Crisps: a very British habit

One of many production lines in a Walkers crisp factory. Photograph: PR company handout In an unremarkable suburb of Leicester called Beaumont Leys is a big factory – or actually two, side by side. But let’s not split hairs already. The point is that it’s big; a winding 10-minute march from reception round to the delivery... [Read More...]

Champion slimmers: What happened next?

‘One day I came home from school,’ says Linda Whalley, ‘and I’d got chips, pudding, gravy and, because I was on a diet, we didn’t have the peas.’ Photograph: Rob Murray for the Guardian Linda Whalley is watching a video of her old self with a protective hand in front of her eyes. She can hardly... [Read More...]

Unison goes to court to block planned NHS shake-up

The Unison union will go to court to try to block the government’s proposed NHS reforms. Photograph: Cate Gillon/Getty Images The public sector union Unison today said it would go to court to try to block the coalition government’s plans for a radical reorganisation of the NHS. The union is applying for a judicial review... [Read More...]

Are you ready for a world without antibiotics?

Streptococcus pyrogens bacteria. Photograph: S Lowry/University of Ulster/Getty Images Just 65 years ago, David Livermore’s paternal grandmother died following an operation to remove her appendix. It didn’t go well, but it was not the surgery that killed her. She succumbed to a series of infections that the pre-penicillin... [Read More...]