FLOODING DEVASTATION

To stand, once in your life, knee deep in water, surrounded by the devastation of your home is soul destroying, but to face it many times over is an unimaginable hell. But this is what is happening for some, with frightening regularity. But this government seems deaf to that distress.

The National Audit Office revealed that the number of homes to get better protection from flooding by 2027 had been reduced by 40% and 500 of the needed 2000 flood protection projects had been abandoned.

Lives devastated by flooding are not merely matters of insurance, they are lives lived in insecurity. If it happens once, it can happen again. But when you don't have the ability to rescue your belongings and replace precious personal items the first time, how are you supposed to do it again and again? Flooding is catastrophic for those caught in its wake, but they are not isolated events, these are part of a much bigger problem.

As Liberal Democrats we have time and again campaigned for measures to tackle climate change, one of the chief causes of repeated flooding. Our natural environment is central to the management of flooding. People deserve clear policies and reliable help to tackle what the changing climate throws at us. We have the commitment to tackle these issues head on, we won't turn a deaf ear to distress.