The Week That Was: 30 October 2011

Is any one of the (nearly) seven billion of us getting on right now? Whether you follow the money markets, keep an eye on Westminster, or just disagree with your other half over whether X Factor is better or worse this year, disagreements have been high on the agenda over the past seven days. For David Cameron at least, the week didn't get off to the best of starts with his backbenchers in revolt over Europe - even if he finally got the vote he needed to stave off that referendum decision for another day.

Is any one of the (nearly) seven billion of us getting on right now? Whether you follow the money markets, keep an eye on Westminster, or just disagree with your other half over whether X Factor is better or worse this year, disagreements have been high on the agenda over the past seven days.

For David Cameron at least, the week didn't get off to the best of starts with his backbenchers in revolt over Europe - even if he finally got the vote he needed to stave off that referendum decision for another day. And while we argued at home about Europe, those who run it came to a decision on the Eurozone financial crisis that satisfied just about no-one. (If you're still unclear about Wednesday night's deal, market analyst Michael Hewson explains it in layman's terms in his blog.

From the financial lows of the Eurozone crisis to the highs of the FTSE 100's highly paid directors. According to the latest figures, this group of select executives have enjoyed pay hikes averaging 49% over the past year. Or, more accurately if we're going to quibble, the fat cats saw overall take-home pay going up by that much thanks to bonuses and incentives, while basic salaries stayed around the same. No matter how you cut that, it's unlikely their employees will be seeing the silver lining.

Industrial disputes, headline-worthy at the best of times, reached extraordinary levels yesterday with Australian airline Qantas grounding its entire fleet following a breakdown in communications with three unions that represent a large number of its staff. The cost of that dispute? £13 million per day... and that's just how much Qantas can look forward to knocking off its profit line. Wider implications are inevitable.

Even in the normally harmonious environment of the church, there were fallings out this week, with Reverend Giles Fraser resigning over plans to move the Occupy London protestors away from St Paul's.

From new arguments, to those that come round time and time again, it's October which means... it's definitely time to debate daylight saving time. Again. I'm suggesting to my team we save this year's report and recycle it in twelve months' time, when everyone starts talking about the idea again.

Given it's the weekend, we can't escape the omnipresent X Factor debate. At the time of writing, I have no idea what shenanigans will kick off on Saturday night's show, although early reports suggest Kelly Rowland's not turning up at all thanks to a row with fellow judge Tulisa. Or maybe it is just a throat infection. Or maybe it's just all a publicity stunt.

One argument finally solved, albeit 400 years too late, was that of female succession to the throne. If Catherine and Wills have a baby girl first, she would now be in line to inherit the crown, no matter how many little brothers followed. Cameron announced the change while in Perth, Australia, although for it to become binding, he'll need the agreement of all 16 Commonwealth "realms" - the UK, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Jamaica, Antigua and Barbuda, the Bahamas, Barbados, Grenada, Belize, St Christopher and Nevis, St Lucia, the Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, St Vincent and the Grenadines and Papua New Guinea. Let's hope everyone's feeling harmonious when it comes round to signing the paperwork.

And in amidst all this turmoil, what had people really arguing in the HuffPost UK office this week? Which films should make our top ten list for Halloween. See if your favourites made the cut, right here and if you disagree with any of the selection, which seems somewhat inevitable in the current climate, let me know in the comments box below.

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