Cycle of expensive quests for obvious answers

TO THE old adage that asking a silly question gets you a silly answer must be added a new one: ask an obvious question and you get a blindingly obvious answer.

It is not, therefore, a major shock that seven out of ten of those who responded a consultation on the Scottish Government's Cycling Action Plan were against the idea of a road tax on bicycles. Cyclists argued that taxing bicycle users would go against the Scottish Government's aim of 10 per cent of journeys being taken by bike by 2020. They pointed out that cyclists did not pollute the air or damage roads; and contribute to the roads budget through general taxation.

These points are both sensible and logical but they do come into the category of the blindingly obvious. Yet the Scottish Government and its civil servants still spent nearly 3,000 of taxpayers' money on the process.

The stunningly unsurprising answer on the "bike tax" came on the day Holyrood's economy committee announced an inquiry into trade. It will ask whether the public sector approach to exports and international trade is boosting Scotland's economy.

Now what answers will the committee come up with? That trade is unimportant? That we should trade less? We doubt it. It will, we predict with certainty, find that trade is vital to Scotland and we need to do more to nurture it.

Another blindingly obvious answer which proves that we should not bother asking the question in the first place.