Neil MacGillivray: Schoolboy error

I loved geography as a subject at school. It was not just for the benefit of getting out of the classroom on field trips either - I found topics such as map-reading, how landscapes formed, plate tectonics and glaciation fascinating. I do, however, specifically remember one lesson on demographics that I found to be rather depressing. My teacher delivered the good news we were all going to live longer although the bad news was there would be more pressure on the likes of the health service and state pension. Of even more importance, there would be a lower proportion of people of working ag...