Christopher John Myers

Trust in charities has increased for the third successive year, new research suggests. Two thirds of people trust them, making them the fourth most trusted institution in Britain behind the Armed Forces, Scouts and Guides and the NHS.  The poll of 1000 people, carried out by research consultancy nfpSynergy, shows that 66% of people now trust charities ‘quite a lot’ or ‘a great deal, an increase of 2% on last year and the highest figure for the sector since 2010. The Scouts and Guides have become the second most trusted British institution, overtaking the NHS, despite a 2% drop. The Armed Forces remain the most trusted and have topped the poll since it began in 2003. The nationally representative survey also shows a 9% drop in trust for BBC in the wake of the Jimmy Savile scandal, meaning the organisation falls four places to ninth. Political parties remain the least trusted in the list on 8%, with more than half of people saying they trust them ‘very little’. For fur...

No one to blame for poor Tia Sharp's murder Her mother “avoided the issue”, she lived in a home where drug use was common, social workers were OK about this .. Poor Tia – it seems no one looked out for her and no one in the establishment was to blame for her murder … All the agencies involved have been cleared of any blame in her death by the Merton Safeguarding Children Board Follow us @SW_Londoner More here: http://swlondoner.co.uk/content/16072040-agencies-cleared-any-blame-over-murder-croydon-schoolgirl-tia-sharp

Britain's once mighty Vulcan - our 1950s nuclear deterrent - was the star of the RAF Waddington Air Show last week. It made a great noise and a terrific spectacle, but it's puny by modern standards. Its engines develop 6,500 lbs of thrust each - just SIX PERCENT of the massively powerful GE powerplants in the latest Boeing 777! It's incredible how jet engines have developed - each Concorde motor made 'just' 38,000 lbs. Contrast that with the GE 90 motor's 115,000!  And, get this, the GE engine has been tested at 127,000 lbs, equivalent to almost 20 Vulcan motors! To compare, a B52 - broadly the Vulcan's transatlantic equivalent produces 17,000lbs and each motor of the the latest B1 bomber produces 30,000lbs.  Of course the GE engine has such a huge aperture it's severely limited on top speed, but even so these are impressive statistics that show what extraordinary progress there's been in jet engine development.  Of course the latest high bypa...

Did you catch Bradley Smith’s last lap leap past both Ducatis at the Dutch MotoGp? I missed the move on the BBC – don’t think they caught it – but it meant he finished ninth! His move came after Dovizioso dived underneath team mate Hayden at Assen's chicane forcing him wide. It was just one more thrilling move in what was arguably the most exciting and skilful race of the year. Valentino Rossi claimed his first win since 2010 while Jorge Lorenzo cane fifth, despite a broken collarbone that everyone thought would put him out of the race altogether.   Rossi said after the race, “I’m so happy … but not enough!” Seven-time MotoGP champion Rossi, 34, dominated after taking the lead on lap six. Cal Crutchlow was third after starting from pole for the first time, behind Marc Marquez whose sudden slow-up on the last lap spoiled any chance that Cal had of passing him – he clipped the Italian’s rear wheel as a result.  MotoGP title standings Dani Pedrosa -...

Direct Line is closing its Croydon office as part of a 2,000-strong job axing scheme countrywide. Eighty Croydon IT jobs are going and 164 will be moved to Bromley. It’s a bitter blow for Croydon, for it was here that the business started in 1985 as the first UK insurance company to use the telephone as its main means of communication. Other Direct Line closures are in Manchester and Liverpool.