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| Topic | Title | Description | Book | Page | Keywords |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Drinking days | Alcohol & drugs | UK teenagers are amongst Europe’s biggest binge-drinkers | Fact File 2010 | 8 | drink, young people, wider world, Britain & its citizens, health, binge drinking, |
| Home brew | Alcohol & drugs | Is the pub doomed by our changing drinking habits? | Fact File 2010 | 10 | pub, smoking, drinking, health, bar, Britain & its citizens, consumers & shopping, financial issues, leisure, restaurant, food |
| Boozy Britain | Alcohol & drugs | We are consuming twice as much alcohol as 50 years ago | Fact File 2010 | 12 | Britain & its citizens, consumers |
| Dominant drugs | Alcohol & drugs | Cannabis continues to dominate the world’s illicit drug markets | Fact File 2010 | 13 | Wider world, smoking, amphetamines, ecstasy, cocaine, heroin, opiates, tobacco |
| Drug Habit | Alcohol & drugs | Are drugs just part of the social landscape of the UK? | Fact File 2010 | 14 | Law & order, Britain & its citizens, smoking, amphetamines, ecstasy, cocaine, heroin, opiates, marijuana, LSD, magic mushrooms, ketamine, crack, tobacco |
| Under threat | Animals | 22% of the world’s mammal species are threatened or extinct | Fact File 2010 | 17 | Environmental issues, endangered, wider world, cheetahs, survive, survival |
| Shark attack | Animals | More people in the water leads to more shark attacks | Fact File 2010 | 18 | Safety & risk, tourism, death, survive, survival |
| Who is the hunter? | Animals | Sharks are endangered because of a fierce predator - human beings | Fact File 2010 | 19 | Environmental issues, food & drink, fishing, survive, survival |
| Butterfly effect | Animals | Falling butterfly numbers are an environmental warning | Fact File 2010 | 20 | Farming & countryside, survive, survival, decline |
| Plan Bee | Animals | A decline in the bee population could be disastrous | Fact File 2010 | 21 | Environmental issues, farming & countryside, food and drink, survive, survival |
| Seabird shortage | Animals | More than half a million seabirds have disappeared from the UK coastline this decade | Fact File 2010 | 22 | Environmental issues, survive, survival, decline |
| Population change? | Britain & its citizens | The UK population hit 61 million in 2008 | Fact File 2010 | 24 | Immigration, age, gender, male, female |
| Delaying the inevitable | Britain & its citizens | Life expectancy continues to rise and premature deaths from the ‘big killers’ have plummeted | Fact File 2010 | 25 | Age, health, population, death, gender, male, female, England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland, cancer, heart disease, stroke |
| Race relations | Britain & its citizens | Families are changing Britain’s racial profile | Fact File 2010 | 26 | Population, Family & relationships, race, ethnic minorities, mixed race, Caribbean, Chinese, Indian, Pakistani, gender, male, female, multiple heritage, partner, marriage |
| Sense of belonging | Britain & its citizens | 84% of people believe their community gets along well | Fact File 2010 | 28 | Race, Community, Family & relationships, Pakistani, Bangladeshi, Indian, Mixed Race, Black Caribbean, White, Black African, Chinese, ethnic minority, religion, cohesion, age, neighbourhood, local |
| Bad manners Britain | Britain & its citizens | More than half of us believe that the biggest problem in the country today is rudeness | Fact File 2010 | 29 | Family & relationships, children, community, transport, rudeness, anti-social, neighbourhood, manners, parents |
| Moving on up | Britain & its citizens | Do your chances in life depend on your parents’ income? | Fact File 2010 | 30 | Class, family & relationships, financial issues, social mobility, income, money, wealth, opportunity, neighbourhood, equality, wealth |
| Feeling good? | Britain & its citizens | How do you measure well-being? | Fact File 2010 | 32 | Wider world, health, wellbeing, satisfaction, self esteem, relationships, feelings, emotions |
| A life worth living? | Britain & its citizens | How young people feel about the state of their lives today | Fact File 2010 | 34 | Family & relationships, wellbeing, well-being, mental health, teenagers, emotions, attitudes, money, friends, work, home, education, community, NEETs, |
| Olympic cheer | Britain & its citizens | Older people are less likely to support the 2012 London Olympics | Fact File 2010 | 36 | Sport, Olympics, financial issues, age, London 2012 |
| The place to be | Britain & its citizens | Which are the MOST desirable cities in Britain... and the LEAST? | Fact File 2010 | 37 | Cities, community, travel & tourism |
| Costly lesson | Education | The UK spends less per student than many other developed countries | Fact File 2010 | 39 | Wider world, Ffinancial issues, school |
| Good sport | Education | PE and sport play an important role in school life but are youngsters doing enough? | Fact File 2010 | 40 | Sport & leisure, health, young people, children, students, pupils, male, female, age |
| Lost for words | Education | The number of students learning traditional languages is in decline | Fact File 2010 | 42 | French, German, Spanish, GCSEs, qualifications, school, exams, examinations, japanese, Polish, Portuguese, Italian, Mandarin |
| Uni-fund | Education | Over half of students receive financial support from their parents to help them through their studies | Fact File 2010 | 43 | Financial issues, family & relationships, money, university, funding, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland, young people |
| University class | Education | Background plays a large part in deciding about higher education | Fact File 2010 | 44 | Work, young people, family, social mobility, social class, school, careers, qualifications, degrees, debt, jobs |
| Rainforest risk | Environmental Issues | We are losing great natural treasures just as we are beginning to understand their value | Fact File 2010 | 47 | Animals, global warming, wider world, deforestation, endangered species, Amazon rainforest, trees, Greenpeace, survive, survival, ethnic, climate change, carbon, deforestation |
| A silent crisis... and a dire warning | Environmental Issues | We are already feeling the effects of climate change – but worse will follow | Fact File 2010 | 48 | Global warming, water, natural disasters, wider world, death, greenhouse gases, global warming, weather, developing world, developed world, carbon emissions, climate change |
| Our green world | Environmental Issues | Concern for the environment is high, but what changes do we make to our daily lives? | Fact File 2010 | 50 | Wider world, consumers & shopping, water pollution, deforestation, overdevelopment, nuclear waste, air pollution, energy saving, recycling, money |
| Posh polluters | Environmental Issues | As your income goes up so does your carbon footprint | Fact File 2010 | 52 | social class, financial issues, pollution, Britain and its citizens, money, carbon emissions, area, local, neighbourhood |
| Good choice | Environmental Issues | “Put your money where your mouth is” – but how many of us are prepared to do this for the sake of the environment? | Fact File 2010 | 54 | Fair trade, consumers & shopping, financial issues, ethical shopping |
| McLitter | Environmental Issues | A quarter of streets are littered with fast food rubbish | Fact File 2010 | 55 | Food & drink, packaging, city, town, rubbish |
| War on waste | Environmental Issues | The UK generates around 25 million tonnes of household waste per year – much of this ends up in landfill | Fact File 2010 | 56 | Litter, packaging, consumers & shopping, supermarkets |
| Dirty beaches | Environmental Issues | Our beaches are disappearing under a growing tide of rubbish | Fact File 2010 | 58 | Litter, packaging, waste, sewage |
| For better for worse | Family & Relationships | Marriage rates may have fallen to the lowest on record... and divorces are falling too | Fact File 2010 | 61 | Marriage, divorce, Scotland, Northern Ireland, England, Wales |
| Baby mothers | Family & Relationships | For the first time in five years, teen pregnancies have risen | Fact File 2010 | 62 | Pregnancy, birth, young people, teenagers, conception, abortion |
| Creating families - the waiting game | Family & Relationships | More than 12,000 IVF babies are born in the UK each year – and many thousands more around the world | Fact File 2010 | 63 | infertility, pregnancy & birth, genetics, test tube baby, In vitro fertilisation |
| Creating families - donors | Family & Relationships | Since 1991, there have been around 2,000 babies born each year following treatment using donated eggs, sperm or embryos | Fact File 2010 | 64 | Pregnancy & birth, Genetics, Surrogacy, IVF, In vitro fertilisation, insemination |
| Creating families - one at a tme | Family & Relationships | IVF can give couples an ‘instant family’ – but at a high risk | Fact File 2010 | 65 | Pregnancy & birth, Genetics, embryo, In vitro fertilisation, twins triplets, multiple birth |
| Lifeline | Family & Relationships | Children who feel they can’t talk to family and friends can become desperate | Fact File 2010 | 66 | Young people, mental health, Childline, sexual abuse, bullying, suicide, physical abuse, self harm, bereavement |
| Boys’ talk | Family & Relationships | The number of boys calling ChildLine has more than doubled | Fact File 2010 | 67 | Young people, mental health, gender, sexual issues, sexual abuse, bullying, ChildLine, loneliness, physical abuse, counselling |
| Girl power? | Family & Relationships | Many teenage girls have suffered abuse in a relationship | Fact File 2010 | 68 | Bullying, sexual abuse, violence |
| It’s good to talk | Family & Relationships | Emotions are discussed more freely nowadays | Fact File 2010 | 69 | Mental health, counselling, stress, therapy, feelings |
| Baby P’s legacy | Family & Relationships | The horrific story of a toddler may have had some lasting effects | Fact File 2010 | 70 | Child abuse, law & order, Baby Peter, NSPCC, social work, care, court |
| Deep in debt | Financial Issues | There are 9,300 new debt problems dealt with by Citizens Advice each day | Fact File 2010 | 73 | Housing, recession, mortgage, bankruptcy, credit cards, government |
| No strings attached | Financial Issues | £26m in pocket money is being handed out by parents every week in the UK | Fact File 2010 | 74 | Children, family & relationships, pocket money, young people, teenagers |
| Expensive teens | Financial Issues | Today’s young people have an increasingly pricy lifestyle | Fact File 2010 | 75 | Teenagers, consumers & shopping, music downloads iPod, cigarettes, mobile phones, alchohol, entertainment, |
| Organic market | Financial Issues | 90% of UK households now buy organic products, but what effect will the economic downturn have? | Fact File 2010 | 76 | Consumers, shopping, fair trade, environmental issues, recession, clothing, clothes, food & drink, GM, Genetically modified, climate change, economics |
| Take the money & run | Financial Issues | More than £450 million has been raised for hundreds of charitable causes by London Marathon runners since 1981 | Fact File 2010 | 78 | Charities, charity, sport, leisure, volunteers, recession, giving |
| Dream home | Financial Issues | Owning their own home now seems like an impossible goal for many | Fact File 2010 | 80 | Housing, first time buyers, first-time buyers, property ladder |
| Make a meal of it | Food & Drink | Researchers have devised a simple guide to nutritional values of everyday foods - with some surprising results | Fact File 2010 | 82 | Health, nutrition, food quality, nutrients, fat, salt, sodium |
| Cost of 100 calories | Food & Drink | Can you eat healthily on a budget? | Fact File 2010 | 84 | Financial issues, poverty & debt, health, nutrition, salt, fat |
| Food for thought | Food & Drink | Salt, sugar, fat – and fruit: the truth about our diets! | Fact File 2010 | 85 | Health, nutrition, eating |
| Salty start | Food & Drink | How one meal can tip you over your daily limit of salt | Fact File 2010 | 86 | Health, salt, breakfast, fast food |
| Added extras | Food & Drink | Consumers are concerned about additives in food | Fact File 2010 | 87 | Health, salt, e numbers, colourings, preservatives, sugar, flavourings, sweeteners, pesticides |
| Pesticides on a plate | Food & Drink | An average of 30-40% of food we eat contains pesticide residue | Fact File 2010 | 88 | Health, environmental issues, pollution, farming, fruit, vegetables |
| Best before... | Food & Drink | Many people are willing to take a risk by eating food past its use-by date | Fact File 2010 | 90 | Consumers & shopping, health, meat, diary, eggs, use by date, sell by date, display until date |
| Save your bacon? | Food & Drink | A third of us are concerned about the way our food animals are raised and slaughtered | Fact File 2010 | 91 | Animals, environmental issues, consumers & shopping, farming |
| Cooking up a storm | Food & Drink | Believe it or not meat & milk are destroying our environment | Fact File 2010 | 92 | Developing World, wider world, agriculture, fertiliser, dairy, |
| Enough to eat | Food & Drink | Where does our 5-a-day come from? | Fact File 2010 | 94 | Consumers & shopping, health, wider world, self-sufficient, security, export, import, supply |
| Hot... or cold? | Food & Drink | As we get older we consume more hot drinks, but for young people, cold drinks are the most popular | Fact File 2010 | 96 | Age, young people, Water, tea, coffee, fizzy drinks, juices, children, teenagers, adults, alcohol |
| Waiter – water! | Food & Drink | The UK’s restaurant-goers prefer to choose tap water over bottled | Fact File 2010 | 98 | Consumers & shopping, bottled water, developing world |
| Stopping the spread | Health | Measles is a leading cause of death among young children in low income countries and is spreading quickly among unvaccinated children in the UK | Fact File 2010 | 100 | disease, immunisation, vaccination, children, wider world, MMR, measles mumps and rubella, epidemic |
| Diabetes the silent assasin | Health | 80% of people with diabetes live in low and middle income countries but by 2025 there will be more than 4 million people with diabetes in the UK | Fact File 2010 | 102 | ageing, disease, wider world, obesity |
| Whose problem? | Health | Around 1 in 4 people will suffer from mental health problems in their lifetime | Fact File 2010 | 104 | illness, mental health, family & relationships, hospital |
| Anorexia admissions | Health | “I want to get better but first I have to feel ok about putting on weight and that’s difficult” | Fact File 2010 | 105 | hospital, girls, boys, family, eating disorders |
| NHS v US | Health | Despite the scare stories, the NHS still outstrips the US health system | Fact File 2010 | 106 | Expenditure, gdp, America, nurse, midwife, politics, USA, hospitals, doctors, cancer |
| All you need is blood | Health | Blood stocks are low, and yet only 4% of us donate | Fact File 2010 | 107 | donor, give blood, volunteers, blood types |
| Sexfactor | Health | Young people’s attitudes and awareness of sexually transmitted infections | Fact File 2010 | 108 | AIDS/HIV, chlamydia, pubic lice, crabs, gonorrhoea, genital warts, genital herpes, syphilis, hepatitis B, hepatitis C, trichomonas, LGV, sexual issues, young people, STDs, STIs |
| HIV UK | Health | New cases and how was ithey were acquired | Fact File 2010 | 110 | Sexual issues, AIDS/HIV, homosexuality, drugs, STIs, STDs, drugs |
| The big question | Health | A change in the law to legalise euthanasia is supported by 82% of the public but only 34% of doctors | Fact File 2010 | 112 | doctor, disease, assisted suicide, law & order, death |
| Big impact | Health | The 20 worst places in the UK for obesity | Fact File 2010 | 114 | males, females, Scotland, England, Wales, age, |
| Protection & prevention | Law & Order | Why do some young people carry weapons...? | Fact File 2010 | 116 | victim, risk, violence, race, guns, knives, weapons, prison, curfew, ASBOs |
| Fear factor | Law & Order | We believe crime is increasing and yet the likelihood of being affected is small | Fact File 2010 | 118 | victim, risk, burglary, car crime, violence, race, ethnic minorities, theft, vandalism |
| Safe trip? | Law & Order | Most people feel safe on public transport but 43% of users have felt intimidated | Fact File 2010 | 120 | anti-social, aggressive, young people, alchohol, drink, alcohol, drugs, violence, trains, buses, safety & risk, victim |
| Another bad night | Law & Order | Violence was responsible for over 750 deaths in England & Wales | Fact File 2010 | 122 | hospital, accident and emergency, injury, NHS |
| School shootings | Law & Order | Easy access to guns has had devastating effects | Fact File 2010 | 124 | Guns, violence, wider world, death, Japan, UK, Germany, Stuttgart, Brazil, South Africa, USA, Switzerland, Finland, death |
| Park life | Leisure | What are young people doing with their time? | Fact File 2010 | 127 | Children, young people, teenagers, arts & culture, music, cinema, entertainment, exercise |
| Fanzone | Leisure | Watching football remains a popular activity | Fact File 2010 | 128 | Sport |
| Our day out | Leisure | Many free attractions have have had an increase in visitors. Is this because of the recession? | Fact File 2010 | 129 | Arts & culture, financial issues, recession , museums, gallery |
| Bookworms | Leisure | How young people feel about reading and readers | Fact File 2010 | 130 | reading, libraries, library, young people, internet, media, stereotypes, boys, girls, pupils |
| Big screen | Leisure | There were 164.2 million cinema admissions in the UK in 2008 | Fact File 2010 | 132 | Age, wider world, technology, entertainment, multiplex, film, movie |
| Small screen | Leisure | Cinema-goers are also fans of the small screen | Fact File 2010 | 134 | Age, technology, TV, television, DVD |
| Digital life | Science & technology | Our leisure time is precious – that’s why we spend almost a third of it using the internet | Fact File 2010 | 136 | Internet & media, consumers & shopping, family & relationships, wider world, communicate, communication, friends, leisure time, social life, family and friends |
| Music collection | Science & technology | Despite digital downloading, people still want the hard copies | Fact File 2010 | 138 | Internet & media, CD, music, pay, money |
| Scientific interest | Science & technology | Two-thirds of young Europeans are interested in scientific developments | Fact File 2010 | 140 | Young people, internet & media, wider world, culture, entertainment, sports, economics, politics, benefit, harm, surveillance, safety, risk, mobile phone, GM, research, medicine, |
| Amazed & confused | Science & technology | In the UK, eight out of ten people find science ‘amazing’ | Fact File 2010 | 142 | Internet & media, Safety & risk, computers, climate change, CCTV, young people, benefit, harm, surveillance, safety, risk, mobile phone, GM, research, medicine, gender |
| Risk on the roads | Travel & Transport | Comparing death rates in different countries | Fact File 2010 | 145 | Death, safety & risk, wider world, cars, traffic, accidents |
| Last breath | Travel & Transport | The number of drink drive accidents fell by 7% in 2008, but fatalities arising from those accidents rose by 5% | Fact File 2010 | 146 | Alcohol, death, safety & risk, cars, drugs driving |
| Traffic jam | Travel & Transport | Drivers would rather put up with congestion than change their habits | Fact File 2010 | 148 | Environmental issues, public transport, congestion, cars, trains, buses |
| What price your life? | Travel & Transport | There were around 9,000 reported incidents of trespass on Britain’s railways in 2008 | Fact File 2010 | 150 | Safety & risk, death, young people, railways, teenagers, crime |
| Don’t run the risk | Travel & Transport | On average, more than three motorists a week are involved in a near miss with a train | Fact File 2010 | 151 | Safety & risk, death, railways, level crossings, cars, drivers, accidents, crashes |
| Capital advice | Travel & Transport | Travellers rate the top capital cities | Fact File 2010 | 152 | leisure, tourism, London, Paris, Moscow, city |
| Conflicting countries | War & Conflict | Over 75% of the world’s wars take place in Africa and Asia | Fact File 2010 | 154 | Wider world, developing world, death, Africa, Asia, Europe, America, Middle East |
| Peacekeeping | War & Conflict | The first UN peacekeeping mission was in 1948... since then there have been 63 operations around the world | Fact File 2010 | 155 | death, United Nations, |
| Cost of war | War & Conflict | What is the price, in money and in lives, of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan? | Fact File 2010 | 156 | Financial issues, death, Iraq, Afghanistan, wider world, military |
| Military mix | War & Conflict | All the armed forces aim to have 8% of their personnel from ethnic minorities by 2013 | Fact File 2010 | 158 | Race, Royal Navy, Army, Commonwealth, RAF |
| Women & children first | Wider World | Each day around 1,500 women die from complications related to pregnancy and childbirth... | Fact File 2010 | 160 | Death, pregnancy & birth, Africa, Asia, developing world, United Nations, UN Millennium Development Goal, children, mortality rate |
| Education inequality | Wider World | Millions of children are denied education – and will be trapped in poverty as a result | Fact File 2010 | 162 | Poverty & debt, gender, school, Africa, Asia, developing world, poor, rich, wealth, spending |
| The challenge of hunger | Wider World | 923 million people in the world go hungry every day, 907 million of these live in developing countries | Fact File 2010 | 164 | Poverty & debt, food & drink, financial issues, GHI, Global Hunger Index, United Nations, UN Millennium Development Goal, |
| Live long and prosper | Wider World | A good life is possible without costing the earth | Fact File 2010 | 166 | Population, poverty & debt, environmental issues, ecological, HPI, Happy Planet Index, Zimbabwe, Costa Rica |
| Age concern | Wider World | The population of the world is changing: by 2050 one in every five people will be aged 60 or over | Fact File 2010 | 168 | Population, age, developing world, young people |
| Megacities | Wider World | Within two decades, nearly 60% of the world’s population will live in cities | Fact File 2010 | 170 | Environmental issues, poverty, social, environmental sustainability, climate change, rising sea levels, city |
| Poor chance | Wider World | Worldwide, 2,000 children die each day from preventable injuries – most are poor | Fact File 2010 | 172 | Safety & risk, poverty & debt, death, children, income, financial issues, road traffic, work, social class |
| Worlds apart | Wider World | Scandinavia leads the world in gender equality | Fact File 2010 | 173 | Men, women, pay, education, status |
| Maximum penalty | Wider World | Countries in Asia carried out more executions in 2008 than the rest of the world put together | Fact File 2010 | 174 | Capital punishment, death penalty, China, USA |
| Smoking kills | Wider World | Of the more than 1 billion smokers alive today, around 500 million will be killed by tobacco | Fact File 2010 | 176 | Death, health, cigarettes |
| Dangerous waters | Wider World | Attacks on the world’s shipping have been increasing at an alarming rate | Fact File 2010 | 177 | Safety & risk, pirates, hijacking, Somalia |
| Mind the gap | Work | The gender pay gap has been falling since 1998, but rose again in 2008 | Fact File 2010 | 179 | Financial issues, men, women, income, money, gender, age |
| Healthy attitudes | Work | It is working with colleagues – not pay – that most NHS workers find rewarding | Fact File 2010 | 180 | Financial issues, well-being, wellbeing, NHS, career, satisfaction |
| Ill treatment | Work | 12% of people who are disabled or have a long term illness have experienced violence at work | Fact File 2010 | 181 | Disability, bullying, health, satisfaction |
| Closed shop | Work | What chance does an ordinary person have of reaching the top? | Fact File 2010 | 182 | Education, financial issues, social class, school, college, university, education, social mobility |
| Class of 2009 | Work | Only a third of 2009’s final year students expect to find a graduate job after university | Fact File 2010 | 184 | Education, young people, recession, financial issues, |
| Chance event | Work | Fatal accidents are often caused by chance – combined with shortcomings in safety precautions | Fact File 2010 | 186 | Safety & risk, death, wider world, recession, injury |
| Insecure future | Work | 79% of employees said their organisation had been affected by the recession | Fact File 2010 | 188 | Financial issues, redundancy, unemployment, |
| Job-less | Work | Unemployment is at its highest level since mid-1995 | Fact File 2010 | 190 | recession, men. women, |
| Lost generation | Work | Youth unemployment is at its highest level since records began | Fact File 2010 | 191 | Young people, recession, wider world |
| Of all the species in all the world, which would we miss most? | Animals | Five species we couldn’t live without – and five that maybe we could! | Essential Articles 12 | 11 | Extinction environmental issues science plankton bats bees fungi primates rats pigeons wasps nettles woodlice |
| A pet prescription | Animals | weigh the upset once they are gone? | Essential Articles 12 | 14 | health family relationships dogs children |
| Michelito – marvel or murderer? | Animals | Strong passions are aroused by an 11-year-old bullfighter | Essential Articles 12 | 15 | wider world bloodsports cruelty children bullfighting prodigy |
| Che Obama: The new cult of personality | Arts & culture | Obama’s image is everywhere. Is this a celebration, or has Obamamania gone too far? | Essential Articles 12 | 17 | politics USA Obama marketing trend fashion |
| Art & minds | Arts & culture | In the wake of catastrophe, food and shelter is not all that children need, argues Slumdog director Danny Boyle | Essential Articles 12 | 20 | wider world charity Africa children Danny Boyle drama |
| A two-year-old could do that... and in fact she has! | Arts & culture | What critics of modern art often claim is literally true. Here is the case of Aelita Andre, the two-year-old whose pieces sell for thousands | Essential Articles 12 | 23 | family relationships children painting money prodigy |
| Think before you ink | Body Image | ‘Body graffiti’ may be popular among celebrities, but that doesn’t make it classy, attractive or wise | Essential Articles 12 | 26 | tattoo celebrity body art trend fashion |
| I hate my lizard | Body Image | Personal account of a girl whose main regret in life… is her tattoo | Essential Articles 12 | 28 | tattoo |
| “My daughter begged me to eat but all I wanted was to lose weight” | Body Image | Anorexia isn’t something that only affects teenagers. Personal account of a mother who just couldn’t see the effect it had on her family | Essential Articles 12 | 29 | anorexia slimming diets health family relationships Eating disorders |
| Dear Graham | Body Image | TV presenter Graham Norton, gives advice to a woman whose friends just won’t let her lose weight | Essential Articles 12 | 32 | diets health slimming weight advise Graham Norton |
| Bikini or bingo wings | Body Image | You’ll never please the fashion police, so put the boot into a fashion taboo before it’s too late | Essential Articles 12 | 33 | fashion women media |
| ‘A nasty little piece of smug class warfare’ | Britain & its citizens | A green holiday firm’s promise of ‘chav-free holidays’ for the middle classes exposes the snobbery that underpins radical eco-tourism | Essential Articles 12 | 35 | Sport leisure Travel tourism holidays chav eco-tourism social class advertising snobbery enviroment |
| Let’s hear it for Mad Monarchy | Britain & its citizens | Peep Show’s David Mitchell celebrates all that is mad about the royal family | Essential Articles 12 | 38 | Royalty Obama Queen president politics constitution republic state social class |
| Why I threw green custard over the business secretary | Britain & its citizens | Was Leila Deen’s protest a step too far in a democratic society? | Essential Articles 12 | 40 | Environmental issues Politics protest Peter Mandelson Heathrow airport aviation aeroplane demonstration |
| All together now – a portrait of race in Britain | Britain & its citizens | Pete Turner, bass player with Elbow, gives his personal account of growing up black | Essential Articles 12 | 42 | Race Music prejudice Elbow black BNP adoption |
| A brief history of British race relations | Britain & its citizens | From 1971 till today – significant events in British racial history | Essential Articles 12 | 43 | Race prejudice black BNP adoption immigration Trevor McDonald Naomi Campbell Stephen Lawrence Paul Ince Nasser Hussain music Prince Harry |
| A drama that never ends | Disability | He is a successful actor, but Max’s Down’s syndrome has led to battles throughout his life | Essential Articles 12 | 45 | Family relationships Genetics Down’s syndrome film health |
| Parents of a Down’s child must make painful choices | Disability | While you can celebrate diversity, the lives of people with Down’s syndrome will be tough and difficult | Essential Articles 12 | 48 | Family relationships Genetics Down’s syndrome health abortion pregnancy birth prenatal testing |
| If we screen out autism we run the risk of losing genius too | Disability | As the number of disorders identifiable by prenatal testing grows, the debate about how to handle them is intensifying | Essential Articles 12 | 50 | pregnancy birth Ethics Science Genetics health Down’s syndrome abortion prenatal testing |
| ‘My mother once thought of killing us both, life was so hard’ | Disability | The only blind broadcast journalist in Britain talks about life as a child, and in the media | Essential Articles 12 | 52 | BBC Internet & media blind education families relationships work |
| Not childsplay | Disability | How some parents responded to a disabled presenter on children’s television – and how she responded to them! | Essential Articles 12 | 54 | prejudice Children Television BBC Internet media |
| Just Say Yes | Drugs | A chief constable argues that the only solution to the drugs trade is to make it legal | Essential Articles 12 | 56 | Law & order Police |
| My father gave me my first hit of heroin | Drugs | Personal account of what brought a father and son closer together and ultimately drove them apart | Essential Articles 12 | 59 | crime Law & order Family relationships fathers |
| Cocaine may not cost much but it certainly isn’t cheap | Drugs | The cocaine trade turns people into throwaway human containers. That alone should make it unacceptable | Essential Articles 12 | 60 | Law & order Wider world |
| When I see a young patient with a heart-attack, one of the first things I think of is cocaine. | Drugs | A doctor gives his advice and insight into the effects of cocaine | Essential Articles 12 | 61 | Health |
| Imagine if we taught maths like PE - a competition, with public humiliation if you got a sum wrong | Education | The ‘Medal for all’ culture is a thing of the past it seems, but is that really for the best? | Essential Articles 12 | 63 | Sport leisure health children |
| Making students make the grade | Education | With Big Brother style software coming into schools, parents are more informed than ever about what their kids are doing – but is that a good thing? | Essential Articles 12 | 64 | Technology Families relationships internet exams |
| ‘Now I believe anything is possible’ | Education | In a unique experiment, five South African teenagers are studying at a top English public school for a year | Essential Articles 12 | 66 | Wider world Poverty & debt social class Richard Branson South Africa |
| It’s time to get tough on choosing soft subjects | Education | Big universities are not being open enough about the A-level subjects they require from students – and which ones they don’t rate | Essential Articles 12 | 68 | exams students university A levels grades |
| I could never live up to being a child prodigy | Education | Personal account of an early over-achiever, and how she could not match up to expectations | Essential Articles 12 | 70 | Children exams grades university work |
| What China Crisis | Environment | China is often criticised for its environmental record, but there is another story to tell | Essential Articles 12 | 72 | Wider world carbon footprint solar power |
| Poverty or poison | Environment | What really happens to millions of tonnes of our so-called recycled electronic waste? | Essential Articles 12 | 74 | Technology Wider world Poverty & debt scrap waste recycling |
| Fishy on a dishy | Environment | Seafood, another guilt filled minefield for your average ethical consumer | Essential Articles 12 | 77 | fishing consumers Health Food & drink Ethics vegetarian meat organic free range |
| Should I become an ecotarian | Environment | In a world of fair trade, free range and food miles, here is the next ethical issue to consider with your food | Essential Articles 12 | 78 | Food & drink Consumers & shopping climate change fairtrade free range food miles organic |
| Coat Star | Environment | Cartoonists say it with colour – especially the winner of the environmental illustration award | Essential Articles 12 | 79 | climate change Arts & culture cartoon global warming |
| An act of extreme willful fecundity | Environment | Why the birth of Californian octuplets so speedily turned from good news into a finger-wagging environmental morality tale | Essential Articles 12 | 80 | fertility media Pregnancy & birth octuplets IVF octomom Nadya Suleman children health USA America |
| Are girls better than boys? | Family & relationships | Why do people presume you should have one of each sex to complete a family? | Essential Articles 12 | 84 | Children Pregnancy & birth Gender |
| Don’t lose your bottle | Family & relationships | Personal account of a blind father and the prejudice he faced raising his baby daughter | Essential Articles 12 | 85 | fathers prejudice Disability Children blind birth |
| Where did childhood in Britain go wrong? | Family & relationships | Reports say childhood in Britain has gone badly wrong, children are miserable and don’t know how to play | Essential Articles 12 | 86 | Britain & its citizens Sport & leisure Children young people |
| My parents left me home alone | Family & relationships | Sounds like a teen dream, yet this young woman reveals that the truth is anything but... | Essential Articles 12 | 87 | young people money |
| Zannah’s thoughts | Family & relationships | Personal account of what it is like knowing you are alive because of donor conception | Essential Articles 12 | 88 | Pregnancy & birth Human Rights Ethics fathers Donor Conception |
| Who’s your Daddy? | Family & relationships | Reflects on how one man disowned the girl he had raised for 16 years after discovering he was not her biological father | Essential Articles 12 | 89 | fathers Pregnancy & birth Human Rights Ethics money law |
| Caring for the teen parents | Family & relationships | If society provides for teen parents, there is nothing to prevent them from having children, but this is a good thing according to a Russian journalist | Essential Articles 12 | 90 | Pregnancy & birth Britain & its citizens teenagers young people children Russia |
| Tragic mum’s dying wish | Family & relationships | Miriam Stoppard, Agony Aunt, gives advice to a grandmother who is being expected to care for her grandchildren | Essential Articles 12 | 91 | grandparents mothers Death Children |
| ‘He blocked the door and pulled a knife’ | Family & relationships | Amongst the hysteria of the Baby P case, one social worker reveals the challenges of life on the front line | Essential Articles 12 | 92 | social services law & order Child abuse Violence Children Baby P social workers care social services |
| The lessons that need to be learnt from Baby P | Family & relationships | The correspondent, who recently won an award for her campaign for greater openness in family courts, gives her reaction to the Baby P tragedy alongside the events leading up to his death | Essential Articles 12 | 94 | social services, Law & order Child abuse social workers care |
| Tiny turns in the right direction | Family & relationships | A mentor tells of his experience helping a troubled teenager, and how he often thought ‘Why am I doing this?’ | Essential Articles 12 | 96 | mentor Child abuse Bullying social services |
| A poor start | Financial issues | A constituency in Birmingham is the epicentre of child poverty in the UK, where 81% of families are affected | Essential Articles 12 | 100 | work Poverty & debt Housing Immigration family children Birmingham recession |
| In hard times need is good | Financial issues | There’s a bright side to all this financial gloom, some things could actually be better | Essential Articles 12 | 101 | Consumers & shopping Housing credit crunch recession |
| Why spending money is like a drug | Financial issues | Parts of the brain are stimulated by higher salaries, even when prices rise alongside them | Essential Articles 12 | 103 | Science Psychology |
| A hold-up at the bank | Financial issues | In Egypt money is on everybody’s lips, especially when it comes by the suitcase-load | Essential Articles 12 | 104 | Wider world Poverty & debt Egypt |
| It’s time to put a stop to shopping guilt trips | Financial issues | Charity muggers or ‘chuggers’ are adding guilt to every shopping trip | Essential Articles 12 | 105 | Charities Consumers & shopping Charity chuggers |
| Calories and class | Food & drink | How class affects your diet and your health | Essential Articles 12 | 107 | diet Health social class Obesity money |
| Top stores call them ‘budget food lines’. I say they are a disgrace | Food & drink | Sales of ‘value’ products have soared during the credit crunch. Here Jay Rayner asks why stores force the poor to eat such low grade food | Essential Articles 12 | 108 | diet Health social class Obesity money Consumers & shopping Poverty & debt finance Heston Blumenthal supermarkets |
| Celebrity chefs risk losing touch | Food & drink | The chief executive of Asda responds to criticism of budget food | Essential Articles 12 | 110 | Consumers & shopping Financial issues Jamie Oliver Heston Blumenthal Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall |
| ‘Kicking the booze and fags was a piece of cake compared to coming off cheese’ | Food & drink | A comical look at food addiction | Essential Articles 12 | 111 | Health Addiction diets |
| Let’s junk the junk food and save our kids from a frightened future where burger is king! | Food & drink | Pizza or chips? At half term where can parents feed their kids? | Essential Articles 12 | 112 | Children Family & relationships Health diet obesity |
| Daddy cool | Food & drink | This writer couldn’t give a flying fig what the food police think, as long as his kids are eating | Essential Articles 12 | 113 | fathers Children Family & relationships Health diet obesity Junk food |
| Which fast food meals are the healthiest? Anyone’s guess! | Food & drink | When the public are asked which meals are the healthiest, the results are surprisingly poor | Essential Articles 12 | 114 | Health Consumers & shopping diet calories |
| Hannah Jones: ‘I have been in hospital too much’ | Health | Imagine you are the child-protection officer listening to Hannah say she does not want a ‘life-saving’ heart transplant | Essential Articles 12 | 117 | Children Death Family & relationships transplant law right to life |
| Doctors always listen to the child’s views | Health | Can a child, no matter how eloquent, really comprehend death? Doctor Max Pemberton discusses | Essential Articles 12 | 119 | Children Death, law & order Family & relationships transplant right to life |
| Alcoholism is a choice – I need to believe that it was my genes telling me to drink | Health | If you cannot blame genetics for your drinking habits, who can you blame? | Essential Articles 12 | 120 | disease, drinking, Alcohol Genetics Addiction |
| Too much too young | Health | A diagram of where and what exactly alcohol does to young bodies | Essential Articles 12 | 121 | Alcohol Children Addiction young people, teenagers |
| Please stop smoking, mummy! | Health | Mum Jo Carter smoked 40 a day till her kids persuaded her to stop. Here are three views of the story | Essential Articles 12 | 122 | mothers Family & relationships Smoking Addiction children |
| A curiously French complaint | Health | Diagnosed with a severe lung infection in France but in the UK simply told to get on with it. Why is there such a difference in attitudes to health? | Essential Articles 12 | 124 | France Wider world NHS |
| Saving Lives | Health | This doctor explains how the mundane day-to-day life of a GP isn’t heroic – but does save lives | Essential Articles 12 | 125 | NHS |
| Television, Teenagers & Pornography | Internet & Media | This writer just cannot equate a 1977 Playboy centrefold with what is now online | Essential Articles 12 | 127 | Family & relationships Sexual issues Television young people |
| We could turn our back on Jade – if we chose to | Internet & Media | From Big Bro Bimbo to Tears for Jade, life and death in the full glare of the headlines for a ‘reality celebrity’ | Essential Articles 12 | 128 | celebrity Health Family & relationships cancer Jade Goody death |
| What does censoring Wikipedia tell us about the way the internet is policed? | Internet & Media | The album cover that raised a censorship debate | Essential Articles 12 | 130 | Sexual issues Censorship & free speech law |
| Wiki’d sense of humour of the online encyclopedia hoaxers | Internet & Media | A 16th century painter was at the centre of some political interference with Wikipedia | Essential Articles 12 | 132 | poloticts Wikipedia |
| Wasting time for fun | Internet & Media | Comedian Steve Day has a good return from thousands of hours on Facebook: one gig booking and one lost friend! | Essential Articles 12 | 134 | Facebook, social networking, Youtube blind death disability |
| Online POKER marketing could spell the NAKED end of VIAGRA journalism as we LOHAN know it | Internet & Media | Online marketing will stop at nothing to grab your attention | Essential Articles 12 | 135 | Advertising celebrity Google reporting newspapers |
| A wireless wonderland | Internet & Media | Within two decades, our lives could be ruled by radio waves | Essential Articles 12 | 136 | Technology Consumers & shopping Health, transport |
| Filling in a digital black hole | Internet & Media | Research shows we are suffering from personal ‘digital disorder’ by relying on technology to store all our memories | Essential Articles 12 | 138 | Libraries & reading history |
| Reading for the world: Locking up freedom | Internet & Media | A specially written story by Beverley Naidoo – which was banned in some countries – offers a remarkable picture of the power of education | Essential Articles 12 | 140 | Libraries & reading Education, censorship Wider world |
| There’s all the difference between a silly lad and a murderous racist | Language | Howard Jacobson argues that intent is everything when it comes to offensive language | Essential Articles 12 | 142 | prejudice religion Royalty Race Disability Prince Harry |
| The naming of hate | Language | This writer argues that it is the use of racist, sexist, homophobic and disablist language that ruins lives | Essential Articles 12 | 143 | prejudice Race Disability Royalty Prince Harry |
| Mind your language | Language | The Guardian style guide editor on the linguistic barbarians at the gates | Essential Articles 12 | 144 | Obama Sport medals |
| At the end of the day, English is fairly unique | Language | The top ten most annoying language habits and why exactly they annoy us | Essential Articles 12 | 145 | Britain & its citizens |
| For the latest way to say ‘I love you’ simply try 459 | Language | How text talk has worked its way into our language | Essential Articles 12 | 147 | Technology Family relationships mobile phones texting |
| Insult after injury | Law & Order | Is rape less serious if the victim is drunk? The Compensation Authority seems to think so | Essential Articles 12 | 149 | Rape Alcohol women |
| Victim of a class war crime | Law & Order | Gang rape is used by soldiers as a bonding exercise. And that’s why rootless teenagers nearer home do the same | Essential Articles 12 | 150 | social class Rape gangs Violence |
| To whom it may concern | Law & Order | A powerful plea by actor Lennie James to anyone who carries a knife | Essential Articles 12 | 152 | knives guns violence family and relationships race young people |
| Crime: the writing’s on the wall | Law & Order | The presence of litter and graffiti is a breeding ground for more serious crime | Essential Articles 12 | 155 | Litter graffiti anti-social behaviour police |
| Ian Tomlinson: The man who was trying to get home | Law & Order | A balanced look at the events leading up to the death of Ian Tomlinson | Essential Articles 12 | 156 | Police Death demonstration protest G20 |
| A pensioner who uses the wrong recycling bin is fined more than a violent thug. Call that justice? | Law & Order | Marcel Berlins discusses justice in our country | Essential Articles 12 | 159 | |
| ‘How dare these men get sympathy’ | Law & Order | In June 2008 there was outrage that yet another father had murdered his children in an act of revenge on their mother. Here a mother tells how it feels to live through that agony | Essential Articles 12 | 160 | revenge Family & relationships Murder Children, fathers |
| I wanted to tell the inside story of Islam | Religion | Ed Husain is the author of the controversial book ‘The Islamist’. Here he explains what life is like on the inside of extreme Islam | Essential Articles 12 | 163 | wider world Islam Education Britain & its citizens muslim extremist extremism |
| Religious beliefs can be tolerated at best | Religion | How tolerant should we be of intolerance? This is the question at the centre of the tricky case of Lilian Ladele, the registrar who refused to marry same sex couples | Essential Articles 12 | 166 | Christianity Marriage & divorce Family & relationships Law & order homosexuality work |
| First person: Graham Holter was agnostic, he’s an athiest. His children, however, have quite different ideas | Religion | Personal account of what it’s like when your children ‘embrace the Lord’ | Essential Articles 12 | 168 | Family & relationships Education christianity |
| Don’t get creative with facts when it comes to evolution | Religion | Rod Liddle argues that creationism and science cannot exist side by side | Essential Articles 12 | 170 | Education Science Christianity creationism intelligent design Bible |
| Religion in schools – Creating problems | Religion | When an eminent scientist suggested creationism should be discussed in school science lessons he sparked strong opposition | Essential Articles 12 | 171 | Education Science Christianity creationism intelligent design Bible |
| Brown is the new black – and white | Religion | The number of mixed-race children is increasing, and so is the number of mixed-religion families. Will there be conflict caused by fundamentalism? | Essential Articles 12 | 172 | families and relationships Race USA America Obama marriage |
| I fear the Wii folk are playing a dangerous game | Sport & leisure | By getting absorbed in the Nintendo Wii, people risk missing out on real life experiences | Essential Articles 12 | 175 | Technology Children |
| Young talent discover a gruel world | Sport & leisure | A boot-camp for wannabe Olympians is anything but sugar coated | Essential Articles 12 | 176 | Olympics young people |
| Rugby in the ’hood | Sport & leisure | In some of the toughest neighbourhoods in America, rugby is offering people a passport to a better future | Essential Articles 12 | 178 | gangs Law & order USA America young people |
| Can freerunning stay free? | Sport & leisure | Once freerunners were chased off property, now they’re paid to perform on it. Will its popularity take it too far away from its roots? | Essential Articles 12 | 181 | Parkour France Advertising sponsorship comercialism |
| Could ecoterrorists let slip the bugs of war | War & conflict | Insects can spread disease and destroy crops with devastating speed. Do not underestimate their potential as weapons | Essential Articles 12 | 184 | Terrorism Wider world insect weapons health |
| Destitute and confused: bleak future for refugees caught in the crossfire | War & conflict | Residents of a grim camp tell of clashes between coalition forces and the Taliban | Essential Articles 12 | 186 | Wider world Refugees Afganistan Taliban poverty |
| “I’m a conscientious objector” | War & conflict | Personal account of a woman who would not contribute towards her country’s military campaign | Essential Articles 12 | 188 | Human Rights Wider world Prison Israel Palestine Family Relationships |
| Women’s rights are human rights | Wider world | How women are being denied basic human rights around the world every single day | Essential Articles 12 | 190 | Gender equality health marriage education |
| Dignity and the decent facility | Wider world | Sanitary engineers regard toilets as a health aid. But women know they are more than that | Essential Articles 12 | 192 | Gender Human Rights Privacy toilet sanitation health development |
| An ordinary Zimbabwean is laid to rest, wrapped in plastic. He died of cholera | Wider world | As Robert Mugabe’s cronies prepare a lavish 85th birthday party for the president, the people wait in vain for a ‘unity’ government to rescue them | Essential Articles 12 | 194 | politics health Poverty & debt Water, financial issues Death Zimbabwe Robert Mugabe |
| Lost mothers, lost children | Wider world | Maternal deaths: In words and pictures | Essential Articles 12 | 196 | health mothers women children death Gender Family & relationships Pregnancy & birth Sierra Leone |
| Grow your own bike | Wider world | The problem? The lack of accessible transport throughout Africa. The solution – bamboo bikes! | Essential Articles 12 | 199 | Transport Poverty & debt enviroment Africa |
| A Hair-raising price for being too honest | Work | Janet Street-Porter discusses the case of a women who was paid compensation for ‘hurt feelings’ when she didn’t get the job she wanted | Essential Articles 12 | 201 | Religion Law & order Islam Janet Street-Porter |
| No wonder bullied call centre workers are off sick the most. | Work | Despised by both the public and their employers, call centre workers are only trying to earn a living | Essential Articles 12 | 202 | Health Bullying stress |
| I’ve tried working beside a swimming pool - and it sucks | Work | An amusing look at attempts to mix chill time with work time | Essential Articles 12 | 204 | Sport & leisure Technology internet |
| Prejudice isn’t what keeps men out of nurseries | Work | Why is there such a gender divide in some professions? | Essential Articles 12 | 206 | gender Child care Education equality |
| Primates in peril | Animals | Mankind’s closest relatives are disappearing from the face of the Earth | Fact File 2009 | 8 | Environmental issues, extinction, apes, monkeys, habitat, hunting, wildlife, endangered, gorillas, Africa, Asia, China, Chinese, medicine |
| Sold into extinction | Animals | Humans are responsible for the decline of the tiger | Fact File 2009 | 10 | Environmental issues, extinction, poaching, conservation, endangered, big cats, zoo, habitat, Asia, India, China, wildlife, hunting, Chinese medicine, poaching |
| Preyed on | Animals | Attacks on birds of prey are up by 40% | Fact File 2009 | 11 | Law & order, birds, hunting, habitat, shooting, eggs, poison, RSPB, conservation, England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland |
| Lab rats | Animals | Animals are being created just to be used in experiments | Fact File 2009 | 12 | Science, Genetic modification, Animal testing, animal research, welfare, RSPCA, vivisection, primates, apes, monkeys, mice, rats, rodents, mammals, fish, birds, reptiles, amphibian, medicine, GM, procedures, operations, dogs, cats, pets |
| Acting for animals | Animals | A new law should make it easier to help animals | Fact File 2009 | 14 | Law & order, Pets, cats, animal welfare act, RSPCA, cruelty, rescue, suffering, fight |
| Dangerous dogs | Animals | Violent dog attacks have risen 43% in the last four years | Fact File 2009 | 15 | Law & order, Safety & risk, Pit Bull Terrier, Japanese Tosa, Dogo Argentino, Fila Braziliero, banned, prohibited, pets, bite, young children, teenagers, hospital |
| Sniffing it out | Animals | A dog’s sense of smell can make a vital difference | Fact File 2009 | 16 | Law & order, War & conflict, Arms, Safety & risk, customs, drugs, security,illegal imports, bombs, terrorism, crime |
| Escalating nations | Britain and its citizens | The UK population will rise to 71 million by 2031 | Fact File 2009 | 18 | Population, Immigration, England, Northern Ireland, Scotland, Wales, migration, death rate, birth rate, |
| Death by numbers | Britain and its citizens | In the early 1900s, over half of all deaths occurred before the age of 45, now it is only 4% | Fact File 2009 | 19 | Deaths, Health, male, female, old age, survival |
| Different class | Britain and its citizens | Have attitudes towards social class really changed? | Fact File 2009 | 20 | Language, middle, upper, working, |
| Mr & Mrs Average | Britain and its citizens | The ‘typical’ British family | Fact File 2009 | 21 | Family & relationships, Financial issues, Travel, tourism, Transport, North East, Yorkshire, North West, money, household, spending, names, surnames |
| It’s not me ... | Britain and its citizens | People believe that they are not prejudiced but their colleagues are | Fact File 2009 | 22 | Race, Work, white, black, Asian, racist, racism, employee, boss, ethnic group |
| How racist is Britain? | Britain and its citizens | Views on prejudice have become gloomier | Fact File 2009 | 23 | Race, ethnic groups, citizenship, black, white, Asian, Caribbeans, Indians, Pakistanis, Bangladeshis, Chinese, Africans |
| Bovvered | Britain and its citizens | Younger people are opting out of politics | Fact File 2009 | 24 | Politics, Young people, democracy, teenagers, elections, elect, vote, voting, petitions, local councilors, MP, member of parliament, general election |
| Taking Liberties | Britain and its citizens | Is Big Brother watching you? | Fact File 2009 | 26 | Human Rights, Privacy, Law & order, CCTV, security, crime, DNA, Database, ID Cards, criminals, |
| Royal rewards | Britain and its citizens | Are the Royals an asset or a liability? | Fact File 2009 | 27 | Royalty, Politics, taxes, Prince of Wales, Queen, security, Royal Family, monarchy, republicans, Duke of Edinburgh, head of state, expense, money, finance |
| Clearing the air | Britain and its citizens | Most people are in favour of a smoking ban in public places – even smokers | Fact File 2009 | 28 | Smoking, Law & order, public spaces, pubs, restaurants |
| Fancy a drink? | Britain and its citizens | Nearly half of people aged 11 have never touched alcohol, by 21 most are regular drinkers | Fact File 2009 | 29 | Young people, teenagers |
| Touch wood | Britain and its citizens | 77% of the British public deny that they are superstitious, but... | Fact File 2009 | 30 | Religion, superstitions, fate, telepathy, God, Reincarnation, Aliens |
| School snapshot | Education | Pupils are mainly positive about school | Fact File 2009 | 32 | Young people, Bullying, worry, exams, teenagers, teachers, future, achievement, students |
| Persistent Part timers | Education | 63,000 pupils truant everyday in England | Fact File 2009 | 34 | Young people, Truancy, school, teenagers, |
| Musical youth | Education | Why don’t girls choose the drums? | Fact File 2009 | 35 | Music, Young people, guitar, singing, oboe, kit drums, electric bass quitar, Trombone, Saxophone, Violin, Flute, Harp, boys, girls, male, female |
| Leveling off | Education | Over a quarter of A levels are awarded at the top grade | Fact File 2009 | 36 | Young people, teenagers, French, Geography, Chemistry, Maths, English, exams |
| Degree of difference | Education | How does our student life compare with Europe? | Fact File 2009 | 38 | University, students, young people, teenagers, exams, time, work, employment |
| Facing the drop | Education | The government wants 50% of 18 year olds to go to university ... but do they stay | Fact File 2009 | 39 | Young people, teenagers, students, degrees, qualifications, drop-out, drop out |
| National achievement | Education | Around 1 in 8 adults in the UK has no qualifications at all | Fact File 2009 | 40 | school, exams, university, England Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom |
| Energy issues | Environmental Issues | Energy supplies are decreasing – global demand is increasing | Fact File 2009 | 42 | Nuclear power, Wider world, power, fossil fuels, coal, gas, oil, hydroelectric, renewable |
| Nuclear future | Environmental Issues | Is nuclear power a solution to our energy needs? | Fact File 2009 | 43 | Nuclear power, waste, energy, |
| Fair Share | Environmental Issues | Some of the countries tackling CO2 are still the worst polluters | Fact File 2009 | 44 | Pollution, Wider world, China, climate change, global warming, emissions, climate policy |
| Global footprint | Environmental Issues | Some countries are using more than their share of the world’s resources | Fact File 2009 | 45 | Wider world, resources, land |
| Climate of change? | Environmental Issues | Attitudes to climate change – concerned but not convinced | Fact File 2009 | 46 | Science, Politics, scientists, government, trust, attitude |
| Green teens | Environmental Issues | Young people get radical to save the planet | Fact File 2009 | 48 | Young People, Politics, teenagers, relationships, power, energy, packaging recycle, cars, travel, food |
| Greenest cities | Environmental Issues | How do UK cities measure up? | Fact File 2009 | 49 | sustainable, resources, pollution, quality of life, future proof, ecological |
| Wasteful trade | Environmental Issues | We import and export the same items! | Fact File 2009 | 50 | Financial issues, Wider world, ecological, fuel, carbon footprint, ice cream, beer, mineral waters, fish, apples, flowers |
| Decade of disasters | Environmental Issues | Scientists warn that climate change will increase natural disasters | Fact File 2009 | 52 | Science, Disasters, Wider world, floods, hurricanes, tornados, droughts, volcanoes, earthquakes, homeless, poverty |
| Water Worldwide | Environmental Issues | More precious than oil – and supplies are running low | Fact File 2009 | 53 | Water, |
| Ifs and butts | Environmental Issues | Smokers are banned from buildings, but their litter is filling our streets | Fact File 2009 | 54 | Smoking, littering, smoking ban, cigarettes |
| Family first | Family & Relationships | How do people feel about their families? | Fact File 2009 | 56 | family life, food, meals, arguments |
| Family fusion | Family & Relationships | Families are changing | Fact File 2009 | 58 | Marriage & divorce, Sexual issues, children, young people, teenagers, gay, homosexual, lesbian, marriage & parenting, single parents, attitudes |
| Teens talk! | Family & Relationships | How do teenagers rate their parents? And vice versa | Fact File 2009 | 60 | Young people, parents, siblings, brothers and sisters, leaving home, boys, girls, arguments |
| Have you seen...? | Family & Relationships | One child is reported missing in the UK every five minutes | Fact File 2009 | 62 | Young people, missing children, runaway, sexual abuse, missing people, teenagers |
| Lost childhood | Family & Relationships | Every ten days in England and Wales a child is killed at the hands of a parent | Fact File 2009 | 63 | Murder, Sexual abuse, Child abuse, babies, NSPCC |
| Missing out | Family & Relationships | People are confused about the rules for adoption | Fact File 2009 | 64 | Adoption, Children, Child Abuse, adopted, parents |
| From cradle to grave | Financial Issues | The cost of key events in life ... and death | Fact File 2009 | 66 | Children, Death, Marriage, Relationships, Christmas presents, money, finance, car, travel, funeral, wedding, children, birth |
| Is it worth it? | Financial Issues | 54% of graduates are leaving university with debts over £10,000 | Fact File 2009 | 68 | Education, Poverty, debt, Young People, university, cost, employment, bills, rent |
| Life on loan | Financial Issues | Debt has become a fact of life among young adults | Fact File 2009 | 69 | Poverty, debt, Young people, finance, money, fuel, cost of living, |
| Bare necessities | Financial Issues | Many people cannot afford what they really need to live | Fact File 2009 | 70 | Poverty, debt, finance, childcare, rent, food, money, finance |
| Pricey places | Financial Issues | London is the second most expensive place to live | Fact File 2009 | 71 | Wider world, Britain & its citizens, Consumers, shopping, cities, Beijing, expensive, finance money |
| The price isn’t right | Financial Issues | Consumers are facing higher prices for basic goods | Fact File 2009 | 72 | Consumers & shopping, inflation, price, money, finance, food, drink, fuel |
| Poorer sex | Financial Issues | In the EU single mothers are at greater risk of poverty ... and at retirement age, too, women are more likely to be poor | Fact File 2009 | 74 | Poverty, debt, Gender, Age, men, women, Europe, parents, retirement |
| Repossessions | Financial Issues | Lenders repossessed 21% more homes in 2007 | Fact File 2009 | 76 | Housing, loans, mortgages, redundancy, energy bills, money, finance |
| Pensioner poverty | Financial Issues | Older people are making themselves ill worrying about the future | Fact File 2009 | 77 | Poverty, debt, Age, retirement, future, old, |
| Worthy cause | Financial Issues | What does our giving say about our values? | Fact File 2009 | 78 | Animals, Charities, charity, values, money, donations |
| Fraud abroad | Financial Issues | Chip and pin has shifted fraud overseas | Fact File 2009 | 80 | Law & order, money, finance, communication, tourism, ID, security, crime theft, internet, web |
| An apple a day? More like 4 million! | Food & Drink | A quarter of the food we throw away is unopened or untouched | Fact File 2009 | 82 | Environmental issues, waste, bread, CO2, landfill, climate change, global warming, fuel |
| Organic Obstacles | Food & Drink | ‘Going organic’ may not be so simple! | Fact File 2009 | 84 | Environmental issues, retail, products, import, export, farming |
| Healthy choice | Food & Drink | Could consumers influence how animals are treated? | Fact File 2009 | 86 | Animals, Consumers & shopping, EU, free-range, animal welfare |
| Decade of trade | Food & Drink | Fair trade goes from strength to strength | Fact File 2009 | 87 | Developing World, Consumers & shopping , fairtrade, bananas, cocoa, coffee, fruit, vegetables, sugar, wine, cotton |
| Kitchen concerns | Food & Drink | Some of our biggest restaurants are lacking in hygiene | Fact File 2009 | 88 | Health, cafes, pubs, wine bars, supermarket, butchers, takeaways, fast food, clean |
| What’s on the menu? | Food & Drink | 67% eat out at least once a month, yet do we know what we are getting? | Fact File 2009 | 89 | restaurants, pubs, cafes, healthy, information |
| Bad taste | Food & Drink | While concern about food has decreased, fat, salt and sugar are still top issues | Fact File 2009 | 90 | Consumers & shopping, Health |
| Excess waist | Health | Obesity in young people may be even worse than we think | Fact File 2009 | 92 | Slimming, Obesity, Young people, BMI, body mass index, fat muscle, heart disease |
| Gift of life | Health | More than 7,000 people in the UK are waiting for a transplant | Fact File 2009 | 94 | Death, corneas, kidneys, livers, organs, heart, lungs, pancreas, donor |
| Weaker sex? | Health | Men have more ill health and die younger | Fact File 2009 | 95 | Gender, Birth, Death, boys, girls, males, females, accidents, autism, cancer, life expectancy |
| The cost of a drink | Health | Alcohol is a part of social life for many, but it is harmful for some | Fact File 2009 | 96 | hospital, England, gender, men, women, disease, NHS |
| Drug deaths | Health | There were more than 13,000 drug-related deaths between 2003 and 2007 | Fact File 2009 | 97 | Death, England, Wales, behavioural disorders, illegal drugs, male, female, poison, alcohol, heroin, morphine, cocaine, amphetamines, ecstasy |
| Suicide | Health | There is one suicide attempt by a young person every twenty minutes | Fact File 2009 | 98 | Death, Suicide, Young people, drugs |
| Teething troubles | Health | Access to NHS dentistry is still a problem | Fact File 2009 | 100 | Dentist, dental, |
| Trust in the media | Internet & Media | Despite recent scandals the BBC is still on of the most trusted organisations | Fact File 2009 | 102 | newspapers, TV, television, truth, NHS, Church of England, Military, Government |
| Life online | Internet & Media | Do parents know what’s really happening? | Fact File 2009 | 104 | Family & relationships, Bullying, Young people, social networking, facebook, my space, bebo, communication, friends, privacy, security |
| Mixed media | Internet & Media | Consumers are experimenting with new technology | Fact File 2009 | 106 | Consumers & shopping social networking, mobile phone, video, radio, VoIP |
| Take a gamble | Internet & Media | Online gambling proves attractive to younger men | Fact File 2009 | 107 | Gambling, Young people, lotto, bingo, national lottery, poker |
| Transmission transition | Internet & Media | The under 25s are leading the way to a TV change | Fact File 2009 | 108 | Television, Young people, mobile, PC, computers, viewing habits |
| Ads effect | Internet & Media | Can advertising affect drinking behaviour? | Fact File 2009 | 109 | Alcohol, Young people, Advertising, alcopops |
| Textaholics | Internet & Media | We send 8.9 million text messages every hour | Fact File 2009 | 110 | Mobiles, sms, texting, communication |
| Police force | Law & Order | 30,000 special and community officers bolster police numbers | Fact File 2009 | 112 | Police, England, Wales, traffic warden, officers |
| Hold fire | Law & Order | Armed police were called out 18,000 times, but they only fired on three occasions | Fact File 2009 | 113 | Guns, taser, weapons, crime |
| Hate crime | Law & Order | Crimes of prejudice are being reported more than ever before | Fact File 2009 | 114 | Race, Religion, Violence, ethnic groups, police, harassment, damage, assaults, England, Scotland, Wales |
| Knife edge | Law & Order | There is a knife attack at least every 24 minutes in England and Wales | Fact File 2009 | 116 | Young people, Knives, Violence, police, crime, stabbings, robbery, robberies, murder, regional, arrests, fighting |
| Homicide | Law & Order | Around 65% of victims know their killer | Fact File 2009 | 118 | Murder, Gender, Young people, England, Wales, Scotland, victim, suspect, relationship, males, females, teenagers |
| Drunk and disorderly | Law & Order | Numbers of drunken women soar | Fact File 2009 | 120 | Gender, Alcohol, females, police, arrests, advertising, England, Wales |
| Under the influence | Law & Order | 75% of Class A drug users support their habit through crime | Fact File 2009 | 121 | Drugs, England, Wales, offenders, arrest, cannabis, heroin, crack, cocaine, criminal, crime, burglary, prostitution, theft, robbery, fraud, damage, violence, domestic |
| Cannabis confusion | Law & Order | 50% of people are unsure about the status of cannabis | Fact File 2009 | 122 | Drugs, Young people, teenagers, heroin, ecstasy, alcohol, tobacco, cannabis, mental health, social disorder, ASBO, anti social, anti-social, criminal |
| Awaiting justice | Law & Order | “Remand prisoners are often held for excessively long periods in conditions that are worse than for sentenced prisoners...” | Fact File 2009 | 124 | Prison, conditions, Africa, jail |
| Behind bars | Law & Order | ‘Super’ prisons are being built to house record numbers behind bars | Fact File 2009 | 125 | Prison, England, Wales, women |
| Rape reports | Law & Order | In some areas reported rapes are five times more likely to result in a conviction than in others | Fact File 2009 | 126 | England, Wales, sexual issues, Police, women |
| Olympics 2008 | Sport & Leisure | Who really won? It all depends on the way you count | Fact File 2009 | 128 | Gold, silver, bronze, medal, competition |
| Team GB | Sport & Leisure | Can money ‘buy’ Olympic success? | Fact File 2009 | 129 | Financial issues, Olympics, medals, cycling, competition |
| Sports mad world | Sport & Leisure | Sport is popular around the world, especially football | Fact File 2009 | 130 | Football, Wider world, basketball, volleyball, Athletics, marathon, cycling, cricket, speedway, rugby, tennis, swimming |
| Man of the world | Sport & Leisure | Becks – still the universal sporting hero | Fact File 2009 | 131 | Wider world, Advertising, Football, David Beckham |
| Club v country | Sport & Leisure | Does foreign domination of the Premier League harm the national team? | Fact File 2009 | 132 | Football, football club, FIFA, fans, supporters |
| Popularity contest | Sport & Leisure | How do you measure the popularity of a team? | Fact File 2009 | 134 | Football, Wider world, fans, supporters, |
| Cotton wool kids | Sport & Leisure | Young people are kept away from ‘risky’ play by adult fears and lack of opportunity | Fact File 2009 | 135 | Young people, Safety, risk, parents, danger, public spaces, media |
| Keep on running | Sport & Leisure | Taking part makes all the difference | Fact File 2009 | 136 | Health, calories, exercise, activity |
| Gameboy | Sport & Leisure | The average UK gamer is a male aged 33 | Fact File 2009 | 137 | Internet & media, Financial issues, Consumers, shopping, computer games, DVDs, Internet, video, consoles |
| Art attack | Sport & Leisure | While a lot of kids attend arts events, sport is still more popular | Fact File 2009 | 138 | Young people, Arts, culture, Football, theatre, carnival, culture, photography, dance, pop, rock, music, street art, circus, craft, classical music, Jazz, swimming, cycling, walking, running, jogging |
| Culture fix | Sport & Leisure | Money and time is an issue, but we are still getting our culture fix | Fact File 2009 | 140 | Arts & culture, theatre, live music, drama, carnival, craft, classical music, jazz, books, writing, reading, opera, ballet, dance, money |
| Music lover | Sport & Leisure | We may spend more on mobiles, but music is what we love | Fact File 2009 | 141 | Internet & media, Music, mobile phones, entertainment, eating out, film, live |
| Libraries online | Sport & Leisure | There are more visitors but they’re borrowing less | Fact File 2009 | 142 | Libraries & reading, Internet & media, computers, library |
| Walking distance | Travel & Transport | Do you really have to go by car? | Fact File 2009 | 144 | car, shopping, school, doctor |
| Travel to school | Travel & Transport | 11-16 year olds travel an average of 3.4 miles to school | Fact File 2009 | 145 | Young people, Safety & risk, walking, cars, parents, adults, children |
| Road flow | Travel & Transport | Although peak times vary, Britain’s roads are busy throughout the day. | Fact File 2009 | 146 | cars, commute, commuting, weekends, school run |
| Rough ride | Travel & Transport | Motorcyclists are 43 times more likely to die in an accident than car users | Fact File 2009 | 147 | Death, Safety, risk, Alcohol, motorcycle, busses, cars, pedestrians, cycling, bicycle, road, speed limits, speed cameras, road accidents |
| Flying high? | Travel & Transport | Although passenger numbers have increased, the airline industry is not flourishing | Fact File 2009 | 148 | airplanes, airports, jet fuel prices, air travel |
| Plane problem | Travel & Transport | Passengers are more menacing as manners are declining | Fact File 2009 | 149 | Violence, Alcohol, Smoking, airplane, air rage |
| Holiday UK? | Travel & Transport | We like to holiday in the UK – but mainly for our short breaks | Fact File 2009 | 150 | seaside, cities, city, countryside, village |
| Travel trends | Travel & Transport | UK residents made a record 69.5 million visits abroad | Fact File 2009 | 151 | Wider world, holiday, friends, family, business, holidays |
| Brits abroad | Travel & Transport | From accidents to abduction, help is available | Fact File 2009 | 152 | Wider world, Safety & risk, arrests, hospital, deaths, rape, USA, Spain, United Arab Emirates, Italy, France, Germany, India, Thailand, America |
| Military morale | War & Conflict | Almost half of UK military personnel “feel like quitting” ... but they are proud to be in the services | Fact File 2009 | 154 | Work, Navy, Marines, Army, Royal, RAF, Air force, jobs, pride |
| World of weapons | War & Conflict | The USA accounts for nearly half of world military spending | Fact File 2009 | 156 | Wider world, Financial issues, arms, army, airforce, navy, import, export, America, Russia, Germany, France, industry, trade, money |
| Deadly toys | War & Conflict | Every thirty minutes someone is killed or injured by an encounter with the remnants of war | Fact File 2009 | 158 | Young people, Gender, Wider world, landmines, death, army, cluster bombs |
| Peaceful places | War & Conflict | Which countries reject violence and conflict? | Fact File 2009 | 160 | Wider world, Violence, Iceland, Europe, America, Africa, Australia, Asia, Middle East, Iraq |
| Displaced | War & Conflict | 4.7 million Iraqis have been uprooted as a result of the crisis in their country | Fact File 2009 | 162 | Wider world, Iraq, Refugees, Middle East, Iraq War |
| State of democracy | Wider World | 36% of the world’s population have no political freedom or civil liberties | Fact File 2009 | 164 | Free Speech, Politics, Human Rights, Privacy, China |
| A matter of faith | Wider World | For the first time in history there are more Muslims worldwide than Catholics | Fact File 2009 | 166 | Religion, Christians, church, atheist |
| Unequal chance | Wider World | Economic growth does not necessarily mean improvements in child mortality | Fact File 2009 | 168 | Death, Young people, children, war, conflict |
| Sanitation solution? | Wider World | About 40% of the world’s population lack what we take for granted: a toilet | Fact File 2009 | 170 | Environment, Health, Developing World, education, children, HIV/AIDS, sanitation |
| Living with HIV/Aids | Wider World | Around 30.8 million adults and 2.5 million children are affected | Fact File 2009 | 172 | AIDS, Young people, HIV, Wider World |
| Falling short | Wider World | The world gave US$103.7 billion in aid but still did not reach the target | Fact File 2009 | 173 | Charities, Financial issues, donors, donate, charity, UN, poverty |
| Facts of death | Wider World | By 2030 there will be more deaths due to road accidents than HIV/AIDS | Fact File 2009 | 174 | Death, AIDS, Health, disease |
| Stolen smiles | Wider World | 2.45 million people worldwide are in forced labour as a result of trafficking | Fact File 2009 | 176 | Slavery, Sexual abuse, Gender, trafficking, rape |
| Chinadependence | Wider World | As a nation we are increasingly dependent on goods from China | Fact File 2009 | 178 | China, Financial issues, Consumers, shopping, import, export, trade |
| How warm a welcome? | Wider World | Sweden has the best policies in the EU to integrate migrants | Fact File 2009 | 180 | Immigration |
| Tight fit | Wider World | Although the UK will have the largest population in the EU, it won’t have the greatest density | Fact File 2009 | 181 | Population, immigration, migrants, citizenship |
| Gone to town | Wider World | By 2030, 60% of the world’s population will live in towns | Fact File 2009 | 182 | Environmental issues, Urbanisation, city, cities, energy |
| Good day at work | Work | Money can’t buy happiness in the workplace | Fact File 2009 | 184 | Financial issues, happy, relationships, gender, men, women, male, female, career, professions, flexibility, flexitime, flexi-time, pay, wage |
| Cut your losses | Work | Union membership is falling yet days lost to strikes are on the rise | Fact File 2009 | 187 | Trade unions, financial, finance, jobs, pay, wage |
| Unfair | Work | Almost 1 million employees are bullied at work | Fact File 2009 | 188 | Race, Health, Gender, Bullying, age, race, ethnic, disability, gender, religion, men, women, male, female |
| Under pressure | Work | Stress can lead to physical and mental ill-health | Fact File 2009 | 189 | Health, Stress, male, female, men, women |
| Snail’s pace | Work | Progress towards equality in top jobs is extremely slow | Fact File 2009 | 190 | Gender, politics, business, media, culture, women |
| Stuff the tiger – long live extinction | Animals | Jeremy Clarkson argues that environmentalists are making too much fuss over animal extinction. | Essential Articles 11 | 10 | tiger, big cat, Hunting, Polar bear, conservation, endangered species, wildlife, China, Chinese, medicine |
| ‘Psycho’ polar bear is ‘addicted to humans’ | Animals | Cute and cuddly abandoned polar bear cubs caused quite a stir in the zoo, but they grow up into big bears… addicted to human attention. | Essential Articles 11 | 12 | Psychology, zoo, animal welfare |
| Chain reaction | Animals | Does someone who ill-treats his dog, do the same to his family? Abuse has a chain reaction. | Essential Articles 11 | 14 | Domestic Violence, Safety, Risk, RSPCA, women, animal welfare |
| How do you tackle a dangerous dog | Animals | If a dog attacks you, what techniques will keep you safe? | Essential Articles 11 | 15 | Law & Order, Violence, safety, risk, death, |
| Diamond dogs | Animals | Canine cocktails, poochy perfumes – some people choose to pamper their pets, but will they cast them aside when they go out of fashion? | Essential Articles 11 | 16 | Money, wealth, fashion |
| So you think you’re vegan?! | Animals | Being a vegan is about promoting animal welfare, not just about avoiding animal products. | Essential Articles 11 | 18 | Ethics, food, vegetarian |
| Why I use laboratory animals | Animals | A scientist targeted by animal rights militants defends her research on addiction and the brain. | Essential Articles 11 | 20 | Animal testing, animal research, science, protesters, vivisection, animal welfare, work, jobs |
| The last word on diets | Body Image | Body shape, weight, size – can anyone escape the obsession with the world of diets? | Essential Articles 11 | 22 | Fashion, slimming, gender, food, women, appearance, thin, |
| Model health enquiry | Body Image | The fashion industry has long been blamed for increasing eating disorders. A new report makes recommendations. | Essential Articles 11 | 23 | Eating disorders, fashion, health, BMI, body mass index |
| Shaping up to look good | Body Image | Whether you’re disabled or not, having a different body shape doesn’t mean you’re a fashion victim. | Essential Articles 11 | 24 | Disability, Clothes & Fashion, amputation, amputee |
| Longevity: Isn’t it time we acted our age | Body Image | Are Madonna’s genes and gym-enhanced shape the exception? It seems we are no longer prepared to grow old. | Essential Articles 11 | 26 | old age, health, fashion, |
| Spectacles? cool? Can’t see it myself | Body Image | A personal and humorous account of the trials and troubles of wearing glasses. | Essential Articles 11 | 28 | Health, children, bullying, school, peer pressure |
| Britain – land of yobs and morons? | Britain & its citizens | Other nations have them, but what single line could sum up our nation? | Essential Articles 11 | 29 | language, motto, CCTV, ASBO, France, America, USA |
| As a British Muslim | Britain & its citizens | Saira Khan argues that ‘virginity repairs’ on the NHS are dangerous, demeaning and utterly indefensible. | Essential Articles 11 | 30 | religion, health, marriage, relationships, sexual issues, women, honour killings |
| Scandal of the schoolgirls vanishing into marriages of misery | Britain & its citizens | While officials are not intervening in case they are accused of racism, serious abuses take place. | Essential Articles 11 | 33 | relationships, race, human rights, young people, teenagers, forced marriage, Bradford, school, education, women, culture, tradition |
| Absent voices | Britain & its citizens | ‘Mixed race’ the UK’s fastest growing ethnic minority group, is considered as the ‘acceptable’ face of diversity, but the reality is quite different. | Essential Articles 11 | 36 | population, children, young people, teenagers, discrimination |
| How immigrants are revitalising London | Britain & its citizens | Not a day passes without anti-immigrant propaganda in the press, yet immigrants working in the UK are boosting our economy. | Essential Articles 11 | 39 | Immigration, race, jobs, community, discrimination, employment |
| The real question: why are our children prepared to kill one another? | Britain & its citizens | Camila Batmanghelidjh, founder of the Kids Company, looks at why so many young lives are cut short by other teenagers. | Essential Articles 11 | 40 | law, order, young people, teenagers, guns, murder, knife, knives, violence, children, anti-social, killing |
| Too much security makes us all a lot less secure | Britain & its citizens | We’ll soon be the most counted and analysed people on earth. Will the real threats get lost in a mass of security data? | Essential Articles 11 | 42 | CCTV, ID, safety, human rights, privacy, terrorism, law |
| This case could make losers of us all | Britain & its citizens | A man is suing his bookies for allowing him to gamble away £2.1m. But who is responsible for what we do? | Essential Articles 11 | 44 | gamble, gambling, Psychology, addiction, victims, law, money |
| Enough is enough: it’s time to stop buying and start being happy | Consumers | Our throwaway habits don’t just cause global warming but personal overheating too. | Essential Articles 11 | 46 | Psychology, environment, shopping, retail therapy |
| Does Britain need 100 more Starbucks? | Consumers | High streets used to be more varied because they were full of sub standard shops selling manky drinks. | Essential Articles 11 | 47 | food, drink, coffee, chain stores, |
| The end of the affair | Consumers | What happens when the desire to overbuy really has gone? | Essential Articles 11 | 48 | financial issues, debt, money, shopping, psychology, retail |
| Save our Sundays - shut all the shops | Consumers | Whether it’s New Year, Easter or Halloween, we’re answering the call of the high street. | Essential Articles 11 | 49 | religion, finance, financial issues, tradition, culture |
| Consumers revolt: power to the People | Consumers | Consumers are fighting back against big business and the state – here’s how. | Essential Articles 11 | 50 | finance, financial issues, supermarkets, utilities, roads, travel, banks, business, price, pricing |
| Of course a deaf couple want a deaf child | Disability | A deaf couple using IVF will have to discard the very embryo they wish to implant. | Essential Articles 11 | 51 | hearing, human rights, ethics, genetics, family |
| Too many disabled people? | Disability | Simon Stephens was happier when he and his ‘type’ were seen as freaks. | Essential Articles 11 | 53 | language, cerebral palsy, discrimination, health |
| Two little boys | Disability | Emma Bowler had children knowing she had a 50/50 chance of passing on her disability. Is this a reason to feel guilty? | Essential Articles 11 | 54 | family, ethics, genetics, health |
| When seeing isn’t believing | Disability | When Belgian police officers are blinded with evidence, in step the visually impaired to solve the case. | Essential Articles 11 | 55 | work, police, law, crime, jobs, employment |
| Meet Leanne Grose | Disability | A young woman who lost her leg to cancer was determined not to lose her lust for life. Instead she brought out her own fitness dvd. | Essential Articles 11 | 57 | sport, health, amputation, body image, disability, amputee |
| Shame of the middle class heroin addicts | Drugs | There is a new breed of well-off white collar workers dealing with their demons in the suburbs. | Essential Articles 11 | 58 | social class, family, addiction, crime |
| What is the truth about skunk, and have the dangers been overstated? | Drugs | Classification, re-classification, what are the dangers? | Essential Articles 11 | 60 | law, drugs, health, addiction, mental health, marijuana, cannabis, smoking, heroin, alcohol, tobacco |
| Business as usual in the drug trade | Drugs | The drugs ‘business’ has a lot in common with more conventional commerce – but that doesn’t mean it should be legalised. | Essential Articles 11 | 62 | law, police, addiction, market forces, career, profit, money |
| How heroin creates terrorists | Drugs | Vulnerable youths, isolated within their communities through using and dealing drugs, are critical recruits for militant groups. | Essential Articles 11 | 64 | terrorism, addiction, religion, Muslim, young people, teenagers, Islam |
| Absorbing scenes from a class struggle | Education | Anyone uncertain about China’s standing in the world should take a look at a normal school day there. | Essential Articles 11 | 65 | social class, punishment, school |
| Can the Swedish style sway English education | Education | Imagine a school where pupils decide their own timetables – is this the answer to Britain’s education problems? | Essential Articles 11 | 66 | social class, young people, teenagers |
| Only snobs sneer at McDiploma graduates | Education | We should be involving everyone in the world of work: if that means dishing out qualifications for handing out burgers, then so be it. | Essential Articles 11 | 68 | Children, teenagers, young people, work, Mcdonalds, careers, immigration, jobs, exams, employment, careers |
| Can science really save the world | Environment | Treaties to cut global warming have failed. Now scientists want to intervene on a planetary scale. Here are the six big ideas that could change the face of the earth. | Essential Articles 11 | 69 | technology, environment, energy, carbon |
| Stop trying to save the planet | Environment | Reasons to challenge what you know about climate change before you decide to take a ‘carbon detox’. | Essential Articles 11 | 72 | plastic bags, global warming, energy, |
| Keeping critical data on ice | Environment | Secret probes beneath the Arctic ice fields have unearthed some disturbing data about the course of climate change. | Essential Articles 11 | 74 | global warming, environment, disasters, science |
| Toxic chemicals blamed for disappearance of Arctic boys | Environment | Pollution from industrial countries is sweeping into the Inuit diet, causing a gender imbalance that affects their survival. | Essential Articles 11 | 76 | Pregnancy, birth, gender, science, inuit |
| Chinese workers let them pick up litter | Environment | The hysterical campaign against plastic bags in the West is causing massive job losses in the East. | Essential Articles 11 | 78 | China, pollution, work, employment |
| Why plastic is the scourge of sea life | Environment | Whether it’s a toothbrush or a toy robot, our waste plastic ends up somewhere, much of it in the sea, affecting the animals that live there. | Essential Articles 11 | 80 | pollution, animal welfare, ocean |
| A bag habit we can’t seem to kick | Environment | A candid look at the life of a plastic bag addict. | Essential Articles 11 | 81 | Psychology, shopping, consumers, plastic bags |
| Eco-logical | Environment | A holiday in Africa gives insight into how we can all tackle our carbon footprint. | Essential Articles 11 | 82 | Ecological, global warming, travel, tourism |
| I had no choice but to give away my baby... | Family & relationships | Teenage film heroine Juno chose to give her baby away, but how common is that for young women today? | Essential Articles 11 | 83 | Adoption, pregnancy, birth, children, religion |
| My mother deserted me | Family & relationships | A woman who is now a parent herself tries to come to terms with the mother who abandoned her. | Essential Articles 11 | 85 | children |
| What exactly are family values? | Family & relationships | From the outside my family may not look normal – but from the inside I don’t think it’s different from any other family. | Essential Articles 11 | 86 | children, divorce, Australia |
| My brother, who I never see | Family & relationships | A letter to an estranged brother about the pain he’s caused the family. | Essential Articles 11 | 88 | relationships, children, sister |
| Scarlett Keeling died at a roll of a dice | Family & relationships | When Scarlett was killed while on holiday, people blamed her ‘irresponsible’ mother. | Essential Articles 11 | 89 | travel, tourism, murder, young people, killing, Goa, drugs |
| Young fathers: facts and fables | Family & relationships | Meet three teenage fathers trying to challenge the negative perception of young dads. | Essential Articles 11 | 90 | young people, teenagers, pregnancy, birth, gender |
| Why we need a dad’s army | Family & relationships | For too many young people the streets remain as unsafe as their homes. | Essential Articles 11 | 92 | law, race, gender, school, fathers, women, |
| Dads enforcing their daughters’ purity is just not right | Family & relationships | A ‘date’ with dad at which a girl pledges to remain ‘pure’ until marriage. An answer to teenage pregnancies? | Essential Articles 11 | 93 | young people, children, teenagers, sexual issues, pregnancy, USA, America |
| I felt like an informer | Family & relationships | When the mother next door got a new boyfriend and the children stopped smiling, Katherine wondered whether to contact social services. | Essential Articles 11 | 94 | children, young people, teenagers, marriage, relationships, domestic abuse, violence |
| Muscovites count the cost of Valentine’s Day | Family & relationships | Romance is an expensive business in Russia. | Essential Articles 11 | 96 | shopping, consumers, gender, marriage, relationships, valentine’s day, love, romance |
| A marriage of convenience | Family & relationships | The wheeling and dealing behind a wedding in Cairo. | Essential Articles 11 | 97 | marriage, relationships, romance, love |
| Feed the world | Food & drink | Photos reveal what a family buys and spends on a week’s shop in different countries around the world. | Essential Articles 11 | 98 | food, developing world, finance, financial, family, shopping, budgets |
| Foodie boy | Food & drink | An ex-vegetarian discovers something positive in killing his own food. | Essential Articles 11 | 100 | hunting, animals, farming, animal rights |
| Faking the flavour: The strawberry swizz | Food & drink | Why does the food we eat need flavouring? | Essential Articles 11 | 101 | consumers, science, labelling, |
| It’s time we cried fowl over cheap chickens | Food & drink | Will concerns about animal welfare put chicken out of reach of poor families? | Essential Articles 11 | 104 | battery hens, farming, animals, consumers, shopping, animal rights, ethics |
| Let adult fatties eat themselves to death. The kids we can save | Health | Janet Street-Porter argues that in order to tackle obesity, the government should forget adults and put its resources into getting kids fit. | Essential Articles 11 | 105 | obesity, slimming, diets, children, young people, teenagers, advertising, food |
| Trust me I’m a junior doctor | Health | It’s wrong to abuse the obese, says Max Pemberton, but it’s right to make them diet. | Essential Articles 11 | 106 | obesity, slimming, diets, food, BMI, body mass index, anorexia, NHS |
| So you want to know what’s wrong with the NHS? | Health | Having seen the uncaring side of the NHS, one doctor decides to care for his schizophrenic mother himself. | Essential Articles 11 | 108 | care, carers, mental health, old age, Alzheimer’s |
| An embuggerance | Health | Terry Pratchett talks openly and humorously about being diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease. | Essential Articles 11 | 110 | mental health, language |
| Bad teeth - the new British disease | Health | If you’re addicted to heroin, obese or want a sex change, the NHS has to treat you, yet many people can’t even get a dentist. | Essential Articles 11 | 112 | |
| The organ donation debate is long overdue | Health | A writer, whose husband needed a lung transplant, argues that more people need to be made to think about organ donation. | Essential Articles 11 | 114 | cystic fibrosis, NHS, death, donor, donate |
| ‘Presumed consent’ for organ donation | Health | Is this a good idea? No one mad with grief needs to make a decision. But some patients organisations are opposed. | Essential Articles 11 | 115 | NHS, doctors, transplant, death, ethics, donor, donate |
| A boy called Alex | Health | Alex needs 20 syringes of antibiotics and 70 pills a day but he’s not going to let Cystic Fibrosis stop him doing anything he wants. | Essential Articles 11 | 116 | Alex Stobbs, children, young people, teenagers, music, school, education |
| ‘It’s worse than a criminal record’ | Health | Laura Marcus had a serious nervous breakdown more than 30 years ago. Why do people still make such a big deal of it? | Essential Articles 11 | 118 | mental health, work, stress, employment, jobs |
| Depression – the 21st century plague | Health | The facts about depression and a personal account of teenage life with the condition. | Essential Articles 11 | 120 | mental health, children, young people, teenagers, self harm |
| When the subject is suicide, reporting on it requires the utmost sensitivity | Internet & Media | There has been a great deal of news about suicide and how events are reported can contribute to the problem. | Essential Articles 11 | 121 | children, teenagers, suicide, death, cult, statistics, reporting |
| Venturing into the pro-suicide pit | Internet & Media | Brendan O’Neill looks into the dark and frighteningly mainstream world of pro-suicide websites. | Essential Articles 11 | 122 | young people, teenagers, mental health, environment, murder, killing, guns |
| No fuss, no fanfare for Spain’s own Madeleine | Internet & Media | A look at the contrasting way the media treated the disappearance of Madeleine McCann, and a young Spanish Gypsy girl. | Essential Articles 11 | 124 | Children, abduction, social class, missing children, gender, news reporting |
| Face up to facts | Internet & Media | In a world of social networking, things that seem like fun could compromise your future. | Essential Articles 11 | 126 | safety, risk, privacy, work, facebook, blog, jobs, career, employment |
| I was dumped on Facebook | Internet & Media | Breaking up in cyberspace adds a new dimension to heartache. | Essential Articles 11 | 128 | relationships, privacy |
| Pravda’s beef with vegetarianism | Internet & Media | True tales from a mixed up world. | Essential Articles 11 | 129 | Russia, food |
| ‘It’s about who’s more powerful than who. That’s why people kill each other.’ | Law & Order | They’ve dealt drugs, carried knives and axes and seen their friends killed, and they’re still only teenagers. | Essential Articles 11 | 130 | young people, teenagers, guns, murder, knife, knives, violence, children, anti-social, drugs, killing |
| ‘Ten years ago, in a feat of bravado... I vandalised a restaurant where I’d worked.’ | Law & Order | A personal account of what provoked a vandal and how he feels about what he did. | Essential Articles 11 | 132 | vandalism, work, violence, psychology, alcohol, crime, employment, jobs, offender |
| Trust and the teen tormentor | Law & Order | Scotland’s Commissioner for Children argues that in order for children to show respect, they need to be respected. | Essential Articles 11 | 134 | young people, teenagers, violence, mosquito device, human rights, noise, repellent, anti-social, antisocial, community, civil liberties |
| I’m sick of hearing people complain about the Mosquito alarm... | Law & Order | Personal account of the effects of teenage harassment. | Essential Articles 11 | 135 | young people, violence, teenagers, mosquito device, human rights, noise, repellent, anti-social, antisocial, community, civil liberties, ASBO |
| Civil liberties less important than lives | Law & Order | Having a database of citizens’ DNA may seem to invade human rights, but what about the rights of the victims of unsolved rapes and murders? | Essential Articles 11 | 136 | privacy, human rights, science, privacy, ID cards, genetics, justice, DNA database |
| Why do we prosecute primary school children? | Law & Order | The age of criminal responsibility is creating more criminals. How can we deal with youth crime? | Essential Articles 11 | 138 | children, young people, teenagers, family, social services, prevention, justice |
| Creating criminals: a recipe for an insecure world? | Law & Order | Baroness Vivien Stern describes how UK society is creating an industry out of crime. | Essential Articles 11 | 140 | Britain, citizens, human rights, anti-social, antisocial, ASBO, USA, America, security, justice, punishment, violence |
| Our criminal system is a persistent re-offender | Law & Order | The murder of Garry Newlove by three teenagers raises questions about our criminal justice system. | Essential Articles 11 | 142 | murder, teenagers, young people, crime, justice, government, violence, prison, killing, court, human rights |
| My daughter needed prison | Law & Order | Personal account by a parent who needed the law to take action – against her daughter. | Essential Articles 11 | 143 | crime, family, alcohol, drugs, justice, offender |
| Why sharia is so misunderstood | Religion | Sharia is complex and needs to be aligned with the process of civil law says Mona Siddiqui. | Essential Articles 11 | 144 | law, order, human rights, privacy, Islam, Muslim, honour, arranged marriages |
| What he wishes on us is an abomination | Religion | Yasmin Alibhai-Brown argues that by seeking to include Islamic laws in our democracy, the Archbishop of Canterbury is harming modern Muslim women. | Essential Articles 11 | 146 | law, order, human rights, privacy, Islam, Muslim, sharia, tradition |
| Facebook knows I’m an atheist | Religion | Social networkers are broadcasting their unbelief all over the net, raising the profile of atheism. | Essential Articles 11 | 148 | Internet, media |
| Suddenly I’m totally incensed. But in a good way. | Religion | Miranda Sawyer discusses the cosier aspects of the Catholic church. | Essential Articles 11 | 149 | Christian, family |
| More sushi than science | Science | Can Japan really justify whale slaughter in the name of science? | Essential Articles 11 | 150 | animal rights, hunting, food, greenpeace, endangered, environment, extinction, conservation, animal welfare |
| The miracle of sight – because of the miracle of science | Science | This could this be one of the most powerful examples of the miraculous potential of modern science. | Essential Articles 11 | 153 | Bionic eye, blind, disabled, disability, implant, health |
| Space debris may be catastrophic to future missions | Science | Not only do we litter the earth with our junk, we leave it orbiting our planet. | Essential Articles 11 | 154 | Environment, rubbish, satelite |
| Scientists develop non-stick gum... and self-wax skis | Science | What will they come up with next? Here’s just two of the inventions intended to improve our lives. | Essential Articles 11 | 156 | |
| Afghan girl defies death threats over the Olympics | Sport & leisure | A teenager is the only female to represent Afghanistan in the Olympics – despite threats from fundamentalists. | Essential Articles 11 | 157 | gender, religion, athletes |
| Keep on running | Sport & leisure | Booze, fags and a determination to be happy – how a 101 year-old ran the marathon. | Essential Articles 11 | 158 | age, world record, exercise |
| Get your kids fit... the easy way | Sport & leisure | We criticise kids for playing computer games yet they could actually help keep them fit. | Essential Articles 11 | 160 | internet, media, children, young people, teenagers, health, exercise, fitness |
| Teen reading – a contradiction in terms? | Sport & leisure | What do the top ten teenage reads reveal about youth today? | Essential Articles 11 | 162 | reading, young people, internet, media, magazines, books |
| Is our children reading? | Sport & leisure | Literacy isn’t decreasing, it’s just moving into arenas that old fogeys don’t understand. | Essential Articles 11 | 163 | grammar, English, reading, gaming, internet, media, children, young people, teenagers, books, computer games |
| Soldier’s tale - return from Iraq | War & conflict | Former paratrooper Stuart Griffiths has been documenting the struggles of injured soldiers. Here he presents his moving portfolio, with personal accounts. | Essential Articles 11 | 164 | Psychology, disability, photographs, RAF, army |
| It’s not only the public who don’t respect a uniform | War & conflict | Soldiers and their families have to deal with abuse. When the dead arrive home in coffins, who shows their gratitude? | Essential Articles 11 | 168 | Britain, citizens, death, disability, Iraq, Afghanistan, amry, RAF |
| The most dangerous job in the world | War & conflict | Bomb disposal experts rarely get to tell their story. Here Cassandra Jardine talks to a ‘Felix’ who defeated the best efforts of the Iraqi bombers. | Essential Articles 11 | 169 | Middle east, Iraq, work, career, employment, army, soldier |
| A portrait of life and death in Gaza | War & conflict | A picture depicts a desperate scene of two young boys captured moments after an Israeli attack. Tim Butcher investigates the fate of the young casualties. | Essential Articles 11 | 172 | Middle East, young people, children, photograph, army, Israeli, bomb |
| When suffering gets personal | War & conflict | Returning from Afghanistan, John Simpson reveals how his attitude towards covering news stories has changed. | Essential Articles 11 | 175 | Media, Middle east, family, media, reporting |
| Masai marathon – running for life | Wider world | People have different reasons for running the London marathon: the Masai warriors ran it to raise money for water for their village. | Essential Articles 11 | 177 | water, charity, developing world, sport, Africa |
| The 21st century slaves here in the UK | Wider world | Children are being trafficked into the UK believing they are going to get a better life but instead are living a life of exploitation. | Essential Articles 11 | 180 | Slavery, human rights, privacy, Britain and it’s citizens, work, trafficking |
| Zimbabwe: an eyewitness account | Wider world | A personal account of life inside a hospital in the country with the lowest life expectancy in the world. | Essential Articles 11 | 182 | Developing world, health, public health, hospitals, life expectancy |
| Chinese celebrities scoff one child policy | Wider world | Fines are a small price to pay for the rich to expand their families. | Essential Articles 11 | 184 | China, pregnancy, birth, money, wealth, single child, family, children, social class |
| Boycott Burma | Wider world | Is tourism a benefit to ordinary people or only to Burma’s brutal rulers. | Essential Articles 11 | 186 | Disasters, China, travel, Myanmar, human rights |
| Tale of two disasters | Wider world | The way China and Burma dealt with natural disasters has more to do with political and social division than anything geographical. | Essential Articles 11 | 188 | natural disasters, earthquakes, floods, cycloan |
| The languages of extinction: the world’s endangered tongues | Wider world | Every fortnight another language dies. A new study reveals those which are most in danger. | Essential Articles 11 | 189 | |
| Mastering French manners, the hard way | Wider world | The trials and tribulations of dining in France. | Essential Articles 11 | 190 | Paris, France, language, etiquette, culture, tradition, |
| A shameless generation that never learned to work | Work | Not working has become a three-generational lifestyle choice – a government adviser has been appointed to tackle the issue. | Essential Articles 11 | 192 | family, benefits, young people, Britain |
| What’s your problem? | Work | A letter to the agony uncle of employment. How to get a job when you’ve made an embarrassing mistake. | Essential Articles 11 | 193 | email, communication, internet, media, career |
| Low status kills | Work | Why working for Tesco will shorten your life. | Essential Articles 11 | 194 | social class, life expectancy, health, inequality |
| The minimum wage will drive small shops under | Work | If business owners can’t afford to pay themselves after they’ve paid their staff, how can they survive? | Essential Articles 11 | 195 | Finance, financial issues, small business, |
| Pipe dreams: why we all want to be plumbers | Work | The prospect of earning megabucks is luring office workers into taking up a trade. | Essential Articles 11 | 196 | wage, pay |
| Putting our money where our mouths are | Work | Who gets paid what? | Essential Articles 11 | 197 | wage, statistics, pay |
| Our culture fix: what we want | Young People | The government are pledging to provide young people with five hours a week of cultural activity. But what will this consist of? | Essential Articles 11 | 198 | leisure, arts |
| Natasha Farnham’s warning to bingers: I drank so much my liver failed at 14 | Young People | Personal account of a teenage alcoholic. | Essential Articles 11 | 200 | binge drinking, health |
| Where’s your head at | Young People | The science which explains why teenage years are so difficult. | Essential Articles 11 | 201 | Psychology, science, teenagers |
| Teenagers need to be taught the facts of death | Young People | Teenagers are often bored and disgruntled, but when these feelings hide a darker truth, the finality of suicide is not the answer. | Essential Articles 11 | 202 | death, internet, media |
| Missing children: ‘Andrew, just tell us you’re alive’ | Young People | 200,000 people go missing each year, one woman talks about what it’s like when a child has run away. | Essential Articles 11 | 204 | Family, missing children, Madeleine McCann |
| What is so thrilling about killing a deer? | Animals | Hunting, whether with a rifle or a computer, is just a socially accepted form of extreme violence | Essential Articles 10 | 11 | sport, America, USA, safari, guns, game |
| Should we give in to our children’s pleas for pets | Animals | There’s nothing like children nagging for a pet to make you feel like Cruella de Vil. The pros and cons of pets | Essential Articles 10 | 12 | allergies, RSPCA, unwanted pets, animal welfare |
| Rescue me | Animals | Britain sees a sharp rise in unwanted pets | Essential Articles 10 | 13 | RSPCA, animal welfare |
| Caring and Cruel: | Animals | Our attitudes towards animals just don’t make sense | Essential Articles 10 | 14 | rodents, cats, pets, prey |
| The essence of dogness | Animals | While Crufts celebrates a small section of the canine race, real dog lovers prefer mongrels | Essential Articles 10 | 15 | breeding, canine, pets, RSPCA |
| The tale of the tail continues | Animals | Even after the tail docking ban, controversy persists | Essential Articles 10 | 16 | Animal welfare, dogs, RSPCA |
| Eagle that came to visit | Animals | A bizarre incident is open to interpretation | Essential Articles 10 | 17 | Omens, mythology, birds of prey, Zambia |
| Lonely life for golden boy | Animals | England’s only golden eagle has no mate | Essential Articles 10 | 18 | birds of prey, eggs |
| A sad tail with an artificial ending | Animals | Fuji the bottlenose dolphin showcases the world’s first artificial fin | Essential Articles 10 | 19 | aquariums, disease, tailfin, science, ocean, sea |
| DNA detectives | Animals | Has new scientific research come in time to save the African elephant from the poachers? | Essential Articles 10 | 20 | Ivory, hunting, animal cruelty, biology, science |
| Body blues | Body Image | The startling truth about how young Britons feel about their bodies | Essential Articles 10 | 21 | overweight, fat, obese, relationships, plastic surgery, breast enhancement, liposuction, size zero, diets, weight watchers |
| This is the world’s most beautiful couple | Body Image | Naomi Campbell and Christian Bale measure up to the definition of ‘super-attractive’ | Essential Articles 10 | 22 | BMI, body mass index, height, beauty, male, female, physique |
| BMI myth | Body Image | The Body Mass Index is used as a measure of healthy weight but a method that tells us Brad Pitt is overweight can’t be accurate! | Essential Articles 10 | 24 | obese, fat |
| Fatmen slim (with liposuction’s help) | Body Image | There’s been a three-fold rise in cosmetic surgery as men follow women’s lead to stave off mid-life crises | Essential Articles 10 | 25 | plastic surgery, weight, fat, overweight, obese |
| Zero appeal: why thin doesn’t sell | Body Image | Researchers show that we see people with real body shapes as healthier, smarter and more credible | Essential Articles 10 | 26 | size zero, models, BMI, body mass index, advertising, women, fashion |
| The lies that led to death and devastation | Bullying | A girl was falsely accused of bullying and now her parents are dead. What went wrong? | Essential Articles 10 | 28 | murder, death, school |
| B is for bullied | Bullying | Children with autism are particularly vulnerable to bullies | Essential Articles 10 | 31 | Autistic, self harming |
| What can you buy for 5p in Bangladesh? | Clothes | Garment makers in Bangladesh can earn as little as £7 a month | Essential Articles 10 | 33 | work, employment, wage, pay, fair, developing world, Primark, Asda, Tesco |
| True cost of cheap clothes | Clothes | While we demand the best bargains, workers are being exploited to supply our shopping needs | Essential Articles 10 | 34 | Primark, Asda, Tesco, consumerism, fashion, shopping |
| Burkinis on Bondi beach | Clothes | Swimwear designed specifically for Muslim women | Essential Articles 10 | 35 | religion, Australia, swimming, costume |
| Bloody fashion victims | Clothes | This report shows which companies have signed the new retailer commitment against fur | Essential Articles 10 | 36 | animal welfare, shopping |
| ‘I wouldn’t have been able to do it...’ | Disability | The father of a severely disabled 21-year-old shares his sympathy for the parents of Ashley X | Essential Articles 10 | 38 | growth hormones, vegetative state, disabled, life expectancy, ethics |
| If only right-to-lifers cared as much about the living | Disability | While attention is focused on the case of Ashley X, the fact that we are being denied progressive medical treatments is being overlooked | Essential Articles 10 | 40 | research, disabled, bioethics, ethics |
| Time to drop the disabled label? | Disability | How do you define disability in the modern world? | Essential Articles 10 | 42 | paralympic, disabled, discrimination act |
| Heartwarming tale might not have a happy ending | Disability | A paralympic world record holder wants to take on the “able-bodied” in his sport | Essential Articles 10 | 44 | sport, Oscar Pistorious, paralympics, prosthetics, amputee, artificial legs, |
| The person that’s me | Disability | A personal account of how disabled adults are treated | Essential Articles 10 | 46 | blind, sight |
| Surge in solvent abuse | Drugs | Thousands of school children are risking their lives sniffing glue and aerosols | Essential Articles 10 | 47 | health, young people |
| Britain ‘needs a more realistic approach to heroin addicts’ | Drugs | A senior police officer argues for heroin on prescription | Essential Articles 10 | 49 | health, crime, addiction |
| A liberal experiment | Drugs | Are safe injection sites the answer to the war on drugs? | Essential Articles 10 | 50 | heroin, addicts, addiction, Germany, health, treatment |
| The magic ingredient | Drugs | Despite being busted for the second time, the cannabis granny gives a masterclass in her class C culinary delights | Essential Articles 10 | 51 | crime, marijuana |
| I was entirely alone | Eating Disorders | How 19-year-old Tom’s quest for a manly body almost killed him | Essential Articles 10 | 53 | Anorexia, body image, health |
| Thin gene | Eating Disorders | Eating disorders could be genetic, and treatable with the contraceptive pill | Essential Articles 10 | 55 | bulimia, testosterone, hormones, laxatives |
| Give us our voice in class | Education | Encouraging involvement in school decisions is one step towards reducing political apathy among young people | Essential Articles 10 | 57 | students, children, school council, teenagers, young people |
| ‘We’ve all seen horror. But our school goes on’ | Education | Teachers from Baghdad – a city where pupils have to step over bodies to get to their classes – tell their remarkable story | Essential Articles 10 | 58 | Iraq, war, childhood |
| Absurd school uniform claim leaves a Nazi taste | Education | In a number of Scottish schools, students voted for a school uniform. Is this about equality or something more sinister? | Essential Articles 10 | 60 | clothes |
| The big switch-off | Environment | Energy-saving lightbulbs are better for the planet but glaringly ugly. Or are they? | Essential Articles 10 | 61 | electricity, power |
| It is a wonderful world: richer, healthier, and cleaner than ever | Environment | It may be fashionable to moan, but the human race has never had it so good | Essential Articles 10 | 63 | economy, economic, poverty, |
| Nuclear energy – greener than you think? | Environment | Twenty years on and the wildlife around Chernobyl is thriving. Maybe it’s time to change our attitudes | Essential Articles 10 | 66 | power, radioactive, radiation, nuclear power |
| Is it ethical to have children? | Environment | Meet the people who have decided not to have children in order to help the environment | Essential Articles 10 | 69 | ethics, population |
| Oddie guide to saving the planet | Environment | There’s no getting away from it, the world is warming up and our actions are causing it, says Bill Oddie | Essential Articles 10 | 70 | wildlife, climate change, birds, hibernation, hibernate |
| How Liz put her (carbon) foot in it | Environment | What is the environmental impact of Liz Hurley’s spectacular wedding? | Essential Articles 10 | 72 | carbon footprint, money, wealth, India |
| Time for tough love and a lock on the fridge | Family | Eight years old and 14 stone in weight. When does caring for your child become child abuse? | Essential Articles 10 | 74 | obesity, fat, overweight, junk food, health, children, young people |
| Grown-ups need to grow up | Family | Britain’s youth may be vicious and disrespectful, but it’s their parents who are to blame | Essential Articles 10 | 76 | teenagers, children, childhood, black, under achievement, education, young people |
| Best friends? Children need mothers | Family | Many mothers want to be their children’s pals, but the lack of discipline can be disastrous | Essential Articles 10 | 78 | parents, teenagers, discipline, young people |
| These touchline tyrants should take their bawl home | Family | Short of excessive intake of alcohol, there is nothing that alters the behavior of adults for the worse as much as youth football | Essential Articles 10 | 80 | sport, sportsmanship, competition |
| Club where the goal is enjoyment | Family | There are no Maradonas here but there are no prima donnas either | Essential Articles 10 | 80 | football, sport |
| Football’s pushy parents shown the red card | Family | A campaign aims to rid football of fun-less, fanatical parents and coaches | Essential Articles 10 | 81 | sport, competition |
| Predicting the future | Future | The top 10 forecasts for the next 25 years | Essential Articles 10 | 82 | China, population, wealth, disability, work, global warming, climate change, USA, America |
| Total recall | Future | You’ll never forget anything, ever again. In the next few decades you’ll be able to store all your memories on a device which is small enough to wear around your neck | Essential Articles 10 | 84 | technology, gadgets, memory, photos, GPS, social networking, brain implant |
| Ignored and neglected: why did my sister have to die like this? | Health | Janet Street-Porter gives her personal account | Essential Articles 10 | 87 | NHS, death, cancer, patient |
| Should NHS charge for ‘doubtful’ treatments? | Health | The provocative debate over NHS funding | Essential Articles 10 | 89 | operations, surgery |
| A doctor’s scream | Health | Money is poured into the NHS but doctors’ morale is at an all-time low | Essential Articles 10 | 92 | work, health, nurses, stress, hospital |
| Caring for America’s health | Health | A society which expects everyone to pay their way expects this when you are ill as well | Essential Articles 10 | 94 | USA, disabled, disability |
| If you’re too famous for an ASBO, try rehab | Health | Rehab must be tremendous fun, because celebrities go there all the time | Essential Articles 10 | 96 | celebrity |
| Back from the dead | Health | A simple sleeping pill was all it took to bring this patient out of his three year coma | Essential Articles 10 | 97 | medicine, |
| I’m going to live... I’m going to sue! | Health | It was when John Brandrick discovered that he wasn’t going to die, that the real problems started | Essential Articles 10 | 99 | finance, money, financial issues |
| “You wouldn’t look at mum and think she’s dying” | Health | Six years after being given only six months to live, Jane Tomlinson’s race for life – and for charity – goes on | Essential Articles 10 | 100 | breast cancer |
| Blogger is jailed for four years | Internet | A 22-year-old was sent to prison after sharing his views about Islam on the web | Essential Articles 10 | 103 | blogging, Egypt, censorship, religion, China, free speech, freedom of speech |
| Open to all? | Internet | Computers fill our shops, but people across the world have their access restricted | Essential Articles 10 | 104 | censorship, free speech, freedom of speech |
| Preserve of the rich? | Internet | The reach of the world wide web is far from global | Essential Articles 10 | 105 | digital divide |
| Welcome to the Digi:Nation | Internet | What type of digi:zens make up our internet population? | Essential Articles 10 | 106 | communication, |
| Ruining innocent lives | Law & Order | Citizens can be stripped of their property and deprived of their home and livelihood without a criminal trial | Essential Articles 10 | 107 | crime, legal rights, innocence, guilt |
| An answer to the lock ‘em up brigade? | Law & Order | Prison doesn’t work – but there is another way to tackle criminals | Essential Articles 10 | 109 | restorative justice, crime, punishment, prisoner |
| Free after 36 years: the man who was left to rot in Broadmoor | Law & Order | A four year sentence for assault has led to a life wasted in a secure hospital | Essential Articles 10 | 111 | prison, secure hospital, mental hospital, prisoner |
| The war on youth | Law & Order | Why are we turning Britain’s young people into criminals? | Essential Articles 10 | 113 | youth court, crime, prison, prosecution |
| Under age sex or rape? | Law & Order | 15-year-old boys can be charged with rape even if the girl consented | Essential Articles 10 | 117 | young people, prosecution, age of consent, |
| The rise and rise of the single woman | Marriage & Relationships | One writer rejoices in her marriage, another revels in her freedom | Essential Articles 10 | 119 | women, divorce, wife, wives, love, romance |
| Good and bad reasons to tie the knot | Marriage & Relationships | A relationship psycho-therapist with Relate examines the pros and cons of marriage | Essential Articles 10 | 121 | love, romance |
| Japanese men take marriage lessons | Marriage & Relationships | In the battle of the sexes, these men are waving the white flag | Essential Articles 10 | 122 | husbands, wives |
| A future without children is a prospect that looms large in Japan | Marriage & Relationships | Japan is facing a population crisis | Essential Articles 10 | 123 | childless, birthrate, population, sex |
| “I married a virtual stranger” | Marriage & Relationships | She’s British, he comes from Spain, they met in Poland, and were married along with tens of thousands of others in Korea | Essential Articles 10 | 125 | arranged marriages, love, Moonies, Unification Church |
| Inspiration or affliction? | Mental health | Tourette’s is a neurological disorder, but is it also a source of creative ability? | Essential Articles 10 | 127 | Tourette’s syndrome, piano, music, mental illness |
| A pool of ignorance | Mental health | The mother of a schizophrenic tells of the injustice and humiliation her son suffered | Essential Articles 10 | 130 | schizophrenia, mental illness |
| “When does thrill-seeking cross over into mental illness?” | Mental health | Living on the edge is acceptable as long as it’s entertainment | Essential Articles 10 | 131 | Steve Irwin, risk taking, |
| A duty to integrate? | Modern Britain | Are we seeing the end of tolerance and diversity? | Essential Articles 10 | 132 | multiculturalism, religion, Muslims, Asian, ethnic minorities, integration, |
| Forced out, looking inwards: Britain’s Bangladeshis | Modern Britain | How can people integrate if society excludes them? | Essential Articles 10 | 134 | integration |
| This isn’t about guns | Modern Britain | The traditional Caribbean family no longer works in Britain, and black youngsters are paying a tragic price | Essential Articles 10 | 136 | black Britons, young people |
| The mean streets of Britain | Modern Britain | The shootings in a Brixton McDonalds were a terrible metaphor for modern Britain combining violence and fast food | Essential Articles 10 | 138 | crime, young people, food, nutrition, diet, |
| I mourn the days when the f word really meant something | Modern Britain | Is there any social situation in which it is not acceptable to swear nowadays? | Essential Articles 10 | 141 | English language, taboo, |
| Fouled! | Modern Britain | Corruption, corporate crime and sexual excess – should we call time on our obsession with the once beautiful game? | Essential Articles 10 | 142 | football, sport, money |
| Poverty: the cost to families | Money | 3.4 million children in the UK are living in poverty. Why do many families have to struggle to survive? | Essential Articles 10 | 145 | |
| ‘I have never had a pay rise or been promoted in four years’ | Money | Three personal accounts which reveal the UK’s financial underbelly | Essential Articles 10 | 147 | poverty, work, |
| Neither a borrower nor a spender be? | Money | Compulsive spending and eternal debt, the financial diseases of 21st century Britain | Essential Articles 10 | 148 | poverty, |
| Our home cost just 50p, now it’s going for £145,000 | Money | Houses which cost less than £1 seven years ago are now part of the regeneration windfall | Essential Articles 10 | 150 | housing, regeneration |
| How to live to be 150 | Old Age | Experts believe that the first person to live to 150 may already have been born | Essential Articles 10 | 151 | life expectancy, health, science, ageing |
| Senior citizens head for the sun | Old Age | One in twelve British pensioners are now living abroad. Where are they going and why? | Essential Articles 10 | 154 | retiring, retirement, emigration, |
| Helping hands/Keeping Mum | Old Age | The lows and not-infrequent highs of a carer’s life | Essential Articles 10 | 156 | caring, parents, |
| Welcome to Eastbourne, Sodom and Gomorrah by the sea | Old Age | More than 55% of ASBOs in Eastbourne are slapped on the elderly | Essential Articles 10 | 158 | pensioners, |
| Sadly there is no human right to be happy | Pregnancy & Birth | Natallie Evans was refused permission by the European Court of Human Rights to use her frozen fertilised embryo without the consent of her ex-partner | Essential Articles 10 | 159 | ethics, IVF treatment, European Court of Human Rights, infertility, |
| what is done easily is done frequently | Pregnancy & Birth | Access to abortion was intended to improve lives, not to be just another form of contraception | Essential Articles 10 | 161 | |
| I want a baby for my sister | Pregnancy & Birth | Miriam Stoppard and Daily Mirror readers give their verdict to a potential surrogate mother | Essential Articles 10 | 164 | ethics, surrogate mother, surrogacy, |
| Listen to the mother who wishes that her son had died at birth | Pregnancy & Birth | An informed decision to let life go may be more humane than saving a severely ill baby without considering its future | Essential Articles 10 | 166 | Right to life, disability, |
| Too much choice can be a dangerous thing | Psychology | Wider choice means more wrong decisions – or no decision at all | Essential Articles 10 | 168 | health, hospital, |
| Telling porkies to the brain | Psychology | Can you really cure obesity by tricking your brain into thinking you aren’t hungry? | Essential Articles 10 | 169 | |
| ‘There are strong indications of intelligent design’ | Religion | Can something as complex as a human knee joint have evolved without some kind of intelligent design? | Essential Articles 10 | 170 | evolution, creation, |
| Why I hate Intelligent design. It’s simply IDiotic | Religion | Many scientists believe in God but that doesn’t mean they want to stifle scientific investigation | Essential Articles 10 | 171 | creation, |
| Where Dolly went astray | Science | A decade ago, mammal cloning was hailed as the start of a new era in medical science. Has Britain let another breakthrough slip away? | Essential Articles 10 | 173 | medicine, |
| World’s worst inventions | Science | From religion to fast food, this is the top ten most loathed inventions of all time | Essential Articles 10 | 176 | |
| The race for Nanoland | Science | Is ‘grey goo’ about to eat the planet? Probably not, but there are real dangers with the development of nanotechnology that are not being addressed | Essential Articles 10 | 178 | |
| Our sexual obsession damages boys as well as girls | Sexual Issues | Making soft porn mainstream is distorting the way boys see the opposite sex | Essential Articles 10 | 180 | children, young people, |
| It could have been me | Sexual Issues | Forty years after the decriminalisation of homosexuality in Britain, Elton John explores the awful abuse gay people still endure around the world | Essential Articles 10 | 182 | homosexuality, discrimination, |
| What is slavery? | Slavery | Although hidden from view, in the UK and around the world, up to 12 million people are living in some form of slavery | Essential Articles 10 | 184 | bonded labour, forced labour, trafficking, child labour |
| The foul stench of firestone | Slavery | Working for a rubber company is the modern day version of plantation slavery | Essential Articles 10 | 185 | work |
| After 200 years, fight to end slavery in the world goes on | Slavery | Girls in Ghana are kept as slaves to atone for the crimes committed by their forefathers | Essential Articles 10 | 186 | |
| Short tragic life of an Iraqi baby | War & conflict | The tormenting experience of birth and death amidst the anarchy in Baghdad | Essential Articles 10 | 188 | Iraq war, hospital |
| Judicial killing demeans all | War & conflict | Hitler, Hussein – what death could be more fitting for history’s villains? But execution dehumanises both the criminal and the victims | Essential Articles 10 | 190 | capital punishment, death penalty, Saddam Hussein, Iraq war, |
| Women at war – The debate continues | War & conflict | Women are taking a more active role in the armed forces but death and captivity alongside their male colleagues is provoking debate | Essential Articles 10 | 191 | soldiers, opposing viewpoints, pros and cons, gender |
| Sane, ordinary Muslims must stand up and be counted | War & conflict | Yasmin Alibhai-Brown reveals the effect the terrorist attacks are having on Britain’s Muslims | Essential Articles 10 | 194 | Muslims, multiculturalism, terrorism |
| Should soldiers be able to opt out of wars? | War & conflict | While a US officer objects to serving in an illegal war, an army commander looks at freedom of choice | Essential Articles 10 | 195 | ethics, conscience |
| Hacked Off | Work | Disability, journalism and the music industry | Essential Articles 10 | 196 | |
| A day in the life of a doctor | Work | The clichés and conflicts of team building | Essential Articles 10 | 197 | English language, business, health, medicine, |
| One in ten employees injured at work | Work | Just another day at the office – or the last thing you ever do? | Essential Articles 10 | 198 | accidents, injuries, health, |
| What’s your problem? | Work | Letters to the agony uncle of industry | Essential Articles 10 | 199 | dilemma, business |
| Stop moaning and take action to save our youth | Young People | Rather than moaning, Britain’s adults need to re-develop a sense of community, culture and discipline | Essential Articles 10 | 200 | black people, anti-social behavior |
| British kids are not ‘miserable’... they’re stroppy | Young People | British teenagers are vile and sarcastic ingrates – and that’s just the way it should be! | Essential Articles 10 | 201 | children, |
| ‘We all want to be cool - bitching is the way it works’ | Young People | A fifteen-year-old Londoner tells it as it really is | Essential Articles 10 | 203 | |
| Christmas in care | Young People | Goodwill to all, yet the children expected to cope alone are often those who are least emotionally equipped | Essential Articles 10 | 204 | |
| Facts of life | Britain & its citizens | Fertility rates are rising but they are still below replacement level | Fact File 2008 | 8 | Population, births, fertility, UK, women |
| Advancing age | Britain & its citizens | The resident population of the UK is more than 60m and we are becoming an ageing population | Fact File 2008 | 9 | Male, Female, gender |
| Becoming Brits | Britain & its citizens | Applications for British citizenship fell by 32%, the number granted citizenship fell by 5% | Fact File 2008 | 10 | immigration, citizenship |
| Number’s up | Britain & its citizens | The number of overseas nationals entering the UK to work is increasing but where they are coming from has changed | Fact File 2008 | 11 | immigration, EU, foreign workers |
| In and out | Britain & its citizens | Over 1,500 people come to live in the UK everyday whilst 1,000 leave | Fact File 2008 | 12 | Migration, immigration |
| Changing places | Britain & its citizens | The UK population is shifting between areas | Fact File 2008 | 13 | Internal migration, London, England, Scotland, Wales |
| Who do we think we are? | Britain & its citizens | Britain is increasingly diverse – but can it also be an equal? | Fact File 2008 | 14 | Muslims, Islam, law & order, religion, security |
| Comfort zone | Britain & its citizens | Our attitudes towards disability are examined | Fact File 2008 | 16 | Disability discrimination Act, DDA, prejudice |
| Faithful few? | Britain & its citizens | 39% of UK adults have no religion | Fact File 2008 | 18 | religion, church, Christianity, gender, age |
| Homophobia | Britain & its citizens | Gay men are often subject to verbal abuse and physical assault – but they don’t always report it | Fact File 2008 | 20 | Crime, law and order, homosexuality |
| Dicey business | Britain & its citizens | Problem gambling is on the rise and is affecting different people | Fact File 2008 | 21 | Gambling, betting, casinos, internet |
| Alco-teens | Britain & its citizens | Fewer teenagers are drinking but those that do, drink more | Fact File 2008 | 22 | Young people, children, alcohol, binge |
| 100 years of back street abortions | Britain & its citizens | The 1967 Abortion Act virtually put an end to back street abortions | Fact File 2008 | 24 | Death, abortion, law, ethics, pregnancy, England, Wales |
| Changing attitudes? | Britain & its citizens | Are attitudes towards abortion hardening? | Fact File 2008 | 25 | abortion, women, sexual issues, young people, disability, pregnancy |
| Tired traditions | Britain & its citizens | What British traditions would you give up? | Fact File 2008 | 26 | customs, |
| School stress (Teachers) | Education | The number of teachers taking sick leave has risen to 57% and most teachers blame stress | Fact File 2008 | 28 | sickness, absence |
| Dress code | Education | School uniforms can be costly – especially when you are restricted to one retailer | Fact File 2008 | 29 | Education, clothing, money, clothes, secondary school, shopping |
| Excluded | Education | Who is most likely to be excluded from school? | Fact File 2008 | 30 | exclusion, expulsion, expelled, boys, girls, secondary school, Special education needs, SEN, gender, ethnic groups |
| Class distinction | Education | Social class and ethnicity have a greater impact on GCSE achievement than gender | Fact File 2008 | 32 | Equality, ethnic groups, free school meals, exams |
| High achievers | Education | Chinese girls achieved the best GCSE results in 2006 | Fact File 2008 | 34 | Ethnicity, young people, GCSE, gender, exams, ethnic groups |
| Learning on the job | Education | Over 485,000 young people are in work-based learning | Fact File 2008 | 35 | Education, work, young people, vocational qualifications, apprenticeships |
| Aim high | Education | The Government is getting closer to its target of 50% of 18-30 year olds in higher education | Fact File 2008 | 36 | Education, universities, government, further, colleges |
| Why not apply? | Education | Applications to university declined across gender and age groups | Fact File 2008 | 37 | University, students, gender, |
| Learning and earning | Education | Although more women are attaining higher educational qualifications, they still earn less than men | Fact File 2008 | 38 | UK, Education, work, money, gender, pay, wage |
| Endangered | Environmental issues | Some animals are threatened with extinction unless we act now | Fact File 2008 | 40 | animals, wider world, imports, polar bear, Bengal tiger, pandas, Asian elephant, Orangutan, mountain gorilla, Leatherback Turtle, unsustainable fishing, habitat, climate change, hunting, poaching, deforestation, wildlife, species |
| Trading in danger | Environmental issues | The legal trade in wildlife products worldwide is worth 239.5 billion euros, the illegal trade is probably worth much more | Fact File 2008 | 42 | animals, wider world, imports, |
| Birdwatch | Environmental issues | The Big Garden Birdwatch is the world’s biggest bird survey and provides a vital snapshot of the UK’s birds each winter | Fact File 2008 | 44 | wildlife |
| Eco-footprint | Environmental issues | We are using up the earth’s resources at a faster rate than they can be replaced | Fact File 2008 | 46 | wider world, pollution, co2, waste, forests, carbon footprint |
| Dirty thirty | Environmental issues | Europe’s 30 biggest climate polluting power stations are coalfired and a third of them are in the UK | Fact File 2008 | 48 | environment, pollution, power stations, Europe, UK, energy, climate change, CO2 emissions, carbon footprint |
| Warmer world | Environmental issues | 2007 was a year of extreme weather events. Is this because of global warming? | Fact File 2008 | 50 | sunshine, rainfall, climate change, flooding |
| Eco-travel? | Environmental issues | We are asked to avoid highly polluting forms of transport but people are likely to put their convenience first | Fact File 2008 | 52 | Buses, London, Scotland, Wales, car, train, public transport, flying, travel |
| Green cars | Environmental issues | Which models of car meet emissions targets? | Fact File 2008 | 54 | Cars, transport, greenhouse effect, climate change, pollution, co2, carbon footprint |
| Lights out | Environmental issues | If we all turned the thermostat down by one degree we could save enough energy to heat 1.7m households for a year | Fact File 2008 | 55 | Home, energy saving, conservation |
| Beachwatch | Environmental issues | The average density of UK beach litter has increased by 90%. Statistically, one item of litter is found every 50cm of beach | Fact File 2008 | 56 | Litter, environment, UK, beaches, rubbish, ocean |
| Bags of waste | Environmental issues | We produce and use 20 times more plastics than we did 50 years ago and in our throwaway society disposal is a big issue | Fact File 2008 | 57 | packaging, rubbish, litter, plastic bags, CO2 emissions |
| Sort it | Environmental issues | The UK produces about 300m tonnes of waste per year. If everyone in the world lived like us, we’d need three planets to survive | Fact File 2008 | 58 | recycling, household waste |
| Stop the rot | Environmental issues | The UK throws almost 7m tonnes of food away each year | Fact File 2008 | 60 | Food, rubbish, shopping, money, waste |
| Greenhouse gases | Environmental issues | Emissions from UK companies and the public sector have risen but this was offset by a 2.9% reduction in household emissions | Fact File 2008 | 62 | CO2 emissions, Kyoto protocol, Manufacturing, transport, communication |
| Decibel disturbance | Environmental issues | Our cities and small towns are becoming noise hubs and this is affecting our health and well-being | Fact File 2008 | 63 | Health, environment, UK, Transport, stress, hearing, Tinnitus |
| Ethical spend | Environmental issues | Spending on ethical products still only makes up about 3.91% of our total spending | Fact File 2008 | 64 | Environment, UK, money, consumer issues, travel, food, shopping, fairtrade, fair trade, |
| Mr & Mrs | Family & relationships | Despite a recent rise in the number of marriages, the marriage rate is at its lowest level since 1896 | Fact File 2008 | 66 | Religion, civil ceremonies, marriage rates, weddings |
| I do... I don’t | Family & relationships | 17% of cohabiting couples think marriage is pointless! When will the law catch up with society? | Fact File 2008 | 67 | Modern relationships, civil partnerships, unmarried couples |
| Couples & squabbles | Family & relationships | Cohabiting, married or divorced – a look at what couples think is important and what they argue about | Fact File 2008 | 68 | arguments, relationships |
| Hurt at home | Family & relationships | A survey found that 31% of women and 18% of men had been victims of some form of domestic violence | Fact File 2008 | 70 | Crime, domestic violence, bullying, abuse |
| Pulling power | Family & relationships | Despite numerous dating services on offer, the vast majority of people meet partners at social events | Fact File 2008 | 71 | Dating, society, internet, relationships, love, internet dating |
| Modern families | Family & relationships | The ‘breadwinner dad, homemaker mum’ family model represents less than three in 10 UK families | Fact File 2008 | 72 | Work, gender, money, children, child care, men, women |
| Depends on mum | Family & relationships | What is the relationship between a mother’s background and outcomes for babies? | Fact File 2008 | 74 | Children, ethnic issues, equality, women, ethnic groups, births |
| Early start | Family & relationships | Teen parents and their children are more likely to suffer problems with health, finance, education and social integration | Fact File 2008 | 76 | teenage pregnancy, young people, births, mothers, conception |
| Late start | Family & relationships | With more women waiting before they start a family, the number of multiple births has increased, mainly due to IVF | Fact File 2008 | 78 | Population, children, birth rate, age, mothers, maternity |
| Who’s in the house? | Family & relationships | The proportion of children living in lone-parent families has more than tripled since 1972 | Fact File 2008 | 79 | Children, UK, families, one parent families, single parent, households |
| Kippers | Family & relationships | Many young people are living at home longer and it’s not just happening in Britain | Fact File 2008 | 80 | parents, finance, money, financial issues, debt, housing market |
| Through the roof | Financial issues | While house price inflation continues across the UK there are marked differences between the countries | Fact File 2008 | 82 | housing market, England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland |
| Where we live | Financial issues | The percentage of householders renting council homes has declined | Fact File 2008 | 83 | Housing, Consumers, council houses |
| Out of reach | Financial issues | The situation for key workers trying to buy their own homes has worsened | Fact File 2008 | 84 | Housing, inflation, UK, market, fire service, police, teachers, nurses, ambulance service, house prices |
| Priced out | Financial issues | The under 30s are renting for longer before buying property | Fact File 2008 | 85 | Young householders, housing market |
| Nowhere to go | Financial issues | A high proportion of homeless people are under 25 | Fact File 2008 | 86 | Young people, families, poverty |
| Spending nation | Financial issues | The UK is worth £6,525bn, but who’s in the money and who spends it? | Fact File 2008 | 87 | housing, debt |
| Debt dilemma | Financial issues | Debt worries have become the main source of calls to Citizens Advice | Fact File 2008 | 88 | consumers, spending, credit, finance |
| Budget breakdown | Financial issues | Where does most of our household budget go? | Fact File 2008 | 89 | housing, money, consumers, transport, spending, travel, costs |
| What we own | Financial issues | How ownership of durable goods has increased | Fact File 2008 | 90 | technology, consumers, money, communications, household items, |
| Bank of mum & dad | Financial issues | What influences the pocket money you receive? | Fact File 2008 | 91 | finance, children, young people, teenagers, gender |
| Poor pay more | Financial issues | The poorest families pay roughly £1,000 more than the rest of the population for essentials | Fact File 2008 | 92 | UK, consumer issues, poverty |
| Losing out | Financial issues | 11.4% of children in the UK are living in relative poverty | Fact File 2008 | 93 | Family, money, poverty, young people, teenagers, deprivation |
| Below the breadline | Financial issues | There were 33,000 jobs paying less than the minimum wage in 2006 | Fact File 2008 | 95 | Money, wages, young people |
| Mind the gap | Financial issues | The gender pay gap is still a big issue | Fact File 2008 | 96 | Gender, money, age, jobs, earnings |
| Meal ticket | Food & drink | 52% of us check labels before buying food, but do we learn? | Fact File 2008 | 98 | Food and drink, diet, healthy eating, consumer advice |
| Checkout | Food & drink | Large supermarkets are getting the lion’s share of our money | Fact File 2008 | 99 | diet, consumers, UK, shopping, food, local, shops, England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland |
| Healthy habits | Food & drink | The UK is changing what food it buys for the better | Fact File 2008 | 100 | Health, money, eating |
| Five-a-day | Food & drink | Who is aware of the five-a-day rule and who follows it? | Fact File 2008 | 101 | health, fruit, vegetables, diet |
| Fun food? | Food & drink | The number of families who eat out is increasing, but the food on offer for kids is mostly unhealthy | Fact File 2008 | 102 | Food and drink, restaurants, children, healthy eating, sugar, saturated fats |
| Snack attack | Food & drink | 11% of the UK avoid certain foods to lose weight, yet 40% snack between meals | Fact File 2008 | 104 | Diet, health, junk food |
| Be patient | Health | Waiting time for NHS appointments is dropping | Fact File 2008 | 106 | Health, patients, hospitals |
| Wait for life | Health | 483 patients died in 2005-06 while waiting for their transplant, is an opt-out system the answer? | Fact File 2008 | 107 | organ donors, transplants |
| Safety screen | Health | Cervical cancer kills 1,120 women annually in the UK yet many deaths could be prevented | Fact File 2008 | 108 | health, prevention of illness, cancer, women, sexual health |
| Midwife crisis | Health | With a shortfall of over 3,000 midwives how is maternity care affected? | Fact File 2008 | 109 | maternity care, birth, NHS, |
| Silent infection | Health | One in ten 16-24 year olds have Chlamydia, the most common sexually transmitted infection | Fact File 2008 | 110 | STIs, STDs, gender |
| Superbugs | Health | The number of death certificates mentioning MRSA or C. difficile continues to rise | Fact File 2008 | 112 | Hospitals, germs, safety, super bugs |
| Memories matter | Health | One in 20 people in the UK and one in five of those over 80 have a form of dementia | Fact File 2008 | 113 | Health, illness, older people, death, age, Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s disease |
| Dying for a drink | Health | The number of alcohol related deaths has more than doubled | Fact File 2008 | 114 | Alcohol, health, gender |
| Cost of care | Health | 40% of those receiving Incapacity Benefit were unable to work because of mental illness | Fact File 2008 | 115 | Work, government, money, illness, mental health |
| Plastic perfection? | Health | 50% of females but less than a quarter of men would consider plastic surgery | Fact File 2008 | 116 | Young people, body image, diets, cosmetic surgery, gender |
| Silent struggle | Health | 1.1m people in the UK suffer with an eating disorder. Young people aged 14-25 are most at risk | Fact File 2008 | 117 | Body image, eating disorders, health, food, celebrities, media, Anorexia Nervosa, bulimia, |
| Survivors | Health | How do UK cancer survival rates compare to the rest of Europe? | Fact File 2008 | 118 | gender, USA, America |
| Media age | Internet & media | Over 40 years since the first email was sent, communications technology has become more sophisticated and user-driven | Fact File 2008 | 120 | online, inventions |
| Through the net | Internet & media | Access to the internet has increased but age, gender and income affect this | Fact File 2008 | 122 | communication |
| iBuy | Internet & media | 78% of European internet users shop online, spending an average of €750 every six months | Fact File 2008 | 124 | Europe, internet, shopping, consumers |
| PC world | Internet & media | From 2000-2007 global internet usage increased by 225%, but there is a huge difference between regions | Fact File 2008 | 125 | language |
| Download Nation | Internet & media | 57% of us download music, yet we are still buying CDs | Fact File 2008 | 126 | Music, leisure, consumers, internet |
| Digital universe | Internet & media | The digital universe is expanding as we create new digital bits each time we send an email or take a digital picture | Fact File 2008 | 128 | Technology, world issues, USE, digital technology |
| Digital Switch | Internet & media | The first TV region will switch to digital in 2008, but fewer than a fifth of adults know when their region’s changeover is due | Fact File 2008 | 129 | Television |
| News views | Internet & media | Viewers believe the news is important yet they are watching it less | Fact File 2008 | 130 | Television, media, TV |
| What to watch | Internet & media | As almost 19m homes have satellite or cable TV, terrestrial viewing is declining | Fact File 2008 | 132 | TV, Viewers, media, satellite, cable, television |
| Commercial appeal | Internet & media | UK companies spent nearly £3.7bn on advertising in 2006 | Fact File 2008 | 133 | Advertising, companies, business, media, marketing, shopping, TV, adverts |
| Competent callers | Internet & media | 49% of over 65s own a mobile phone but not all feel competent using it | Fact File 2008 | 134 | pensioners, OAPs, old age, communication |
| Digital switch | Internet & media | The first TV region will switch to digital in 2008, but fewer than a fifth of adults know when their region’s changeover is due | Fact File 2008 | 139 | media, technology, television, |
| Knife Culture | Law & order | Knives are the most common weapon used in violent crime | Fact File 2008 | 136 | Crime, violence, death, murder |
| Gun culture | Law & order | Firearms offences have risen by 84% since 1998/99 | Fact File 2008 | 137 | law & order, crime, guns |
| Phone alone | Law & order | About 800,000 owners a year have their mobiles stolen | Fact File 2008 | 138 | mobile phones, technology, theft, crime |
| Fear factor | Law & order | Crime levels remain stable but people believe there is more | Fact File 2008 | 139 | worry, stress, gender, men, women, violence |
| Cause for alarm? | Law & order | Protection and punishment – EU views about burglary | Fact File 2008 | 140 | Europe, crime, burglary, prison, security |
| London law | Law & order | Significant progress has been made against crime in London | Fact File 2008 | 142 | police, robbery, drugs, fraud, guns, sexual offences, hate crime, car crime, knives, violence |
| Seasonal crime | Law & order | Does the time of year determine the type of crime? | Fact File 2008 | 144 | Theft, assault, weather, summer |
| Evasion | Law & order | Motorists who evade tax and insurance payments are a risk | Fact File 2008 | 146 | Tax, insurance, dangerous driving, DVLA, cars, vehicles |
| Speed demons | Law & order | 48% of car drivers on 30mph roads exceed the speed limit despite the dangers | Fact File 2008 | 147 | Transport, speeding, cars, law |
| Young crime... | Law & order | 7% of 10-25 year olds have committed more than six offences, and are responsible for most crimes committed by this age group | Fact File 2008 | 148 | Children, young people, law and order |
| ...and punishment | Law & order | Of the total number of young people in secure accommodation, 64% were boys and 36% girls | Fact File 2008 | 149 | children, young people, teenagers, homes, prison, gender, |
| Detained | Law & order | 3,395 mentally disordered offenders are detained in hospitals, the highest figure for a decade | Fact File 2008 | 150 | Mental health, violence, gender, crime, mental illness |
| Security & suspicion | Law & order | Most of those arrested in the UK on suspicion of terrorism have been released without charge | Fact File 2008 | 151 | police |
| Scams | Law & order | 3.2m adults fall victim to scams every year, losing £3.5bn annually | Fact File 2008 | 152 | Money, internet, fraud |
| Active adults | Sport & leisure | 28.4% of adults in England have built some exercise into their lives | Fact File 2008 | 154 | walking, swimming, gyms, cycling, football, running, jogging, health |
| Wimbledon | Sport & leisure | Game, set and match – the facts behind the tennis championship | Fact File 2008 | 156 | |
| Olympic ambition | Sport & leisure | Do UK teenagers have the interest and ambition that’s required to make Olympic champions? | Fact File 2008 | 157 | Olympics, young people, London 2012 |
| Man U Ltd | Sport & leisure | Manchester United is the most profitable club in the world | Fact File 2008 | 158 | sport, football |
| Home or away | Sport & leisure | Clubs spend millions buying overseas players, does this affect the national game? | Fact File 2008 | 159 | footballers, transfers, |
| Fanatics | Sport & leisure | A Premiership fan thinks of football every 12 minutes | Fact File 2008 | 160 | fans |
| Youth clubs | Sport & leisure | There are 360,000 members of the scout movement yet it is not the largest youth organisation in the UK | Fact File 2008 | 162 | Leisure, young people, scouts, guides, boys/girls brigade, army cadets |
| Tall tales | Sport & leisure | Why would almost a fifth of Britons lie about the books they’ve read? | Fact File 2008 | 163 | Reading, work, leisure, UK |
| Need to read | Sport & leisure | Attitudes towards reading depend on age and gender | Fact File 2008 | 164 | Education, schools, gender, age, books |
| Finders Keepers | Sport & Leisure | The number of finds recorded by the Portable Antiquities Scheme rose by 45% to 57,566 in 2005/6 | Fact File 2008 | 166 | Archaeological, Archaeology |
| Population clock - births deaths and natural increase | Wider world | Births and deaths by the second, hour, day, month and year | Fact File 2008 | 168 | |
| Growing concern | Wider world | Global populations are growing most where it can be afforded the least | Fact File 2008 | 169 | developing world |
| Lifetime | Wider world | Life expectancy in Europe is amongst the highest in the world | Fact File 2008 | 170 | population, Europe, older people, pensioners |
| No rest... | Wider world | Older workers make a huge contribution to economic and cultural well-being | Fact File 2008 | 171 | age, pensioners |
| Lifespan | Wider world | While our percentage of older people is growing, the UK is still below the EU average | Fact File 2008 | 172 | Population, older people, UK, age, older people |
| Age concern? | Wider world | By 2050, there will be nearly 1.5 billion over 65s worldwide, with 1.2 billion living in less developed countries | Fact File 2008 | 173 | Age, population, wider world, developing world |
| Coming to America | Wider world | Immigration accounts for at least one-third of recent US population growth | Fact File 2008 | 174 | Race, Immigration, USA, ethnic groups |
| Two dollars a day | Wider world | 25 countries where most of their population live on less than $2 a day | Fact File 2008 | 175 | Wider world, hunger, poverty, food, wage, pay |
| Displaced | Wider world | The number of refugees worldwide rose to nearly 10m in 2006 largely due to the violence in Iraq | Fact File 2008 | 176 | asylum-seekers, asylum seekers |
| AIDS orphans | Wider world | More than 15m children worldwide have been orphaned as a result of AIDS | Fact File 2008 | 178 | Africa, health, children, family, HIV, orphans |
| Death penalty | Wider world | Public opinion is still divided about the effectiveness of capital punishment | Fact File 2008 | 179 | death, crime, law and order, human rights, executions |
| Cultivating cash | Wider world | The estimated amount of land used to grow opium poppies increased by 33% in 2006 | Fact File 2008 | 180 | Wider world, developing world, flowers, Afghanistan |
| Tobacco tally | Wider world | More than 10m cigarettes are smoked every minute, every day worldwide | Fact File 2008 | 182 | Health, wider world, smoking, cigarettes |
| Stub it out | Wider world | 33% of Europeans who continue to smoke after trying to quit blame stress | Fact File 2008 | 183 | Health, smoking, EU, addiction, cigarettes |
| Euro-binge | Wider world | One in 10 Europeans confesses to regular binge-drinking | Fact File 2008 | 184 | wider world, Europe, health, alcohol, EU |
| A lot of bottle | Wider world | Consumption of bottled water is increasing all over the world. Is this a good thing? | Fact File 2008 | 185 | Water, food, USA, America, brand names, consumer issues |
| World wide | Wider world | There are 1.6bn overweight adults worldwide. This is expected to grow by 40% over the next 10 years | Fact File 2008 | 186 | Weight, health, obesity, UK |
| Burgernomics | Wider world | It takes on average 35 minutes to earn the price of a Big Mac | Fact File 2008 | 187 | Food, money, work, wage, pay, McDonalds |
| Take-away pay | Wider world | The highest gross wage doesn’t always result in the highest take-home pay | Fact File 2008 | 188 | work, money, tax, wages |
| Workplace whingers | Wider world | UK workers came second in a global ‘demanding workers’ league table | Fact File 2008 | 189 | complaints, money, Europe, UK, wage, pay, cost of living |
| Well being | Wider world | The UK is bottom of the league table for child well-being – is it failing its children? | Fact File 2008 | 190 | Children, UK, Health, Leisure, Family, birth, infants, young people |
| Baby love | Adoption | Adopting a foreign child has become fashionable amongst famous Hollywood stars, but ordinary people face heartbreaking hurdles when they try to follow suit | Essential Articles 9 | 19 | children, family, China, Romania, charity |
| Best left alone | Adoption | One woman’s sad experience of being reunited with her daughter | Essential Articles 9 | 22 | family, |
| Gay couples given the right to adopt | Adoption | The most radical overhaul of adoption law for 30 years | Essential Articles 9 | 22 | children, family, civil rights, equality, homosexuality |
| Life begins at forty | Age | At 45, Jenny Eclair tries to tackle the age issue | Essential Articles 9 | 23 | |
| Killing old people | Age | The old are being neglected to death by the health service | Essential Articles 9 | 24 | health, care, euthanasia, assisted suicide, equality, prejudice, NHS, terminally ill, old age |
| It all depends where you’re coming from | Age | Ageism is the most common form of prejudice in Britain yet the definition of age continues to change | Essential Articles 9 | 25 | Equality, prejudice, old age |
| Exercise your body | Age | Staying active can reduce the risk of dementia and Alzheimer’s | Essential Articles 9 | 25 | Health, old age |
| The joy of ageing | Age | Why maturity is wonderful for women | Essential Articles 9 | 26 | |
| I am proud to be old | Age | A personal view of old age | Essential Articles 9 | 26 | Health |
| The state of play | Aids | HIV/Aids infections are increasing and the nature of the disease means that certain areas of the world will always be more badly affected than others | Essential Articles 9 | 27 | Health, international comparisons, Africa, statistics |
| Clinic struggles to cope with army of the ill | Aids | A victim of its own success: in Uganda the charity Médecins sans Frontières is so overwhelmed with patients that it can offer little more than basic pain relief | Essential Articles 9 | 29 | Health, Africa, statistics, international comparisons, death, HIV/Aids |
| The truth about drinking | Alcohol | Newspapers blame teenagers for binge drinking, but what’s the story behind the headlines? (This article includes 3 personal accounts) | Essential Articles 9 | 31 | young people |
| Too much... too quickly | Alcohol | A boy died after an eighteenth birthday binge | Essential Articles 9 | 33 | Young people, death, binge drinking |
| Alcohol ads make teenagers drink more | Alcohol | Advertising has a measurable effect | Essential Articles 9 | 34 | Young people, adverts, |
| Buying vodka at 3am isn’t a human right | Alcohol | William Rees-Mogg objects to 24 hour pub opening | Essential Articles 9 | 35 | law, violence, opening hours, pubs |
| Hooray for the nanny state. Three drinks and you’re out | Alcohol | A radical solution to Scotland’s drink problem | Essential Articles 9 | 37 | Law, Scotland, |
| Alternatives to animal experiments | Animal testing | From 1875 onwards, scientists have looked for ways to replace animals in experiments | Essential Articles 9 | 44 | Science, medicine, health, vivisection |
| Are animals over-used in medical science? | Animal testing | Experts with opposing views | Essential Articles 9 | 45 | Science, medicine, health, vivisection |
| A mouse could save your life | Animal testing | The Independent’s Science Editor concludes that there is no real alternative to the use of animals in testing | Essential Articles 9 | 46 | Science, medicine, health, law, vivisection |
| Small dose of our own medicine | Animal testing | A scientist argues the view that research into alternatives to animal testing is soaring and human testing is becoming increasingly viable | Essential Articles 9 | 48 | Science, medicine, health |
| The first use of a novel drug in humans will always involve a leap in the dark | Animal testing | Better procedures in human testing could have prevented recent horrific results | Essential Articles 9 | 50 | Science, medicine, health |
| Is it time to ban dogs as household pets? | Animals | Fangs, faeces and barking: the Dangerous Dogs Act didn’t go far enough argues the assistant editor of the British Medical Journal | Essential Articles 9 | 39 | health, law |
| Husky saves baby | Animals | Essential Articles 9 | 40 | dogs | |
| Why the NHS isn’t fit for a dog | Animals | Animals get far better healthcare than their owners | Essential Articles 9 | 41 | health, spending |
| Caught in the web | Animals | The internet has revolutionised our lives, but it could also wipe out entire endangered species | Essential Articles 9 | 43 | Internet, law, |
| A Mona Lisa for £7.50? | Art | China has an industry devoted solely to forging great artworks | Essential Articles 9 | 51 | China, money, business, paintings |
| It’s not muck, it’s art | Art | Could farmyard rubbish win the Turner prize? | Essential Articles 9 | 53 | farming, countryside |
| Battle of Trafalgar Square | Art | Naked, pregnant, disabled – is this a suitable statue for London’s famous public space? | Essential Articles 9 | 54 | disability, equality, prejudice, Alison Lapper, sculpture |
| The final question | Assisted suicide | The controversial bill to allow terminally ill patients a choice about their death splits the disabled community in two | Essential Articles 9 | 55 | death, suicide, euthanasia, law, disability |
| Death with dignity | Assisted suicide | An open letter to MPs and peers from the general secretary of the Christian Medical Fellowship opposing assisted suicide | Essential Articles 9 | 57 | death, suicide, euthanasia, law |
| She didn’t deserve this | Assisted suicide | Polly Toynbee recounts the awful ordeal of watching her mother’s agonising last weeks of life | Essential Articles 9 | 58 | death, suicide, euthanasia, law, care, NHS |
| Euthanasia and the dilemma of choice | Assisted suicide | Readers give their opinions on the assisted suicide debate | Essential Articles 9 | 60 | death, suicide, euthanasia, law |
| Dr. Anne Turner: Brave decision or tragedy? | Assisted suicide | When a British doctor used a Swiss clinic to end her own life she re-opened the debate about the rights of the terminally ill | Essential Articles 9 | 61 | death, suicide, euthanasia, law, Dignitas |
| What do you say to a patient with an incurable illness who wants the agony to end? | Assisted suicide | Doctor Max Pemberton is unsure how he feels about legalising assisted suicides – except in his own case | Essential Articles 9 | 62 | death, suicide, euthanasia, law, care |
| Beating the office bullies | Bullying | Workplace bullying proves to be a problem at all levels of employment | Essential Articles 9 | 63 | Work, |
| £20,000 for woman who was bullied at primary school | Bullying | A 23 year old has finally won compensation for bullying which she claims destroyed her life | Essential Articles 9 | 64 | education |
| Toppling a tyrant | Bullying | A desperate employee is advised to gather the evidence to beat a bully | Essential Articles 9 | 65 | work, |
| Look what I’ve bought you for Christmas | Charities | Gifts that really can make a world of difference | Essential Articles 9 | 66 | Christmas, developing world, animals, Oxfam, charity |
| Cash or food | Charities | When emergency strikes, the rich world sends food, but would cash be better? John Vidal explores the current controversy and there are opposing viewpoints on this debate | Essential Articles 9 | 67 | Developing world, money, poverty, aid, charity |
| How not to respond to a crisis | Charities | Self-congratulation should be restrained, the Tsunami relief effort was chaotic, misguided, wasteful and thoughtless | Essential Articles 9 | 70 | Tsunami, disaster, money, charity |
| Tsunami of cash | Charities | Charitable giving is becoming ever more concentrated on fewer causes. There’s too much cash raised to be spent effectively in the afflicted regions but the money can’t be diverted to where it’s most needed | Essential Articles 9 | 71 | Tsunami, disaster, money, charity |
| Why are we still living like this | Charities | A year after the Tsunami there is still no system in place to get the money to where it is most needed | Essential Articles 9 | 73 | Tsunami, disaster, money |
| Ordinary girls? | Charities | A gap year trip becomes an extraordinary lifetime commitment | Essential Articles 9 | 75 | Romania, young people |
| Don’t get shirty with me | Clothes | Can people say what they like on a t-shirt? The right of free speech comes into question | Essential Articles 9 | 77 | |
| Last word | Clothes | Hoodie bans are now commonplace, but while they aim to protect do they just promote more prejudice? | Essential Articles 9 | 78 | Young people, hoodies, teenagers |
| Billions hanging in wardrobe | Clothes | Thousands of pounds are wasted on clothes that remain in our closets | Essential Articles 9 | 79 | Money |
| We must move beyond the hijab | Clothes | As Muslim women’s dress continues to be controversial, it’s time we got our terminology straight says the editor of a Muslim magazine | Essential Articles 9 | 80 | Islam, education, Muslims |
| Isabelle faces the world | Cosmetic surgery | The world’s first full face transplant | Essential Articles 9 | 81 | transplant surgery, health, Isabelle Dinoire |
| Little Miss Perfect | Cosmetic surgery | Three teenagers claim a scalpel changed their lives | Essential Articles 9 | 83 | body image, young people, plastic surgery |
| Campaigners fear creation of a British suicide cult | Death | Calls for controls on internet suicide sites | Essential Articles 9 | 86 | |
| Sweet oblivion | Death | Oliver James argues that assisted suicide for the mentally ill might be the best option | Essential Articles 9 | 87 | terminal illness |
| There has to be a better way to go | Death | If we know our time is up, we should learn how to die well | Essential Articles 9 | 88 | |
| This circus of grief has nothing to do with George Best | Death | Mass grief is not genuine but orchestrated by a cynical media | Essential Articles 9 | 89 | celebrity |
| Changing way of death | Death | Modern alternatives to burial reflect our ancient need to commemorate the dead | Essential Articles 9 | 91 | |
| Storm over Mountain memorials | Death | Is it appropriate to place memorials in Britain’s wild places? | Essential Articles 9 | 91 | |
| Death on the roads: the human toll | Developing World | Road traffic injuries are a huge public health and development problem | Essential Articles 9 | 92 | death, traffic, transport, cars, accidents |
| Vietnam - a tale of two cities | Developing World | Developing countries like Vietnam are experiencing a new problem with traffic deaths explains the Head of Mission with the French Red Cross in Vietnam | Essential Articles 9 | 92 | death, traffic, transport, cars, accidents |
| Bingo babble | Developing World | Jargon takes the place of effective action in some Non Governmental Organisations | Essential Articles 9 | 93 | NGOs, language |
| If you give the poor the internet you give them work for a lifetime | Developing World | Once you’ve got a foothold in cyberspace, the sky is the limit | Essential Articles 9 | 94 | technology, language, web |
| Urban explosion | Developing World | For the first time in history most of us live in cities: many in desperate conditions | Essential Articles 9 | 95 | slums, squatters |
| Bob Geldof: My Africa | Developing World | The variety, exuberance and happiness of the continent that still has a hold on him | Essential Articles 9 | 97 | |
| Sensory deprivation | Disability | Teenagers learn to understand the challenges faced by deafblind people | Essential Articles 9 | 100 | young people |
| The parents who kill and are spared jail | Disability | Parents who kill their disabled children have not been jailed. Does this mean that the disabled have less legal protection and fewer rights than the able-bodied? What does this say about society’s attitudes towards disability and life? | Essential Articles 9 | 101 | death, murder |
| Back on the screen | Disability | BBC Journalist Frank Gardner, a victim of an al-Qaeda attack, talks about his new disabled life | Essential Articles 9 | 103 | terrorism, work, media, language |
| I’m the one leg fireman | Disability | A determined fireman reports for duty – with a fireproof limb | Essential Articles 9 | 105 | |
| The year of the natural disaster | Disasters | In one year we saw the tsunami, Hurricane Katrina, earthquakes in Pakistan and Kashmir – but losing hope would be the biggest disaster | Essential Articles 9 | 106 | natural disasters, Oxfam |
| Catastrophes you’ve may never have heard of | Disasters | Some human tragedies just don’t excite media attention | Essential Articles 9 | 108 | TV, television, media, |
| The strong and lucky pray for their lost families | Disasters | A year on, Tsunami survivors still mourn the huge loss of lives | Essential Articles 9 | 109 | tsunami |
| I hear the voices of ghosts | Disasters | An 11 year old child’s account of the tsunami and its aftermath | Essential Articles 9 | 110 | |
| The poverty of America | Disasters | People in the third world cope with disaster better than the richest country on earth, argues Jeremy Seabrook | Essential Articles 9 | 111 | New Orleans, USA, inequality |
| Shattered | Domestic Violence | Joanne Webster still lives with the trauma caused by her father’s violent behaviour towards her mother | Essential Articles 9 | 113 | abuse, parents |
| Is abuse an excuse for murder | Domestic Violence | The new law on provocation creates one rule for ‘angry men’ and another for ‘fearful women’ | Essential Articles 9 | 115 | |
| Confused about cannabis? | Drugs | Have changing government attitudes towards cannabis misled the public about its dangers? A cannabis user who believes the drug contributed to his breakdown, a campaigner, a medical expert and a parent share their knowledge and fears | Essential Articles 9 | 116 | |
| Why I’ve changed my mind about cannabis | Drugs | Diane Abbott MP is no longer relaxed about the drug | Essential Articles 9 | 117 | law |
| The two sides of Heroin, UK: heroin chic and heroin victim | Drugs | Pete Doherty is the face of heroin chic but this glamour shouldn’t overshadow the lethal effects | Essential Articles 9 | 119 | |
| Cannabis is controlling his life and killing his self-esteem | Drugs | Advice for concerned parents of a depressed son | Essential Articles 9 | 121 | |
| Our healthy diets were killing us | Eating Disorders | An obsession with healthy eating proved dangerous for three women | Essential Articles 9 | 122 | food, health, slimming, body image, diet, health |
| Anorexia: Dying to be thin | Eating Disorders | Early signs of anorexia are there to see, if you know what to look for | Essential Articles 9 | 125 | body image, anorexia |
| When pupils were bad... | Education | A period at a comprehensive school shocks an independent school teacher | Essential Articles 9 | 127 | behaviour, teaching |
| How bad are the kids? | Education | It is low level disruption that wears teachers down | Essential Articles 9 | 129 | behaviour, school |
| Sir, you could do better... | Education | Pupils at a London school are advising on teaching and grilling job applicants with astonishing results | Essential Articles 9 | 130 | students, |
| I will do chores for proper schooling | Education | A 15-year-old’s desperate attempt to improve her results | Essential Articles 9 | 132 | GCSE, exams, behaviour, |
| When is a school not a school? | Education | Francis Beckett is cynical about name changes | Essential Articles 9 | 133 | names, |
| Too much like hard work | Education | Most students who have to earn money during term time are disadvantaged and it’s affecting their results | Essential Articles 9 | 134 | |
| The anguished graduate who killed herself over £14,000 student debts | Education | Did a bank’s harsh treatment push her over the edge? | Essential Articles 9 | 136 | suicide, banks, students, tuition fees |
| I’m indebted for the help I got to go to university | Education | Doctor Max Pemberton was one of the last batch of students to receive a grant from the state and couldn’t have qualified under today’s loan system | Essential Articles 9 | 137 | tuition fees |
| Fight the rising tide of rubbish on your favourite beach | Environment | The litter on our beaches has doubled in a decade, Beachwatch is trying to do something about it | Essential Articles 9 | 138 | waste, rubbish, sea, ocean |
| Killing killer whales with toxics | Environment | This giant may not survive in seas polluted by everyday chemicals | Essential Articles 9 | 139 | pollution, ocean |
| Revived river boasts seals, sea-horses and one piranha | Environment | A cleaned up Thames has been brought back to life | Essential Articles 9 | 141 | animals, fish, ocean |
| A giant problem | Environment | What do we do with 100 million TVs, computers, stereos and mobile phones that we have discarded in favour of newer ones? | Essential Articles 9 | 142 | waste, rubbish, recycling |
| Alarm over dramatic weakening of Gulf Stream | Environment | Slowing of the Gulf Stream means more extreme weather – including much colder winters for Britain | Essential Articles 9 | 144 | climate change, global warming |
| Renewable energy: gone with the wind | Environment | Are the big white blades saving our country or spoiling our countryside? | Essential Articles 9 | 146 | wind farms, electricity, wind power, wind turbines |
| The hypocrisy of wind power | Environment | Wind farm development in the UK is a cynical attempt to make political capital on the world stage. Two other writers give the opposing viewpoint | Essential Articles 9 | 147 | electricity, wind power, wind turbines |
| Who will stop the slow poisoning of our environment | Environment | Margaret Cook is alarmed by the use of unregulated chemical contaminants | Essential Articles 9 | 148 | pollution, pesticides |
| The world pays a heavy price for our cheap Christmas miracles | Fair Trade | ‘Fast fashion’ has a global cost – with our cast-offs ruining local trade in the developing world | Essential Articles 9 | 150 | Shopping, clothes, economics, trade, developing world, business, Fairtrade, fair trade |
| Are we being served? | Fair Trade | The price of clothing today is good for those who make it and those who buy it | Essential Articles 9 | 152 | developing world, business, clothes, Fairtrade, fair trade |
| Fairtrade Makes a Difference | Fair Trade | Turning bananas into ‘green gold’ | Essential Articles 9 | 154 | Ecuador, fair trade, South America |
| First and foremost | Family | Does your position in the family hierarchy affect your entire life? | Essential Articles 9 | 155 | children, young people, brothers, sisters |
| My brother’s keeper | Family | A personal account of a family tragedy | Essential Articles 9 | 156 | |
| What 10 year olds want | Family | How youngsters see the world | Essential Articles 9 | 157 | fame, children, young people |
| Helicopter mothers | Family | Modern mums are raising a generation of losers by pandering to their every need | Essential Articles 9 | 159 | children, young people, parents, parenting |
| All alone among the nannies | Family | A stay-at-home dad enters an alien world where there are no other men | Essential Articles 9 | 160 | parents, parenting, dads, fathers, |
| I’m glad mum deserted me | Family | Once a lonely outsider, now her mother’s gone she’s confident, mature and ambitious. 15 year old Laura tells how being abandoned by her mum in favour of a Turkish toy boy was the start of a new life | Essential Articles 9 | 161 | teenagers, young people, parents, parenting, |
| No such thing as a free lunch? | Food | Freegans live on what we throw away. Here’s how | Essential Articles 9 | 165 | shopping, consumers, waste |
| Long distance dinners | Food | How far has your food travelled before it reaches the plate? | Essential Articles 9 | 168 | food miles, imports |
| Discipline the key to my retox plan | Food | A light hearted alternative to fitness and diet advice | Essential Articles 9 | 169 | exercise, |
| I’m lovin’ it | Food | Top cook Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall is thrilled to find that McDonald’s is less popular than it was | Essential Articles 9 | 170 | takeaway, fast food, fast-food, restaurants, |
| How to stop pupils throwing away fruit? Hide the bins | Food | Pupils have been dumping healthy snacks | Essential Articles 9 | 173 | fruit, healthy eating, students, young people, waste |
| Eating out | Food | A food writer visits Little Chef – and he’s not impressed | Essential Articles 9 | 174 | restaurants, |
| How a meeting of leaders in Mecca set off the cartoon wars around the world | Free Speech | Were outraged protests spontaneous or organised? | Essential Articles 9 | 175 | Muslims, censorship, Islam |
| Cartoons: Battle lost, war won | Free Speech | Are there no-go areas in a secular democracy like Britain? | Essential Articles 9 | 177 | Muslims, censorship, Islam, religion |
| Don’t be fooled, this isn’t an issue of Islam... | Free Speech | Robert Fisk argues the cartoons portrayed Islam as a violent religion – and provoked a violent reaction | Essential Articles 9 | 178 | religion, Muslims, censorship, |
| If you get rid of Danes... | Free Speech | If we take fright whenever extreme Muslims complain, we put more power in their hands, says Charles Moore | Essential Articles 9 | 179 | religion, Muslims, censorship, Islam |
| Hate books stay on sale at Amazon | Free Speech | Should the bookseller remove items which are legal but objectionable? | Essential Articles 9 | 181 | censorship, |
| Outrage out of proportion | Free Speech | A letter writer suggests that Muslims should protest about terrorist bombings, not cartoons | Essential Articles 9 | 181 | Muslims, censorship, Islam, religion |
| Jobs by gender | Gender | Young people entering work still face ‘no-go-areas’ because of their gender | Essential Articles 9 | 182 | women |
| Can men suffer from discrimination? | Gender | The only people it is now acceptable to discriminate against are white Christian Britons, especially male ones | Essential Articles 9 | 184 | |
| Me time | Gender | Men have almost twice as much time to themselves as women | Essential Articles 9 | 184 | sport, women |
| Does nursing discriminate against men? | Gender | Two health workers give opposing views | Essential Articles 9 | 185 | Health, work, men, women |
| Equal pay? Just ask! | Gender | Women are too slow to ask for the pay they deserve | Essential Articles 9 | 186 | work |
| Motherland | Gender | Reem Haddad is a Lebanese mother but her children are not allowed to share her nationality | Essential Articles 9 | 187 | |
| Cirrhosis cases soar among obese teenagers | Health | What do high-fat high-sugar diets really do to our children’s livers? | Essential Articles 9 | 188 | young people |
| Bothered? Not the plump ballerinas | Health | Not only is child obesity on the rise, but fewer children really care about it | Essential Articles 9 | 189 | young people |
| John’s journey | Health | John Bell’s slow death from Motor Neurone Disease is being recorded as part of a campaign to raise awareness | Essential Articles 9 | 190 | |
| Chance of fulfilment | Health | A personal account of a journey through anorexia and self harm towards self-knowledge | Essential Articles 9 | 192 | eating disorders |
| Why Sarah, 29, doesn’t want her memory back | Health | Memory loss made Sarah a new person – and she doesn’t like the old one | Essential Articles 9 | 193 | amnesia |
| This therapy works, says MS teenager | Health | Controversial stem cell treatment is not available in the UK but it has allowed a 19 year old to walk again | Essential Articles 9 | 194 | MS, Multiple Sclerosis |
| Q: Aren’t you too brainy to be a TV presenter? A: Too brainy? That’s why all my hair fell out | Health | Gail Porter talks about life with alopecia | Essential Articles 9 | 195 | hair loss |
| Life goes on... alas | Health | We keep people alive because we can, but what’s the quality of that life? A doctor’s viewpoint | Essential Articles 9 | 198 | medicine |
| A ship too far | Health | A cancelled operation brings back a terrible wartime experience | Essential Articles 9 | 198 | patient, |
| Sham of NHS dentistry | Health | The chaos and confusion | Essential Articles 9 | 199 | |
| A hostel Christmas | Homeless | According to this personal account, it’s not very merry | Essential Articles 9 | 200 | Christmas, poverty |
| I’m a celebrity... let me sleep out here | Homeless | Celebrities sleep (almost) rough for charity | Essential Articles 9 | 200 | celebrity |
| Life on the streets | Homeless | Young Muslim volunteers accept a tough challenge | Essential Articles 9 | 201 | poverty |
| Ricardo: ‘The only thing I hate in the world is the police’ | Homeless | A personal account from the streets of Montevideo of the appalling lives of street children | Essential Articles 9 | 204 | Uruguay, South America, young people , poverty |
| The dark secret behind the property boom | Housing | Selling off of council houses, lack of investment and rises in house prices have left families in desperate conditions of overcrowding | Essential Articles 9 | 207 | children |
| A Swiss hygiene inspector calls | Housing | She thought her house was clean – until it came under inspection | Essential Articles 9 | 208 | Switzerland |
| Home from home | Housing | More than a million households own a second property | Essential Articles 9 | 209 | second home |
| The row goes on | Hunting | An undercover reporter sees whether the hunting act really works and a letter writer explains why he is opposed to a ban | Essential Articles 9 | 210 | Law, animals |
| Hunting ban: Foxed | Hunting | How the hunting ban has affected foxes in town and country | Essential Articles 9 | 212 | law, animals |
| Immigration the facts | Immigration | What’s the real issue of immigration in Britain? | Essential Articles 9 | 214 | illegal immigrants, |
| Amnesty on illegal immigrants is ‘worth £6bn to UK’ | Immigration | A way to end exploitation and contribute to the economy | Essential Articles 9 | 214 | |
| ‘We have been betrayed, cheated and robbed’ | Immigration | Immigrants face exploitation and abuse – and all at a high price | Essential Articles 9 | 215 | |
| In our backyard, yes please | Immigration | Local papers are supporting asylum seekers | Essential Articles 9 | 216 | media, newspapers |
| Brick Lane, home to the persecuted | Immigration | The church that became the synagogue is now the mosque. But with property prices booming, the Bangladeshis may be the last wave of immigrants to Brick Lane | Essential Articles 9 | 217 | London, race |
| Record number of Britain’s move abroad for a better life | Immigration | The number emigrating has risen by 30% in ten years – with professionals leading the way. | Essential Articles 9 | 218 | emigration |
| Don’t mourn the new British diaspora | Immigration | Our population is not in decline and our young people are more open to other cultures, so there’s no need to worry about emigration | Essential Articles 9 | 219 | emigration, |
| A new map of Britain | Immigration | The BBC’s online interactive map shows that immigration is mainly a London and South East phenomenon | Essential Articles 9 | 220 | race |
| System addicts | Internet & Technology | Technology was supposed to free us so what happened to our spare time? | Essential Articles 9 | 222 | computers |
| To PC or not to PC? It’s a no-brainer | Internet & Technology | Computers are easy to use but sometimes they’re the wrong tool for the job | Essential Articles 9 | 224 | |
| Lazy guide to net culture | Internet & Technology | The web is a swelling ocean of half-truths punctuated with atolls of sense, a morally ambiguous sea of unrelated facts. Here’s some of them | Essential Articles 9 | 225 | |
| The student’s website which looks like a million dollars | Internet & Technology | A plan hatched in twenty minutes makes a student a millionaire | Essential Articles 9 | 226 | wealth |
| Guardian profile: Tim Berners-Lee | Internet & Technology | The godfather of the internet gave his gift to all, now the world wide web has changed millions of lives in little more than a decade | Essential Articles 9 | 227 | |
| The sparring and spin of the Google dance | Internet & Technology | Means and methods to manipulate the world’s biggest search engine | Essential Articles 9 | 229 | |
| A is for Apple, B is for broadband and C is for… | Internet & Technology | Sebastian Faulks wishes the internet happy 18th birthday | Essential Articles 9 | 231 | |
| The battle for hearts and minds in the digital home | Internet & Technology | We all feel we need the latest technology as we constantly look for the next big thing | Essential Articles 9 | 233 | gadgets |
| Present tense | Internet & Technology | A self-confessed technophobe explains how to survive in an era of gizmos and gadgetry | Essential Articles 9 | 234 | gadgets |
| Press ‘star’ key to enter hell | Internet & Technology | Is there anything worse than the automated phone system? | Essential Articles 9 | 236 | telephone, call centres, automated |
| Short shrift | Internet & Technology | Ten ways to get rid of cold callers | Essential Articles 9 | 236 | telephone, call centres, |
| Vicar and children’s author thrown out of the classroom for swearing | Language | English has changed and ‘inappropriate’ language is now part of everyday vocabulary for teenagers. Will we ever accept this? | Essential Articles 9 | 237 | reading, books, school |
| It’s a new swear word H**phreys | Language | Some internet providers are being too sensitive about words they consider ‘offensive’ | Essential Articles 9 | 238 | technology, computers, internet |
| Letter from Lebanon: Speaking in tongues | Language | The difficulties caused by tri-lingual toddlers | Essential Articles 9 | 239 | |
| Predictive, yet unpredictable | Language | My phone likes Elvis and Dylan but it hasn’t heard of the Beatles. Who decides on predictive text? | Essential Articles 9 | 240 | Mobile phones, technology, telephone, texting |
| Rah, das nuff nang! | Language | Say cheerio to Cockney slang. The language of London teenagers comes from much further afield | Essential Articles 9 | 241 | |
| What’s in a name | Language | Many charities have changed their titles to make them more memorable, but do we still know who they are and what they do? | Essential Articles 9 | 241 | charity |
| Weird and wonderful vocabulary from around the world | Language | What words reveal about the societies that speak them | Essential Articles 9 | 242 | |
| Death by driver | Law & Order | Road safety campaigners insist the justice system is failing to protect citizens | Essential Articles 9 | 245 | traffic, cars, deaths, transport, accidents |
| Lethal weapons | Law & Order | One organisation uses shock tactics to reduce the number of teenagers carrying knives | Essential Articles 9 | 246 | crime, young people |
| Lock up your keys | Law & Order | Foxed by immobilisers and deadlocks, car thieves have found new tricks – they simply use your keys | Essential Articles 9 | 248 | crime, burglary |
| Is girl of 8 youngest mugger in the country? | Law & Order | Evidence that people are becoming involved in crime at an increasingly early age | Essential Articles 9 | 249 | children, young people, crime |
| People always ask me…how can you defend someone you know is guilty? | Law & Order | Personal views don’t come into it, explains a criminal barrister | Essential Articles 9 | 250 | crime, |
| The Ferret…digs behind the headlines | Law & Order | And finds that councillors in Norfolk approve of violence against young people, while ASBOs get tuneful | Essential Articles 9 | 250 | |
| The golden rule | Law & Order | When barristers make a mistake it’s the defendant who pays and often the price is imprisonment | Essential Articles 9 | 251 | crime, |
| Too many laws, not enough order | Law & Order | Are police still allowed to use common sense? | Essential Articles 9 | 252 | |
| Stopped, searched and humiliated | Law & Order | The ‘unusual sight of a woman carrying a rucksack’ sparks a police terrorist interrogation | Essential Articles 9 | 253 | race, human rights, terrorism, London bombings, |
| Time for last orders | Law & Order | Anti-social behaviour orders are targeting the disabled | Essential Articles 9 | 254 | disability, asbos |
| The good news…the bad news | Libraries & reading | Libraries are getting £80 million of lottery money, but they can’t spend it on books | Essential Articles 9 | 256 | reading |
| Libraries in a time of change | Libraries & reading | The digital age will bring about a radical transformation of reading | Essential Articles 9 | 257 | |
| The need for adventure | Libraries & reading | Does it really matter who’s reading what? Anthony Horowitz argues that it doesn’t | Essential Articles 9 | 258 | books |
| If only they had read ten books | Libraries & reading | We’re busy bickering about what should be read, yet reading a book from beginning to end is no longer being promoted in schools | Essential Articles 9 | 261 | education |
| Timetable of terror | London Bombings | The crucial events of 7 July 2005 | Essential Articles 9 | 263 | terrorism |
| Survivors’ accounts | London Bombings | Those who were there recall the dreadful experience | Essential Articles 9 | 264 | terrorism |
| The rescuer’s story | London Bombings | One of the first policemen to arrive at the scene describes the devastation that he saw | Essential Articles 9 | 265 | terrorism |
| Marie’s speech ‘We cannot live in fear because we are surrounded by hatred’ | London Bombings | On 11th July 2005, the world was moved by a mother’s desperate plea to find her missing son | Essential Articles 9 | 266 | terrorism |
| A letter to the terrorists | London Bombings | A young Muslim rejects the terrorists claim to be acting in his name | Essential Articles 9 | 268 | terrorism |
| A community in denial | London Bombings | A worrying willingness among ordinary Muslims in Leeds and Bradford to believe conspiracy theories | Essential Articles 9 | 269 | muslims |
| They will change us | London Bombings | Despite what politicians say, society must change in response to terrorism | Essential Articles 9 | 271 | security |
| In the dark | London bombings | An analysis of how the emergency services coped – and what it meant to the individuals involved | Essential Articles 9 | 273 | terrorism |
| Safe travel on the London Underground (or how not to be shot on the tube) | London bombings | Some ironic advice on keeping safe in the light of the shooting of Jean Charles de Menezes | Essential Articles 9 | 275 | police, terrorism |
| New codes of conduct | Manners | Some guidelines for today’s impolite society | Essential Articles 9 | 276 | behaviour, mobile phones |
| Modern manners: queuing | Manners | The minefield of social conduct | Essential Articles 9 | 278 | |
| Gay pride or unholy alliance? | Marriage & Relationships | 700 couples celebrated the first same-sex ‘weddings’ but there is still opposition | Essential Articles 9 | 279 | homosexuality |
| The rights of marriage | Marriage & Relationships | Would Jesus refuse an invitation to a gay marriage? | Essential Articles 9 | 280 | homosexuality |
| When is a wedding not a wedding? | Marriage & Relationships | Author Patrick Gale explains why he is looking forward to calling his partner ‘my husband’ | Essential Articles 9 | 281 | gay issues, homosexuality |
| For richer or poorer... | Marriage & Relationships | Compare three weddings that range from £450 to £150,000 – and nowadays even the guests have to fork out! | Essential Articles 9 | 283 | money |
| How to keep the costs down | Marriage & Relationships | Saving money on the big day | Essential Articles 9 | 285 | weddings |
| Teen credit cards will lead to financial ruin | Money | A credit card aimed specifically at teenagers is a cynical attempt to indoctrinate children with the plastic habit. | Essential Articles 9 | 286 | young people, debt |
| This man can save you £6,000 a year | Money | Martin Lewis is on a mission to stop us all being fleeced | Essential Articles 9 | 287 | saving, consumers, spending |
| Money diet | Money | Slim your expenses down and control your appetite for spending | Essential Articles 9 | 289 | saving, consumers, spending |
| I gave up my £500,000 inheritance | Money | Jake Horsley gave up all his money to live one day at a time | Essential Articles 9 | 290 | wealth |
| Help line swamped by callers over debts | Money | Money advice lines have never been so busy | Essential Articles 9 | 291 | consumers, credit |
| Should my child continue with her violin lessons? | Music | Money or music, that is the question | Essential Articles 9 | 292 | education, children, young people |
| From down a crowded tunnel comes a simple melody to lift the heart | Music | Matthew Parris chooses buskers as one of his cultural highlights and praises the appeal of a simple tune | Essential Articles 9 | 293 | music, poetry, London Underground, busking, singing |
| A revolution in record time | Music | Technology has changed the music industry forever. 1950s - 2000s: from disc to download | Essential Articles 9 | 295 | iTunes, internet |
| Our risk-averse society dislikes violence | Police | We all want police protection but don’t want to see the violence it involves | Essential Articles 9 | 298 | terrorism, London bombings, Jean Charles de Menezes |
| Focus on killing | Police | A police inspector argues that the press response to the killing of PC Sharon Beshenivsky was patronising and wrong | Essential Articles 9 | 300 | murder, women, newspapers, media |
| A law unto themselves | Police | In response to terrorist threats the police have gained power without any method for making them accountable | Essential Articles 9 | 301 | Jean Charles de Menezes |
| I handed over a jar in a pub car park and became a father. I’m really pleased about that | Pregnancy & Birth | Keen to be a ‘father’, Jeremy Williamson became an internet sperm donor | Essential Articles 9 | 303 | ethics |
| The greatest gift | Pregnancy & Birth | Jackie Smith explains what has motivated her to act as a surrogate mother, five times | Essential Articles 9 | 305 | surrogacy, women |
| The fertility trap | Pregnancy & Birth | Delaying motherhood increases a woman’s earnings but also the risk of not being able to conceive | Essential Articles 9 | 307 | women |
| There are times when our ethics and our laws should come before our sympathy | Pregnancy & Birth | We can sympathise with a woman whose ex-partner will not let her use their frozen embryos, but the decision is correct | Essential Articles 9 | 310 | ethics |
| Unveiled | Pregnancy & Birth | Anila Baig is incensed by India’s attitude to girls | Essential Articles 9 | 312 | abortion, human rights |
| India’s missing girls | Pregnancy & Birth | The scandal of selective abortion of female foetuses | Essential Articles 9 | 312 | abortion, human rights, gender, India |
| Abortion: should parents be told? | Pregnancy & Birth | A campaigner wants parents to be told if a girl under 16 wants an abortion – but women are entitled to confidentiality whatever their age | Essential Articles 9 | 313 | family, law, human rights, abortion, young people, teenagers |
| Happiness - Get happy - it’s good for you | Psychology | Money can’t buy you happiness, but happiness can buy you a long and successful life | Essential Articles 9 | 315 | |
| Happiness = success | Psychology | A positive outlook for a positive life | Essential Articles 9 | 317 | |
| Mind where you sit! | Psychology | Your position in class or at an interview can alter people’s opinions in crucial ways | Essential Articles 9 | 317 | seats |
| Left, right, left, wrong | Psychology | 10% of the population is left handed and they suffer emotionally and physically as a result | Essential Articles 9 | 318 | left handed, left-handed |
| We must not tolerate racism. We must all say: ‘No, that’s not right. Don’t pick on that person’ | Race | The bereft mother of a murder victim talks about her loss, forgiveness and the fight against race hatred | Essential Articles 9 | 319 | |
| Modern identity is not all black or white – it’s a beige thing | Race | Current race descriptions don’t reflect the reality of multi-ethnic Britain | Essential Articles 9 | 321 | multi-cultural, |
| Notes from underground | Race | When Dan Kuper was wrongly accused of racism the real racists came out of the woodwork | Essential Articles 9 | 323 | work, language, London Underground |
| Sometimes women share the blame | Rape | 30% of British people believe that rape victims are partially responsible. Rod Liddle says they’re right | Essential Articles 9 | 324 | crime |
| Battle without bitterness | Rape | A young Pakistani rape victim is fighting tradition and the legal system | Essential Articles 9 | 325 | crime, honour, women, law |
| ‘Justice is about him being branded as a rapist who robbed me of my childhood’ | Rape | Can an attacker ever be a victim? After 20 years, should he still be made to pay? | Essential Articles 9 | 326 | crime, women |
| Campaign on consensual sex | Rape | The government wants to protect women from sexual assault, but does that mean that sex with a drunken woman is always rape in legal terms? | Essential Articles 9 | 329 | binge drinking, safety, alcohol |
| The struggle to forgive | Religion | The Reverend Julie Nicholson cannot forgive the terrorists who killed her daughter and cannot preach forgiveness to others | Essential Articles 9 | 331 | London bombings, terrorism |
| Tsunami of hate | Religion | The Chief Rabbi on an anti-Jewish wave of feeling sweeping the world | Essential Articles 9 | 334 | race, anti-semitism, anti-semitic |
| My heroes are driven by God, but I’m glad my society isn’t | Religion | George Monbiot discovers research to show that murder, sexual diseases and marital breakdown are more common in religious cultures | Essential Articles 9 | 335 | young people, society |
| Upstairs, my optimism turns to rage | Religion | Should Muslim children at a C of E school have to go to a Christian church? | Essential Articles 9 | 337 | education, muslims |
| Bad science - magnetic attraction? Shhh, it’s a secret | Science | The NHS is embracing magnetic treatments – but where’s the evidence? | Essential Articles 9 | 338 | advertising, alternative medicine, health |
| Bad science: Irresistibly drawn into debate | Science | Debunking the inflated claims about magnetism | Essential Articles 9 | 339 | advertising, alternative medicine, health |
| Joe Public will just have to trust the dodgy alternatives when the kids fall sick | Science | The EC ban on mercury thermometers is not the first example of a safety measure that will do more harm than good | Essential Articles 9 | 340 | |
| Why sleeping on a problem often helps | Science | Different stages of sleep aid learning and memory | Essential Articles 9 | 341 | |
| Finland has fewer jobless and fewer voles. What’s the connection? | Science | Professor Steve Jones explains the link between economics and ecology | Essential Articles 9 | 342 | |
| All washed up | Science | A cocktail of untested domestic chemicals is polluting our environment | Essential Articles 9 | 343 | environment, pollution |
| Scientists say: drop ‘detox’: have a glass of tap water and get an early night | Science | Forget expensive restorative and purifying diets: let your body do the job | Essential Articles 9 | 344 | health |
| It’s only natural | Science | Science shows men and women are different – but feminists shouldn’t worry | Essential Articles 9 | 346 | gender, biology |
| In praise of......physics | Science | The number of students studying the most fundamental science has drastically fallen | Essential Articles 9 | 347 | education, school |
| A colder kind of warming | Science | Some scientists suggest that global warming will lead to a repeat of the ice-age | Essential Articles 9 | 348 | climate change |
| It’s just lads having fun... isn’t it? | Sexual Issues | The reality of lad-mag culture; from laddish behaviour to human trafficking | Essential Articles 9 | 349 | women, media, men |
| How do you get your teenager 2 ask about sex? | Sexual Issues | Technology overcomes shyness with positive results | Essential Articles 9 | 350 | mobile phones, young people, teenagers, health |
| Infectious behaviour | Sexual Issues | Sexually transmitted infections are on the rise among young people | Essential Articles 9 | 353 | STIs, health, teenagers |
| Are legalised brothels the right step forward? | Sexual Issues | Mixed reactions to government plans to regulate the sex industry and two people give their opposing viewpoints | Essential Articles 9 | 355 | prostitution |
| My son’s teacher served time for sex offences but I cannot condemn him | Sexual Issues | Libby Purves argues for help for inactive paedophiles | Essential Articles 9 | 357 | |
| In-store tricks | Shopping | The clever tactics used to make you buy more in supermarkets | Essential Articles 9 | 358 | supermarkets, consumers, food, psychology, marketing |
| I’m still trying to break the Tesco habit | Shopping | Janet Street-Porter confesses to consumer hypocrisy | Essential Articles 9 | 360 | supermarkets |
| Is it ok to use loyalty reward cards? | Shopping | How much does your supermarket know about you? | Essential Articles 9 | 361 | supermarkets, marketing |
| The high street’s guilty little secret | Shopping | Does Primark’s remarkable success represent the worst aspects of shopping? | Essential Articles 9 | 362 | clothes |
| Shopping and tut-tutting | Shopping | Shopping isn’t over indulgence, it’s an expression of your individuality | Essential Articles 9 | 364 | consumers |
| Armchair guerilla | Shopping | You can fight back against consumerism and win some goodies at the same time! | Essential Articles 9 | 366 | consumers, marketing |
| Smoke free | Smoking | Smoking bans around the world | Essential Articles 9 | 368 | cigarettes, health |
| Killer facts | Smoking | The real cost of smoking | Essential Articles 9 | 369 | cigarettes, health |
| No smoking in your own homes, please | Smoking | Essential Articles 9 | 370 | cigarettes, health | |
| My week - Stephen Daldry | Smoking | The director of Billy Elliott picks the wrong week to stop smoking | Essential Articles 9 | 372 | arts, cigarettes, health |
| Beating world records | Sport | How much more improvement in world records can we expect to see? | Essential Articles 9 | 374 | China, women |
| Brits in thrall though fancy walking offers no defence against inquisitive bullocks | Sport | Nordic walking | Essential Articles 9 | 375 | |
| No sweat! | Sport | What hairy men should NOT be wearing in the gym | Essential Articles 9 | 376 | |
| 75% of darts players were fat…it’s less now | Sport | The tough world of professional darts is full of gentle and chubby style victims | Essential Articles 9 | 377 | |
| Bethany Hamilton: Triumph of a free spirit | Sport | After losing her arm in a shark attack, Bethany Hamilton succeeds in surfing with her spirit intact | Essential Articles 9 | 379 | Religion, disability, |
| Dark side of a great spectacle casts shadow over union of man and horse | Sport | 7 horses died at the Cheltenham race meeting. Are we entitled to take such risks with animals’ lives? | Essential Articles 9 | 381 | horse racing, horses, animal welfare |
| Chinese gymnasts - abused or nurtured for Olympic gold? | Sport | Matthew Pinsent was disturbed by the harsh training methods he saw in China | Essential Articles 9 | 383 | China, olympics, children |
| Ashes win is what sport is all about | Sport | The 2005 Ashes series showed why sport is so special | Essential Articles 9 | 385 | cricket |
| Female frustration of Iran reporting | Television & Media | Life is not getting easier for women journalists in Iran | Essential Articles 9 | 386 | |
| Stop photographing and start living | Television & Media | We’re now so busy recording our lives we forget to live them | Essential Articles 9 | 387 | suicide, photography |
| Making the news | Television & Media | When journalists set up a ‘sting’ do they expose or initiate wrongdoing? | Essential Articles 9 | 388 | corruption, ethics, crime |
| Reporters at risk | Television & Media | A record number of journalists have been killed in Iraq | Essential Articles 9 | 389 | Iraq war |
| What terror did for cycling | Transport | Are more people cycling in London since the bombs? | Essential Articles 9 | 391 | environment, terrorism, London bombings |
| Lock stars | Transport | The solution to our overcrowded roads is canals | Essential Articles 9 | 392 | |
| Safety drive | Transport | Road accidents are the biggest killer of people aged 15-19 but youth projects are trying to alter these statistics | Essential Articles 9 | 394 | safety, teenagers, young people, cars |
| When love hit the buffers | Travel & tourism | This relationship couldn’t go the distance | Essential Articles 9 | 397 | trains |
| Playroom of the Gulf | Travel & Tourism | Lebanon’s tourist industry is booming but the locals are being priced out | Essential Articles 9 | 398 | |
| The airport that puts the comedy back into commuting | Travel & Tourism | Simon Calder is nostalgic for the time when Luton airport was just a shed | Essential Articles 9 | 399 | security, air travel |
| They’re Greek, we’re drunk | Travel & Tourism | Greek resorts milk cash from young Britons and then moan about it the morning after | Essential Articles 9 | 400 | young people, alcohol, teenagers, binge drinking |
| Indifferent to death: tragedy of the traumatised children of the the intifada | War & conflict | Youngsters brought up with conflict can’t cope with peace | Essential Articles 9 | 401 | Gaza, Palestine, Middle East |
| How Beslan is coping | War & conflict | A year after terrorists killed 330 people at a Russian school, the town of Beslan is still in shock | Essential Articles 9 | 403 | terrorism, children |
| The girls would not have looked out of place in the Summer of Love, then out came the vitriol | War & conflict | The young generation of Palestine and Israel – where extremism is becoming mainstream | Essential Articles 9 | 406 | Middle East, young people, |
| The night the Americans came | War & conflict | A small mistake left an Iraqi reporter with a trashed house, a damaged car and a seriously traumatised family | Essential Articles 9 | 407 | war, media |
| Not to die in vain | War & conflict | A white poppy symbolises the call for an end to war itself | Essential Articles 9 | 408 | peace |
| The world’s most precious commodity is getting even scarcer | Water | A third of the world’s population suffers from ‘water stress’ – and it will get worse | Essential Articles 9 | 409 | environment, climate change, global warming |
| Our increasing thirst for bottled water is not only illogical it is also distasteful and decadent | Water | Wasteful bottled water is a lifestyle choice in the developed world while for millions access to clean water is a matter of life or death | Essential Articles 9 | 410 | developing world, environment |
| Excuses running dry | Water | Dryer winters in South-east Britain mean water shortages – and the institutions that could tell us about climate change are being cut | Essential Articles 9 | 411 | global warming |
| Leaked report | Water | A light-hearted piece of advice on how to stay green in a drought | Essential Articles 9 | 411 | |
| Caught in a lie | Work | Should a trainee confess to a lie before he is found out? | Essential Articles 9 | 412 | cv |
| VAT man catches slave driver | Work | A million pound trade in illegal immigrants | Essential Articles 9 | 412 | |
| Why I will never employ women of child-bearing age | Work | This employer argues that maternity rights work against women not for them | Essential Articles 9 | 413 | women, birth, equality |
| Is your job killing you? | Work | Back ache, stress, obesity, accidents – hidden risks of common careers | Essential Articles 9 | 414 | health |
| Here for the schmooze | Work | The ideal conference would probably have no speakers at all | Essential Articles 9 | 416 | |
| My brilliant daughter has lost all direction in life | Young People | A high achiever seems to have become a slacker. What should her parents do? | Essential Articles 9 | 417 | teenagers, school |
| The Unrepresented | Young People | The civil liberties of the under-18s | Essential Articles 9 | 418 | teenagers |
| How we’re (literally) sexualising young girls | Young People | It’s not just sexy clothes and make-up that are making young girls seem older. Our modern lifestyle is actually lowering the age of puberty | Essential Articles 9 | 420 | sexual issues, health, family, children |
| Today’s twentysomethings have never had it so bad | Young People | Essential Articles 9 | 422 | Insecure, pressurised, overtaxed and debt-ridden | |
| President, your Renault is here | Advertising | Personal video technology will spell the end of certain types of advertisement and even certain types of programme | Essential Articles 8 | 21 | Sky Plus, |
| Should junk food advertisements be banned? | Advertising | Opposing views: Debate for and against by the Head of dietetics, Birmingham Children’s Hospital NHS Trust and the Deputy director general, Food & Drink Federation | Essential Articles 8 | 22 | obesity |
| Memo to Gary and Becks – lay off the crisps and fizzy pop | Advertising | Janet Street-Porter argues for a stronger sense of responsibility from celebrities | Essential Articles 8 | 24 | celebrity, Gary Lineker, David Beckham, food |
| First, we take the potatoes... | Advertising | McDonalds falls foul of the Advertising Standards Authority | Essential Articles 8 | 26 | fast food |
| Slogan doctor: i’m lovin’ it | Advertising | A slogan taken apart | Essential Articles 8 | 26 | fast food, grammar, language, McDonalds |
| Staying afloat | Age | Resisting the onset of full-blown middle-aged mumsiness | Essential Articles 8 | 27 | |
| We are programmed to survive, not to die | Age | How far can we expect to extend our lifespan? | Essential Articles 8 | 28 | life expectancy |
| One small miracle brings hope to thousands threatened by Aids | Aids | A doctor’s act of kindness provides a lifeline in Malawi | Essential Articles 8 | 30 | health, HIV |
| It takes only a dollar a day to stop an African dying of Aids | Aids | The musician Bono says it’s time wealthy countries went to war against this killer disease | Essential Articles 8 | 34 | HIV |
| Deadly walk home for the ladettes | Alcohol | Women pedestrians are in danger because of their binge drinking | Essential Articles 8 | 35 | road accidents, |
| Battle of the binge | Alcohol | The debate about loosening licensing laws | Essential Articles 8 | 36 | anti-social behaviour, antisocial behaviour, |
| Cambridge abandons plans for primate lab | Animal Testing | Has the University shelved its neuroscience laboratory because of pressure from anti-vivisectionists? | Essential Articles 8 | 38 | |
| Scientists fight back | Animal Testing | Some scientists are making positive efforts to explain the need for animal research | Essential Articles 8 | 39 | vivisection |
| In sickness and in health | Animal testing | A doctor argues that animal experiments cannot help humans | Essential Articles 8 | 40 | vivisection |
| Alzheimer’s, a love story, and what the fanatics don’t understand | Animal testing | A touching personal account about what medical research might achieve. | Essential Articles 8 | 41 | vivisection |
| Wild thoughts | Animals | Some people love animals to death but wouldn’t it be far better if they could love a species back to life again? Thousands of wild animals are being kept as pets in homes the USA | Essential Articles 8 | 43 | tigers, |
| Horrified teens see friend killed by crocodile | Animals | A terrifying attack in Australia | Essential Articles 8 | 44 | |
| 15-year-old fights off bear attack | Animals | A teenager on a camping trip showed presence of mind when he had to fight off a bear | Essential Articles 8 | 45 | |
| Tips for surviving a bear attack | Animals | Survival in the wilderness depends on being able to deal with the unexpected | Essential Articles 8 | 46 | |
| The thin end of the wedge for girls | Body image | While concern grows about obesity, the problem of anorexia still exists | Essential Articles 8 | 47 | eating disorders, food, diet, young people |
| Does my bum look big in this magazine? | Body image | How girls and women feel about their figures | Essential Articles 8 | 49 | diet, young people |
| Cosmetic surgery | Body Image | The cost of beauty treatments including botox, chemical peel, face lift | Essential Articles 8 | 50 | nose, plastic surgery |
| Why should I change my face? | Body Image | Vicky Lucas challenges prejudice about appearance. Bullied and depressed, she once thought surgery was the only way to deal with her disfigurement. Now she explains why ‘churubism’ is ‘fundamental to who I am’ | Essential Articles 8 | 52 | |
| I wish I looked like her | Body Image | How magazines dictate the right appearance and how young people can be helped to maintain a healthier self image | Essential Articles 8 | 55 | eating disorders, health, diet |
| £22,000 for ear piercing disaster | Body Image | A boy’s fashion experiment goes disastrously wrong | Essential Articles 8 | 57 | |
| Land of soaps and Lowry | Britain | The people and things that define Britishness for us | Essential Articles 8 | 58 | icons |
| For sale: Britain | Britain | A calculation of what the land and property in Britain are worth | Essential Articles 8 | 60 | housing, wealth |
| Shopping basket for the nation | Britain | How the Office for National Statistics reflects our changing lifestyles | Essential Articles 8 | 61 | consumers |
| I have still not seen I’m a celebrity... and several other proud boasts | Britain | Andrew Martin says that if poshness is all about not taking part in popular activities, then he is quite posh | Essential Articles 8 | 62 | class |
| Up in the air | Britain | Naming of the East Midlands airport | Essential Articles 8 | 62 | names |
| Goodbye Brutish Britain | Britain | Dr Theodore Dalrymple cannot bear to live here a moment longer | Essential Articles 8 | 63 | anti-social behaviour, antisocial behaviour, |
| Why do we instinctively trust a Geordie accent? | Britain | Old snobberies are reflected in our response to how people speak | Essential Articles 8 | 65 | language |
| A murder strung out appallingly over 12 years | Bullying | The long term effects of bullying. Karl was bullied from the age of four and a half. | Essential Articles 8 | 66 | suicide |
| Victims of bullying | Bullying | The effects of bullying last well into adulthood | Essential Articles 8 | 67 | suicide |
| Small is beautiful | Business | There are good things about being a small company | Essential Articles 8 | 70 | business |
| Too much to take on | Carers | Caring for others blights the lives and prospects of young people. The article includes a personal account by Alex, a young carer. | Essential Articles 8 | 72 | young people |
| Nursery crimes | Child care | Laws were broken and the needs of children ignored even in the most expensive nursery | Essential Articles 8 | 74 | nurseries |
| Kindergarten cop-outs | Child care | Some parents are over-ambitious for their small children | Essential Articles 8 | 77 | |
| Couple cleared over baby left in car | Child care | A British couple encounter different legal attitudes in the United States | Essential Articles 8 | 78 | USA, America |
| ‘I know one with blonde hair, green eyes, very beautiful, you will love her.’ The price? £70 | Children | There are children for sale in the slums of Romania – for adoption or for slavery | Essential Articles 8 | 79 | parents |
| I gave away son so he could escape squalor | Children | An Albanian mother denies selling her child for a TV set | Essential Articles 8 | 82 | parents, poverty |
| No bike or annual holiday? Then your child is living in poverty, say nanny state meddlers | Children | Lifestyle, rather than income, is the new measure of poverty | Essential Articles 8 | 84 | |
| Do they all have to dress like Britney? | Children | Young girls are obsessed with looking older than their years | Essential Articles 8 | 86 | clothes, fashion, young people, |
| Huge rise in teeny killers and rapists | Children | Crime by youngsters aged 10 to 17 has risen by 30% | Essential Articles 8 | 88 | murder, young people |
| Do your kids watch too much TV? | Children | Britain’s kids are spending 61% more time in front of the TV than they spend in lessons | Essential Articles 8 | 89 | television |
| Gifts rapped | Children | Anthony Horowitz says trashy and expensive toys will be rightly discarded | Essential Articles 8 | 90 | |
| Law of the loony label | Consumers | Safety warnings can go too far | Essential Articles 8 | 92 | shopping |
| Why I hate supermarkets | Consumers | Zac Goldsmith exposes the true costs of shopping at the big stores | Essential Articles 8 | 93 | |
| Why I love supermarkets | Consumers | An answer to Zac Goldsmith and other thoughts about shopping | Essential Articles 8 | 94 | |
| What can we do? | Consumers | One solution to global inequalities in the current free trade model is to develop a system of social and environmental guidelines | Essential Articles 8 | 95 | Developing world, fair trade, fairtrade, coffee |
| Ask us another one, pet | Consumers | Market researchers match their products to UK regions – drinking research always goes up North | Essential Articles 8 | 97 | |
| Zero Interest | Crime | When The Sun reported a burglary, police could not have been less interested | Essential Articles 8 | 98 | |
| Prowler can prosecute me after my dog bit him | Crime | A tiny terrier saw off an intruder but it’s his owner who could be arrested | Essential Articles 8 | 99 | |
| Barricade the room and hope he does one lively | Crime | A professional thief gives advice on how to deal with burglars | Essential Articles 8 | 100 | burglary, crime prevention |
| Great lunch robber | Crime | Filtching a policeman’s sandwich was not taken lightly | Essential Articles 8 | 101 | theft |
| Streets that police themselves | Crime | The best way to prevent street crime is to encourage more people to walk | Essential Articles 8 | 102 | crime prevention |
| No time like the present | Culture | The sacking of Baghdad’s ancient heritage is indicative of the US’s contempt for the past | Essential Articles 8 | 104 | arts, Iraq war, history, USA, America |
| Unknown influence | Culture | Britain’s top 50 cultural movers and shakers | Essential Articles 8 | 105 | |
| Grim reaper calls for my second father | Death | Peter Preston describes a peaceful departure | Essential Articles 8 | 107 | |
| ‘Having three deaf children out of four is so rare we had the same chance as winning the lottery five times over’ A personal view from football manager Ian Holloway | Disability | The Queens park Rangers manager talks about being a ‘bolshie’ parent’ - and how doing the best by his family disrupted his football career | Essential Articles 8 | 108 | deafness |
| Deaf to reason | Disability | Contrasting attitudes to deaf children in Britain and South Africa | Essential Articles 8 | 110 | deafness |
| ‘The law is saying there are reasons why I shouldn’t be alive...’ | Disability | Joanna Jepson explains the personal reasons behind her campaign calling for a tightening of the abortion law | Essential Articles 8 | 113 | cleft palate |
| Are we nearly there yet? | Disability | A 16-year-old’s research project about the needs of teenage wheelchair users brought remarkable results | Essential Articles 8 | 116 | |
| Rwanda: Horror & hope | Disasters | Can a country be rebuilt? | Essential Articles 8 | 118 | genocide |
| A personal memoir by genocide survivor | Disasters | 10 years on, Alice is in favour of reconciliation but not in favour of forgetting | Essential Articles 8 | 120 | Rwanda |
| Dangerous buildings, lax rules: why Bam death toll was so high | Disasters | Earthquakes cannot be prevented – but deaths can | Essential Articles 8 | 121 | |
| Deadly history of earthquakes in the last 100 years | Disasters | Essential Articles 8 | 122 | ||
| Now Iran must face the political aftershocks | Disasters | John Simpson on how a disaster could open the way to better diplomatic relationships | Essential Articles 8 | 123 | earthquakes |
| Surviving a disaster | Disasters | A psychology lecturer explains how panic is sometimes a sensible response | Essential Articles 8 | 124 | panic, trauma |
| Shock tactics don’t work | Drugs | Preaching about the dangers of drug use can often have little or no effect | Essential Articles 8 | 126 | young people |
| How I survived crack | Drugs | A personal account of kicking the crack and heroin habit and building a future | Essential Articles 8 | 129 | |
| Enemy at the gate | Drugs | Drugs are widely available in our schools | Essential Articles 8 | 130 | young people |
| What a way to make a living | Drugs | The glamorous side is cars and cash. The ugly side is crime and murder. Drug dealers talk about their way of life | Essential Articles 8 | 133 | |
| I will reply to your complaint in 3 years | Education | Parents complain about a sarcastic letter from a headmaster | Essential Articles 8 | 135 | |
| A tale of two state schools | Education | An MP rejected his local comprehensive in south London but would at least consider one in Dorset. Is this prejudice or good judgement? | Essential Articles 8 | 136 | MPs |
| Should parents help their children with coursework? | Education | Is it helping or cheating? Parents respond | Essential Articles 8 | 140 | |
| So we were much cleverer in the good old days? That’s just a fantasy | Education | Ted Wragg questions the view that standards have fallen | Essential Articles 8 | 141 | school |
| A gentleman and a scholar | Education | One teacher made a crucial difference to this writer’s life | Essential Articles 8 | 142 | |
| Was I really worth it? | Education | A degree in modern history would cost a student £9,000 | Essential Articles 8 | 143 | |
| Don’t throw it all away | Environment | An insurance salesman found his life took a new path when his daughter asked him to build her a playhouse | Essential Articles 8 | 144 | recycling |
| If you laid out all the plastic bags we use in a year, how big an area would they cover? | Environment | Essential Articles 8 | 144 | ||
| IT: problem or solution? | Environment | Are new technologies a way to solve development problems or are they just a new way to make old mistakes? | Essential Articles 8 | 145 | ICT |
| The White Death | Environment | Half of all coral reefs will be left bleached and dying in the next 30 years | Essential Articles 8 | 148 | |
| Gum | Environment | A modern habit reflects a much older tradition in a way that is unexpectedly attractive | Essential Articles 8 | 150 | chewing gum |
| Children unruly? YOU go to prison | Family | A mother has been warned that she faces jail unless she controls her tearaway daughters | Essential Articles 8 | 151 | parents, anti-social behaviour, antisocial behaviour, |
| Supermum | Family | Single parent Jacqui Jackson has seven children, four of them autistic, yet she managed to get a degree, write a book and is now working on a second | Essential Articles 8 | 152 | autism |
| Rows over lazy teens | Family | Disagreements over how to deal with teenagers threaten a relationship | Essential Articles 8 | 154 | young people |
| Switched at birth: mystery solved after 40 years | Family | A DNA test intended to put a sick man’s mind at rest revealed an error which changed two women’s lives | Essential Articles 8 | 155 | |
| A lesson in love | Family | Winifred Robinson argues that too many of us are too busy to notice the most important things in life. It took her mother’s illness to make her realise how precious their love was. | Essential Articles 8 | 156 | |
| From masters to servants | Farming | Farmers have lost their place in the rural pecking order | Essential Articles 8 | 159 | countryside |
| Meet the new lords of the manor | Farming | Brief profiles of the weird and wonderful types you now find in the countryside | Essential Articles 8 | 162 | |
| Cereal injustice | Farming | An Oxfam report on how farm subsidies go to the richest men | Essential Articles 8 | 163 | |
| He appalled the nation when, at 13, he became Britain’s youngest father. | Fathers | At 18 he’s still with the mother, doesn’t claim benefits and utterly adores his daughters | Essential Articles 8 | 165 | parents, young people |
| Poor, poor daddy. Nasty old mummy | Fathers | The tactics now used by estranged fathers can only harm children | Essential Articles 8 | 168 | parents |
| Fathers and family breakdown | Fathers | Letter writers give their views on how the courts treat fathers in divorce and separation cases | Essential Articles 8 | 169 | |
| Market forces | Food | In contrast to industrialised food and farming, some people are trying to put local grub on the table | Essential Articles 8 | 170 | |
| Organic? No thanks | Food | The Observer’s food critic suggests that organic food is not automatically the best | Essential Articles 8 | 172 | |
| Spuds-we-like! | Food | Clarissa Dickson Wright disagrees with the government. Potatoes are vegetables and they’re delicious | Essential Articles 8 | 173 | |
| Eat my shorts... and salt and sugar | Food | Foods marketed specifically at children contain a high proportion of things that are bad for them | Essential Articles 8 | 175 | |
| The secret formula for a long life | Food | 14 foods for good health | Essential Articles 8 | 175 | |
| So how long does it take to burn off calories? | Food | An MP has suggested that burgers should carry health warnings | Essential Articles 8 | 176 | |
| What is globalisation? | Globalisation | Three leading academics give their definitions | Essential Articles 8 | 177 | |
| From lab to table: how biotechnology breeds hopes, doubts and fears down the food chain | GM Produce | Case studies on GM foods | Essential Articles 8 | 180 | genetically modified |
| The case for and against | GM Produce | Opposing views from Michael Meacher and the Chairman of the Agriculture Biotechnology Council | Essential Articles 8 | 182 | genetically modified, food |
| My case for science and sense | GM Produce | Robin McKie argues that GM products have never been proved to be dangerous | Essential Articles 8 | 183 | genetically modified, food |
| Genetically modified crops? Not in my backfield | GM Produce | Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall distrusts the powerful companies seeking to own and control global agriculture | Essential Articles 8 | 184 | genetically modified, food |
| What’s in my larder? | GM Produce | How you will be able to tell if foods contain GM ingredients | Essential Articles 8 | 186 | genetically modified |
| For the want of a nail... | Health | Small changes could have a big impact on the NHS argues Sue Townsend | Essential Articles 8 | 187 | |
| Don’t use private medicine unless you’re feeling fine | Health | Only the NHS can cater for every emergency explains a registrar at a London teaching hospital | Essential Articles 8 | 188 | |
| The drugs don’t work | Health | The vast majority of drugs only work with a limited percentage of people | Essential Articles 8 | 189 | patients |
| If only life was more like it is on TV | Health | TV programmes don’t reflect the reality of a doctor’s life explains a GP | Essential Articles 8 | 189 | television |
| The bitterest pill | Health | Superbugs caused by overuse of antibiotics are a greater threat than biological weapons | Essential Articles 8 | 190 | |
| ‘Our lives are about Alice – that’s why I am selling a kidney’ | Health | A father offered an organ for sale on the internet to give his daughter the chance of a normal life | Essential Articles 8 | 192 | parents |
| Our dead son saved 30 lives | Health | How a tragic death helped others | Essential Articles 8 | 194 | organ donation, organ donors |
| Organ minders | Health | A grateful father whose son was given a new kidney praises the NHS and argues against a free trade in organs | Essential Articles 8 | 195 | organ donation, organ donors |
| The body shop: my kidney could save a life. So why can’t I sell it? | Health | A regulated trade in human organs would prevent the poor from being exploited | Essential Articles 8 | 197 | organ donation, organ donors |
| A tragedy that restores faith in humanity | Health | Although the operation to separate Ladan and Laleh Bijani failed, just taking the risk was a tribute to their courage and optimism | Essential Articles 8 | 199 | Conjoined twins |
| Why stress is rotting our lives | Health | Psychologist Oliver James argues that we put ourselves under a dangerous amount of pressure | Essential Articles 8 | 201 | psychology |
| Skin cancer time bomb for young Britons | Health | Three quarters of young men and women are willing to risk their lives to get a suntan | Essential Articles 8 | 202 | holidays |
| ‘As a slave you are a non-person. I got used to being invisible’ | Human Rights | At 13 Mende Nazer was abducted from her village and forced to work as a domestic slave | Essential Articles 8 | 203 | slavery, people trafficking |
| Defending the right to protest | Human Rights | The Terrorism Act can be used against innocent protestors, including an 11-year-old | Essential Articles 8 | 206 | |
| Return of the great white hunters | Hunting | Wealthy Britons pay tens of thousands to bag a lion, elephant or polar bear | Essential Articles 8 | 208 | animals |
| Sport or slaughter? | Hunting | Britain’s fastest growing country pursuit is pheasant shooting but can it really be called a sport? | Essential Articles 8 | 210 | animals |
| The new slavery | Immigration | The Morecambe Bay drownings have exposed a trade in human beings | Essential Articles 8 | 213 | people trafficking |
| Lost in the lowlands | Immigration | Industrial agriculture exploits migrant labour, which is why a Nepali went undercover amongst Eastern Europeans in the fields of Norfolk | Essential Articles 8 | 215 | work |
| Final proof that war is about the failure of the human spirit | Iraq | Robert Fisk reports from a Baghdad hospital | Essential Articles 8 | 217 | war |
| ‘You’ve got to stand up for your beliefs’ | Iraq | A year 10 school pupil explains why it was important to skip school to attend an anti-war demonstration | Essential Articles 8 | 219 | war, protest |
| The threat to Iraq comes from Western defeatists | Iraq | We must have a positive attitude to the defeat of Saddam | Essential Articles 8 | 220 | war |
| War Stories | Iraq | Young people question a representative of Save the Children | Essential Articles 8 | 222 | charity |
| Revealed: who really found Saddam | Iraq | The story behind the capture – and how the emphasis changed | Essential Articles 8 | 223 | Saddam Hussein, war |
| On the front line | Iraq | A freelance reporter faces US snipers firing on ambulances leaving the besieged city of Fallujah | Essential Articles 8 | 226 | war |
| Give me the freedom to write bad English | Language | Too much concentration on correctness stifles creativity | Essential Articles 8 | 228 | |
| Word games | Language | Disability groups aim to make the media more conscious of the language they use | Essential Articles 8 | 229 | |
| ‘Paki’ football chant ruled racist by court | Language | A legal decision that this term is always insulting and racist | Essential Articles 8 | 231 | racism, law |
| Let’s claim it pak | Language | ‘Paki’ needs to be taken back by its rightful owners – so it can be said and heard with pride | Essential Articles 8 | 232 | racism |
| The ‘Becks effect’ at the Open University | Language | A footballer’s move to Spain has produced a surge in applications for language courses | Essential Articles 8 | 233 | David Beckham, football |
| English lessons? Not on your Nessie! | Language | A Russian woman was refused a visa to study English because she had chosen to study in Scotland | Essential Articles 8 | 233 | |
| Linguists speak out for the dying tongues | Language | Scientists are in a race against time to record the world’s disappearing dialects | Essential Articles 8 | 234 | |
| Bailiffs are here and I’m at the end of my tether | Law | A family is evicted from their home following an anti-social behaviour order | Essential Articles 8 | 236 | ASBO, anti-social behaviour, antisocial behaviour, eviction |
| I want to bring my son back... | Law | Adyl Kanata was left needing 24 hour care after being beaten up. His mother tells how the man who beat him received a five year sentence, while her sentence is for life | Essential Articles 8 | 238 | carers, |
| Judgment day | Law | This reporter is not impressed with the jury system | Essential Articles 8 | 240 | juries |
| Parents are the usual culprits | Law | In the first of 2 articles giving opposing views Dr Anthony Daniels argues that we don’t have to look very far to find those who are most likely to harm children | Essential Articles 8 | 241 | expert witnesses |
| The experts have wrecked justice | Law | In the second of 2 articles giving opposing views Dr James Le Fanu argues that parents are too easily convicted on the testimony of flawed experts. | Essential Articles 8 | 242 | expert witnesses |
| Sorry m’ lud I’m filing my nails... | Law | ...and other interesting legal insights | Essential Articles 8 | 244 | |
| Library crisis | Libraries | Libraries are in decline but money is not the problem | Essential Articles 8 | 245 | |
| Friends at Christmas? | Libraries | Homeless people are cut-off from information and communication – one project made a big difference | Essential Articles 8 | 246 | Poverty |
| Much more than books | Libraries | How libraries can become more attractive to young people | Essential Articles 8 | 248 | reading |
| The dating divide | Love | Asian-only and mixed events provide contrasting experiences of speed dating | Essential Articles 8 | 250 | single |
| Picture this | Love | At 16 and 2 months Simon Keegan pays his first visit to a nightclub in search of love | Essential Articles 8 | 252 | young people, teenagers |
| The perfect wife | Marriage | Well-off Lebanese bachelors are ordering their brides from abroad over the internet | Essential Articles 8 | 253 | |
| British couples embrace US style pre-nups | Marriage | A growing trend to sort out the money before the marriage | Essential Articles 8 | 254 | |
| Women are happiest with first love and men with ‘serial monogamy’, a study finds | Marriage | Weddings work for women but are emotionally bad for men | Essential Articles 8 | 256 | |
| ‘Reactionary, illiberal, venal tabloids have lost the plot’ Opposing views | Media | One journalist criticises the nature of the British popular press while another suggests he’s guilty of the same faults | Essential Articles 8 | 257 | newspapers |
| When my sister was murdered | Media | The press harassment began just two hours after the news of the murder. A personal account of how the media made matters worse | Essential Articles 8 | 259 | newspapers |
| Would you want your teenage daughter to read these mags? No way, says outraged Geldof | Media | Criticism of the way girls’ magazines are obsessed with sex | Essential Articles 8 | 261 | teenagers, young people |
| TV serial dramas are so soothing | Media | Surprisingly, Brian Sewell is a fan of trash TV | Essential Articles 8 | 263 | television, soap operas |
| Do not adjust your mind set | Media | Eleanor Bailey isn’t keen on her son watching TV but she wasn’t ready for her friends’ reactions | Essential Articles 8 | 265 | television, parents |
| Reality television | Media | Al-Jazeera has a track record of accurate reporting which is why it has been bombed and its staff arrested argues one of its journalists | Essential Articles 8 | 267 | Iraq, tv |
| The war correspondent... | Media | John Pilger reports incidents in which correspondents have been vilified for telling the truth | Essential Articles 8 | 268 | newspapers |
| Sweet smell of success | Men | Mens’ cosmetics are now a £300m industry | Essential Articles 8 | 270 | deodorant, smell |
| All tied up in a legal tangle | Men | A sex equality case about the wearing of neck ties | Essential Articles 8 | 273 | clothes |
| Doctors’ ties spread diseases | Men | Ways in which neck ties are bad for your health | Essential Articles 8 | 274 | hospital |
| Gaza hospitals report crop of ‘Ahmed Yassin’ babies | Middle east | Israel assassinated sheikh Ahmed Yassin but his name lives on | Essential Articles 8 | 275 | Palestine |
| Shadow over the manger | Middle East | Reflections from Bethlehem on the separation wall being built by Israel | Essential Articles 8 | 276 | Palestine |
| Good neighbour dies after giving away lottery jackpot | Money | A winner chose to spend his money on racing and making others happy | Essential Articles 8 | 277 | wealth, gambling, national lottery |
| Trapped in debt city | Money | The poorest people face the biggest bills when they borrow money | Essential Articles 8 | 279 | poverty |
| Earning money is a man’s job... we’re here to spend it | Money | 18-year-old Anna has a luxury apartment, servants and an unlimited credit card | Essential Articles 8 | 281 | wealth, shopping |
| Licensed beggars only allowed | Money | The government is considering laws to restrain ‘chuggers’ – those who mug you for charity | Essential Articles 8 | 283 | |
| Fundraisers face the facts | Money | Face to face fundraising is not the best source of charity money | Essential Articles 8 | 284 | |
| That’ll be 23 guineas | Money | The outrageous charges some banks make for sending you a letter about being overdrawn | Essential Articles 8 | 284 | |
| When culture kills | Murder | ‘Honour’ killings are still murder | Essential Articles 8 | 285 | women |
| What drives a father to kill his children? | Murder | It is the good fathers facing a catastrophic loss who turn into killers | Essential Articles 8 | 286 | |
| Living with a serial killer | Murder | The families of mass murderers can become their victims too | Essential Articles 8 | 288 | Harold Shipman |
| The hunt for Holly and Jessica | Murder | Major events in the search for the two missing girls | Essential Articles 8 | 290 | Soham |
| A loss and tragedy for us all | Murder | The judge’s summing up in the murder case of Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman | Essential Articles 8 | 291 | Soham |
| Soham lessons | Murder | A considered view of the lessons police forces can learn | Essential Articles 8 | 292 | |
| Rock against the clock | Music | It’s too soon to say that the single is dead | Essential Articles 8 | 294 | |
| Bong go the classics | Music | Norman Lebrecht argues that a whole generation has failed to pass on the inheritance of good music | Essential Articles 8 | 296 | classical music |
| Parents’ mockery can put children off music for life | Music | Parents are crucial in developing musical ability. | Essential Articles 8 | 297 | |
| It’s only thin folk who worry about being fat | Obesity | Ellie Levenson is fat and happy | Essential Articles 8 | 298 | health, eating disorders |
| Fat Britain | Obesity | Britain faces a worrying epidemic of obesity. But the solutions are simple | Essential Articles 8 | 299 | health, eating disorders, food |
| Doctors warn of terrifying rise in obesity | Obesity | The heads of three medical colleges issue a warning of problems ahead | Essential Articles 8 | 300 | health, eating disorders, food |
| Why some mums are a fat lot of use to kids | Obesity | Antony Worrall Thompson believes that working mums who don’t cook are to blame for the fatness epidemic | Essential Articles 8 | 302 | health, eating disorders, cookery, food |
| Plenty for parents to digest over food issues | Obesity | The responsibility for healthy eating is shared between parents, schools and the government according to The Birmingham Post | Essential Articles 8 | 303 | health, eating disorders, food |
| Child obesity – an epidemic of inequality | Obesity | The poorest children are most likely to have diets rich in fat, sugar and salt | Essential Articles 8 | 304 | health, eating disorders, food, poverty |
| Small changes, big health gains | Obesity | Studies in the US suggest that saving 200 calories a day could prevent obesity | Essential Articles 8 | 304 | health, eating disorders, food, diet |
| A black policeman’s tale | Police | A veteran police officer recounts his experience of racism | Essential Articles 8 | 305 | |
| Letters in reaction to BBC documentary ‘The Secret Policeman’ | Police | Two Asian police officers explain how it felt to see racism revealed on television. | Essential Articles 8 | 307 | |
| Agitators will inherit the earth | Politics | Roy Hattersley contends that the right to choose does not extend to the poor | Essential Articles 8 | 308 | poverty |
| Vote, vote, vote for Harry Potter | Politics | A politics lecturer questions why the government backs votes at 16 | Essential Articles 8 | 309 | young people, teenagers, democracy |
| A polling station is no place for a 16-year-old | Politics | We need to reform our voting system to take the interests of children seriously but this won’t be done by the lowering the voting age | Essential Articles 8 | 310 | young people, teenagers, democracy |
| Where would teenage votes go? | Politics | A 17-year-old suggests that teenagers don’t want to live in a country controlled by teenagers | Essential Articles 8 | 311 | democracy |
| Prison: a view from inside | Prison | A prisoner reflects on how his views on justice have changed since entering prison | Essential Articles 8 | 312 | |
| I’m educated and middle class but I was sent to prison for five years... for a crime I didn’t commit | Prison | A personal account by charity director Ruth Wyner | Essential Articles 8 | 314 | |
| Why it’s a tall order being a female officer in a men’s prison | Prison | An unusual, yet rewarding working environment | Essential Articles 8 | 316 | work |
| Think again | Psychology | Ditch the deadlines if you want to be creative | Essential Articles 8 | 317 | brainstorming |
| Cut through acres of type to the fast lane | Psychology | A speed reading course could save you from information overload | Essential Articles 8 | 319 | |
| Students’ debt anxiety | Psychology | Financial hardship is the most likely cause of depression | Essential Articles 8 | 320 | |
| Scared of spiders? Take this pill | Psychology | A medicine could speed up the process of defeating irrational panic | Essential Articles 8 | 321 | |
| Everything’s A-OK | Psychology | The Sesame Street theme can be used as an instrument of torture | Essential Articles 8 | 322 | war |
| Black faces absent at top | Race | While 1 in 12 of the UK population belongs to an ethnic minority, this is not reflected at the highest levels of public life | Essential Articles 8 | 323 | racism |
| Racism through the generations | Race | What was funny for an older generation is regarded as unacceptable by a younger one | Essential Articles 8 | 325 | |
| Asians proud to be ‘British’ | Race | The majority of British Asians have a strong sense of identity with their adopted country. This article includes interviews with Asian celebrities and Asian young people | Essential Articles 8 | 327 | |
| Exiled tribe’s long journey home | Race | Even after apartheid has ended there’s still a gap in the understanding of the Afrikaaner | Essential Articles 8 | 330 | South Africa |
| Exclusion zones | Race | People of all races are guilty of thwarting true multi-culturalism says George Alagiah | Essential Articles 8 | 331 | |
| Why France is tied in knots over the girls who wear the scarf | Religion | The French still believe that religion should be kept out of schools | Essential Articles 8 | 333 | Islam, Muslims, hijab, schools, clothes, veil |
| Taking the veil | Religion | Lebanese women are choosing to cover up | Essential Articles 8 | 335 | Islam, Muslims, hijab, clothes, veil |
| Eating burgers beneath the veil | Religion | There are many contradictions to life in Iran | Essential Articles 8 | 336 | Islam, Muslims, hijab, clothes, veil |
| Seven new deadly sins | Religion | Tim Dowling proposes some more relevant transgressions | Essential Articles 8 | 337 | |
| All white on the night | Religion | A blind psychic is becoming a nationwide star. A sceptical reporter is won over. | Essential Articles 8 | 338 | |
| How stores know weather it will sell | Science | £100bn worth of spending depends on being able to predict the weather | Essential Articles 8 | 340 | |
| Nanotech moves the future to a new level | Science | Informed debate on new technology is essential but in short supply | Essential Articles 8 | 342 | Nanotechnology |
| Why are real-life robots so lame? | Science | Robots are not yet as smart as people believed they would be | Essential Articles 8 | 343 | |
| Obese people may be hard-wired to eat more | Science | Do our brains make it harder for some to stay slim? | Essential Articles 8 | 344 | obesity, eating disorders, food |
| Low temperatures and high skill | Science | Climate change may have contributed to the unique quality of Stradivarius violins. | Essential Articles 8 | 344 | music |
| Love’s chemistry | Sex | How the brain controls our responses | Essential Articles 8 | 345 | love |
| So why is ‘gay’ still a school hate word? | Sex | For thousands of young people who are gay, or appear to be gay, life can be like a prison sentence | Essential Articles 8 | 347 | homosexuality |
| Smoking: I know it’s stupid. So why can’t I stop? | Smoking | Smokers are, by definition, self-destructive idiots. | Essential Articles 8 | 350 | cigarettes |
| A ban on tobacco would be illiberal and ineffective | Smoking | An editorial argues for respect for individual choice | Essential Articles 8 | 351 | cigarettes |
| Don’t ban the weed! | Smoking | Jenni Murray won’t be put off by health warnings on packets | Essential Articles 8 | 352 | cigarettes |
| A right to breathe smoke-free air | Smoking | A doctor argues that education will not achieve what a smoking ban could. | Essential Articles 8 | 352 | cigarettes |
| Death of community spirit | Society | Putting yourself before society harms all of us, says Will Hutton | Essential Articles 8 | 353 | Britain |
| Rise of the new infantilism | Society | We all behave like over-sized babies. Justin Cartwright is tired of being patronised | Essential Articles 8 | 354 | |
| OBE me? Up yours | Society | Benjamin Zephaniah explains why he wants no part in the honours system | Essential Articles 8 | 356 | Britain |
| Was Ben right to refuse the OBE? | Society | People in the street give their opinions | Essential Articles 8 | 357 | Britain |
| Honoured? No thanks, say elite of arts and TV | Society | Some of the famous names who have turned down honours | Essential Articles 8 | 358 | Britain, |
| ‘It’s crazy to think that an inhaler nearly ruined my whole career’ | Sport | Skier Alain Baxter talks about his long fightback from a drugs disgrace | Essential Articles 8 | 360 | Olympics |
| Climb every mountain - with an iron | Sport | Extreme ironing - will it catch on? | Essential Articles 8 | 362 | extreme sports |
| Joe Simpson: No ordinary Joe | Sport | An astonishing tale of survival | Essential Articles 8 | 363 | mountaineering, danger |
| ‘I hit it, snapped my frame and smashed into the luggage rack’ | Sport | An account by racing cyclist (and 2008 Olympic gold medalist) Nicole Cook | Essential Articles 8 | 365 | cycling |
| Gym’ll fix it | Sport | Chris Bantin was a weightlifting champion at the age of 16 and is now a fitness instructor – despite having spina bifida | Essential Articles 8 | 366 | disability |
| Exercise boosts boys’ immune systems | Sport | 90 minutes of wrestling doubled the white blood cells in a group of 14- to 18-year-olds | Essential Articles 8 | 368 | health |
| There’s more than hope in fans’ hearts | Sport | Superstition and tradition loom large in fans’ support for their teams | Essential Articles 8 | 368 | football |
| ‘I’m 27 and I can’t swim. Time to take the plunge’ | Sport | Learning a vital skill could not be put off any longer. | Essential Articles 8 | 369 | swimming |
| The ultimate act of will | Suicide | Suicide is the choice of people who are overwhelmed by feelings of helplessness | Essential Articles 8 | 370 | |
| ‘Dr R2D2 will see you now...’ | Technology | Doctors in the US are already using a robot as part of their team | Essential Articles 8 | 372 | health |
| 2 hell with txt maniacs! | Technology | Text messaging has destroyed grammar and now it’s ruining relationships | Essential Articles 8 | 373 | mobile phones, language |
| Last word | Technology | Email is not without its downside | Essential Articles 8 | 374 | internet |
| Spam, spam, spam | Technology | Advice on how to avoid junk email | Essential Articles 8 | 375 | internet |
| How ‘Jobs & Money’ fooled the world | Technology | A spoof letter went around the world and was eventually emailed back to its author | Essential Articles 8 | 376 | tax |
| Beware the Luddite bandwagon aiming to derail new technologies | Technology | Engineers must communicate better if they want people to trust them | Essential Articles 8 | 378 | engineering |
| After Bali | Terrorism | Hanabeth Luke was dancing with the love of her life when her world was blown apart by terrorists | Essential Articles 8 | 379 | |
| I still can’t tell my folks the whole truth | Terrorism | Mark Henderson cannot bear to reveal all the details of his kidnap in Colombia | Essential Articles 8 | 382 | kidnapping |
| Madrid: 190 killed | Terrorism | Illustrations of the events of 11 March 2004 | Essential Articles 8 | 383 | |
| Lock up our tourists on arrival | Tourism | Most British holidaymakers deserve to be brutalised in foreign jails, says Theodore Dalrymple | Essential Articles 8 | 385 | anti-social behaviour, antisocial behaviour, |
| I was a happy camper | Tourism | You may now find Johnny Vegas in New York or Los Angeles but he still thinks Butlins is best | Essential Articles 8 | 386 | holidays |
| Anyone found my husband? | Tourism | Survey of what hotel guests leave behind | Essential Articles 8 | 388 | hotels |
| On the road to ruin | Transport | John O’Farrell takes a humorous look at urban motoring | Essential Articles 8 | 389 | cars |
| You’re safer in silver | Transport | Driving a silver car can reduce your risk of injury by 50% | Essential Articles 8 | 390 | cars, safety |
| Greener transport quiz | Transport | Frequently asked questions with answers | Essential Articles 8 | 390 | environment |
| Speed traps kill | Transport | One motoring group claims that drunk, drugged or dangerous drivers are not being caught because of the emphasis on speed limits | Essential Articles 8 | 391 | cars, safety |
| Why it’s good to go slow | Transport | Small scale traffic calming measures can be highly effective | Essential Articles 8 | 392 | cars, safety |
| Speed cameras are good for you | Transport | Middle-class motorists should accept that speeding laws apply to them too | Essential Articles 8 | 393 | cars |
| Slow progress on road safety | Transport | Letter writers give their views on speed restrictions | Essential Articles 8 | 395 | cars |
| Fear and loathing? | Transport | How drivers regard cyclists | Essential Articles 8 | 397 | cycling |
| Be thankful you are not American | USA | Seven reasons why the rest of the world should be glad not to be part of the USA and one major reason to be grateful for its existence | Essential Articles 8 | 398 | |
| Connections in the dark | USA | A blackout in New York revives neighbourly feelings | Essential Articles 8 | 400 | America |
| Still haunted by guns and slavery | USA | Reflecting on its many virtues has made America blind to its weaknesses | Essential Articles 8 | 402 | |
| In India, pressures on the water supply created by a Coca Cola plant have caused wells to dry up | Water | Mark Thomas contrasts soft drink advertising with the reality | Essential Articles 8 | 404 | |
| Every 15 seconds, a child dies because of a shortage of fresh water... | Water | Human use of fresh water has quadrupled since the 1940s because of population growth and affluent ‘water hungry’ lifestyles | Essential Articles 8 | 405 | |
| Chasing water uphill | Water | A technological breakthrough has brought supplies of fresh water to Bangladeshi hill villages. | Essential Articles 8 | 409 | |
| Hit or myth... is there any truth in all those tales about women? | Women | Preconceptions examined | Essential Articles 8 | 411 | |
| Top jobs await educated Rita | Women | Girls’ educational achievements should help them shatter the ‘glass ceiling’ in the workplace | Essential Articles 8 | 413 | |
| Who runs Britain? | Women | Women still hold less than 10% of top jobs | Essential Articles 8 | 415 | |
| Nobody has the right to be a mother | Women | Amanda Platell is living proof that a woman can have a fulfilled and worthwhile life without children – even if that wasn’t her choice | Essential Articles 8 | 417 | |
| On the sandwich chain gang | Work | Migrant workers shiver in Victorian conditions to bring you your lunch | Essential Articles 8 | 418 | food |
| If you can’t stand the heat... get some balls | Work | Elisa Roche encountered bullying and sexual harassment once she stepped beyond Jamie Oliver’s kitchen | Essential Articles 8 | 420 | food |
| The virus of exploitation | Work | The price of our cheap laptops is exploitation in the Third World | Essential Articles 8 | 422 | developing world, IT, ICT, computers, |
| All work and no play in new China | Work | Work in China has changed greatly in a decade | Essential Articles 8 | 424 | |
| The rough guide to economic nonsense | Work | The worse the company performs, the more the directors earn. Why? | Essential Articles 8 | 425 | wealth |
| The rise and fall of 21st century jobs | Work | City & Guilds forecasts which careers will thrive or decline | Essential Articles 8 | 426 | |
| Office rage rampant | Work | Stress is driving staff to violence but there are better places to work | Essential Articles 8 | 429 | |
| Curfew | Young people | Police ban under-16s from town after 9pm | Essential Articles 8 | 430 | anti-social behaviour, antisocial behaviour, |
| Terrible teenagers? That’s like so not fair | Young people | Responses to the curfew | Essential Articles 8 | 431 | anti-social behaviour, antisocial behaviour, |
| Modern folk devils | Young people | Panics about behaviour of young people are nothing new | Essential Articles 8 | 433 | anti-social behaviour, antisocial behaviour, |
| My 16-year-old wants to leave school to get a job | Young people | Advice on a dilemma | Essential Articles 8 | 436 | parents |
| To catch a thief | Young people | When well behaved children start stealing, parents must find out what’s behind it | Essential Articles 8 | 437 | |
| Boy of 17 blows £12,000 with his dad’s credit card | Young people | A teenager who went on a four day spending spree is unrepentant | Essential Articles 8 | 438 | spending |
| Where children come cheap | Young people | Millions of under 16s have jobs, yet accidents and exploitation go unchecked | Essential Articles 8 | 440 | |
| Internet games have taken over our son’s life | Young people | What should parents do about a computer obsessed 19-year-old? | Essential Articles 8 | 442 | |
| Teen spirit | Young people | Toby Ott had difficulty finding work experience. But the employers who called him a health and safety hazard had better watch out | Essential Articles 8 | 443 | blind, blindness, disability |
| The kids are all right | Young people | Black adolescents have never had it so good | Essential Articles 8 | 444 |