A week after I mentioned it, the Guardian has noticed that the DTI has stopped collecting the “home accident surveillance system” statistics, which track how Brits hurt themselves. This is not only a major loss for journalists seeking cheap gags, but has dismayed people who deal with the prevention of accidents:

The Hass data has been the source of media stories about the numbers of people who injure themselves putting on their socks, or reaching for the television remote control. But experts say the figures have played a key role in safety improvements in products such as electric lawnmowers and barbecues.

One a related note, Lord David Sainsbury, the DTI minister and former chairman of a well-known supermarket chain who has described corned-beef tins as one of his “real areas of expertise,” accounted for nearly half of the Labour Party’s donations in the first quarter of 2003 with a £2.5 million gift. Most of the newspapers, however, focused on the £50,000 cheque from X-man and starship captain Patrick Stewart.