Corbyn: PM doesn’t care about flood-hit communities now election is over

Jeremy Corbyn has said that Boris Johnson’s inaction in response to recent flooding shows that he “does not care about helping communities” following the general election.

The outgoing Labour leader criticised the Prime Minister over his handling of the damage and disruption caused by Storm Dennis ahead of a visit to south Wales on Thursday.

He said that the failure to convene COBRA or visit the affected areas demonstrates that Johnson does not care about them when he is “not campaigning for votes”.

Commenting ahead of his visit to Wales, Corbyn said: “In refusing to visit flood-hit communities, nowhere-to-be-seen Boris Johnson is showing his true colours by his absence.

“Failing to convene COBRA to support flood-hit communities sends a very clear message: if the Prime Minister is not campaigning for votes in a general election, he simply does not care about helping communities affected by flooding.”

During his visit, the Labour leader will meet with residents affected by the bad weather, and volunteers coordinated by the Welsh Labour government and local councils.

Corbyn said: “I want to thank our emergency services, the Welsh Labour government, local authorities and volunteers who have come together and worked around the clock to protect homes and businesses from flooding.”

Warning that the climate crisis will worsen, the Labour leader accused the government of a “wholly inadequate” response and for failing to “grasp the scale of this crisis”.

He added: “The government has failed to protect the most vulnerable communities who have been so badly let down time and time again, and ministers have failed to put in place longer-term flood prevention strategies to protect communities from the consequences of extreme weather conditions.”

Representatives from local councils, the emergency services, businesses and voluntary groups met on Wednesday at a Welsh government summit.

According to the Environment Agency, around 1,400 homes and businesses across the UK have been hit by flooding following Storm Dennis.

As Labour’s First Minister of Wales, Mark Drakeford has promised up to £10m for the homes and businesses that have been affected in Wales.

Both the rivers Wye and Severn have risen to their highest levels ever and lots of people living in surrounding areas have been evacuated.

Across England and Wales, 140 flood warnings remain in place and the Met Office has warned that there will be further rain over the next few days.