Joyful kids leaping into lidos to celebrate the warmest May on record! Beachgoers basking in the glorious sun! Hotter than Barbados! RUM-BELIEVABLE! One headline screamed. Which is all fun and games, until it isn’t.
For every person being interviewed splashing into the North Sea declaring ‘Climate change? Bring it on’, there will be others worrying what these record-breaking May temperatures really mean.
Helen Coffey talks to weather experts in her piece on the Super El Niño that could be now heading our way, and Alan Rusbridger says we need to start taking it all more seriously than we are currently.
Covering the science and politics of global warming is difficult, he writes. Why is it when it comes to tackling cancer or other diseases which threaten life, we, by and large, leave scientists to get on with the job - and may even cheer them from the sidelines, but when it comes to the expert side of the climate “argument” it is seen as “woke”? Meanwhile, as the Conservatives pledge to relax planning laws when it comes to new builds and air conditioning, Jonathan Margolis asks, does getting air con now make you right wing?
Of course the other big story of the week is how Britain is at risk of a ‘lost generation’ if ministers don’t urgently tackle the youth unemployment crisis. It is something The Independent has been chronicling for a while. Our reports on how young people in Britain have been repeatedly failed, align with former Labour minister Alan Milburn’s findings that, despite being dubbed snowflakes, this is a generation who are hard-working and deeply misunderstood.
In a world of AI and hyper-competition, there is urgent action needed if they are going to be given a fighting chance. In her essay, generational expert Chloe Combi has some powerful advice on how those in government could help turn things around, and Chris Blackhurst writes firms need to stop complaining – and start creating jobs for the young.
Meanwhile, 22-year-old Maahika Singh explains how she went from 100 rejections to being named as one of the UK’s Top 100 Female Founders by Small Business Britain. It’s all inspiring stuff - and plenty to think about.
But if you also want a brain break and are looking to relax into the weekend, we’ve got you covered too. Hannah Twiggs has rounded up some of the best summer dessert recipes from Mary Berry, Tom Kerridge, Nadiya Hussain and more and our resident fitness expert Harry Bullmore brings you the surprising fitness lessons he has learned from speaking to the fittest woman in history.
And if you are heading to the cinema, Adam White brings you the lowdown of Moss & Freud, the biographical drama about the intriguing relationship between Kate Moss and painter Lucian Freud while he was painting her famous nude portrait in 2002. Starring Ellie Bamber as the supermodel and Derek Jacobi as the famous painter - it is a riveting tale. But is it any good? Adam gives his verdict and reveals the secret that is still shared between them.
Until next weekend!
Victoria Harper
Executive Editor
