They Call The Wind Mariah
shtum on the underlying cause.
Despite this progress in the UK these days, there are still hundreds of thousands of desperate people trying to escape from tyranny and poverty to travel to the UK from the Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan.
There are hundreds of people risking their lives every day to try to cross the English Channel to the UK.
Abroad, there are still millions of people without clean water or Covid vaccinations.
Living in the UK is truly great. It’s real democratic reality. It may not be perfect, but then where else is?
Thank your lucky stars that the UK enjoys the prosperity that it does today.
Apparently, the UK can still afford massive £100 billion projects like HS2, too, so that’s life, that’s progress.
Ivan Gould, by email
When I were a lad, we had all sorts of weather, from warm sunny days with no breeze, to snowdrifts that covered the double-decked buses and gales that could rip out the trees.
Flooding in Chester Green, kneedeep in town, shop stock and some living rooms ruined, but everyone gallantly set off for work especially those good at canoeing. These weather events made the local newspapers and tales at the bus stops were shared, but we all carried on, when weather came along so did life, as if nobody cared. But now the Met Office has given storms names, like the hurricanes out in the States, we’re told in advance there’s a really good chance that storm Cecil will strike, just you wait.
Given names, they’ve become like a real living thing setting out with a mind of their own, and the papers now warn of ‘significant upset so please will you all stay at home’. So, Met Office please take away all the daft names and we’ll have old fashioned weather again, so nobody’s blaming Doreen, Mick or Albert when roads are cut off by the rain. But if the names stay, and they will, I am sure, there certainly may be a chance, that storm Vivian comes and wreaks havoc, so I will apologise now, in advance. Sorry.