On brains and Brexit

If there's one argument in the Great Brexit Debate that I find ridiculous, it's the one where the British negotiating team are described as, at best, well-meaning amateurs - often they're called 'stupid', 'thick' and so forth - facing a slick, organised and ever so clever bunch of Eurocrats. Most of these criticisms come from people who seem little, if at all, qualified to comment themselves.

For a hundred years and more the UK Civil Service has recruited the best and brightest from top universities putting them through exams and turning them into the 'high flyers' of legend. I was chatting to one such at my son's recent wedding - a young man with A levels in science and a first in PPE from Oxford. The idea that the UK's negotiating team lacks brains is plainly nonsense. Even the politician leading the negotiation can hardly be described as thick (degree in computer science, MBA and Harvard post-masters study) or inexperienced (17 years at a big international company several of them at a very senior level - then four years as Europe Minister post-Maastricht).

This doesn't make the negotiating position right. It doesn't mean that we'll get the best deal. Very clever people aren't always successful in these things. But criticising the UK's team for being amateurs, ignorant, stupid or thick is quite simply untrue.

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The Web is Addictive! Something must be done...

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The web is corrupting people's minds - and some are addicted to the Internet:

Web addicts have brain changes similar to those hooked on drugs or alcohol, preliminary research suggests.

We need the following clearly*:

• Guidelines for recommended maximum exposure to the Internet
• An age restriction preventing harm to children
• Taxes on Internet access to begin the process of denormalisation
• Public health campaigns highlighting the risk of Internet use
• Work towards a minimum price for Internet access

We must act now to save lives!

*I take this from the public health response to tsimilar problems with alcohol, tobacco and other things that affect people's brains. Something must be done!

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