Save the planet – but leave our SUVs alone

EDINBURGH makes me nervous, with its complex tram and bus routes across higgledy-piggledy streets.

I err on the side of caution, approaching every green man as if leading a SWAT team into a “situation”.

The pedestrianised area of the Royal Mile is so crushed that it’s hard to know whether you’re more likely to lose a child in a crowd or a road accident.

But good news for tourists – Edinburgh is set to become a largely traffic-free zone under a radical new proposal to limit emissions.

It puts Dublin’s jettisoned proposals to create a College Green plaza in the ha’penny place.

Of course, now the World Health Organisation has said that 90pc of the world’s young people are breathing toxic air, the pressure is surely on to pedestrianise all of our cities, whether it makes it impossible to get a bus to Rathmines or not. Now citizens everywhere will no doubt be demanding action is taken to protect their children, pushing government to take cars off the streets as well as slashing waste and emissions.

As long as they can continue driving their kids to school in an SUV.