Labour in the UK have accused Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak of being “asleep at the wheel” over flood warnings at the end of a week in which at least 1,000 properties were flooded and some villages were totally cut off, with parts of Nottinghamshire, Shropshire, Gloucestershire and Wiltshire worst affected.
The Environment Agency (EA) in England blamed the floods on the climate crisis as it advised people in flood risk areas to turn off gas, water and electricity supplies, take possessions upstairs, and move family, pets and cars to safety.
Although the rain is forecast to subside over the weekend, temperatures are likely to plummet, causing more misery for those trying to clean up their homes and businesses after the deluge. Flood-hit residents were warned to brace themselves for five more days of misery because the ground was “completely saturated”, the EA said.
According to reports, hundreds of flood warnings and alerts remained in place across England and Wales on Friday evening with the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) issuing a cold weather alert from Saturday.
This winter the National Audit Office revealed that the number of properties to receive better protection from flooding by 2027 had been cut by 40%, and 500 of 2,000 new flood defence projects had been abandoned.
The prime minister was booed on Friday as he left a cafe in Marple, Stockport, after talking to activists in the marginal Tory-Lib Dem constituency of Hazel Grove.
Read also: Azerbaijan’s environment minister appointed Cop29 president
Those criticising the PM have asked him to resign, although not necessarily because of his handling of the floods. But Sunak insisted his government had a grip on flooding after Labour said it would convene a Cobra-style flood resilience taskforce to help protect vulnerable areas, with Sir Keir Starmer vowing to make flood defences “fit for purpose”.
It was “not about extra money” but “ensuring that the budget already committed to flood defences is used to maximum effect”, said Labour.
In his reaction, while rejecting the criticism, Sunak said “The Environment Agency have people in the ground everywhere, absolutely recognise the urgency of what is happening and they are responding appropriately and with all due haste.”
He also ignored calls from the Liberal Democrats to visit flood-hit areas himself, but sent the junior environment department minister, Robbie Moore to Nottingham, where many properties by the River Trent were evacuated.
Moore told reporters the EA was “working incredibly hard” and that the government was spending £5.2bn over the “next cycle” to “better protect homes that have been impacted by these consequences”.
He was quoted as saying that local authorities could go “a lot further” when scrutinising planning applications by taking into account the impact of flooding.
Story was adapted from the Guardian.
