ETCETERA / Index

Miles of nose-to-tail juggernauts required to deliver enough telephones for the Chinese population at USA levels of ownership: 247

Taxpayers' 1992 phone bill for the Palace of Westminster: pounds 599,000

Upper price per cubic metre of freshly-felled Amazonian mahogany: pounds 800

British taxpayer support for tropical forestry in Indonesia: pounds 14,045,000

Ranking in international arms sales of the five members of the UN Security Council: 1,2,3,4,5

Banks' stock of lending to property in 1980: pounds 2,242,000,000

In 1992: pounds 27,966,000,000

Domestic water disconnections in 1990-91: 7,673

In 1991-92: 21,282

Percentage of lone parents receiving regular maintenance payments from co-parent: 29

14-year-old pupils among 8,100 sampled who had a reading age of 11 or under: 2,673

Percentage of Northern Ireland employees publicly employed: 33

Average annual earnings of Royal Ulster Constabulary members: pounds 32,954

Average annual earnings of the people RUC members protect: pounds 15,705

Sources: RM/Euromonitor; Duchy of Lancaster; Friends of the Earth; Overseas Development Agency (EC & ODA funds); RM/Tam Dalyell MP; Exchequer; ibid; Dept of the Environment; ibid; Dept of Health; Dept for Education; Northern Ireland Office; ibid; ibid.