Labour Party
ie initial caps - but lower case for references to the party.
Singular in all cases - Labour is ahead in the polls; The Labour Party is planning a relaunch.
In some countries (eg: Australia) it is the Labor Party - but it is the Israeli Labour Party, the Labour Party in New Zealand and the Socialist Labour Party in Canada.
laid off
Workers are laid off when there is not enough work and they don鈥檛 come in, often unpaid. It鈥檚 not the same as being sacked or made redundant.
Lake District
The only lake in the Lake District with "Lake" in its title is Bassenthwaite Lake. "Mere", as in Windermere, means "lake" - so strictly speaking, it is superfluous to write "Lake Windermere". However, Windermere is also the name of a town so, for clarity鈥檚 sake, include the label to avoid confusion - and omit it only if there is no scope for ambiguity (eg: Hoteliers in the Lake District have renewed their complaints about speedboats on Windermere).
lamp-post
ie hyphenated.
landmine
ie one word.
Land Rover
ie separate words (likewise, Range Rover).
Land鈥檚 End, Cornwall
ie with an apostrophe before the "s".
Lashkar Gah
is a place in Helmand province in southern Afghanistan ie two words.
last/past
The word "last" is correct if you mean "final" (eg: the last three weeks of the Gulf War). For time just gone, you should refer to eg: the past three weeks.
Latin-American names
In Spanish American and European Spanish names, the last of the three names is usually the mother鈥檚 name, which should not be used on its own. So Manuel Echeverria Valdez becomes Mr Echeverria, and not "Mr Valdez". This does not apply to Brazilian/Portuguese names.
Latin names
ie for animals, birds etc. Use italics - and cap the first word only (eg: Corvus corone).
Law Lords
ie initial caps.
lawsuit
is an American term - to be avoided. Use, as appropriate, legal case, prosecuted, sued etc.
lbw
ie lower case, no punctuation.
Legionnaires鈥� disease
ie capped up and with an apostrophe after the "s". But: legionella bacterium.
left-wing, left wing
(Should be hyphenated if used adjectivally; no hyphen if used as a noun). This term can be useful when defining a political party or group in terms of where it stands in relation to others on the political spectrum. However, it should not be used loosely or where the party can more clearly be defined by reference to a specific policy eg: The Green Party, which wants greater protection for the environment鈥�
less/fewer
Use "less" when referring to a quantity rather than a number (eg: The committee is calling for less bureaucracy). Use "fewer" when referring to something you can count (eg: The committee wants to have fewer meetings next year). The same logic applies with percentages and fractions (eg: Less than 30% of the hospital survived the fire and fewer than 30% of the patients were rescued; Fewer than a third of the stores have reopened).
Do not use "no less than" with numbers - say eg: He exceeded the speed limit on no fewer than 12 occasions.
However, ages, heights and weights take "less" eg: Tom Thumb was less than 3ft (91cm) tall; Police say the man is less than 30 years old; She weighs less than seven stone (44.5kg).
level playing field
is a cliche and should be avoided - unless, of course, it is part of a direct quote.
Liberal Party
It still exists - and fights local elections. But there are no longer any Liberal MPs at Westminster. And the "Liberal" tag can never be synonymous with "Liberal Democrat".
Liberal Democrats
Use the full title at first reference. Later, and in headlines, it should be cut to the Lib Dems (but never to "the Liberals").
liberation
Do not describe towns/territory as being "liberated" except in a direct quote - it is a partial word that implies approval.
licence/license
The noun is licence with a "c" (eg: driving licence). The verb is to license with an "s" (eg: licensed to kill).
life sentence
The mandatory sentence for murder is life, so saying in a headline Man jailed for life over toddler murder doesn鈥檛 really tell the reader a great deal. What is more relevant is the tariff - or minimum period they must serve - imposed by the judge. So it is often more helpful to focus on this: Man who murdered mother jailed for 30 years, or Five years for man who killed vicar. But we must distinguish between the sentence and the tariff, and not say Triple killer sentenced to 15 years. When nosing on the tariff, we also need to make clear in the top four pars that it is a life sentence.
light year
ie separate words. It is a measure not of time but of distance (ie the approximate distance travelled by light in one year).
likely
Please avoid the mainly American construction He will likely be charged with the offences next week.
listed buildings
In England and Wales, the grades are I, II* and II. We would say The church is a Grade II listed building. In Northern Ireland, the system is Grade A, Grade B*, Grade B1 and Grade B2. In Scotland, it is Category A, Category B and Category C.
living wage
there are various schemes. To signify the government鈥檚 version, we should cap it as National Living Wage. Also National Minimum Wage takes caps.
尝濒辞测诲蝉/尝濒辞测诲鈥檚
without an apostrophe for the bank (Lloyds) - but with one for the register of shipping (尝濒辞测诲鈥檚).
尝濒辞测诲鈥檚 of London
is an insurance underwriter, an insurance marketplace where insurers come together to underwrite insurance, an insurance giant and/or an insurance hub. But it is not an insurer - it did not, cannot and does not insure anyone or anything - a company, a firm, or a corporation.
Lloyd Webber/Lloyd-Webber
The family name has no hyphen (eg: Julian Lloyd Webber). But Andrew Lloyd Webber became Lord Lloyd-Webber (ie with a hyphen) to take his seat in the Lords.
loathe/loath
The verb "to loathe" means "to hate". "Loath" means "unwilling" (eg: He was loath to leave the comfort of his bed).
Local Democracy Reporting Service
When the main source for a story is copy and quotes supplied by the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS), it should be credited in the same way as a 大象传媒 programme or network - ie through attribution in a key paragraph but not the top line of the story.
For example:
The leader of Mythical Council has stepped down following an expenses row.
John Smith had made the announcement at a full council meeting on Thursday, the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) said.
Londonderry
The city and county are Londonderry. The city should be given the full name at first mention, but may be referred to as Derry at second reference. The local council is Derry City Council.
鈥渓ong Covid鈥�
(ie with quotation marks) at first mention, long Covid (ie without quotation marks)at second reference
long-term, long term
as an adjective, it takes a hyphen (eg: He needs long-term care). But the noun is written as two separate words (eg: He will need care in the long term).
looks like
Use this phrase only to mean "resembles" (eg: She looks like her mother). Do not use it in the American sense of "looks likely" (eg: "It looks like there will be an election"). In this context, say: It looks as if鈥� or It looks likely that鈥�
Lords, House of
As with the Commons - initial caps for the full title, and also when you abbreviate it either to the Lords (eg: The bill was defeated in the Lords) or the House (eg: The lord chancellor told the House of the government鈥檚 plans). But use lower case for the upper house.
尝辞谤诲鈥檚
尝辞谤诲鈥檚 cricket ground has an apostrophe before the "s".
low incomes
Be careful not to make judgments. Individuals may be 鈥�living on a low income鈥� but not 鈥� 鈥渋n poverty鈥� and 鈥�receiving鈥� benefits rather than 鈥渄ependent鈥� on them.
loyalist
(in Northern Ireland) ie lower case (except in the names of organisations).
should not be used as synonymous with unionist. While both want union with Great Britain, the label "loyalist" usually implies support for a degree of extremism in pursuit of that aim. The emphasis should be on political affiliation, not religious.
Lunar New Year
is the festival in China and other parts of Asia, notably South Korea and Vietnam. Chinese New Year should be reserved for references to festivities in China or Chinese communities.