When was the last genuine royal tour of Nigeria?

Royal welcomes

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex visited Nigeria last week. When was the last genuine royal tour of that country?

– The late Queen made a 20-day visit in 1956, four years before Nigeria’s independence. She went for three days in 2003 when she opened the Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting.
– The then Prince Charles visited in 2018, when he joined a Peacebuilding and Interfaith Engagement, laid a wreath at the Commonwealth War Graves memorial in Abuja and attended a talk on poultry-rearing.

Faith in politics

A Liberal Democrat candidate in Sutton and Cheam has been deselected allegedly because of his Christian faith. How do religious groups tend to vote? A study from 2019 suggests the following:

– LibDems are most popular among Buddhists (15% of whom thought of themselves as Liberal Democrats in 2019) and Baptists (12%); least popular among Muslims (4%), Pentecostalists (5%) and Jews (6%).
– Conservatives are most popular among Jews (44%) and Anglicans (40%); least popular among Muslims (6%) and Buddhists (14%).
– Labour is most popular among Muslims (53% ) and Pentecostalists (34%); least popular among Jews (14%) and the United Reformed Church (15%).

Source: www.brin.ac.uk

Bring up the bodies

How many deaths get reported to the coroner?

– In 2023, 195,000 deaths were reported, 34% of the total number, the lowest proportion since 1995.
– In 86,000 cases the coroner requested a post-mortem examination.
– 492 of the deaths were in state detention.
– 4,600 were related to drugs or alcohol.
– 9,700 were caused by accidents or misadventure.

Source: Ministry of Justice

Slave trade

Who gets referred to the Home Office as a potential victim of modern slavery?

– In the first three months of 2024, 4,524 people were referred, a 5% decrease on the same quarter of 2023.
– 73% were male.
– 32% were children.
– 24% were UK nationals.
– 589 referrals were in London.
– 47% said that they had been exploited exclusively within Britain.