Flooding: Cameron slaps down ‘blame game’ ministers

The Prime Minister rejected calls for EA chairman Lord Smith to be sacked immediately - and said everyone should “get on with their jobs” of helping those affected.

The comments, as Mr Cameron visited the badly-hit south-west of England, followed reports of a bitter clash between Environment Secretary Owen Paterson and Communities Secretary Eric Pickles.

Mr Paterson is said to have complained to Downing Street after his Tory colleague issued a barbed apology yesterday for relying on the agency’s advice, saying he had “thought we were dealing with experts”.

Both ministers have played down the apparent rift, insisting they are “working closely” to respond to the crisis.

But a furious Lord Smith has hit back at Mr Pickles, saying his staff know “100 times more” than any politician about flooding, and squarely blaming Treasury funding rules for the failure to dredge rivers.

Attempting to take the heat out of the spat this afternoon, Mr Cameron said: “I am only interested in one thing, and that is making sure that everything government can do is being done, and will go on being done to help people through this difficult time.

“This is a time for everyone to get on with the jobs that they have. This is not the time to change personnel here. This is the time to get on, do everything we can. I back the EA, I back the work they are doing.

“Everyone’s got to get on with the jobs they are doing.

“There will be time later on to talk about things. Right now everybody’s got to focus on the job in hand.

“That is the EA, every department in government, and let’s not forget the emergency services and the army, who are doing a brilliant job.”

Mr Pickles had been expected to visit a flood-hit area this afternoon, but is now due to answer an urgent question on the crisis tabled by Labour in the Commons.

Number 10 rejected suggestions that the Cabinet was at war, with the Prime Minister’s spokesman saying: “I don’t think there is a difference between Eric Pickles and Owen Paterson on this.”

Asked whether David Cameron agreed with an unnamed Cabinet minister who was quoted as describing Mr Paterson as “stupid”, the spokesman responded: “The Prime Minister’s view is that Owen Paterson does an excellent job.”

He denied that there had been a lack of urgency in the Government’s response during the early stages of the flooding, when the emergency Cobra committee was sometimes chaired by a junior environment minister.

Mr Cameron is visiting the South West over the coming 24 hours because he is “determined to see as much of the impact of the flooding as he can”, said the spokesman.

The premier is set to take part in a Cobra meeting this afternoon by phone, with Mr Pickles chairing in London.

The spokesman said Mr Cameron associated himself with the “unreserved apology” offered yesterday by Mr Pickles, who accepted that it was a mistake to have stopped dredging rivers in the Somerset Levels.

“The Prime Minister would associate himself entirely with Eric Pickles’s apology and the reason why, which is that there hasn’t been the dredging that was required and that is something that is going to be put right,” said the spokesman.

A spokeswoman for the Environment Secretary insisted he was “working closely” with Mr Pickles.

“Owen and Eric both agree there should have been more dredging in Somerset,” she said.

“They are working closely to deal with the problems caused by floods and severe weather - and to help the businesses and families affected.”

Sources close to Mr Pickles branded the reported rift with Mr Paterson “complete nonsense”, saying the two men were in “complete agreement”.