£1 trillion

The UK national debt.

£711 BILLION

The amount it costs to run the UK each year.

£32.7 BILLION

The cost of the newly announced High Speed 2 (HS2) line between London and Birmingham to open in 2026.

£25.5 BILLION

The total cost of UK exports in 2011.

£12 BILLION 

The current cost of the 2012 Olympics, which was originally estimated to cost £2.37 BILLION.

£187 million

Cost of Hibernian Express fibre laid between London and New York, to be used for high-frequency trading.

2.69 MILLION

The number of unemployed people in the UK (as of January, 2012).

£1 MILLION

The bonus state-owned RBS CEO Stephen Hester received this month, despite RBS missing its lending targets, its share price falling and RBS axing 3,500 jobs.

£241,461

The average cost of a house in the UK (as of January, 2012).

£234,263

The typical cost of raising a child to the age of 21 in London, compared to £218,000 in the rest of the UK.

£26,000

The average UK salary.

310

The number, in tonnes, of gold the Bank of England still has locked away.

35

The number of minutes saved on the journey between London and Birmingham on the proposed HS2 line, compared to the current fastest route.

6th

The UK’s ranking on the IMF’s list of world countries by GDP (after the USA, China, Japan, Germany and France).

6 MILLISECONDS

The length of time the new Hibernian Express fibre will save on a transatlantic trading connection.

About KJGarbutt

My name is Kurtis Garbutt and I am a researcher with an interest and speciality in international development, natural hazards occurrence and monitoring, media analysis and tracking and current affairs I recently left a research position at the British Red Cross where I led a national floods research study aimed at enhancing the voluntary sector’s collective understanding of the needs of flood affected individuals and communities with a view to understanding how they are impacted and how recovery is best supported. My other research at the British Red Cross was focused on issues as broad as climate change and extreme weather, community resilience and vulnerability, UK hazard and risk, and UK healthcare reform. Before working at the British Red Cross I undertook a research masters at the Institute of Hazard, Risk and Resilience (IHRR) at Durham University, which examined the occurrence and impact of natural hazards through the examination of Internet-based news media. Before this I read Geography BSc, also at Durham University.

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