Has the pandemic made us appreciate nature more?

Out to grass

If Liz Truss is forced out of office (and doesn’t also resign her parliamentary seat as Tony Blair did on resigning as prime minister), there will be three ex-PMs sitting on the backbenches of the Commons. When was the last time this happened?

— Between Jim Callaghan’s defeat in the 1979 general election and Harold Wilson’s retirement from the Commons four years later, Callaghan, Wilson and Edward Heath were all still in parliament. As for the number of living ex-PMs, we are already at a modern record, with Boris Johnson, Theresa May, David Cameron, Gordon Brown, Tony Blair and John Major. Prior to Johnson’s departure from office, the then five living ex-PMs were matched between 1990 and 1995 when Margaret Thatcher, Callaghan, Wilson, Heath and Alec Douglas-Home were all still alive; between 1976 and 1977 when Wilson, Heath, Home, Harold Macmillan and Anthony Eden were alive; and between 1964 and 1965 when Home, Macmillan, Eden, Winston Churchill and Clement Attlee were all alive.

Waiting, waiting

How long does it take to get seen in A&E compared with before the pandemic? Percentage seen within four hours

September 2017  90%

September 2018  89%

September 2019  85%

September 2020  87%

September 2021  75%

September 2022  71%

Source: NHS England

Better nature

Have we become more appreciative of nature since the pandemic?

– 63% of adults say they have visited a green space in the past 14 days. The most common reasons for not doing so are bad weather, poor health and ‘too busy at home’. In the past year 45% say they have spent more time outside. 40% say nature/wildlife is now ‘more important that ever to my wellbeing’. 82% agree that ‘nature makes me very happy’.

Source: People and Nature Survey for England, Natural England

Military service

Of 44 countries physically within Europe, 15 have some form of military conscription, although some countries have a non-military alternative. They are: Austria, Belarus, Denmark, Cyprus, Estonia, Finland, Lithuania, Moldova, Netherlands, Norway, Russia, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, Ukraine.

Source: www.forces.net