You get the 10p back when you buy the next bottle. They’re doing it in Ireland now. I know - Shetland flights are super spenny and clearly that is a destination where you can’t easily get the train. They would need to be exempted - at least for residents.
Thank you for your succinct take on each twist of this most particular tale. I made the error or reading too much analysis this week which has overloaded my environmental synapses to the point of being overcooked.
One key perspective I needed came from an unexpected source: Dieter Helm's interview on Leading, which I digested in stages.
Living in rural Scotland for most of my life, I know very well the economies these communities have to make include adapting to changing weather , whether that means ensuring good roads or warm houses. Restrictions to both in the name of green policy is simply exemplary of policy that's not been thought through.
Thanks.I will read the Dieter Helm piece - that is a very good point about resilience. Andy Wightman says the ruling effectively makes off-grid homes impossible. In some parts of rural Scotland there is a need to be resilient to power cuts.
Thanks for yet another excellent post, Jackie. I only recently had a wobbly on this growing urban rural thing, which we are also witnessing in Denmark, and which has burst out anew in the USA.
I remember when scottish ambitions for indy started to emerge seriously again in the 1980's 1990's, the votes and seats came first in the rural areas, and not in the big cities. I actually did the numbers at the time, but have lost the analysis. Scotland, like the rest of the UK, has become a very centralised democracy. Power has moved to the centre thanks to local government reforms, quangos, police reorganisation, and public transport provatisation, among others. Cities are where power and money lies. On green matters, i am with Andy on the matter of wood burning stoves. I am with you and SNP on the bottle tax. There is a strong urban bias in many "green" policies too. This is most of all demonstrated in planning, housing, land and taxation policies. It is very clear to most of us who bother to think of these things that it is mostly consumers and not producers who are the problem. You can tax farmers, but as they are price takers and not price makers, they cannot pass taxes on to consumers as large corporate monopolies do. Consumers neanwhile keep spending on cars, oil, plastic, air travel, and so on. Most climate-unfriendly consumption is by urban consumers, because they are richer.
Carbon taxes should be on climate-unfriendly consumption! That is absolutely clear. It is not happening, of course, because of politicians fears of a backlash. Meanwhile, the whole ship is sinking, and the lifeboats are becoming ever fewer.
The point about the bottle tax is that it is a tax on consumption! Exactly what is needed!
Or the bus, Jackie!
Excellent as ever. But 10p on a bottle of Irn Bru ‘minor’? And try flying to Shetland for £25…
You get the 10p back when you buy the next bottle. They’re doing it in Ireland now. I know - Shetland flights are super spenny and clearly that is a destination where you can’t easily get the train. They would need to be exempted - at least for residents.
Clear, concise and to the point. Thanks Jackie.
Thank you for your succinct take on each twist of this most particular tale. I made the error or reading too much analysis this week which has overloaded my environmental synapses to the point of being overcooked.
One key perspective I needed came from an unexpected source: Dieter Helm's interview on Leading, which I digested in stages.
Living in rural Scotland for most of my life, I know very well the economies these communities have to make include adapting to changing weather , whether that means ensuring good roads or warm houses. Restrictions to both in the name of green policy is simply exemplary of policy that's not been thought through.
Thanks.I will read the Dieter Helm piece - that is a very good point about resilience. Andy Wightman says the ruling effectively makes off-grid homes impossible. In some parts of rural Scotland there is a need to be resilient to power cuts.
It was his interview with Campbell & Stewart which I recommend listening to in short chunks... there's a lot to digest
https://music.amazon.co.uk/podcasts/15da9b25-ffcc-425e-839b-4eb1368bb598/episodes/997f3b0f-7f7b-4ff3-b914-e33a53eb24f8/leading-69-the-brutal-truth-about-net-zero-and-how-to-vanquish-climate-populists-with-dieter-helm?ref=dm_sh_YHBDBoh0mq5xXH8wcnudbWdmX
Thanks for yet another excellent post, Jackie. I only recently had a wobbly on this growing urban rural thing, which we are also witnessing in Denmark, and which has burst out anew in the USA.
I remember when scottish ambitions for indy started to emerge seriously again in the 1980's 1990's, the votes and seats came first in the rural areas, and not in the big cities. I actually did the numbers at the time, but have lost the analysis. Scotland, like the rest of the UK, has become a very centralised democracy. Power has moved to the centre thanks to local government reforms, quangos, police reorganisation, and public transport provatisation, among others. Cities are where power and money lies. On green matters, i am with Andy on the matter of wood burning stoves. I am with you and SNP on the bottle tax. There is a strong urban bias in many "green" policies too. This is most of all demonstrated in planning, housing, land and taxation policies. It is very clear to most of us who bother to think of these things that it is mostly consumers and not producers who are the problem. You can tax farmers, but as they are price takers and not price makers, they cannot pass taxes on to consumers as large corporate monopolies do. Consumers neanwhile keep spending on cars, oil, plastic, air travel, and so on. Most climate-unfriendly consumption is by urban consumers, because they are richer.
Carbon taxes should be on climate-unfriendly consumption! That is absolutely clear. It is not happening, of course, because of politicians fears of a backlash. Meanwhile, the whole ship is sinking, and the lifeboats are becoming ever fewer.