and Reproductive Risk [released by Population Action International] warned that teenagers, SMchttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11603692321695041170noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2997159.post-24256108104940491932007-08-30T06:47:00.000-07:002007-08-30T07:05:35.878-07:00Health: 'Britain the worst for deaths from strokes' / The Times 24/8/07'Patients who suffer strokes receive worse treatment in Britain than anywhere else in Western Europe. More die and more are left disabled, a leading expert says in this week’s British Medical Journal, even though Britain spends [at least as much as] other countries on stroke care. The gap is wide, according to Hugh Markus, of SMchttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11603692321695041170noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2997159.post-76796605628250560792007-08-13T05:33:00.000-07:002007-08-13T05:50:37.737-07:00Economy: 'UK bottom of the league for holiday entitlement' / BBC News 13/8/07'The UK is set to stay at the bottom of the league for holiday entitlement in the EU even after a rise to 28 days in April 2009, a survey warns. A change in EU rules means the UK will have to stop counting its eight public holidays towards the EU 20-day minimum. But Incomes Data Services says the UK will still lag SMchttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11603692321695041170noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2997159.post-36769638151757423002007-07-30T07:24:00.000-07:002007-07-30T07:39:06.965-07:00Society: 'British teens the worst behaved in Europe' / Daily Mail 26/7/07'British teenagers are the worst behaved in Europe, a report has revealed. They are more likely to binge-drink, take drugs, have sex at a young age and start fights. The IPPR report found that 44% of British youngsters had been involved in a physical fight in the previous year against 28% in Germany, 36% in France and 38% SMchttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11603692321695041170noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2997159.post-59182166909693481432007-07-11T05:59:00.000-07:002007-07-11T06:38:50.901-07:00Education: 'British students are laziest in Europe' / The Times 30/6/07'British students are the laziest in Europe, according to a survey of how much time they devote to their course. Undergraduates across the UK confessed to putting in an average 32-hour week during term-time, including lectures, seminars, library time and working at home. The British performance was some way below the European SMchttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11603692321695041170noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2997159.post-35986056275767124352007-04-02T08:54:00.000-07:002007-10-22T05:27:22.807-07:00Society: 'British more dependent on cars than any other European nation' / The Times 31.3.07'Despite being less likely to own a car, Britons rely on them more heavily. They are reluctant to catch buses and will leave their cars behind only if there is a convenient train. Only the Portuguese walk less, a survey has found. The Government's Commission for Integrated Transport (CfIT) studied travel SMchttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11603692321695041170noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2997159.post-22661241811600194282007-03-01T07:47:00.000-08:002007-03-01T05:43:01.474-08:00Society: 'UK jobless households highest in Europe' / The Times 21/02/07'Britain has the highest number of children in Europe with no working parent, a European Commission report says. Two million live in “jobless households” on state benefits. The 16.2% of under-18s with no working parent at home is far higher than both the EU average of 9.5% and the general unemployment rate of 4.8%. The figure SMchttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11603692321695041170noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2997159.post-1171475290042776402007-02-14T09:41:00.000-08:002007-02-16T09:19:25.200-08:00Society: 'Britain's children unhappiest in Western world' / The Times 14/02/07'Britain’s children are the unhappiest in the West, according to a Unicef study of 21 industrialised countries. Not only do they drink the most, smoke more and have more sex than their peers, they rate their health as the poorest, dislike school more and are among the least satisfied with life. Their relative poverty, SMchttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11603692321695041170noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2997159.post-1171032012680479832007-02-09T06:39:00.000-08:002007-02-09T06:40:12.890-08:00Society: UK comfortably retains 'least keen EU member' title / Eurobarometer 66Bi-annual polling of every member nation reveals that the UK again finishes plum bottom of every broad index of trust in / support and regard for the European Union. 'The United Kingdom is the only Member State where fewer than 4 out of 10 citizens trust the European Parliament.'[Eurobarometer 66 pdf]SMchttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11603692321695041170noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2997159.post-1170784597611301972007-02-06T09:29:00.000-08:002007-02-06T10:10:24.426-08:00Society: 'UK is Euro No1.. for burglary' / The Sun 6/2/07'Britain has more burglaries and assaults than any of the other 26 Euro states. And we have the second highest crime rate in Europe, a Brussels report revealed yesterday. The only country worse is Ireland, according to The European Crime and Safety Survey. Home Office minister Tony McNulty said: "The survey is three years out of date and SMchttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11603692321695041170noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2997159.post-1170177808999100632007-01-30T09:05:00.000-08:002007-02-01T09:19:03.850-08:00Society: 'Britain the lock-up capital of Europe' / Daily Telegraph 29/1/07'Prisons in England and Wales lock up more people per head of the population than any other major country in Europe. The 7th World Prisons list pdf [from the International Centre for Prison Studies,King's College, London] published today shows an incarceration rate of 148 per 100,000, higher than any western EU member apartSMchttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11603692321695041170noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2997159.post-1168440915474964532007-01-10T06:24:00.000-08:002007-02-01T09:20:50.730-08:00Transport: 'UK transport costs higher than any in Europe' / Daily Telegraph 10/1/07'Transport costs are higher in the UK than anywhere else in Europe, according to a new report [from the Centre for Business and Economic Research]. Britons spend 15 per cent of their disposable income on travel and pay almost twice as much for bus and train tickets as people on the continent, the study found, whileSMchttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11603692321695041170noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2997159.post-1161614100810588892006-10-23T07:33:00.000-07:002007-11-26T03:57:59.904-08:00Environment:'British are Europe's worst energy wasters' / BBC News 23/10/06'British people are Europe's worst energy wasters, with bad habits such as leaving appliances on stand-by likely to waste £11bn by 2010, a study claims. The Energy Saving Trust's Habits of a Lifetime report said 71% of UK consumers admit to leaving stand-by buttons on once a week. The comparison with German consumers, who SMchttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11603692321695041170noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2997159.post-1147433930776516662006-05-12T04:13:00.000-07:002006-05-12T04:39:22.476-07:00Economy: 'UK has lowest maternity pay in Western Europe' / FinFacts 11/5/06'The UK has the lowest level of statutory maternity pay in Western Europe, according to a new study by Mercer Human Resource Consulting. The study covered 13 European countries and the comparisons are based on statutory pay built up over six months’ maternity leave. For women earning €22,000 a year, the total pay SMchttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11603692321695041170noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2997159.post-1145269446424598182006-04-17T03:23:00.000-07:002006-04-25T06:09:46.686-07:00Health: 'Britons are biggest chocoholics in Europe' / Independent 13/4/06'Britons are the biggest chocoholics in Europe, munching through an average 10kg (220lb) per year. In 2005, the UK accounted for one quarter of the total European spend on chocolate. The national sweet tooth cost an average £72 per person last year, compared to the Italians, who spent £18, market analysts Datamonitor said.SMchttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11603692321695041170noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2997159.post-1141575545735055462006-03-05T08:10:00.000-08:002006-03-05T08:19:05.800-08:00Environment: 'Britain worst in Europe for power station pollution' / Independent on Sunday 5/3/06'Britain is Europe's worst polluter, with 18 of the continent's 50 filthiest power stations, which are responsible for killing more than 7,600 people a year, a new report concludes. The report [via the Swedish Secretariat on Acid Rain] says Britain has nearly three times as many of the worst air SMchttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11603692321695041170noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2997159.post-1141574933258316882006-03-05T08:01:00.000-08:002006-03-05T08:21:48.006-08:00Economy: 'Gender pay gap in UK worst in Europe' / The Times 27/2/06'A Government commission recommended the wholesale reform of Britain's career education system today to try to close the country's gender pay gap, which is the worst in Europe. Thirty years after the Equal Pay Act came into force, the Women and Work Commission found that the average full-time pay gap between men and women remainsSMchttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11603692321695041170noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2997159.post-1139163402575711632006-02-05T10:05:00.000-08:002006-02-05T10:16:42.706-08:00Health: 'British are fattest in Europe despite diet boom' / The Independent 3/2/06'Britons have the thickest waistlines in Europe despite being one of the biggest spenders on diet products, a survey has revealed. The Datamonitor report, partly based on medical and government figures for 2004, found 40% of the UK's population was overweight. John Band, author of the survey, said "It is a SMchttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11603692321695041170noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2997159.post-1137703440301041072006-01-19T12:42:00.000-08:002006-01-22T08:34:09.926-08:00Society: 'Prison population 'highest in Western Europe'' / politics.co.uk 18/1/06'England and Wales have the highest prison rates in western Europe, new figures show. The latest international imprisonment league table - based on statistics compiled by the Council of Europe - shows these countries have imprisonment rates 50 per cent higher than France, Germany and Italy, and almost twice that of SMchttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11603692321695041170noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2997159.post-1136637046027505092006-01-07T04:20:00.000-08:002006-04-25T06:16:42.476-07:00Health: 'Increase in liver cirrhosis deaths largest in Western Europe' / MedicalNewsToday 7/1/06'Britain has had the steepest increase in death rates from liver cirrhosis in western Europe since the 1950s, according to a study in this week's issue of The Lancet. The authors blame increases in alcohol consumption, particularly wine and spirits, as the main reason for the rise in liver cirrhosis SMchttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11603692321695041170noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2997159.post-1133267626285740112005-11-29T04:24:00.000-08:002005-11-29T04:33:46.453-08:00Society: 'Britain tops EU league for cocaine abuse' / Guardian 25/11/05'Britain is now top of the European "league table" for cocaine abuse and is fast approaching levels seen in America, according to the annual report of EU's drug agency, the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction . Nearly 12% of all young adults under the age of 35 in Britain have tried the drug at least once.'SMchttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11603692321695041170noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2997159.post-1132747564317613512005-11-23T03:58:00.000-08:002005-11-23T04:06:04.520-08:00Environment: 'Britain leads EU in illegal timber imports' / Independent 22/12/05'According to research from the conservation group WWF 28% of timber arriving in the UK comes from trees that should still be standing and Britain's imports of illegal wood are higher than any other country in the EU. Illegal logging causes manifold social and environmental problems, including climate change, lower SMchttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11603692321695041170noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2997159.post-1131968530380986632005-11-14T03:41:00.000-08:002005-11-14T04:06:11.286-08:00Economy: 'Brain drain from UK is 'worst in the world'' / Independent 25/10/05'Britain has lost more skilled workers to the global "brain drain" than any other country, according to a report by the World Bank. More than 1.44 million graduates have left the UK to look for more highly paid jobs in countries such as the United States, Canada and Australia. That far outweighs 1.26 million immigrant SMchttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11603692321695041170noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2997159.post-1128165787253263842005-10-01T04:12:00.000-07:002005-10-03T03:37:40.306-07:00Health: 'UK worst major European country at dealing with hepatitis C' / Hepatitis C Trust 30/9/05'A shocking new report [pdf] confirms that the UK is facing a hepatitis C time bomb. The report compared France, Germany, Italy and Spain to the UK. The study demonstrates that we are at the bottom of each league table in every aspect of dealing with the virus. This is largely due to failure to SMchttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11603692321695041170noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2997159.post-1124973366632687232005-08-25T05:35:00.000-07:002005-08-27T06:25:02.936-07:00Society: UK retains 'least keen Europeans' title / Eurobarometer July 05Despite the expansion of the EU to 25 member states latest survey data from Eurobarometer shows the UK continuing to hold off all-comers as it's least enthusiastic, most sceptical member nation. UK citizens indicated:-the most negative image of EU-least support for common foreign policy-least support for greater political SMchttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11603692321695041170noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2997159.post-1120912548428323682005-07-09T05:26:00.000-07:002005-07-09T05:35:48.433-07:00Economy: 'UK temps fare worst in Europe' / Personnel Today 23/6/05'UK agency workers are the least protected in Europe, according to a new report. Even agency workers in Poland and Slovenia have more rights than UK temps, a TUC report out today claims. The EU Temp Trade shows that the UK is one of only three European countries where temporary workers are paid less than people doing similar jobs SMchttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11603692321695041170noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2997159.post-1119287705878069562005-06-20T10:07:00.000-07:002005-06-20T10:26:02.190-07:00Society: 'Britons watching most TV in Europe' / Daily Telegraph 16/6/05'People in Britain watch more television and read fewer books than in any other European country, a study reveals. A poll of 30,000 people found that the typical Briton spends 18 hours slumped in front of the television set every week. He or she spends only 5.3hrs reading books, magazines or newspapers. The French watch just SMchttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11603692321695041170noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2997159.post-1117215052283852292005-05-27T10:16:00.000-07:002005-11-14T03:28:31.020-08:00Health: 'Britain has highest rate of teenage pregnancies in Western Europe' / BBC News 26/5/05'Britain has the highest rate of teenage pregnancies in Western Europe. In urban areas, which account for the majority of the hot spots, as many as one in 10 young girls become pregnant. Around 20% of conceptions among under 18s are second pregnancies.' (more)Economy: 'UK employee protection weakest in SMchttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11603692321695041170noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2997159.post-1105202594999131722005-01-08T08:32:00.000-08:002005-01-15T08:31:53.863-08:00Education: 'Britain is Europe's foreign languages dunce' / Independent 24/12/04
'Research to be published in the new year [by CILT, the National Centre for Languages] will show that fewer people in Britain can speak a second language than anywhere else in the continent. Only one in three Britons can speak a second language - compared with 98 per cent in Luxembourg, which tops the table.' (more)
SMchttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11603692321695041170noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2997159.post-1102269897077799162004-12-05T09:25:00.000-08:002005-11-14T03:49:02.470-08:00Society: 'British top Euro league of cocaine abusers' / The Guardian 26/11/04'Britain now tops the European table for cocaine abuse, according to a study by the EU's drugs monitoring centre. The report says 5% to 7% of Britons aged 15 to 24 have used the class A drug recently, with levels in towns and cities likely to be "substantially higher". On cannabis, the report reveals that English boys SMchttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11603692321695041170noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2997159.post-1100194797472767582004-10-15T09:21:00.000-07:002004-11-11T10:11:28.793-08:00Economy: 'Britain biggest tax rules offender among European states' / The Times14/10/04
'Britain is the biggest offender among European states in tax rules that breach EU law, according to a leading accountancy firm, potentially costing the Treasury billions of pounds in lost tax revenues. Britain emerges top of the list in research conducted by PricewaterhouseCoopers. Breaches of the EU treatiesSMchttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11603692321695041170noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2997159.post-1088432351522906372004-06-28T07:04:00.000-07:002004-06-28T07:19:11.523-07:00Transport: 'Motorway services 'worst in Europe'' / BBC News 23/6/04
'The Uk has the worst motorway service stations in Europe, a survey says. The UK finished bottom for the third year running in the survey of stations in 10 countries carried out by the AA Motoring Trust. The UK fared especially badly in terms of the cost and quality of food, and hygiene standards.' (more)
Society: 'British SMchttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11603692321695041170noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2997159.post-1084209500510107572004-05-10T10:03:00.000-07:002004-05-10T10:18:20.510-07:00Health: 'Britain bottom of the league for dentists' / Daily Mail 10/5/04
'Research ranks Britain last in terms of dentists per head of population. Greece has nearly three times as many, while in France and Germany it is almost double. The study shows that there are 3.7 NHS dentists per 10,000 people in England and 3.6 in Wales. There are ten in Greece and Sweden. (more)SMchttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11603692321695041170noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2997159.post-1084120817110672872004-05-09T09:40:00.000-07:002004-05-09T10:06:58.966-07:00Education: 'Performance gap between private and state schools biggest in world' / Ind on Sunday 2/5/04
'The gap in performance between independent and state schools is higher in the UK than anywhere else in the world, according to a report by Prof. Alan Smithers of Liverpool University's Centre for Education and Employment.' (more)
See also: 'Demand grows for private education' 28/4/04
'More SMchttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11603692321695041170noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2997159.post-1083161267827819752004-04-28T07:07:00.000-07:002004-05-09T09:35:12.890-07:00Health: 'Euro shame for UK on lung deaths' / Evening News 27/4/04
'The UK is languishing at the bottom of the European league table for lung health, a report revealed today. More people die from respiratory diseases such as asthma and pneumonia in the UK than in any other European Union country apart from Ireland, according to the European Respiratory Society. The ERS’s European Lung White BookSMchttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11603692321695041170noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2997159.post-1076341453373884762004-02-09T07:44:00.000-08:002004-02-09T09:01:16.903-08:00Environment: 'Britain's environment record lower than Bangladesh' / Independent 6/2/04
'An international study places Britain's record on the environment below that of Bangladesh and Papua New Guinea. The global index of environmental sustainability, measuring water quality, air pollution, greenhouse gas emissions and nuclear-reactor safety, ranked the UK 91st in the world. After Britain's SMchttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11603692321695041170noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2997159.post-1069420798472035192003-11-21T05:19:00.000-08:002003-11-21T05:20:36.420-08:00Economy: 'Britain tops Euro league for cost of raising child' / The Independent 21/11/03
'Raising a child costs more in Britain than anywhere else in Europe, researchers claimed yesterday. The Centre for Economics and Business Research found that expenses, including child care, holidays and university funding, have reached £140,000 for every son and daughter. Bringing up a child in a typical SMchttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11603692321695041170noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2997159.post-1067605452452123092003-10-31T05:04:00.000-08:002003-10-31T05:04:23.106-08:00Society: 'Britain most violent country in western Europe' / Daily Telegraph 25/10/03
'Britain has the worst record in western Europe for killings, violence and burglary, a Home Office study [International Comparisons of Criminal Justice Statistics 2001 pdf] has shown. Britain has the highest level of homicides in western Europe and offences of violence in the UK have been running at three timesSMchttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11603692321695041170noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2997159.post-1067009242040061672003-10-24T08:27:00.000-07:002003-10-24T08:44:06.200-07:00Society: 'Britain has highest amphetamine use in EU' / The Independent 23/10/03
'The annual report of the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction shows that Britain has the highest rate of amphetamine use of the 15 EU countries. Cannabis use is also highest in the UK, with more than a third of 15 and 16-year-olds saying they have tried the drug at least once. Ecstasy use among SMchttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11603692321695041170noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2997159.post-1066048801808709572003-10-13T05:40:00.000-07:002003-10-24T08:46:26.123-07:00Employment: ''Shameful' pay makes British women worst off in Europe' / Observer 12/10/03
'A survey shows that the average British woman's pay packet is less than two-thirds that of the average British man. The disparity is by far the widest in the European Union and shatters claims that gender inequalities in Britain are disappearing. The survey, based on statistics produced by EU member states,SMchttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11603692321695041170noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2997159.post-1060793325325548252003-08-13T09:48:00.000-07:002003-08-13T10:13:39.466-07:00Transport: 'Britons are the world's angriest drivers' / Sky News 13/8/03
'Britons are officially the world's angriest drivers according to a new poll which names the UK as road rage capital of the world. Nearly nine in 10 UK drivers said they had been road rage victims at least once, a survey by motoring magazine Max Power found. And more than 70% admitting to causing trouble themselves. The SMchttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11603692321695041170noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2997159.post-1059845535184097772003-08-02T10:32:00.000-07:002003-08-02T10:32:38.316-07:00Society: 'Britain once again bottom of the European class' / Guardian 26/7/03
'Britain has once again come bottom of the European class - this time in knowledge of the EU's controversial new constitution. Eurobarometer, the European commission's polling unit, found that 75% of Britons have not even heard of the convention drawing up the document, which was finalised in Brussels earlier this monthSMchttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11603692321695041170noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2997159.post-1058911246087961422003-07-22T15:00:00.000-07:002003-08-13T10:12:09.840-07:00Transport: 'UK commute 'longest in Europe'' / BBC News 22/7/03'
British commuters have the longest journeys to work in Europe with the average trip taking 45 minutes, according to a study. That is almost twice as long as the commute faced by Italians and seven minutes more than the European Union average, the RAC Foundation said. Almost half of the motorists questioned said that if their car SMchttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11603692321695041170noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2997159.post-907158642003-03-14T08:23:00.000-08:002003-03-14T08:29:19.000-08:00Health: 'Britain tops EU league for obesity deaths' / Daily Mail 12/3/03
'Britain is the 'fat capital' of Europe, according to research published in the European Journal of Clinical Nutrition. More people are dying in Britain due to being overweight or obese than anywhere else. Around one in every 11 deaths in the UK is now linked to carrying excess fat - 50% more that the rate in France. The SMchttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11603692321695041170noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2997159.post-900608802003-03-03T10:11:00.000-08:002003-03-03T10:11:32.060-08:00Transport: 'Britain's air delays [still] worst in Europe' / Daily Telegraph 3/3/03
'Travellers flying to and from Britain suffered the worst delays of any European country last year, new [Eurocontrol] statistics show. Of the 10 region-to-region traffic flows suffering the most delay, all began or ended in Britain. The average hold-up was 25 minutes, more than 10 times the average for all SMchttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11603692321695041170noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2997159.post-898359252003-02-27T05:29:00.000-08:002003-03-04T09:03:19.000-08:00Economy: 'UK house price inflation highest in Europe' / Financial Times 26/2/03
'House prices rose during periods of last year at more than twice the rate of those in Spain and Denmark, the two European countries with the next highest house price inflation, according to a new report. The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors compared the annual house price inflation rate of 31% recorded in SMchttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11603692321695041170noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2997159.post-876846452003-01-19T09:09:00.000-08:002003-01-19T09:11:53.000-08:00Transport: 'Rail travel in Britain most expensive in Europe, / Daily Mirror 6/1/03
'An average single fare in Britain costs 28p per mile, nearly twice the rate in Germany, nearly five times the rate in Italy and eight times the rate in Greece.'
See also: 'We're on the road to hell' / Daily Mirror 17/1/03
'Britain's love affair with the car has been blamed for creating misery on the roads as a SMchttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11603692321695041170noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2997159.post-853922302002-12-02T12:21:00.000-08:002002-12-02T12:21:49.636-08:00Environment: 'UK food tops chemicals league' / Indy on Sunday 2/12/02
'More chemicals are used to grow food in Britain than in any other major industrialised country, according to a new report. The review of British environmental performance by the OECD [see below] suggests that the amount of pesticides and fertilisers used per acre of farmland is greater than in any other country. Britain usesSMchttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11603692321695041170noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2997159.post-849743692002-11-23T09:40:00.000-08:002002-11-26T09:25:26.000-08:00Environment: UK top EU environmental villain / Daily Mirror 14/11/02
'Britain faces fines of £8 million a day after topping a poll of Europe's environmental villains. The EU reinforced our "dirty man of Europe" tag by revealing the UK had broken 16 different laws ranging from control of hazardous waste to wildlife conservation. The new league table shows Britain tops the list of 14 countries, SMchttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11603692321695041170noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2997159.post-831196342002-10-17T08:03:00.000-07:002002-10-17T08:06:42.000-07:00Economy: 'Britain is priciest place in EU' / Daily Express 16/10/02
'Britain is the most expensive country in the European Union, according to new research [by Pricerunner]. A survey of 12 popular "shopping basket" items in 13 countries, including milk, petrol and cinema tickets, shows that "rip-off Britain" is booming. Overall, UK prices are 111.1% higher than prices in Portugal, and 36.5% SMchttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11603692321695041170noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2997159.post-827454442002-10-09T09:26:00.000-07:002002-10-30T04:39:10.000-08:00Economy: 'Britons owe £800bn, the biggest debt in Europe' / Daily Telegraph 5/10/02
'British households are on course for record-breaking debts of £800 billion, making them the most indebted in Europe, according to Bank of England data to be released this month.' (more)SMchttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11603692321695041170noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2997159.post-825100802002-10-04T03:44:00.000-07:002002-10-04T03:46:11.000-07:00Society: 'Young Britons top EU cocaine league' / Guardian 4/10/02
Cocaine use among young Britons is rising faster than anywhere else in the EU, according to a report from the EU drugs agency. Just over 3% of Britons between the age of 16 and 34 claimed to have tried the drug in a 12-month period. Britain also had the highest number of amphetamine users and topped the ecstasy league. Chairman SMchttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11603692321695041170noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2997159.post-819538632002-09-22T09:47:00.000-07:002002-09-22T09:47:39.576-07:00Society: Britain retains European shoplifting title / The Economist 21/2/02
'For the second year running, Britain boasts the worst record in Europe for shoplifting. According to the Centre for Retail Research survey, Britons not only steal more than their continental counterparts, they are also less competent employees on the shop floor, resulting in Britain having the worst overall rate of SMchttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11603692321695041170noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2997159.post-813520482002-09-09T05:09:00.000-07:002002-09-16T09:55:26.000-07:00Employment: UK perceived more ageist than EU counterparts / Business Wire 5/9/02
Comparing the lifestyles, attitudes and concerns of over 2500 people in and approaching "third age" (aged 55+) across five European countries (UK, France, Germany, Italy and Spain), the Healthy Ageing Survey [by Taylor Nelson Sofres for Pfizer Inc.] shows that two thirds of older people do not believe that society SMchttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11603692321695041170noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2997159.post-807358362002-08-26T10:30:00.000-07:002002-09-01T11:52:57.000-07:00Transport: 'UK air traffic control worst in Europe' / Sunday Times 25/8/02
'Britain's new £620m air traffic control centre has been branded the worst in Europe. An official report by Eurocontrol, which manages European air space, shows the centre is responsible for more delays than all the other 30 national air traffic agencies put together. The problems are so severe that Eurocontrol has SMchttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11603692321695041170noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2997159.post-804867852002-08-20T12:07:00.000-07:002002-08-26T10:33:11.000-07:00Society: The EU: UK still most negative, least informed / Eurobarometer Summer 02
In the latest poll of relative attitudes towards the EU among it's 15 member states (Eurobarometer 57), UK respondents registered
-least support for membership
-least support for enlargement
-least support for the euro
-least support for common foreign/defence policies
-least trust in EU institutions & bodies.
SMchttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11603692321695041170noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2997159.post-797732242002-08-03T07:27:00.000-07:002002-08-03T07:27:03.000-07:00Employment: 'UK employees have lowest annual leave in EU' / Guardian 29/7/02
'British workers have a right to a minimum of 20 days' paid leave a year - 11 days less than the EU average. At the same time, Britain tops the table when it comes to the no.of hours a week an employee can usually be required to work - up to 48 compared with France's 35. But according to research [by jobs agency Reed] SMchttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11603692321695041170noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2997159.post-791149562002-07-18T11:19:00.000-07:002002-09-05T10:49:32.000-07:00Society: 'Britons are world's worst holidaymakers' / Reuters 18/7/02
'Germans are the most welcome holidaymakers around the world, according to a survey but Britons are the least wanted. The survey, carried out by online travel agency Expedia at tourist offices in 17 countries ranked Germans top of the list for behaviour and linguistic efforts and second only to the Americans in politeness. By SMchttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11603692321695041170noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2997159.post-775611642002-06-10T04:50:00.000-07:002002-06-10T04:50:38.173-07:00Environment: UK has lowest rate of food safety testing in EU / Ind.on Sunday 9/6/02
'Britain's safety authorities - the Food Standards Agency and the Pesticides Safety Directorate - have the lowest annual rate of food testing of any European country. Countries such as Germany, the Netherlands, France, Ireland and Sweden test between 2.743 and 8,320 food samples every year, compared to just 1,575SMchttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11603692321695041170noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2997159.post-775051642002-06-08T11:19:00.000-07:002002-06-08T11:19:19.306-07:00Health: 'British cancer survival rates worst in Western Europe' / Evening Standard 6/6/02
'British survival rates for cancer are the worst in Western Europe, according to the largest ever international study of the disease. Our appalling record on treating the most common cancers was laid bare by the [Europreval] survey, which showed survival rates for some forms of the disease are half the SMchttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11603692321695041170noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2997159.post-765001322002-05-13T09:35:00.000-07:002002-08-22T10:21:49.000-07:00Employment: Britain lags in employment of older people / Observer 12/5/02
'Britain has one of the lowest participation rates of older people in the labour market in the industrialised world. Only 5.2% of over-65s are in paid employment, compared with 12.4% in the US, 10.2%in Sweden and 22.1% in Japan. The EU is to push Britain towards scrapping the compulsory age of retirement at 65; the SMchttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11603692321695041170noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2997159.post-759263272002-04-28T08:36:00.000-07:002002-04-29T05:00:03.000-07:00Society: 'No European country imprisons more children than us' / Channel4 News 16/4/02
'In Finland they hardly ever lock up children. Just seven youngsters are behind bars. That's one child in 163,000. In Denmark they've locked up just 14 young people. Other countries are also reluctant to jail kids. In France its one child in 16,000. In England and Wales we lock up one child in every 4,000. OverSMchttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11603692321695041170noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2997159.post-758144192002-04-25T10:17:00.000-07:002002-04-25T10:24:36.000-07:00Society: 'British newspapers 'the least trusted in Europe'' / Guardian 24/4/02
'British newspapers are trusted by their readers far less than any others in the European Union, according to Eurobarometer, the polling arm of the European Commission. Trust in papers in Britain was a dismal 20% - less than half the EU average of 46%, but up by 5% on last year. No less than 75% said they "tended not SMchttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11603692321695041170noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2997159.post-757746002002-04-24T10:45:00.000-07:002002-04-25T10:13:43.000-07:00Environment: UK bottom of municipal waste recycling league / Friends of the Earth 22/4/02
Latest government figures on UK waste recycling confirms the country's position at the foot of the European table.
Health: More Britons die from cancer than anywhere else in Europe / The Observer 3/3/02
'The result of delays and denials of treatment is that more Britons die from cancer than anywhere else in SMchttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11603692321695041170noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2997159.post-101407202002-02-26T04:21:00.000-08:002002-02-28T11:15:32.000-08:00Transport: 'Britain still most expensive in Europe for new cars' / Independent 26/2/02
'Britain is still the most expensive country in Europe for new cars, with some popular models costing 60 per cent more in the UK than on the Continent, according to a survey by the European Commission. The UK was the dearest place to buy 52 of the 80 models examined by its competition officials. The survey, SMchttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11603692321695041170noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2997159.post-98814432002-02-19T03:51:00.000-08:002002-02-19T03:54:17.000-08:00Health: 'UK heart care lagging behind' / BBC News 19/2/02
'Fewer heart bypass operations have been carried out in the UK than in any other developed country. Figures from the OECD showed that in 1998 the US carried out six times as many bypass operations per 100,000 population, and Germany nearly three times as many. They also show that the UK carried out the second fewest artery-widening SMchttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11603692321695041170noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2997159.post-97626132002-02-15T09:47:00.000-08:002002-08-01T11:32:34.000-07:00Society: 'The naughty boy of Europe' / The Economist 14/2/02
'On just about any measure of naughtiness, British teenagers are worse behaved than others in Europe (see charts). Among their other distinctions, they take drugs more than their counterparts, and only Danish youngsters booze as much. [Our]teenage girls are more likely to give birth than any others in Western Europe. A higher SMchttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11603692321695041170noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2997159.post-94050852002-02-05T09:43:00.000-08:002002-02-05T09:44:22.000-08:00Employment: UK has 'longest working hours in Europe' / BBC News 5/2/02
'Nearly four million people in the UK are working more than 48 hours a week as Britain ignores European limits, [TUC] figures show. While in the UK workers work an average 43.6 hours the European average is 40.3. In France the average is just 38.9 hours.' (more)
'The long hours culture has been dubbed a "national disgrace" bySMchttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11603692321695041170noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2997159.post-94041342002-02-05T09:11:00.000-08:002002-02-05T09:22:30.000-08:00Environment: 'Filthy Britain 'a pollution failure'' / Observer 3/2/02
'The UK has the worst record of protecting the environment of any country in Europe apart from Belgium, according to a report published by the World Economic Forum. The 2002 Environmental Sustainability Index ranks the UK 98th out of 142 countries...and deems the UK just about the worst in the world when it comes to reducing SMchttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11603692321695041170noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2997159.post-90444602002-01-25T11:49:00.000-08:002002-01-25T11:53:02.000-08:00Economy: 'London most expensive EU capital' / Evening Standard 24/1/02
'A survey by the Economist Intelligence Unit shows London to be most expensive capital city in the EU.' (more)
Also, 'compared with every other major European capital, London is desperately short of good, reasonably priced hotels. "In London few if any good hotels offer a double room at under £150," said Caroline Raphael, SMchttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11603692321695041170noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2997159.post-87107202002-01-15T04:38:00.000-08:002002-01-16T08:26:27.000-08:00Society: Britain has highest retail crime in Europe / Financial Times 14/1/02
'Britain has the worst retail crime problem in Europe - and it is set to get worse, according to a new theft barometer. Retailers last year lost 1.76% of their turnover to "shrinkage" - theft by customers and staff, fraud by suppliers, etc. This compares with a European average of 1.42%. Prof. Joshua Bamfield of the SMchttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11603692321695041170noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2997159.post-86061572002-01-11T11:54:00.000-08:002002-01-11T12:05:16.000-08:00Health: UK has 'most cold weather deaths' in Europe / BBC News 11/1/02
More people die from the cold weather in Britain than in any other European country, including Siberia. Up to 50,000 more people die in the UK during the winter months than in the summer, according to new research. Even in the city of Yakutsk in Siberia, where temperatures plummet to -40C, there are fewer deaths than Britain SMchttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11603692321695041170noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2997159.post-84068102002-01-04T08:58:00.000-08:002002-01-04T08:58:42.303-08:00Health: 'Britons have become the fat people of Europe' / The Independent 4/1/02
'After a rapid increase in obesity levels over the past two decades..at least half of all [British] adults are overweight and more than a million children under 16 clinically obese, a new charity says. Prof. Jane Wardle, co-founder of Weight Concern, said: "The problem is worse in Britain than in almost any other SMchttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11603692321695041170noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2997159.post-81053112001-12-21T10:36:00.000-08:002002-01-02T09:31:37.000-08:00Transport: British Christmas rail lags behind Europe / Friends of the Earth 21/12/01
'Britain won't be running trains on Christmas Day again this year - despite the fact that most of our European neighbours will be enjoying a near normal service. A Friends of the Earth survey reveals that out of 10 European countries, Britain is the only country that won't be running any trains on the 25th SMchttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11603692321695041170noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2997159.post-75379362001-11-30T12:08:00.000-08:002001-11-30T12:11:26.000-08:00Transport: 'Britain has the worst transport record in Europe' / Observer 26/11/01
'Britain has the worst transport record in Europe, with the most congested roads, highest prices and neglected networks 'starved of investment', according to a report by the Commission for Integrated Transport. Passengers on public transport and car drivers are ripped off and delayed on a daily basis in Britain SMchttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11603692321695041170noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2997159.post-72925712001-11-21T05:33:00.000-08:002001-11-22T10:23:03.000-08:00Health: UK lung disease death rate among highest in Europe / BBC 21/11/01
'A report for the British Thoracic Society reveals that lung disease death rates are among the highest in Europe. BTS chairman Dr Martyn Partridge said the findings were surprising and appalling. He added: "We don't know why death rates are so high but it cannot be a coincidence that we have one third of the number of SMchttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11603692321695041170noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2997159.post-72924542001-11-21T05:26:00.000-08:002001-11-22T10:31:08.000-08:00Society: 'UK the 'Druggie of Europe'' / Ananova 20/11/01
'Britain has the biggest drug problem in Europe. Figures from the EU's annual report on the European drugs problem, show the UK has a higher illegal drug usage across a whole range than any other European country. The adult use of ecstasy and amphetamines is more than double the rate in the UK than the rest of Europe. Britain also SMchttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11603692321695041170noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2997159.post-72924102001-11-21T05:23:00.000-08:002001-11-22T10:56:27.000-08:00Economy: 'Britain 'worst EU country to trade with'' / Financial Times 20/11/01
'Red tape and heavy-handed customs authorities make Britain the worst European country to trade with, according to a survey by the European Commission. The regulatory burden imposed on companies trying to sell goods and services to Britain is heavier than anywhere else in the European Union.' (more)SMchttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11603692321695041170noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2997159.post-72923192001-11-21T05:18:00.000-08:002001-11-21T05:19:00.000-08:00Health: UK ovarian cancer survival rate among lowest in Europe / The Times 15/11/01
'Only the poorer European countries of Slovakia and Estonia came out lower than the UK in the survival rate league table, with a rate of 26 per cent.Just 29 per cent of UK women are still alive five years after diagnosis compared with 45 per cent in Sweden and Austria and 41 per cent in Spain, according to the SMchttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11603692321695041170noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2997159.post-69668782001-11-08T09:20:00.000-08:002001-11-08T09:20:32.000-08:00Economy: UK mobile users pay most for calls from abroad / Oftel 7/11/01
'UK mobile phone users are paying twice as much as other European consumers to use their pre-pay mobile abroad a new study by Oftel shows. UK prices for pre-pay international roaming - the service that allows you to use a foreign mobile network when travelling abroad - are much higher than for customers in France, Germany, SMchttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11603692321695041170noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2997159.post-67260042001-10-30T03:28:00.000-08:002002-01-16T08:34:15.000-08:00Society: 'Britons among most unethical travellers in the world' / The Observer 28/10/01
'A new [Mintel] survey shows only one in ten British holidaymakers are 'ethically aware' about their holiday destination. Instead of worrying about the environment and human rights abuses, British tourists...are more concerned with overpriced drinks while 40% said they just wanted to 'relax' and 'not be SMchttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11603692321695041170noreply@blogger.com