Latest news with #PolloftheWeek
Yahoo
20-05-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Should 10mph speed limits be introduced around schools and hospitals? Have your say
Yahoo UK's poll of the week lets you vote and indicate your strength of feeling on one of the week's hot topics. After the poll closes, we'll publish and analyse the results each Friday, giving readers the chance to see how polarising a topic has become and if their view chimes with other Yahoo UK readers. A road safety charity has proposed reducing speed limits to 10mph around schools and hospitals. The proposal was put forward in a report last week by the Road Safety Foundation, which said a 10mph limit at those locations and near major sports and cultural events would help avoid most deaths and life-changing injuries. It said schools and hospitals were areas where "there is a particular prevalence of pedestrians" and a "heightened vulnerability of pedestrians to impact and injury". Road Safety Foundation executive director, Dr Suzy Chapman, told The Times newspaper: 'We are not saying that all speeds or speed limits should be set to these speeds, rather that infrastructure needs to be improved or speeds reduced to ensure travelled speeds are better aligned with human tolerances to crash forces.' The report was criticised by the Alliance of British Drivers, who called the 10mph speed limit idea "so ridiculous it is simply laughable". In a YouGov poll published this week after the Road Safety Foundation report, 40% of the 4,000 adults surveyed said they would support a 10mph speed limit on some roads in cities with a high number of pedestrians, cyclists and motorcyclists. A slim majority - 52% - were opposed to the idea. In September 2023, 20mph default speed limits on mostly urban roads were introduced in Wales, sparking a backlash that has led to a review of the government's policy. A number of roads, including those in the capital Cardiff, will revert back to 30mph speed limits. In a report published in January, the Welsh government said there had been about 100 fewer people killed or seriously injured as a result of the 20mph policy. But what do you think? Would you like to see 10mph speed limits near schools and hospitals? Let us know in the poll below:Come back on Friday to read the results and analysis via the link below. Read more of Yahoo UK's Poll of the Week articles
Yahoo
29-04-2025
- Climate
- Yahoo
How prepared do you feel for a major power outage? Have your say
Yahoo UK's poll of the week lets you vote and indicate your strength of feeling on one of the week's hot topics. After the poll closes, we'll publish and analyse the results each Friday, giving readers the chance to see how polarising a topic has become and if their view chimes with other Yahoo UK readers. Millions of people in Spain and Portugal were affected by a huge power outage this week. The blackout brought airports and rail networks in the two countries to a standstill, and left homes without power and many commuters no choice but to sleep in transport hubs. The fallout from the power cuts is well underway, as authorities there try to establish what caused the network to fail so drastically. There are also concerns that such a failure could occur in the UK, with the government here trying to reassure the public that the infrastructure is set up to prevent such an outcome. Asked about fears of a similar event in the UK, home secretary Yvette Cooper told Sky News: 'We've been looking, as part of wider security reviews across the country, how we deal with both resilience and also different kinds of challenges and threats." Last month, a power outage caused a substation fire that brought operations at Heathrow Airport outside London to a standstill, disrupting more than 270,000 passenger journeys in the process. In January, the UK's power grid operator, the National Energy System Operator (Neso), called for electricity providers to boost their output to avoid the risk of blackouts. It was concerned about the lack of spare capacity in the grid from 4pm until 7pm on 8 January. In August 2019, one of the UK's biggest blackouts left more than one million homes without power and caused disruption across rail networks and at airports. The blackout, affecting England, Scotland and Wales and lasting 45 minutes, happened after outages at the gas-fired Little Barford plant and the Hornsea offshore wind farm. According to the government, the UK has a "resilient electricity system" and most power cuts don't last for long, although widespread regional outages lasting several days can happen, but are "unlikely" nationally. It advises people to keep a battery-operated torch and radio at home with spare batteries in the event of a power cut, and to have some bottled water or food that doesn't need cooking in their household. The number to use to report a power cut in England, Scotland and Wales is 105. But do you think you are ready if there is a major power cut in the UK? Let us know in the polls below:Come back on Friday to read the results and analysis via the link below. Read more of Yahoo UK's Poll of the Week articles
Yahoo
01-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Is the TV licence fee worth the money? Have your say
Yahoo UK's poll of the week lets you vote and indicate your strength of feeling on one of the week's hot topics. After the poll closes, we'll publish and analyse the results each Friday, giving readers the chance to see how polarising a topic has become and if their view chimes with other Yahoo UK readers. The cost of a TV licence has increased from Tuesday, giving Britons another reason to consider if it really is worth the money. The price of a standard collar TV licence has risen by £5, from £169.50 to £174.50 a year, a jump of almost 3%. It is just another price increase that forms part of what consumer groups are calling "awful April", with energy prices, water bills and council tax among the costs to rise today. The licence fee has long been the subject of heated debate over how much value for money it provides, an argument that continues to rage given the rise of streaming services. Those who wish to keep the TV licence see it as a way of guaranteeing access to all BBC programming, either on television or on iPlayer, but its detractors say that in the age of widespread streaming that the licence fee is rendered obsolete. Last July, prime minister Keir Starmer ruled out changing how the BBC is funded until at least 2027, with reports suggesting it could be scrapped at that point. However, culture secretary Lisa Nandy ruled out funding the BBC from general taxation if the licence fee is abolished. She said in January that the licence fee was "deeply regressive" and that she was thinking "quite radically and creatively" about alternative solutions. She refused to rule out a future subscription model for the BBC and said: "I think there is a genuine sense out there in the public that the licence fee was built for a different era." Do you think the TV licence is worth its fee? And what do you think about the BBC? Let us know in the polls below:A TV licence allows viewers to watch or record live TV on any channel or service and use BBC iPlayer, but you don't need a licence to watch streaming services such as Netflix, Disney+ or Amazon Prime Video, or websites such as YouTube. If you only watch catch-up TV, you don't have to pay for a TV licence unless you're watching iPlayer. Come back on Friday to read the results and analysis via the link below. Read more of Yahoo UK's Poll of the Week articles
Yahoo
04-02-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Would you recycle more if you got cash back in return? Have your say
Yahoo UK's poll of the week lets you vote and indicate your strength of feeling on one of the week's hot topics. After the poll closes, we'll publish and analyse the results each Friday, giving readers the chance to see how polarising a topic has become and if their view chimes with other Yahoo UK readers. The government is gearing up for a bottle-return scheme which would see Britons receive a refund for recycling their containers. Legislation paving the way for the deposit return scheme for drinks containers came into force last week ahead of its scheduled launch in October 2027. The initiative will see the UK emulate countries such as Germany, Sweden and Ireland, where consumers are charged a deposit when buying a plastic, steel or aluminium container - but then get the money back when bring it to a recycling collection point. New laws were introduced to enable the appointment of a body in April to manage the scheme, which ministers hope will reduce litter and protect wildlife across England and Northern Ireland. Scotland is expected to align its own scheme to match, while Wales pulled out of the plan last year, insisting that glass should be part of the programme. Environment minister Mary Creagh said: 'This government will clean up Britain and end the throwaway society. 'This is a vital step as we stop the avalanche of rubbish that is filling up our streets, rivers and oceans and protect our treasured wildlife." However, the Conservative Party warned that the scheme will push up the price of a weekly shop and damage businesses. At the weekend, Ireland reported that its deposit return scheme had led to the recycling of more than 980 million containers in its first year, with about 84% of the population taking part. But the government said such schemes are now operating in more than 50 countries and yield results. According to the non-profit organisation Reloop, the average return rate among European countries was 90%, with Germany leading the way on 98%. The government said that in England, Northern Ireland and Scotland, consumers buy about 30 billion single-use drinks containers a year, and that 6.5 billion single-use drinks bottles and cans go to waste rather than being recycled. Should people be paid to recycle? Do you think people will recycle more if paid a small fee? Have your say and your comment may be featured in our results article on Friday. Come back on Friday to read the results and analysis via the link below. Read more of Yahoo UK's Poll of the Week articles
Yahoo
28-01-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
How often should councils collect rubbish? Have your say
Yahoo UK's poll of the week lets you vote and indicate your strength of feeling on one of the week's hot topics. After the poll closes, we'll publish and analyse the results each Friday, giving readers the chance to see how polarising a topic has become and if their view chimes with other Yahoo UK readers. Bristol could become the first city in England to only collect household black bin rubbish every four weeks. The Green Party-led council says too many people are putting waste that could be recycled into their black, non-recyclables only bins, and hopes to save more than £2m a year with the proposed change. The amount of waste Bristol City recycles has more than tripled in the past two decades, its council says, with about 45% of household waste collected as rubbish being recycled - putting it high on the league table compared to other cities. However, in more recent years, this rate has stalled, which the council is hoping to address by discouraging people from using their black bins incorrectly. "We are still someway behind meeting the national target of achieving 65% recycling by 2035," the council says in a consultation launched on Monday. "Our local analysis suggests that up to half of what is currently being thrown by households into their black non-recyclable bin is material that can be recycled." Residents and the council's political opponents have raised concerns that the move could result in more non-recyclable rubbish being fly-tipped, although the council says it has seen no evidence of that happening in areas that have switched to three-weekly collections. An online petition calling on the council to scrap the plans, started by the Bristol Labour Party, has fetched more than 4,000 signatures so far. It says missed bin collections are a problem that should be resolved first, and that the council also proposing a 15% rise in council tax – adding £245 to the bills of the average household, means "Bristolians shouldn't have to pay more and get less". Bristol City Council's consultation asks residents if they would prefer moving to a three-week or four-week pattern for black bin collections, or if it should remain unchanged at every two weeks. It will run for six weeks, after which, the local authority hopes to make a decision by spring. But what do you think? How often should councils be collecting household rubbish, and is it being collected often enough where you live? Let us know in the polls below. How often is your household waste bin collected? Is it frequent enough? Would you pay more council tax to ensure it was collected weekly? Tell us why you voted the way you did and we may feature your comment in our results article on Friday. Come back on Friday to read the results and analysis via the link below. Read more of Yahoo UK's Poll of the Week articles
