Will It Address The Elephant In The Room?

A national strategy to address the “public health disaster” of drowning has been launched in England – hours after two women died at an Essex beach, the latest in a surge of water-related tragedies.

The initial police reports of this one were shielded in secrecy and refusal to elaborate rather like the Brighton case earlier, but my Spidey Sense immediately leapt to a drowning, and of someone not white, just as in that case. And so it proved to be.

Among the measures being considered are: providing every child in England with water safety education and swimming lessons; establishing how climate change can increase risks; and media campaigns to inform bystanders how to respond to a potential drowning.

Pointless unless you are also going to look at who is drowning in such numbers. It happens every hot summer, after all. And often not to people called Mary or George. Even the esteeemed 'Guardian' has noticed this phenomenon.

Drowning prevention strategies for Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland are also being launched this week. Speaking at the announcement of the strategy in Canary Wharf, east London, on Thursday, Prof Mike Tipton, the chair of Water Safety England, said the measures would “eradicate the scourge of drowning”.

Unless you are going to eradicate human nature, how are you going to do that? Even the token white Brit they rolled out to speak knows that's a hope based on nothing:

Vanessa Abbess, whose 17-year-old son, Joe, died after getting into difficulty in the water off Bournemouth beach in 2023, warned the public against being “naive and complacent”. Sunnah Khan, a 12-year-old girl, died alongside Joe after being caught in a rip current. 

Abbess said: “As a society, there’s an element of naivety and complacency regarding the dangers of open water swimming. 

“It’s not enough to know how to swim in a warm pool if you don’t know what to do to help your chances of survival if conditions change or you find yourself in difficulty in open water. 

The risk needs to be assessed. You need to stop and think. You wouldn’t cross a road without thinking.”

I'll assume Ms Abbess doesnt get out much, because the young of all races tend to do that as well.