In this episode of my decade-long quest to correct popular British misconceptions, I wish to turn to one of my most geeky obsessions: trains. In particular, I would like to address a particularly British obsession, which many take as a signal of the lapse of British know-how from its mid-Empire industrial-revolution heights.

This is, of course, ‘leaves on the line‘. Why – demand the British public – must timetables run five to ten minutes slower when there are more leaves on the ground? Why do no other modern countries suffer from these ills? And why does the railway take no action over this commuting scourge?

Throughout the pandemic, the statistics on division of childcare and home-schooling responsibilities have been shocking: mothers are taking on 150% more homeschooling than fathers (1), while 71% of working mothers’ furlough applications were rejected (2).  A third of working mothers reported having lost  some or all work due to a lack of childcare during the pandemic, with this figure rising to 44% for  BAME mothers. On top of this, 90% of the UK’s 2 million single parents are women (3). These unequal divisions are threatening to undo decades of progress towards gender equality.

In April 2019, the pay gap between men and women in the UK was 17.3% (4), and at the current rate of gender pay gap reduction, the gap will not be closed until 2052 (5).  The causes of this gap continue to be unequal caring responsibilities,  more women in low-paid work and (illegal) discrimination. BAME women are also subject to the ethnicity pay gap.  While this varies regionally and by ethnicity, in London in 2018 the overall figure was 23% (6).