WITH the winds of change blowing ever stronger, how long will it take, I wonder, if ever, for the climate-change deniers to come to the same conclusion as the rest of the world’s population… that we need a drastic rethink on our future interactions with the earth and environment.

Even the likes of Donald Trump and his merry band of opportunists probably know the truth deep down. However, hell-bent as they are on supporting their friends from the oil and coal industries that supported their ascendancy, they can’t be seen to be changing sides, even if they wanted to.

America’s opt-out of the Paris accord is yet another example of the short-term thinking of the political game players who appear to concentrate their vision on their length of tenure and not on the long-term good.

The same can be said with regard to our own energy needs. The privatisation of our utilities was not in the public interest and was merely an opportunist ‘smash and grab' which rewarded the moneyed mates and supporters of the political face of exploitation that was Thatcherism.

The net result of that particular political plunder has gifted the security and control of our nation’s crucial resources and supply in both private and foreign hands. Not that Blair and his dilution of the Labour party’s principles and objectives did any better, and now I guess they will tell us it’s too late to change.

By degrees, foreign governments and capitalists are cherry picking the best opportunities from our nation in an economic empire building strategy that ensures maximum financial gain without the need for war and conflict. A bloodless and almost invisible coup.

Perhaps China should be congratulated for this empirical ingenuity. They are rapidly buying up large swathes of the planet with the willing acquiescence of national governments without the mess and inconvenience of the mass murder that is usually associated with such ambition. The British Empire, for example, and with it England’s reputation and world standing is still mired in the blood and slaughter of the millions that were sacrificed to make the mountains of essentially ‘stolen' wealth that has underpinned the economy ever since.

The industrial revolution can be viewed as a example of Britain’s greatest gift to the world and did indeed advance engineering, technology and countless positive offshoots. However, it can also be seen as a time marker as to when humanity started to poison and destroy its own habitat at an ever-increasing rate. Would we, if we knew then what we know now about the true cost of such so called advancements, have maybe resisted the temptations?

Before the country is sold off to the highest bidder perhaps we should make the effort to ensure that the public servants who have supported and upheld the society we hold dear, are properly and honourably recognised for their invaluable input. The immorality of ensuring bankers, shareholders and the like who are protected and provided for above and beyond the value of our NHS, police, fire, educators, carers, social workers and all that add to the positivity of our society, must end.

The world is as unstable, both politically and environmentally, like never before. There is no more time for the short-term vision of opportunistic politicians on a local, national or international level. No more time for the feathering of future nests, we are in crisis and it's time for us, collectively and as individuals, to stand up and be counted before we are all discounted by the laws of nature or the greed and blindness of mankind.