Comparing and contrasting the mood at the time of the two hot summers of 2012 and 2022 the words of Bill Gates ring true. Back when he was still the richest person in the world, Microsoft’s founder observed: “We always overestimate the change that will occur in the next two years and underestimate the change that will occur in the next ten.”
A decade ago it was all about Team GB and London 2012, and a record haul of medals at an Olympics brilliantly hosted in the UK. The Queen stole the show with a James Bond parachute drop. Below her, two seemingly benign Conservative politicians, Prime Minister David Cameron and London Mayor Boris Johnson presided from the stands. Nobody seemed to mind that the games had been brought to this country by the Labour trio of Tony Blair, Ken Livingstone and the late Tessa Jowell.
