Starmer criticises Government’s response to flooding

Sir Keir was speaking after Ian Clements, 68, showed him around his drenched semi-detached house in Loughborough, Leicestershire, on Monday morning.

Mr Clements described how water from the nearby canal surged down Bottleacre Lane on Wednesday, reaching more than a foot deep in his lounge.

The Labour leader explained how he would set up a flood resilience taskforce to make sure preventative measures were in place before the winter flooding season.

He said: “The response wasn’t quick enough. So I just don’t think it’s good enough for the Government to come after the event again and express empathy.

“Get ahead of this with a taskforce. That’s what I would do.”

Asked if Labour would provide more money for flood prevention, Sir Keir said: “Of course it does need money but the taskforce is not just about money.

“It’s about getting the basics done. Getting those drains cleared. Getting the local authorities together. Having a plan.”

Mr Clements told the Labour leader he had lived in his home for 45 years and never seen anything like the flooding which hit the whole street last week.

He said all 120 houses were flooded and many of his neighbours do not have insurance.

Mr Clements said residents were puzzled why the canal flooded, which he cannot remember happening before.

He said a brook at the other end of the street had flooded the town centre on Tuesday but was dropping when he went to bed that night.

He said he thought he had “got away with it” but he drew his curtains at 8am on Wednesday to see water pouring down his drive.

“I just watched the water level rise until it came under the doors and through the floor boards,” he said.

“There was nothing you could do about it.”

Mr Clements said his insurance company has moved him to a hotel and had been “brilliant”.

He said: “That’s life. It’s stuff. We can fix stuff. Nothing important’s gone.”

Mr Clements described how his neighbour moved his elderly mother out of her house using a boat.

Sir Keir also visited the nearby Boat Inn, on the canal, where landlady Caz Wann explained how she provided a hub for local people to keep warm and distribute food and other supplies which have been donated.

She said the water flooded her car park and even deposited a narrowboat on the tow path outside the building but her pub was spared.

Ms Wann said many people in the area do not have insurance.

She said: “There’s a young girl that I know, she came and everything has been destroyed – pictures of children and things like that. Those are things you can’t replace.”

Local people continued to donate supplies at the pub even as Sir Keir toured the area.

Ms Wann explained there were no issues when she went to bed at 11pm on Tuesday. But she was woken in the early hours of Wednesday and soon had a pub full of people, providing hot drinks and blankets.

In the House of Commons, environment minister Robbie Moore said “2,000 properties are flooded” as a result of Storm Henk.

He told MPs: “The Government began planning for the elevated flood risk as soon as the Met Office forecast indicated an unsettled period of weather over Christmas and the new year. The Environment Agency started planning and preparing in the week before Christmas.”

Mr Moore said the Government was considering “options that include dredging, that include removing vegetations within Environment Agency assets, so that we can make sure we are delivering a better system for moving water further down the system more efficiently” and prevent future flooding.

Shadow environment secretary Steve Reed said money allocated for flood defences has yet to be spent in some areas.

He added: “While we can’t stop the rain from falling, we can and we should do more to protect communities, businesses and farms from the devastation of flooding.”