Government response to flooding was a failure and Tories should have listened to one of their own - Tom Richmond

“What people need is help now and that is the bit that has been incredibly slow coming forward,” said a Yorkshire MP on the flooding frontline.

“We’ve had to go knocking on every door in Whitehall trying to get a co-ordinated response,” the MP went on as they confirmed, inadvertently or otherwise, that the Government is dysfunctional.

“That’s the bit that has been incredibly slow and, basically, just not good enough,” the MP concluded as the rain returns and flood-swollen rivers threaten to rise again.

Devastated North Yorkshire communities won't get new flooding support from GovernmentAt first glance, these appear to be the coarse words of a half-competent Opposition politician exploiting Boris Johnson’s indifference and failure to call a meeting of Cobra, Downing Street’s emergency committee, to co-ordinate the response.

But you’d be wrong. Labour has been ‘missing in action’. The criticism comes from Craig Whittaker, who is the Conservative MP for Calder Valley.

When Tory MPs are breaking ranks and expressing such despair after their area suffered its third flooding disaster in eight years, the Government must respond.

After all, Mr Whittaker’s critical comments came after flooding in the Calder Valley a fortnight ago was exacerbated by the failure to complete the flood defence scheme promised nearly five years ago.

They came after Communities Secretary Robert Jenrick announced a package of assistance for flood-hit homes and businesses in the wake of the devastation along the rivers Severn and Wye in Shropshire, Worcestershire and Herefordshire.

They also came after Mr Whittaker endorsed – on social media – a e-petition set up by Holly Lynch, the Labour MP for neighbouring Halifax, challenging the Government to match the response it offered to Calderdale after the December 2015 floods.

Why Yorkshire doesn't need Boris Johnson to visit next time there's a flood, we just need his moneyAnd they came after George Eustice – the new Environment Secretary – caused panic by suggesting, in a cackhanded way, that some homes and businesses supposedly protected now by defences will be effectively sacrificed in the future for the greater good.

It is to be hoped that Ministers listen to Mr Whittaker who is, after all, one of their own. Lessons from previous floods have not been learned. Far swifter contingency arrangements are needed when flooding is first forecast – sandbags and soldiers can only do so much.

The Government’s intentions to victims should be clear straight away –communities should not have to wait for basic funding while Ministers wait, and hope, that the problem, like the filthy floodwater, will ultimately subside.

And access to funding packages should not be so convoluted. Even now, South Yorkshire MPs are still trying to persuade Defra to honour commitments made to Doncaster, and the surrounding area, after last November’s floods.

It can only lead me to grade the Government’s response to the floods as a F for failure – or, to quote, Craig Whittaker, “just not good enough”.

We’re drowning Prime Minister; act now over flooding emergency – The Yorkshire Post says

PERHAPS Boris Johnson and/or Dominic Cummings (depending who is in charge) will reconsider my continuing call to appoint a high-profile Minister for Floods and the Coast to co-ordinate this response.

I make this plea – again – after the appearance of a bedraggled and rain-soaked politician on Channel Four News from the banks of the Severn. I thought she was a well-meaning parish councillor.

Rebecca Pow announced herself as the Floods Minister – I didn’t realise we had one – and she was not accepting any criticism of the absentee PM.

“The point is I am the Floods Minister and I have been out and about all over the place,” she declared defiantly.

“A great deal more homes would have been flooded if it wasn’t for the investment that has been put in over the last 20 years.”

Yet a senior Minister of State would have been in Whitehall, liaising with all the necessary agencies and councils, rather than touring the country defending – no pun intended – the indefensible.

And they would provide a point of contact for all those councils, like Calderdale, who are, frankly, fed up at being fobbed off by the buckpassing and lack of accountability.

TALKING of Dominic Cummings, the PM’s chief strategist continues to forbid Ministers from appearing on Radio Four’s Today programme because of perceived anti-Tory bias. However he’s content for politicians to be quizzed by other radio and TV broadcasters.

Yet, listening to the stuttering performances of Environment Secretary George Eustice on flooding, and then Home Secretary Priti Patel on post-Brexit immigration rules, the problem is not Today; it is the calibre of politicians.

FINALLY, it speaks volumes that Tory ministers still appear credible and competent in comparison to Labour’s top team.

Watching the leadership hustings between Rebecca Long-Bailey, Lisa Nandy and Sir Keir Starmer, there was only one winner – Boris Johnson. Perhaps they’re reluctant to offend those party members and union activists who will have the final say.

But the event was epitomised by Ms Long-Bailey’s response when asked to name Labour’s greatest leader in the past 50 years. She eventually cited Clement Attlee – and appeared oblivious that he stepped down as party leader 65 years ago in 1955. Heaven help us...