Flooding is not town v country

IF Prince Charles can commandeer tractors and boats to reach the flooding victims who have been left abandoned for a month, why have Environment Secretary Owen Paterson and Lord Smith, the unimpressive Environment Agency chairman, not done likewise?

To be fair to Mr Paterson, he did visit Somerset last week. There was just one snag – he arrived in a smart pair of black shoes because he had forgotten his waders. It was a mishap that epitomised his department’s response to this crisis.

As the Prince of Wales intimated, the suffering of stranded farmers and families left marooned in the disaster village of Muchelney has to be seen to be believed, and their plight must lead to better decision-making at both Defra and the Environment Agency as Britain braces itself for further floods.

After doing so, both Mr Paterson and Lord Smith – the Culture Secretary in Tony Blair’s first government who now holds down at least 10 different positions – will realise that their response has been hopelessly inadequate.

After a long period of anonymity, Lord Smith of Finsbury naively tried to portray flooding in terms of “town versus country”. By doing so, he exposed his own ignorance. For, while agricultural land has always served as a flood plain in order to protect populated areas, its economic importance must not be downplayed – the point made by Country Land & Business Association regional director Dorothy Fairburn – if Britain is to become less dependent on food imports. It is why farmers, people steeped in the land, are such staunch advocates of dredging. They know that better management of Britain’s rivers will help to lessen the impact of flooding when the country faces deluges on this scale.

Yet it is not just a crisis for the countryside. Towns and cities are far more vulnerable to storms because homes and roads have been built without proper flood mitigation measures – a prima facie political failure.

Even if there was a bottomless pit of money, 
it would be difficult to protect every community. That is accepted. But it 
does not mean that rural areas should be written 
off, the cack-handed point that the naive Lord Smith tried to make and which Prince Charles disproved in his own inimitable style.

Aspiration for all

University admissions justify Gove

THE significant increase in Yorkshire school-leavers applying to university is in sharp contrast to the predictions in late 2010 when a volte-face by the Liberal Democrats saw tuition fees rise to a maximum of £9,000 a year.

There could be a number of reasons for this – namely that graduates will only have to start repaying the fees once they start earning in excess of £21,000 a year; a continuing shortage of apprenticeships for young people, or perhaps a recognition that a degree is now a pre-requisite to a successful career.

That said, the fact that Yorkshire is home to the biggest increase in university applicants is testimony to the hard work taking place in the region’s schools so more pupils can become eligible for higher education.

This is reflected by the steady improvement in GCSE results. And it was also acknowledged when Michael Gove, the outspoken Education Secretary, said that his reforms were driven by “the belief that any child – and every child – can succeed”.

He is right. Mediocrity has been tolerated for too long and this is reflected in the Government’s own benchmarks which require 40 per cent of pupils to gain five or more GCSE passes at Grade C or better, including English and maths, for their secondary school to escape censure.

Yet, if the Minister’s aspiration agenda is going to help even more Yorkshire students benefit from the type of education denied to their parents and forebears, he needs to ensure that teachers have the necessary support so that they can fulfil their side of the bargain.

The onside bishop

Cleric who communicates by blog

IT was so typical of Nick Baines that he concluded his remarks about his deserved appointment as the first Bishop of Leeds, West Yorkshire and the Dales by saying that Leeds United, Huddersfield Town, Barnsley and Halifax Town now rival Bradford City for his football affections. He is a cleric who can clearly empathise with his people.

Since his appointment as the Bishop of Bradford, he has become affectionately known as “the blogging bishop” because of his desire to “write about anything that interests me – the first word, not the last”. It is a creative talent that has enabled him to take the Church of England’s message and mission to the more ambivalent members of society.

Communication is key – the Archbishop of York’s endless enthusiasm is proof positive of the importance of the Church reaching out to all members of society – and Bishop Nick clearly has the skills needed to bring three former dioceses together and help his new parishes to “grow in number, depth and discipleship”.

We wish him well. For, as he said so eloquently yesterday, this is a unique opportunity – “soaked in prayer and drawn by hope” – to make the Church of England to play an even more active role in helping people across Yorkshire come to terms with the challenges of tomorrow.