Issue 756

October 19 - 25, 2009

Red letter day
As the postal workers’ ‘suicidal’ national strike looms, our special report asks if the Royal Mail is facing its last post, and we talk to a demoralised workforce who say they are fighting to save Britain’s first-class service from management

Wet gold
With global water shortages predicted for within the next few decades, could Scotland’s rainfall prove her fortune? Author Alexander Bell maps out how to exploit the nation’s newest resource

No fun being a child genius
As two-year-old Oscar Wrigley is likened to Einstein, experts warn that parents’ obsession with children’s IQ is damaging, and say kids must be allowed to be kids.

Let’s get serious
Comedy duo Armstrong and Miller reveal that falling out was the kickstart their career needed and say that getting laughs in ‘Puritanical’ Britain is getting harder