It’s Scotland’s wind! I don’t expect we’ll see that slogan from the SNP in future elections (or referendums) as oil figured in the 1970s one, before it began to run out and also become an ecological affront. It’s currently at just over half the price – $68 a barrel – which, in 2014, economist Andrew Wilson predicted in the White Paper would have a robust and “baked-in price” of $112. Which only goes to prove that economics is too important to be left to economists.

But wind is different. It may be subject to seasonal fluctuations but I can’t see there being a trade in wind futures. It has, of course, become an integral part of Scotland’s future – and present – with a smidgeon over 97 per cent of our energy now coming from renewable sources, largely the breeze. We’re fortunate – although it doesn’t often seem so – to live in the windiest country in Europe and have more sea around us than others to stick those turbines into.

Thursday night’s Channel 4 News, the grown-ups’ news show, came from the the country’s largest one, Whitelee Windfarm on Eaglesham Moor, and the thrust of the programme was anticipating November’s climate change conference in Glasgow, which is being billed, yet again, as the most crucial in our history.

Scotland is self-sufficient in energy. Indeed, we export to England and the rest of the UK through the National Grid. About 20% of production (it has been as high as 29%) goes south. What would happen if Scotland becomes independent (a big if) and is part of the EU (a bigger if)? Do we disconnect from the grid and have our own? Have a big coin meter on the hard border from Berwick and into the Solway Firth? Put up the price for the south?

Boris Johnson, who knows a thing or two about wind, said Scotland could become the “Saudi Arabia” of it. One way or another the subject is going to be on the agenda long after the private jets have departed Glasgow Airport after November’s summit.

Vote to self

Is Alex Salmond a narcissist? Is Boris Johnson? Nicola Sturgeon?

The Polish psychologist Andrew Lobaczewski, who had spent his early life under Hitler and the Nazis and then Stalin, devoted his career to studying the relationship between psychological disorders and politics. He wanted to understand why narcissists and psychopaths are attracted to power. He coined the term pathocracy to describe governments made up of people with these disorders. Any come to mind?

It’s pretty obvious really. Narcissists crave attention and feel superior, like psychopaths who have a similar sense of superiority and lack of empathy. A study by Pete Hatemi, a professor at Penn State University in the US, discovered that those with higher narcissism are disproportionately taking part in politics – Trump, for example. Narcissists, he observed, “are horrible but happy”.

An earlier study at the University of Buffalo found that society tolerates male narcissism and aggressiveness more than fremale. Another found that narcissists were almost twice as likely to be men than women. No real surprises there.

There’s a three-minute online test you can do to discover if you’re a narcissist, but my therapist has told me not to disclose the result. The three politicians mentioned, I’m sure, don’t suffer from it, although we can’t be absolutely positive until they’ve taken the test.

Corporate corruption

“ON the same page.” “Upscaling.” “Futureproofing.” “Stakeholders.” “Uptick.” “Giving 110%.” Yet another of those facile, annoying, meaningless words from corporate speak has muscled into plain English. It’s pathway. “We’re on a pathway to success …” Why is it a pathway? It’s not some narrow route to be negotiated over a rocky hillside? And why just pathway? Why not full throttle for it, or dual carriageway, motorway? Or flightpath? Anyone using it should not be allowed into polite, even impolite, company.

Scotland to the four

THE consumer magazine Which? has published a survey of the best and worst coastal holiday destinations in the UK, based on its members’ scoring. There were five categories to rate – beach, attractions, scenery, peace and quiet and value for money. Top was Bamburgh in Northumberland “thanks to its five-star beach” and bottom was Skegness in Lincolnshire, with just a 48% overall rating.

There were only four Scottish places in the 100. St Andrews was rated fourth, slightly ahead of North Berwick in sixth. Ullapool was at 20, but it only had one category rated – five stars for scenery – with all the others blank.

All I can say is that the survey is utterly meaningless and the magazine subscribers don’t get out much.

A Grande gesture

THE Superga Basilica stands at the top of a winding road, or you can take the beautiful and historic 19th-century rack tramway 700 metres to the top. From there, you can look down over all of Turin, or to the faraway, snow-covered Alps. I was there three years ago when it was shrouded in mist, like something out of a Gothic horror story.

It was on May 4, in 1949 – 72 years this Tuesday – that the all-conquering Torino football team were returning from Lisbon after playing a friendly with Benfica. They were set to win their fifth consecutive Serie A title. They hadn’t lost at home in six seasons. It was another mist-covered day and the plane lost direction, crashing straight into the back basilica wall and killing the 31 on board, including all of Il Grande Torino.

Two days later, half a million people lined the streets of Turin for the funerals of the team, the most famous of whom was Valentino Mazzola, father of the legendary Sandro. Another of those who died was a British coach, Leslie Lievesley, who had survived three previous air crashes.

There’s a memorial monument at the back wall of the basilica where the plane crashed into, with a team photo of the dead players.

Fans from all over the world visit it and leave scarves and memorabilia. It’s very moving.

Since then every player who joins Torino is taken to the shrine to impress what it means to the club. Denis Law, who spend a season there, would have made the journey.

On Tuesday, several thousand people will walk the 10km from Turin city centre to the shrine to pay respect and ensure that the memory of Il Grande Torino is kept alive for more than just one day in May.