But instead of standing up for reason, our government is handing education over to the world of faith.

The best care on earth cannot prevent us all dying in the end.

Inequality makes everyone unhappy, the poor most of all, and that is well within the remit of the state. More money gives less extra happiness the richer we get, yet we are addicted to earning and spending more every year.

There is all the difference in the world between teaching children about religion and handing them over to be taught by the religious.

But instead of standing up for reason, our government is handing education over to the world of faith.

Working lives are for the state to influence. Unemployment makes people unhappy. So does instability.

Could a government dare to set out with happiness as its goal? Now that there are accepted scientific proofs, it would be easy to audit the progress of national happiness annually, just as we monitor money and GDP.