Letter to the editor: Hope for the best; plan for the worst
The original quote by Maya Angelou was “Hoping for the best, prepared for the worst and unsurprised by anything in between. The recent second report on the main findings of the Covid inquiry was “Too little too late”. I think a similar inquiry on Global Warming and Climate change would come to the same conclusions.
I will come back to the Covid report later as there was a surprise call from the BBC News Channel.
My article on Global Warming and Climate Change has prompted much debate. It was put on social media by the Save Our South Coast Alliance (SOSCA) who have been advocating similar actions to Climate change. The comments highlighted the best and worst of social media but with an amazing lack of understanding and ignorance. There was some good sensible debate but there was a lot of denial and often just an explicative or rude emoji.
A couple of interesting points arose in that there was general agreement irrespective of views on climate change that the building of houses in the coastal area has made the prospect of flooding even worse. The second was a lack of trust in government politicians, some believing it was a conspiracy to impose Government control or even charge higher taxes.
The recent flooding of York by storm Claudia which luckily missed Chichester is a sharp reminder of what is happening with Climate Change. It results in more severe and unpredictable weather. The picture of York seems remarkably like the one of Chichester in 1994.
There was nothing to give hope in the COP 30 outcome and current plans are not enough. Science won’t be able to rescue us this time. Too little, too late but with massive implications.
The second part of the Covid inquiry bought forward no real surprises. Too little too late. 23,000 deaths which could have been avoided and an incompetent leadership which lost the trust of the public by ignoring their own rules. Their plans were totally inadequate and were saved from even greater disaster by the incredible effort by Oxford/AstraZeneca scientists to produce a vaccine.
What was surprising and unexpected was a telephone call the day before the inquiry report was released by the BBC News Channel asking me to go live on the TV to give my views on the report. However, on the day I received an email to say that my services were not require this time as they had found a Minister from Scotland instead.
It did however still make me think why contact me? The main reason I believe is down to you, the people of Chichester and the exemplary way you had behaved during the pandemic resulting in some of the lowest infections in the UK. The BBC had also found a copy of the little book of my open letters, the Covid Chronicles. We certainly planned for the worst but gave hope. Real hope and not the false hopes of the Government. Getting a vaccination centre here in Chichester meant me having to go directly to the NHS commissioner when it was obvious that one was needed in Chichester not 9 miles away in Selsey.
I also hope the Government and Leaders will have learnt the lesson from Covid and quickly apply it to Climate Change but unfortunately, I don’t have much hope so we need to be prepared for the worst.
Richard Plowman
Mayor of Chichester 2005,2019,2020
Finalist NALC councillor of the year 2021
Chichester Town Crier
Worcester Road
Chichester