SIR – Reading the last two of his columns in the T&A gives one the impression that Keith Thomson regards himself a jack of all trades, and one knows what they are master of. Last week he made it clear he knew better how to defend the country, and this week he knows that plain packaging will deter smokers and a legal minimum price for alcohol is the answer to binge drinking.

As for his desire to put more tax on energy, that is just ludicrous. Even if we attained the level of CO2 emissions he wishes to see, the world as we know it will still be facing its greatest threat, the ever-increasing population growth.

Philip Bird, Nab Wood Terrace, Shipley