YP Comment: Springboard to Olympic glory. A gold medal made in Yorkshire

Though their self-confidence never faltered – their motivation was an empty photo frame only to be filled when they won the Olympics – it is only now that their prowess can be appreciated, and celebrated, by the watching millions around the world left spellbound by their nerveless performance in the Rio rain.

And it is a success which can only inspire a generation after they beat their great friend and inspiration Tom Daley to top spot on the one winner’s podium which 
still matters most of all in global sport.

Born in Harrogate, and raised in Ripon, the hyperactive Laugher started diving for fun as a mischievous seven-year-old, while Mears is lucky to be alive after a ruptured spleen, suffered during a competition in Australia in 2009, left him with just a five per cent chance of survival.

No wonder they could not hold back the tears – they, and their families, had sacrificed so much for six dives which would define the rest of their lives. Indeed Laugher’s father David had to watch the unfolding drama at home with the family dog Alfie because his presence on the poolside can be a jinx.

Yet it is these endearing stories which show the power of the Olympics – Mr Laugher was stopped in the street because a stranger recognised the dog from his son’s Twitter feed and there was certainly an added spring in the step of those divers trying out the sport at the John Charles Centre in Leeds where Britain’s diving demons were trained to split-second perfection.

The challenge now, as Britain’s medal charge gathers pace after rowing veteran Katherine Grainger came out of retirement to become the UK’s most decorated female Olympian, is to ensure that the country’s sports facilities are geared up to welcome all those youngsters who now have new heroes and heroines to emulate. That would mean as much to Jack Laugher and Chris Mears as their gold medal – and the photograph which will now take pride of place in their home after a success like 
no other.

NHS emergency

ELONGATED A&E waiting times and hospital staff shortages have become all too common in recent years as the NHS struggles to cope with the unprecedented demand for medical care. Yet what is so worrying about the latest performance data is that this is no longer a winter phenomenon when prolonged cold weather invariably leads to more people requiring treatment.

The sharp spike in the number of casualty patients waiting in excess of four hours, the Government’s benchmark target, has come at the height of summer – and before the introduction of unpopular policies like the closure of Huddersfield’s A&E unit which is likely to intensify pressure still further on Calderdale Royal Hospital in Halifax. Even though the Department of Health claims that there are an additional 1,250 extra doctors working in emergency departments compared with 2010, these medics have either been deployed to the wrong places – or Ministers remain in denial about the scale of a staffing crisis which remains particularly acute in Mid Yorkshire.

It’s not just hospitals – paramedics have revealed a number of occasions when seriously ill people have been left stranded in ambulances because major hospitals simply don’t have the staff, or beds, to cope. It begs one question: What will it take for Ministers to realise that this has become a political emergency?

Named and shamed

EVEN though many businesses were sceptical when the minimum wage was first introduced, the overwhelming majority of companies have been compliant – and the same applies to the new National Living Wage.

Yet the policy is only successful because it is enforced and it is only right that the Government’s new-look business department has chosen to ‘name and shame’ those firms which have attempted to exploit their staff – the latest miscreants include two football clubs and, embarrassingly, one of David Cameron’s local pubs.

And these are not insignificant sums – Goole-based KLS Electrical Contracting owed £3,619.70 to one employee according to Ministers. At a time when inequality is fuelling the electorate’s disquiet, the Government must maintain a zero tolerance approach if it is to win back the lost trust of underpaid workers.