It appears that Mr Fox may have been getting and seeking private advice paid for by political sympathisers without the restraints placed on political advisers who work within the civil service and are paid for by the taxpayer - the political equivalent of the banks' "off balance sheet" activity.

BBC: Liam Fox claims to be hate campaign victim

With advances in measuring physical activity levels, we have discovered, to our horror, that 95% of the UK population are not even doing the minimum recommended amounts of physical activity to confer even basic health benefits (30 minutes' moderate to vigorous physical activity on at least five days a week - or the equivalent).

BBC: Laziness will send us to an early grave

The ONS measures construction output from the activity of business in Britain, not including Northern Ireland, which conducts its own equivalent survey.

BBC: Cranes in London

In the U.S., Chevron saw net oil equivalent production slide 11, 000 barrels per day to 663 million barrels as a consequence of increased maintenance activity in the Gulf of Mexico.

FORBES: Chevron's Production And Refining Down While Brazil Authorizes Ultra-Deepwater Drilling Again

The Chicago purchasing managers index startled markets on November 27th by surging from 45.9 in October to 54.3 in November. (Any reading over 50 suggests that manufacturing activity is expanding, while a reading of less than 50 suggests recession.) Unfortunately, the equivalent national numbers, released on December 2nd, showed a less perky jump from 48.5 in October to 49.2 in November, leaving it in recession for the third consecutive month (see chart).

ECONOMIST: Is America's remarkably resilient economy over the worst?