Dick Costolo, Twitter's chief operating officer, disputes this, arguing that people often use it to search for, say, immediate reactions to product launches.

The settlers were later collectively referred to as the Forefathers; the term Pilgrim fathers was applied to them by Daniel Webster at the Bicentennial celebration (1820).

On May 6th Jacqui Smith, the home secretary, announced that from this autumn the scheme, which until now has applied only to certain non-European folk, would be tried out in Manchester.