It was great to see David Cameron offering his support to those affected by the first major flash floods of this winter. It is just a shame that this support is nothing more than empty rhetoric.
Speaking in Parliament today he said the government would do all it could to help those affected.
What the government is doing is the following.
Cutting DEFRA's budget of £3bn by £700m by the end of the spending review in 2015.(1)
Defra's biggest cuts in money terms are in resource spending for administration and front-line services, which will be reduced by 29%, from £2.3bn this year to £1.8bn in 2014-15 – the third highest reduction in percentage terms of any government department. (2)
Capital spending, mostly on flood defences, will drop from £600m this year to £400m each year. Added up over the four years of the spending review, the department and its agencies will spend £2bn less than it would have, not accounting for the effect of inflation.(3)
There seems to be increasingly more floods each year. A debate continues over whether there is more flooding or simply higher levels of observation combined with development on flood planes. Whatever the truth of this it remains that at the moment we don't seem to be able to deal effectively with the current level of flooding. If we continue to develop on flood planes and levels of flooding increase this can only lead to a greater need for support and infrastructure to be in place to deal with it.
I have yet to hear a convincing argument as to how exactly volunteers will succeed in building and maintaining their own flood defences.
It is surely in the interests of a country to have effective flood defences, as it effects not only those directly hit by flooding but also emergency services and the wider economy.
Now I must get back to seeing what is happening with the Royal Wedding. Will Kate break tradition and have a strapless wedding dress?
(1), (2),(3), Juliette Jowit, The Guardian, 20th October 2010,
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