HOLLOW FLOODS PLEDGE?

DAVID Cameron’s pledges in the wake of the recent devastating floods had the hollow sound of a burglar promising to buy a black and white portable telly to replace the 50-inch plasma he stole last week.

I’m afraid for the residents hit by the floods which have ravaged parts of England and Wales, the horse had well and truly bolted long before Mr Cameron made his shallow commitment to firmly close the stable door.

For it was his Government’s reckless austerity measures which had stolen millions of pounds of flood protection funding from those very same areas in which he stood and declared his determination to help residents now and in the future.

Programmes to protect against the risk of flooding right across the Thames Valley have been delayed, stripped back or downgraded since the day Mr Cameron came to Government in 2010 and set about cutting left, right and centre in double-quick time.

Far from being supportive, Mr Cameron’s display as he pledged to repair the damage was a master class in the art of being deceitful and disingenuous.

And we know all about this particular issue in Derby. Our £80m scheme to protect residents, largely in Chester Green and Darley Abbey, is now reliant on public and private sector funding to bridge a vast gap created by yet another Government cutback.

I was as pleased as anyone when the £33.5m grant was confirmed, but the sting in the tail was the news that it was dependent on someone else raising the rest.

How long will it take this Government to get the message that it almost always makes economic sense to invest a little and save a lot?

Does Mr Cameron really believe for a moment that the savings he made by cutting back the schemes in the Thames Valley outweighed the vast expense now being faced by home owners and insurance companies in those areas as they try to repair the damage?

Of course it isn’t. And not just that, but the flood protection measures don’t just shield homes and livelihoods from one instance, but repeated instances. The savings from investing in such infrastructure improvements will be realised time and again with every flood that is avoided.

That’s why it is vitally important that the Government is held to account for Mr Cameron’s promise that he will spend whatever money is necessary to right this wrong.

I don’t doubt for a moment that those words were about as meaningful as they left his lips as the average a Lib Dem pledge to protect students or low earners.

But it is up to the rest of us to give them meaning by reminding Mr Cameron of his duty to learn from his Government’s repeated mistakes and protect our flood risk areas now and going forwards, and remind him we shall.

We should not kid ourselves that the bad fortune bestowed upon those whose lives have been left in turmoil by the floods is matched only by the luck of the draw for those who have avoided it.

There are many residents in my Derby North constituency who live in flood risk areas, and they know only too well that, on another occasion, it could have been them.

No Government can be expected to predict the weather but it is perfectly reasonable to expect that they take reasonable precautions to protect against it.

And it is on that front that David Cameron and his Government have badly let down the nation.