How dare they, eh? How very dare they! McDonald’s has thwarted attempts to stop it opening new outlets by stressing that it sells salad, promotes “healthier lifestyles” and sponsors local children’s football teams.

Possibly just a little oddity of how the world works out but it’s possible that cars in Britain are about to get significantly cheaper:

Forget Anas Sarwar -  the SNP has discovered a new arch-enemy: cats. And no, I’m not talking about the ill-fated Cats film adaptation - though that might actually be worth banning.

While we rightly admire the magnificent cultural achievements of ancient Greece and Rome, we should remember what made them possible.

Of course, of course, deepest sympathy to the musicians, actors and the like caught up in this nonsense: As Sir Keir Starmer talks of a reset with the EU and Rachel Reeves strives for growth, now is surely the time to free up musicians and artists from the massive bureaucracy and costs of performing in Europe.

1776 was a year of new thinking in Scotland and America. Great figures put quill to parchment, declaring that freedom was the route to prosperity - the American revolutionaries wrote the Declaration of Independence and Adam Smith published the Wealth of Nations.

Monday saw dozens of small traders’ vans converge on Parliament in protest against police inaction over the theft of tools from their vans. Four in five small traders are reported to have been victims of this crime, and the traders want police protection from it.

Trade economics does get wrapped up in a lot of complications - often deliberately so - but it is still possible to approach the subject using basic logic. Something that isn’t, necessarily, happening:

Recently the billionaire hedge fund manager Ray Dalio delivered some sobering analysis on the UK economy:

A leaked story reveal that the government is considering making Netflix and Disney+ users pay the licence fee to fund the BBC. It is allegedly one of the options under consideration as Labour looks at how it will fund the BBC when its charter ends in 2027.

Why do the left never quite fully understand the role of capital, particularly private capital? Does it go back to Marx and Engels? Does it go back to the Communist Manifesto?

We put this forward just as an idea you understand. A thought to chew over: