When Ryanair is more trustworthy than the Scottish Government

IT SAYS EVERYTHING about our Scottish Government that Ryanair – that most outspoken, avaricious and horrendous model for customer relations – is to be believed before the democratic manifestation of the people.

Avoid Brino and reach for the Andrews Liver Salts

SO FAR THIS YEAR we have been going round in circles. Or to put it another way, nothing has happened to render the UK’s departure from the EU more tractable. 

Ludwig Wittgenstein famously ...

I raise my glass to Elon Musk

LAST WEEK, I mentioned Elon Musk’s deep pessimism about the impact of artificial intelligence on the human race. I don’t share that pessimism, but it seems to be one of the key motivators of this ...

Artificial Intelligence: will it be a blessing or curse?

FOR DECADES, writers and filmmakers have imagined a world in which computers and robots have advanced to a stage where they are, at least in some respects, more capable than their creators. Science fiction allows ...

How certainty can breed intolerance

CERTAINTY IS USUALLY thought of as a virtue, and we often regard those who lack firm views on an issue as indecisive or weak. In fact, it can be a mixed blessing, with a refusal to ...

Stop the meddling, cut VAT and provide the confidence to grow

FEW POLITICIANS understand the undercurrents of fiscal policy. They react largely to a public clamour about “tax and spend” which interprets fiscal policy choices as levers to produce instantaneous results.

As is ...

Hype and reality

IT'S NOT OFTEN that I get an opportunity to quote Private Eye, but here goes. In a column by ‘Old Sparky’ (issue 1462), under the headline ‘Real food for thought’ is a critique of the ...

Changing energy sources is inevitable but technology can make it attractive

ANYONE WHO EXPERIENCED the oil crises of the ‘70s and ‘80s will remember Sheikh Yamani, Saudi oil minister and leader of the then dominant OPEC cartel in the days when oil was cheap and America ...

Scottish Government Brexit paper reveals its economic prejudices

THE OTHER DAY, the Today programme had a go at asking “why there were so few right-wing comedians”.  I say “had a go” because it was surreal.  A supposedly right-wing comedian was brought in to ...

No longer fantastic plastic?

IN TODAY’S WORLD of blacks and whites, plastic waste is becoming a major target both of environmentalists and policymakers, and the benefits are being forgotten. This is an unfortunate trend, but typical of the highly ...

Improving quality of life should be our guiding policy principle

THE PRIORITY of government climate policy is simply emissions reduction; it should instead be improving the quality of human life.

There is enormous momentum  behind  present climate policy because of the political ...

How and why our environmental priorities are shifting

EARLY CIVILIZATIONS evolved after the development of arable farming about 10,000 years ago. This enabled settled communities to grow and some people to specialise in skills other than hunting and foraging. Life was still unbelievably ...