Statue of economic liberty
Thursday, July 3, 2008 How funny. As I write (it's 5.20pm) there are 37 comments on Kerry McCarthy's blog re the smoking ban (see below) - with more to come, I'm sure. (To put this in perspective, most of her posts appear to attract no comments at all. Zero. Zilch.)
Interestingly, this has been achieved not from a grand office in London but by yours truly tapping away on my laptop in the lobby of the Apex International Hotel in Edinburgh.
Why Edinburgh? Well, I'm here for the grand unveiling, tomorrow, of a statue of Adam Smith. It's taken several years for the idea to reach this stage, but it promises to be quite an occasion. As far as I know, people are coming from all over the world to mark the event.
The programme, organised by the Adam Smith Institute, begins tonight with a reception and debate ("This House would prefer to be led by the Invisible Hand") chaired by BBC Scotland's political editor Brian Taylor.
Proposing the motion are my old boss Michael Forsyth (former Scottish Secretary, now Lord Forsyth of Drumlean) and Dr Madsen Pirie (ASI). Opposing the motion are Brian Wilson (former Labour Energy minister) and Alex Neil MSP (Scottish National Party).
The Adam Smith statue will be unveiled (in the High Street, near Parliament Square) tomorrow by Nobel economist Professor Vernon Lomax Smith. In the evening there is a gala Adam Smith dinner to look forward to.
Now, where did I put my Adam Smith cufflinks and tie?
Reader Comments (1)
Simon, what a minx you are. You know the poor member for (some part of) Bristol will be inundated with dissenters even though she KNOWS everyone agrees with the ban.....