Rishi Sunak may be a maths whiz but he's got another problem on his hands. Plus, read about how TikTok could save you money on your food shop, an inspirational five-year-old who met his local recycling heroes and meet the tortoise who befriended a cheetah.
Good morning and welcome back to Survival Guide, the Big Issue’s newsletter bringing you everything you need to know to make it through the cost of living crisis.
Earlier this week, Rishi Sunak crowed that he had the best economic and social policy anyone could possibly come up with. His answer to the country’s many problems? Maths.
I’ll pause to let you remember the trauma of a² = b² + c² – 2bc cos A. It still haunts me.
Every child in the UK will have to study some form of maths until they get to 18. I’m sure I’m not the only person whose stomach turned at that announcement, as if Sunak was telling me specifically that I was going to be forced into maths lessons to get up to scratch.
The PM gleefully said every opportunity he has had in life began with the education that he was so fortunate to receive. He probably should have added he was head boy at Winchester College, a world-famous boarding school where it currently costs more than £45,000 a year to board.
To be fair, Sunak has a point. Maths is important and the UK lags behind other developed countries. Around half of adults have the expected numeracy levels of a primary school leaver.
But will these big plans for more maths fix anything? Charities told me that forcing kids to do maths until they are adults could actually set them up to fail. And once again, it will be disadvantaged kids who struggle the most.
Maybe Sunak should be focusing on making sure children have enough to eat instead. There’s a puzzle which needs to be solved if we really want to make the most of our maths skills.
Here’s everything else you need to know this week, including some possible solutions which the PM might want to prioritise instead...
