I have a new favourite committee

Sorry, The Committee for Measuring the Attraction of Hills. You are no longer my favourite committee.

Instead, your place in my affection has been taken by The Permanent Committee on Geographical Names for British Official Use, which as aficionados of course know has a writ that spans all the globe except Antarctica. Quite a remit for a body with three permanent staff.

Even if the name does make you love it, including the lovely implication that this is not a mere Temporary Committee upstart, surely your love can be won by discovering its need to issue guidance that tells us “The alphabet of the English language consists of 26 letters; 21 letters representing consonant sounds and 5 letters representing vowel sounds”.