“What a sad loss”
There’s been a lot of love for Ocean City Radio presenter “Smiley” Dave Coot(Image: Western Morning News)
Some of the latest reader letters in our sister print title The Herald touch on the closure of Ocean City Radio, the upcoming byelection, the climate crisis and more.
Get in touch – tell us what you think. You can comment below or email [email protected] to be featured.
So sad to lose city radio station to cyber hackers
What a sad loss, Ocean City Radio, after somebody hacked their bank account. They provided a service second to none.
The good folk of Plymouth should rally around and get this station back on the air asap. “Smiley” Dave was brilliant!
Tommy Bray
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Everyone should see this emergency film
I recently attended a community screening of the National Emergency Briefing film, and I left convinced that everyone should watch it.
The 50-minute film draws on expert testimony delivered to parliamentarians in Westminster last November. Featuring Chris Packham and scientists, including Professor Tim Lenton on climate tipping points and Professor Paul Barran on food security, the film sets out, plainly, what the climate and nature crisis means for our health, our economy, and our national security.
Familiar faces such as Jennifer Saunders and Deborah Meaden help audiences absorb the very alarming realities. But the film’s great achievement is that it leaves viewers feeling galvanised rather than paralysed.
On tipping points, the collapse of an ice sheet, the death of a rainforest, and the failure of an ocean circulation system are not distant abstractions. They are thresholds beyond which global conditions change dramatically and irreversibly. People have come to accept that climate change will always be slow and gradual, but that is not what the science tells us. The film makes that vivid, and makes the case that decisive government action now may still prevent the worst.
After the screening, the discussion in the room was striking. People weren’t despairing; they were energised. Councillors present committed themselves to facilitating a Town Hall screening for all the local city councillors. That’s exactly the kind of response this film deserves.
The Government should launch a science-led national emergency response to climate and nature breakdown, showing the same leadership and determination as in World War II. This should include emergency legislation to drive a rapid reduction in emissions whilst investing to adapt to a more dangerous climate. Evidence shows that such action will create jobs and improve lives.
There are further showings planned around the country; you will probably find one near you. If not, please consider organising one yourself.
During Covid, we had regular emergency briefings. The climate and nature emergency is even more urgent. The BBC must broadcast this film in prime time.
Graham Wroe
We must guard against climate conspiracies
Some dismiss climate change as a scam orchestrated by mysterious global forces. This kind of thinking is a timely reminder of how easily unsubstantiated conspiracy theories can take hold, and why we must guard against them.
Our best defence is critical thinking and seeking information from trustworthy, rational sources. Some may feel uneasy relying on activist groups, and that’s entirely understandable, but you don’t need to.
Here in the UK, we are fortunate to have the Met Office: a rigorous, publicly accountable scientific body that examines climate science with care and objectivity. It takes misinformation seriously, particularly the kind spread through social media and the leaflets sometimes thrust into your hands in town centres. Its “Tackling Climate Misinformation” pages analyse common counterclaims used by climate deniers and respond to them directly. This is not an organisation that ignores dissenting voices, it engages with them.
Its remit to provide factual advice to the government depends entirely on its integrity, and it is independently reviewed each year to ensure that standard is maintained.
The Met Office is far from alone. Visit the Royal Society, the Natural History Museum, or the climate science departments of virtually any university, and you will find the same conclusions. Look to the national science academies of countries across every continent, they all agree.
These are not scammers. No shadowy global conspiracy could simultaneously infiltrate so many independent institutions, spanning different cultures, scientific disciplines and political systems. When the evidence converges as consistently as this, from this many directions, the rational response is to trust it.
Colin Jones
Why is MP Josh really giving up his seat?
I would guess the MP for Makerfield is not giving up his seat out of the goodness of his heart, nor giving up his salary of nearly £100k for each year he has left to serve.
So is he getting compo from somewhere – and if so, from whom?
This needs to be out in the open. Let’s hope we get to learn the truth of the matter.
Norman Wyman
