Polly Toynbee claims (Comment, 28 July) the government wants to replace public funding of the arts with private. That is simply not the case – I have always argued that private funding should be in addition to, not instead of, public money. Why? Because state funding offers stability over many years which usually philanthropy cannot. [...]
No good purpose is served by merging UK Sport and Sport England (Olympic authority demands role in merged body, 28 July). UK Sport has been an unqualified success story, transforming performance at international level. In contrast, Sport England has for 25 years been overmanned and unfocused. A nation defines itself by its commitment to excellence. [...]
Lucy Mangan on the people making the headlines in the last seven days
People
Caps off
Tony Hayward
BP has axed its chief executive to try and draw a line under the Deepwater Horizon disaster, the handling of which he … well, didn’t. Though he did manage to offend the families of the 11 people who died in the [...]
Please help a clumsy coffee drinker. Plus what’s the best way to cook a little bit of beef and how can I make my favourite lemon tart and still boycott Nestlé?
I have been making and enjoying a chilled lemon tart for years, but since our family boycott of all things Nestlé, I’ve been unable to [...]
The Bank of England base rate is predicted to stay at 0.5% for years – so it’s a great time to follow them with your mortgage
Predictions this week that the United Kingdom is set for four more years of rock-bottom interest rates spell bad news for savers, but will leave millions of people sitting on [...]
Hong Kong billionaire adds world’s second-largest utilty to UK holdings
Hong Kong billionaire Li Ka-shing is to buy EDF’s UK electricity networks for £5.8bn, giving him ownership of grids supplying a third of the country’s population.
The tycoon’s investment vehicles Cheung Kong Infrastructure (CKI) and Hongkong Electric will buy three British electricity distribution networks and a private [...]
Several injured and scores arrested in Bangladeshi capital as ‘inadequate’ rise in minimum wage prompts angry riots
Thousands of garment workers rioted in central Dhaka today after protests against low pay turned violent.
The protesters overturned vehicles, burned tyres, smashed shop windows and blocked traffic in the Bangladeshi capital’s Mahakhali and Gulshan districts. Several people were [...]
After 115 years, Heinz is to offer its baked beans in screw-top plastic jars for the first time
Devotees of baked beans will soon be able to save themselves valuable seconds – not to mention the agony of lacerating their fingers on jagged cans – as they prepare their favourite food.
After 115 years, Heinz is to [...]
Shire has come under pressure ahead of next week’s results and imminent news from a US study into treatments for attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).
The study, commissioned by the US Food and Drug Administration in 2007, is looking at the potential increased risk of heart attack and involves drugs such as Shire’s Adderall and Vyvanse which [...]
• Vitol post concerns MPs tracking jobs close to ministerial roles• Firm talking to Shell about oil assets in 19 Africa countries
Just 12 months after resigning from the government, Lord Malloch-Brown, the former Foreign Office minister for Africa, has become an adviser to an oil firm that is expanding its interests on the continent.
Vitol, the [...]
