EDITION 723
23 JULY 2018

As another week slips by, here are 10 things which caught my attention and may have escaped yours. This newsletter is sent to more than 50,000 subscribers each Monday morning. Please share on social media and forward to your colleagues and friends so they can subscribe, learn and engage. I'd be very grateful if you did.

1. How to fuel your team’s curiosity. It can be hard to find time for reflection and thoughtful conversation at the office, but work is more rewarding when it involves some level of discovery. Here are a few tips to encourage your team’s desire to learn: [MORE]
    
2. Labour into lead with voters losing faith in Theresa May. Labour has taken a lead over the Tories for the first time since March, according to a poll by YouGov, with the parties now on 41% and 36% respectively – the first indication that the row over the Chequers Brexit plan has damaged the Tory party. 43% of voters now think Theresa May should stand down, up from 32% in November. Only 13% think the Government is negotiating Brexit well; 75% think it is handling it badly. The Times
    
3. App to tell users how much coffee they really need. Research by the US Army show that reaction times in the sleep-deprived can be up to 40 per cent slower than normal and a third of Britons sleep for only five to six hours a night. The algorithm suggests that someone who had five hours’ sleep and woke at 6am should have their first cup of coffee at 7am and a second at 9am to reach peak performance for the rest of the day. The app should be available to download in three months. Daily Mail
    
4. Poll shows backing for Boris and far-right policies. A new poll found that the public believes Boris Johnson is better placed than Theresa May to negotiate with Brussels and lead the Tories into the next general election. The YouGov research also found that about 38% would vote for a new right-wing party that was committed to Brexit, while 24% are prepared to support a far-right anti-immigrant, anti-Islam party. BBC
    
5. From inmate to checkmate. Having seen the transformative affect chess can have on children at deprived schools, Chess in Schools is extending its mission to Britain’s prisons, starting with a pilot scheme at HMPs Isis and Wandsworth. At Isis, a young offender institution in southeast London, the first session was over-subscribed, so dozens of inmates watched it through the library window. The Guardian
    
6. Lidl bottom of recyclable packaging survey. Which? said that of 27 own-brand items at 10 big supermarkets, Lidl had the lowest proportion of easily recyclable packaging at 71 per cent. The consumer group also said that up to a third of plastic packaging used in supermarkets is either difficult to recycle or not recyclable at all. The best performer was Morrisons with easily recyclable packaging for 81 per cent of its tested products. The Independent
    
7. Rates rise in doubt as inflation stays at 2.4%. The chances of a rise in interest rates next month have "dipped" after British inflation remained at a one-year low last month. Data from the Office for National Statistics showed the consumer price index remained unchanged at 2.4% from the previous month. The falling cost of computer games and the summer sales offset increases in the cost of gas, electricity and petrol. The Guardian
    
8. Over 70,000 children prescribed antidepressants last year. Tens of thousands of children are being given antidepressants. The prescriptions were made despite warnings that the pills may harm developing brains with little benefit for the youngsters. NHS data shows that one in six adults in England used antidepressants during 2017 — an increase of almost half a million since 2015. The figures include almost 2,000 children of primary school age. The Times
    
9. A really good read. Damaged Goods by Oliver Shah. Shah’s detailed and entertaining dismantling of the ‘king of the high street’, Philip Green, is a damning account of hubris. An expletive-ridden account of a man who spent a lifetime ruthlessly trying to avoid being on the wrong end of any deal. Editor
    
10. The bottom line. The amount Britons are expected to spend on avocados this year is expected to surpass £180m. The high demand for the hipster’s favourite lunch is reshaping the landscape of Kenya, as farmers who switch crops see their incomes soar. The Telegraph