In the House
Yesterday in response to a call from Ian Liddell-Grainger, MP for Bridgwater, Somerset MPs gathered in Westminster Hall to express their angst over the distress caused to our region by the recent floods. Time and again MPs complained that this was not the result of heavy weather but poor river maintenance. Mr Liddell-Grainger was moved to observe that the Dutch suffered the same rainfall as Somerset, we hade catastrophic flooding and they had none. At least Brandon Lewis MP, Minister for Communities and Local government was on hand. But much as he may provide help to clean up the mess, it is sad to see that once again this government has avoided talking about the issue of prevention. That requires Defra input and no minister from Defra, the body which doles out over £1 billion of our money to the Environment Agency, was on hand to hear.