In the first two articles about the future we looked at work and tourism, this time it is the turn of agriculture and it is going to get very weird. Any discussion about agriculture these days hardly talks about soil or water and certainly dismisses labour as almost irrelevant.  Well, perhaps that is a little over the top but the farmer of the future is more likely to have a degree in technology than soiled hands. Agriculture is likely to fall into two broad directions, ...Continued

In my last article I looked at the immediate future and the way in which Covid 19 (along with the fear of climate change) has had an impact on all of us and led to the acceleration of advances in medicine.  The past year has not only affected medicine, it has made all of us realise that there are a lot more opportunities available to us, if only we are prepared to take off our blinkered spectacles and think laterally.   Over the next four ...Continued

I openly admit it – I am by heart and nature a libertarian.  I don’t like being told what to do and I like it even less when I am told what to do by a bunch of politicians, listening to a bunch of public servants who have a very clear and limited agenda to keep us locked up.   Quite clearly this attitude of mine puts me to the right of the political spectrum.  Although, like most other people, I do not believe left ...Continued

“The state has no source of money, other than the money people earn themselves. If the state wishes to spend more, it can only do so by borrowing your savings or taxing you more. It is no good thinking that someone else will pay – that ‘someone else’ is you. There is no such thing as public money; there is only taxpayers’ money.” It is now 37 years since Margaret Thatcher made that statement in a speech at the 1983 Conservative Party Conference in Blackpool. ...Continued

The north no longer trusts the government.  The north thinks that the south gets all the investment.   Northerners are feeling that they are guinea pigs to be used in some larger social experiments.  The north deeply resents the south and thinks the capital city gets all the support from national politicians whilst the north sinks deeper into poverty. A familiar story? It certainly is in the United Kingdom today as large swathes of the north go into Coronavirus driven local lockdowns (known as Tier ...Continued

Oh how well I remember the sunny days and the balmy nights of Sri Lanka.  Life went on serenely in this paradise island, despite the madness of the politicians occasionally thrusting their noses into daily life. How I long for that serenity when here in the UK we have had four years of utter social and political madness, with politicians going on a policy rampage, the media writing more than its usual share of drivel whilst families and friends have become divided by the ever-present ...Continued

There are two types of government in this world of ours; those that seek office and those that seek power.   Those that seek office, broadly speaking, put up a manifesto which outlines a programme for government and then seeks to carry out that programme, when in office, for the betterment of all the people.  There are precious few governments or political parties across the world who can say that they are purists in this form of government and sooner or later even their insecurities ...Continued

I adore Sri Lanka and I love its people, possibly with the exception of the politicians. I spent some ten years on and off working in Sri Lanka and was privileged to visit just about every corner, from Jaffna to Galle and Ampara to Colombo (I got close, but missed out on Batticaloa and Trincomalee). I experienced a stunning country and a warm and generous people. I despaired at the waste caused by the civil strife and the many lives pointlessly lost. Rather than being ...Continued