Labour calls for independent review of government response to flooding

Labour is set to call for an independent review into the government’s response to the recent flooding in the UK and the “adequacy of the funding” for flood defences.

The party will put forward a motion during an opposition day debate on Wednesday in which MPs will discuss the impact of the floods on communities and businesses in affected areas.

Commenting ahead of the debate, Labour accused the Prime Minister of being “missing in action”, and highlighted that it follows years of Tory cuts to the environment agency, councils and emergency services.

Luke Pollard, the new Shadow Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, said: “Boris Johnson has proved himself to be a part-time Prime Minister who is unwilling to help communities and businesses that have suffered terribly because of the floods.”

Jeremy Corbyn heavily criticised Boris Johnson during Prime Minister’s Questions last week for his failure to visit affected communities and for not convening COBRA, which he eventually did on Monday.

Pollard added: “There needs to be an independent review into the government’s woefully slow response to help flood-hit communities.

“We need to know how many homes and businesses have been affected, and what additional funding will be made available to local authorities and emergency services.”

The Met Office has declared that last month was the wettest February on record with an average of 202.1mm falling last month.

Over the course of storm Ciara, the Environment Agency issued 186 flood alerts and 251 flood warnings, while storm Dennis is believed to have caused the worst winter floods in recent times.

Thousands of houses and businesses across England and Wales were affected and many people were evacuated from their homes.

Johnson did not call a meeting of COBRA throughout the disruption, despite having done so when flooding occurred in the run-up to the election in December.

Corbyn accused him of not doing so this time because there were no votes at stake, and said that the Prime Minister had shown “his true colours”.

A recent study demonstrated that 20,000 homes not protected by the government’s insurance scheme, are also not protected by flood defences.

According to a report by the Scape Group, government spending on vital flood defences across England has fallen by £64m since 2015.

Last year, the Environment Agency said that £1bn per year was needed to tackle flooding and coastal erosion – between more than £600m to £800m than the amount spent since 2010.