Rupert Jones takes a sideways look at the news: June 23

Rupert Jones takes a sideways look at the news: June 23

Murphy's law: Prime minister in waiting Gordon Brown has made it very clear he thinks politics should not be about celebrity, yet that doesn't seem to have stopped him roping in a few well-known names to help promote his child trust funds. This week it emerged that I'm a Celebrity star and "wag" Sheree Murphy was paid £25,000 to plug the funds, while financial guru Alvin Hall has so far been paid £75,000 for his work to promote them, even though Revenue & Customs admits he "has not achieved high levels of recognition in the context of CTF". The figures were obtained by the Liberal Democrats, who accused the government of "wasting millions" on promoting the funds. So far, £14m has been spent, but around a quarter of eligible parents have failed to set up a fund for their offspring.

Going for gold: Another government initiative - its plan to seize money lying in forgotten bank and building society accounts to fund youth clubs and community programmes - also came under fire this week. These "unclaimed assets" could amount to £500m. But Commons Treasury select committee member Michael Fallon says the government appears to want to use this cash to top up national lottery funds after they were raided to help pay for the 2012 Olympics. "In essence, you are robbing people's private bank accounts to pay for Olympics mismanagement," thundered the Tory MP. Labour member George Mudie took the Treasury.....continued below

Advertisement starts

---

---

Advertisement ends

to task for failing to ask the public what they thought the cash should be spent on. "It's their money," he said.

Emissionary position: "Carbon footprint" is very much the buzz phrase of the moment. But how do you work out your personal contribution to global warming? Using a new online calculator (it's at direct.gov.uk/actonCO2), people can work out their own or their household's carbon footprint based on their energy usage, appliances and transport. It then develops a personalised action plan for users, with steps they can take to cut their emissions, says environment secretary David Miliband, who launched the calculator at an eco-friendly internet cafe in London, and last year estimated his own footprint at around five tonnes.

Down the tube: The slow death of the cheque continues, with news this week that London Underground will from July 15 join the growing list of retailers that refuse to accept them as a method of payment. Last week Guardian Money revealed that Argos is to withdraw the facility from all its stores by July 28, while Sainsbury's is reviewing whether it will continue to take them.

Foreign bodies: If our exposé on buy-to-let has been getting you hot under the collar, here's another finding that may prove controversial: one in 12 Londoners (8%) owns a home abroad. By contrast, only one in 50 (2%) of those living in the north of England own a holiday or investment property overseas. Furthermore, more than half of all Londoners have considered moving or buying abroad, while only 25% of people in Wales share this dream, according to new research from Bank of Scotland International. When Brits were asked where they would most like to live in the world, Australia came top, though Yorkshiremen and women apparently fantasise about the wide open spaces of Canada. The most popular European destination was France, closely followed by Spain.