Maria Eagle MP, Labour’s Shadow Environment Secretary, responding to the government’s assessment of the winter floods released today, said:

“The recent floods were a tragedy for many local communities yet the problems were made much worse because David Cameron’s government failed to prepare and protect against climate change and they failed to learn the lessons of earlier floods.

“The Tory-led government cut funding for flood protection when they came to power in 2010 and have been forced to restore some of that funding to cope with the current crisis. That short-termism has cost the country dearly as they will end up spending more in the long term to protect our flood defences for decades to come.”