‘Every youngster deserves the chance to study to swim as it’s a primary security web’
Seven children, including 12-year-old Junior Slater, who was from Clayton-le-Woods, Lancashire, lost their lives in water tragedies over the last few days
Voice of the Mirror has its say…
The growing death toll during this heatwave is horrifying. Children setting out to cool off are not coming home. Families expecting an ordinary summer day are instead being left with unbearable grief that will haunt them forever.
Rivers, lakes and reservoirs may look inviting in soaring temperatures, but open water can kill frighteningly fast. Hidden currents, freezing temperatures, and cold-water shock do not care how hot the weather feels. Warnings must be taken seriously.
But Britain also has to confront an uncomfortable truth. In some of the country’s poorest communities, huge numbers of children leave primary school unable to swim properly. That is not simply a social inequality. It is a national failure with deadly consequences.
Every child deserves the chance to learn how to survive in water. Swimming lessons are not a luxury for the privileged. They are a basic safety net that can mean the difference between life and death.
Blair badly out of touch
Tony Blair may still command attention whenever he speaks about Labour’s future, but this latest intervention sounds badly out of touch with the country many families now live in. For millions of people, Britain’s crisis is not about whether politicians are sufficiently “radical” on AI or deregulation.
It is about stagnant wages, soaring bills, struggling public services and the growing feeling that hard work no longer guarantees security. That is why Andy Burnham strikes a chord when he accuses Mr Blair of failing to understand inequality. Because inequality is no longer some abstract political view.
It now defines modern Britain. Mr Blair is right that Labour needs ideas, ambition and economic growth. But the party is in danger of losing its way the moment it sounds more interested in reassuring billionaires and business elites than in understanding why so many ordinary voters feel abandoned.
Reach for the Moon
As Britain melts through another sticky, sleepless heatwave, the idea of escaping to the Moon suddenly sounds less ridiculous.
NASA says humans could soon live and work there permanently. No traffic, no hosepipe bans and probably fewer people arguing on social media. Tempting, even if the flight may be a nightmare.
