 | More Or Less Monday, 12 May, 2008 BBC Radio 4, 1630 BST
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We discard a third of the food we buy, according to the anti-waste organisation WRAP. Can it be true? Plus, how reliable are internet polls? Food waste "I'm sceptical about figures being quoted on the Independent [newspaper] website," wrote More or Less listener, David Bradford. "Their story says 550,000 chickens are thrown away every day. How statistically reliable is the report they are quoting from?" We looked at the numbers behind the original report from the anti-waste organisation, WRAP, and at the reports of the report. Internet polling When the result of the recent London mayoral elections were announced, Boris Johnson was generous in victory and Ken Livingstone was gracious in defeat. But behind the scenes another battle was still being fought on less cordial terms: between the pollsters. A relative newcomer, internet pollster YouGov, had correctly predicted the exact percentage of the vote achieved by the two leading candidates. Their more established rivals, who still use telephone polls, had not. A poll by market research company, Ipsos/MORI, even suggested that Ken Livingstone would win. | READ POLLING REPORTS
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But head of ICM Research, Nick Sparrow, still believes that telephone polls tend to give more accurate results than internet polls. He says he has tested internet polling and found it to be inaccurate when compared with telephone polls. Peter Kellner, president of YouGov, defended the use of the internet and says it is time to abandon the telephone poll. Electoral fraud rumours Over 400,000 votes were rejected during the count for the London mayoral election. "400,000 votes spoilt! Was Robert Mugabe in London on Thursday night?" asked someone posting on the BNP's website. Matt Bright, head of communications at London Elects, explained why nothing fishy was really going on. The truth is that many voters just did not bother to use their second preference. CCTV Is CCTV failing to cut crime?  Does CCTV help solve crime? |
A senior police officer says the system is an "utter fiasco" - solving only 3% of London's street robberies. More or Less reporter Ruth Alexander took a closer look at the evidence. She set out to find how many investigations are solved using CCTV footage nationally, and what evidence there is that cameras prevent crime. She spoke to the Association of Chief Police Officers' spokesperson on CCTV, the Deputy Chief Constable of Cheshire Graeme Gerrard, and also Professor Martin Gill, who has carried out an evaluation of CCTV for the Home Office. BBC Radio 4's More or Less was broadcast on Monday, 12 May, 2008 at 1630 BST.
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