An animated character will explain the two voting systems which are the subject of the referendum
An advertising campaign to raise awareness of next month’s referendum on how MPs are elected is beginning.
Adverts for TV, radio and newspapers will inform people that “something big” is happening on 5 May, when devolved elections across the UK and council polls in England will also take place.
The ads highlight an Electoral Commission information booklet on the polls being sent to all households.
The referendum is the first UK-wide poll of its kind since 1975.
Voters will be asked whether they want to stick with the current first-past-the-post system for electing MPs or to switch to a different process known as the alternative vote.
The ad campaigns are designed to draw people’s attention to the referendum poll as well as to the forthcoming elections to the Scottish Parliament, the National Assembly of Wales, the Northern Ireland Assembly and to approximately 280 councils across England.
THE REFERENDUM CHOICE
At the moment MPs are elected by the first-past-the-post system, where the candidate getting the most votes in a constituency is elected.
On 5 May all registered UK voters will be able to vote Yes or No on whether to change the way MPs are elected to the Alternative Vote system.
Under the Alternative Vote system, voters rank candidates in their constituency in order of preference.
Anyone getting more than 50% of first-preference votes is elected.
If no-one gets 50% of votes, the candidate with the fewest votes is eliminated and their backers’ second choices allocated to those remaining.
This process continues until one candidate has at least 50% of all votes in that round.
Vote 2011: Full list of elections Vote 2011: Guide to 5 May polls Q&A: alternative vote referendum
The ads focus on the election watchdog’s information booklets, which will be posted to 27.8 million UK households from Friday.
Details in the booklets – drawn up with the help of academics and “plain language experts” – include descriptions of the two electoral systems that voters must choose between, the referendum question being posed and details of how to vote in all the elections.
The ads also give details of a website – www.aboutmyvote.co.uk – where the information can be accessed.
The watchdog is spending £6m on its information campaign ahead of the elections, the most significant test of public opinion since last year’s general election.
BBC political correspondent Adam Fleming said the Electoral Commission had conceded that the country was not well-informed about the choice facing it in the referendum.
As part of its efforts to inform voters about the choice facing them, the watchdog will release an animated video which will feature a character called Victor explaining the two voting systems.
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
Initially the fund will target the poorest performing schools
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Education charity the Sutton Trust is to oversee a new US-style endowment fund to help England’s most disadvantaged children succeed.
It will work with another charity, the Impetus Trust, to manage the £125m government-backed Education Endowment Fund.
Based on Barack Obama’s Race to the Top programme, the fund will offer cash for innovative ways of boosting grades such as summer schools.
All funded projects will be evaluated.
The Sutton Trust is the lead partner in the fund and will set up a separate charity to make government grants, worth a total of £125m over 10 years.
The grants will go to projects using “bold and innovative methods” for boosting the attainment of disadvantaged pupils.
It will welcome bids from a range of groups including teachers, charities, local authorities, social enterprises, public sector organisations and co-operatives.
“Summer schools, not just for university entry, but summer schools in general may be a possibility”
Sir Peter Lampl Sutton Trust chairman
Underperforming schools will also be able to bid for funds.
Education secretary Michael Gove said it was unacceptable that just 40 pupils out of 80,000 on free school meals made it into Oxbridge last year.
“Opportunity must become more equal,” he said. “This is why we must press ahead with our reforms and focus resources on improving the education of the poorest children.”
Sir Peter Lampl, chairman of the Sutton Trust and chairman of the new fund, said it was an unprecedented opportunity to create a lasting legacy to improve the life chances of the country’s most disadvantaged children.
He said he was sure it would uncover highly cost-effective and innovative projects that would influence the way billions of public money was spent on supporting such children.
He also said the Sutton Trust, which has been a vocal critic of the impact of the government’s tuition fee policy, would remain completely independent of government.
“We will continue to fund research and take positions that may or may not agree with the government,” he said.
Of the projects that are likely to be funded, he said: “There may be some things that have been tried that are no longer in operation that should be tried again.
“What we are looking at is cost-effectiveness. Summer schools, not just for university entry, but summer schools in general may be a possibility.”
Another possibility was private tuition carried out one-to-one or in small groups, he said.
Selection criteria for bids will be unveiled in the early summer when the new charity is officially launched – and the first round of grants will be made in the autumn.
For the first two years, applications will only be accepted from, or in partnership with, underperforming primary and secondary schools in England.
Grants will aim to raise the attainment of the poorest children, those eligible for free school meals
The Sutton Trust said it envisaged that as much as £200m would be allocated in total over the lifetime of the programme – with the extra money coming from fund-raising and investment returns.
Daniela Barone Soares, chief executive of Impetus Trust, said: “We are thrilled to be one of the drivers behind an investment of this scale with such potential to make a real difference for disadvantaged children.
“The gap in attainment between disadvantaged children and their better-off peers results in an impoverished society, and has existed for far too long.”
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
Prince William talked about his job, colleagues and pre-wedding preparations in a media interview
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Prince William has spoken of his pride in his sometimes “hairy” work as an RAF rescue helicopter pilot and the debt he owes to his “family in the sky”.
The prince was speaking as his grandmother, The Queen, prepares to visit his base, RAF Valley on Anglesey.
The prince has completed more than 12 missions so far with search and rescue colleagues.
He also revealed nerves at his impending wedding at London’s Westminster Abbey on 29 April.
He is due to marry long-term girlfriend Kate Middleton.
The demands of the job and the skills involved were immediately apparent to Prince William on assuming duty, he said.
“It definitely is advanced flying and it’s rewarding – put the two together and it’s a fantastic job.
“With the team environment there is in the cockpit, it’s very much a big family in the sky and the guys do a fantastic job”
Prince William
“Everyday you come into work and don’t know what’s going to happen, it’s quite exciting in that sense.
“It’s unpredictable but at the same time, it’s great to get to go out to save somebody’s life hopefully or at least make a difference to someone and when you know that they are in trouble you do everything you can to try and get there.”
He said he had always worked hard to prove he was in post on his own merits, rather than because of his royal status.
“I wouldn’t want to be here for any other reason other than that I’ve proved myself and I can do the job,” he said.
Prince William says there is still ‘a lot’ to do in preparing for his wedding
And he credited his colleagues with welcoming him into the ranks.
“I’m incredibly proud to be among the search and rescue guys and very privileged to be flying with some of the best pilots in the world,” he said.
“It’s a team effort and I’ve got here through help from everyone and we all help each other.
“With the team environment there is in the cockpit, it’s very much a big family in the sky and the guys do a fantastic job.”
But he said the technical demands of the job can make it “emotional” and “demanding” at times, especially when flying at night through the mountains of Snowdonia, when winds are high and visibility is poor.
And he joked: “It can get very hairy especially when you’ve got somebody like me at the controls.”
The prince said he “loved” being on Anglesey where he is pretty much left alone “to knuckle down to the job” by the locals.
And he admitted “the whole thing” of his wedding is already giving him sleepless nights.
“I did a rehearsal the other day and my knees started tapping quite nervously, so it’s a daunting prospect and very exciting but there’s a lot of planning still to be done in the last four weeks.”
He would not be drawn on the finer details of the stag do his brother, Prince Harry, organised recently, only crediting him with pulling off a “military operation” and saying he was pleased with how it went.
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
For many people, lorry legend Edward Stobart changed the face of freight and built up one of Britain’s biggest brands. But how did he create such a phenomenon?
Stop someone in the street and ask them to name a road haulage company and it is a safe bet a sizable sum will come up with Eddie Stobart.
Over the past couple of decades the distinctive green and red trucks – each bearing a different woman’s name – have not only become a mainstay of British motorways, but sparked a spotters sensation.
Among some people, mainly children, they gained a cult following – and there was even an animated TV series featuring them.
Today, there are about 2,200 Eddie Stobart trucks on the road and the firm’s official fan club boasts no fewer than 25,000 members.
“It is with great sadness and regret that Stobart Group shares the news that Edward Stobart, son of Eddie Stobart, passed away”
Company statement
Its lucrative merchandise outfit covers everything from model trucks to teddy bears, clothes to chocolate bars, watches to wrapping paper.
So how did the Eddie Stobart brand become such a big thing – and how much of it was down to Edward Stobart?
Freight transport expert Geoff Dossetter says Edward Stobart – who built the local agricultural contracting business started by his father, Eddie, into one of the UK’s largest haulage companies – was undeniably an impressive entrepreneur who operated an efficient business operation.
Having started with eight trucks and 12 employees in 1976, by the turn of the century the fleet had expanded to about 1,000 trucks and 2,000 employees, with depots all over the country.
When he sold it to his brother William and business partner Andrew Tinkler in 2004, it was a multimillion-pound haulage empire.
But Mr Dossetter says the firm was “not the biggest player by a long, long way – nothing like as big as the image”, and what Edward Stobart did so effectively was to “capture the public’s imagination”.
Celebrity Stobart spotters
Jools HollandRonan KeatingShane LynchLee Westwood
Source: Official Stobart fan club
“The problem we have with the industry is people like what is on trucks, but they don’t like trucks. By using colours and naming his vehicles, it humanised the trucks. Perhaps people saw them less as ugly and gigantesque, and more like a kids toy, or a bit of fun.”
Under Edward Stobart’s stewardship, drivers of Stobart trucks also wore collars and ties and were instructed to wave back and honk their horn when signalled by a passer-by.
“He wanted to smarten up the image of truck drivers and the industry – and to his credit, he did,” says Mr Dossetter.
He says Edward Stobart was also savvy in the the way that he recognised there was substance to be made out of promoting the Eddie Stobart brand.
“The company created badges, kids’ spotting kits, it became a big thing. Jools Holland even said he loved Eddie Stobart and spent his time travelling up and down the country spotting trucks!”
If cleaning up the industry’s image was Edward Stobart’s triumph, then giving lorries female names was his masterstroke.
The first was named Twiggy, after the model, and later there was a Tammy and a Dolly, after singers Tammy Wynette and Dolly Parton.
Today, the fleet includes a Laura Abbey, an Angela Rachel and an Elizabeth Jane – with the privilege of naming new lorries being that of official Stobart fan club members, albeit after a three-year wait.
The spotting craze undoubtedly boosted the Stobart brand.
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Fan club member Ben Lord has spotted about 1,000 Stobarts
Active fan club member Ben Lord, 24, who has been a Stobart spotter since he was about 12 years old, says his family used to wile away long motorway journeys trying to spot lorries, and his sister, mother and grandmother have all had trucks with their names on them.
“My nan’s was Beryl Patricia in the late 90s, my mother’s was Glenda Ann and my sister’s truck, Emma Victoria, is still on the roads today.”
He says his family even spent weekends travelling to depots, and he has seen about 1,000 different Stobarts in total. Spotters vary in style, from those that gather fleet numbers or photographs to document the sighting, to those that simply shout “Stobart” when they see a vehicle, he explains.
“Some people might say we are anoraks, most kids my age were into football, sport and going out, but I was into lorryspotting.com.
“I think it started with the whole collectibility thing, the competition. We used to have magazine spot lists. Now there are league tables.”
Mr Lord says Edward Stobart was also a huge inspiration – “an unsung hero in the trucking world” – and one that inspired his career.
“Edward Stobart had created a craze. He made his trucks a household name. It’s down to his idea that I am in business doing what I do today, making models for Stobart and other UK truck companies.”
“Steady Eddie” merchandise has become a very profitable part of the business
So how did such a simple marketing tool – female names and fleet numbers – become such a big phenomena?
Steve Hayes, editor of Trucking magazine, says an off-the-cuff remark by a BBC Radio 2 broadcaster about 10-15 years ago was one of the catalysts.
“It was just a remark on a breakfast show, but it seemed to fire imaginations,” he says.
Glenn Patterson, marketing manager of the fan club, says Eddie Stobart: Trucks & Trailers, on Channel 5, also boosted the fan base.
But branding expert Jonathan Gabay says sometimes the simplest ideas are the best.
“Stobart is not just names, it is the people behind the names. It’s a brand for the people, being driven by the people.”
But he says Eddie Stobart was really “quite exceptional” in what he achieved.
“Very few brands become legend in their own brand lifetime. And this wasn’t the Apple iPad, a cool, technology brand. The idea of a haulage company capturing the imagination is quite remarkable.”
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8.
thelordhatesacoward
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7. hypocritic
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5. terry
We always count Stobarts on motorway journeys, also Norbert Destressangle trucks. Being in the south, Norbert usually wins the count but sometimes Eddie comes out on top! Deep Joy when that happens 🙂
4. Nicthevic
Nice little story, but dear oh dear I don’t expect such poor English on the BBC site. “Wile” away the time? “Phenomona”?Sorry to be critical, but details matter, at least to this sad old individual.
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
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