Politicians and the Precautionary Principle

The Precautionary Principle maintains that "when an activity raises threats of harm to human health or the environment, precautionary measures should be taken, even if some cause-and-effect relationships are not fully established scientifically". Politicians generally seem to ignore this, preferring to hope that things will 'turn out fine, again'. This is clearly illustrated by comments made at Wales' Hay Festival by the UK's former Chief Scientist. He was in place, through the Covid19 pandemic. Another pandemic, he now says, is 'absolutely inevitable'. His clear judgement is also that 'we are not ready yet' to deal with any such event. The Precautionary Principle, of course, dictates that we should sensibly use what was learned in the Covid19 pandemic, to deal effectively with the next mass disease event (https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/article/2024/may/25/another-pandemic-is-absolutely-inevitable-says-patrick-vallance-covid). In 2021, he advised leaders of the G7 (the rich nations), what could be done better (curbing the spread of disease and quickly devising tests and safe, effective vaccines). He thinks, however, by 2023, they have 'sort of forgotten' all he said. Perhaps they haven't forgotten? Maybe, they are just reverting to type and hoping a new pandemic doesn't happen on their 'watch'. Their attitude to climate change often seems just as blinkered.