A heatwave sweeps Europe. Streets buckle in Rome. Trains stall in France.
And yet, from London, a quiet murmur of approval: the British public health response is winning praise. How refreshing. How utterly unexpected.
We have grown so accustomed to the narrative of national decline, of crumbling infrastructure and bureaucratic inertia, that a moment of competence feels like a revolution. Let us not squander it with false modesty. The United Kingdom has, for once, done something right.
The question is why we are so surprised. Perhaps because we have spent two decades convincing ourselves that the Victorians were the last generation capable of building a functioning society. We look at their sewers, their railways, their public health acts, and we weep.
But this heatwave suggests that the old skills are not entirely lost. The Cool-Down Innovations, as the government insists on calling them, are a mixture of common sense and quiet efficiency. Temporary cooling centres, public health warnings, and a coordinated response from the NHS.
Nothing flashy. Nothing groundbreaking. Just the unglamorous work of keeping people alive.
Compare this to the European chaos. In France, emergency rooms are overwhelmed. In Italy, the elderly are dying in their apartments.
The continent that prides itself on civilisation is being humbled by a few days of high pressure. Meanwhile, Britain, the island of hypochondriacs, has prepared for the worst and achieved the best. The praise is deserved, but it should also be a warning.
One heatwave does not a renaissance make. Our infrastructure remains fragile. Our housing stock is a disgrace.
And the next crisis will surely find new ways to expose our weaknesses. But for now, let us savour the moment. Let us remember that the British state, when it chooses to, can still function.
It is a lesson we should apply to everything else: the NHS waiting lists, the potholed roads, the crumbling schools. Competence is not a lost art. It is a choice.
And today, we chose wisely. Of course, the usual suspects will complain. Too much state intervention, they will say.
Too much nannying. But let them sweat in their own libertarian hell. In the midst of a climate emergency, the state has a duty to protect.
And it has. So raise a glass of lukewarm water to the bureaucrats, the civil servants, the local council officers who actually did their jobs. You have earned a moment of grudging respect from this columnist.
Do not let it go to your head. The next heatwave is already on its way. And with it, the next test of our national character.
Let us hope we pass again.
