Twenty-five billion horsepower. To argue the detail would be futile. But, as a proxy for sustainability it is very useful, because it does relate to a real beast that we know and understand. A horse in good condition can produce about 14Hp in bursts and sustains slightly less than 1Hp at a good working plod. In order to do this the beast eats, drinks and excretes. A horse, compared to a car is a reasonable converter of fuel to useful energy. You may argue that the average car only runs for 20 percent of the time. Yes, and horses sleep. If you want to tinker at the edges of this vision with energy conversion factors and life-cycle analyses from manufacturing to disposal you may, but remember a horse works for about 15 years and a car for less than that. And, pace vegetarians, at the end of its life you can eat the horse. You could cut the numbers in half and the vision is still apocalyptic.

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I have come over all childish. As a new Father of Johnny, age nearly 4 months as I write this,  I want to stamp my feet and have a tantrum. In fact I nearly did to an unsuspecting friend on the street. I was so wound up I didn't even say hello (sorry Paul).

We have received our Child Trust Fund voucher. How nice. Johnny gets £250 at birth and another £250 when he turns seven. These can be invested in a limited selection of approved funds.

But, I suggest that there are ulterior motives.