Cooking statistics

Ed Miliband was photographed in a miserable kitchen, but it turned out to be only a snack preparation room which he has in addition to a large kitchen downstairs. What is the state of the nation’s kitchens?
— The average size in England, according to official data, is 11 square metres. Five per cent of homes have a kitchen smaller than five square metres and 17 per cent have kitchens large than 15 square metres. Some 13 per cent have, like Ed’s, a separate utility room or second kitchen.
— 955,000 English homes are estimated to have a hygiene problem, and in 4 per cent of these the cleanability of the kitchen is deemed to be an issue.

Signs of the times

Over 850,000 people signed an online petition demanding that Jeremy Clarkson be reinstated on Top Gear. What else were people petitioning about last week?

Offer smear test to all females over the age of 16
328,000 signatures
Protect religious slaughter
in the UK
135,000
More efforts to track down owners
of pets killed on the road
123,000
End non-stun slaughter to promote animal welfare
118,000
Make CCTV mandatory in
slaughterhouses
110,000

Source: epetitions direct

Discriminating verdict

Nigel Farage said he wanted to ditch racial discrimination laws to reduce the burden on employers. How many of the nearly 200,000 employment tribunal cases in 2013/14 were on the grounds of race?

Working Time Directive
49,100
Unfair dismissal
28,500
Unauthorised deductions
27,400
Equal pay
17,200
Breach of contract
16,800
Sex discrimination
13,700
Redundancy pay
6,660
Disability discrimination
5,200
Race discrimination
3,060

Source: Ministry of Justice

Big cats and little cats

A conservation body proposed to reintroduce the Eurasian lynx into the British countryside, from which it disappeared around the year 700 AD.
How does a lynx measure up against a domestic cat — and a tiger?

Length
Domestic cat
40–50cm
Lynx
80–130cm
Tiger
270–310cm Weight
Domestic cat
4–5kg
Lynx
18–30kg
Tiger
75–300kg