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Concern about immigration in the United Kingdom far exceeds every other country, even those with similar shares of foreign-born residents. In a 2025 Gallup poll, over a fifth of UK respondents named immigration the nation's top problem, tied with the economy.
Wimbledon prize money has risen dramatically since the Open Era began. Champions now earn £3.6m each in 2026, up from just £2,000 (men) and £750 (women) in 1968. This year's prize fund rose 20% to £64.2m amid player pressure over revenue sharing.The prize pool represents around 15% of Wimbledon's total revenue, up from 13% in 2025, but still short of the 16% interim target called for by leading players.
UK annual CPI inflation slowed to 2.6% in June 2026, down from 2.8% in May and below analysts' expectations.The slowdown was driven mainly by lower transport and food inflation, with goods inflation easing to 1.7% and services inflation edging down to 3.6%.
As we go to the polls this Thursday, London's council elections are looking fiercely competitive. Labour is projected to hold most boroughs, but more than half will be decided by five points or less.Click here to read Tony Travers on London's 2026 council elections.
The UK has one of the most centralised tax structures in the OECD. In 2024, 96% of tax revenue was collected by the central government, compared to 55% in the US and 47% in Germany, whose federal systems give significantly more fiscal power to states and regions.
Does altitude really give home teams an edge? After accounting for team strength using Elo ratings, home teams at higher altitudes tend to outperform expectations – but even at the highest elevations, the effect remains within the margin of error.That could help Mexico against England, but probably not enough to make the match a toss-up.
The Bank of England kept interest rates at 4% in September, with a 7–2 vote by the Monetary Policy Committee. Two members backed a cut to 3.75%, but sticky inflation — CPI held at 3.8% in July and August — kept the majority cautious.The MPC also slowed the pace of quantitative tightening (reducing the stock of government bonds it holds), trimming planned gilt sales from £100bn to £70bn over the next year. This follows concerns that the Bank's policy and rate of bond sales, unusually high by international standards, has been inflating bond yields and government borrowing costs.The next MPC decision is due 6th November 2025.
Gold has climbed to an all‑time high today, rising past $ 3,500 per ounce amid growing expectations of a U.S. Federal Reserve rate cut and a softer U.S. dollar. Click on the chart to read Philip Fliers on why gold is seen as a safe haven asset.
How has the immigration enforcement intensity of the second Trump administration changed from the first Trump administration? Arrests rose sharply at the outsets of both administrations, but arrests accelerated much more rapidly during the second administration. By October 2025, the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency had arrested more than 200,000 people, nearly twice as many at the same point of the Trump administration’s first term.
Across the teams competing at this summer's World Cup, some teams skew taller and older than the rest.By confederation, nations from UEFA are the tallest, averaging nearly 2cm above than the next tallest confederation (OFC - Oceania) and 4cm above than the shortest (CONMEBOL - South America).By age, there is some divergence. Players from CONMEBOL are the oldest, averaging just shy of 29 years, while CAF (27.5 yrs) and EUFA (27.7 yrs) are the youngest.
This chart shows an example of reductions in the costs of new technologies over time, highlighting the dramatic fall in the real cost of computer memory and storage over time. In the space of just a few decades, the cost of computer (random access) memory dropped exponentially, from hundreds of trillions of dollars per terabyte in the 1950s to around a thousand dollars per terabyte today.
