Flood defence spending must not come at expense of overseas aid

Flooding between Grinton and Leyburn after the Dales was hit by a deluge in July.

IN reply to Ian Fuller (The Yorkshire Post, November 28), floods that have inundated South Yorkshire and other parts of the UK have devastated lives, livelihoods and communities.

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We know that effect only too well in North Yorkshire where the aftermath of the July floods in Swaledale and Wensleydale continue to be felt even now as people try to rescue their homes and rebuild their lives.

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But it is, in my view, a mistake to see a simple solution to this suffering and loss in cancelling the aid budget.

As a Christian, I believe it is our moral duty to help the most vulnerable in the world, whether in Fishlake or in Bangladesh.

But even for those with no religious perspective on this the aid budget helps this country too, in providing people with good living conditions in the lands of their birth and so reducing migration across the globe and to the UK.

A collapsed bridge after the Yorkshire Dales was hit by flash floods this summer.

And the aid budget is small: for every £100 that is made in the UK, the aim is to put just 70p towards foreign aid.

What we need to do as a country is to ensure that the next government, whatever its political make-up, ensures that adequate funding is given to flood defences. And to ensure that money is equally spread across threatened areas of the UK.

Flood defence spending must not come at expense of overseas aid – Yorkshire Post Letters