Maria Eagle MP, Labour’s Shadow Environment Secretary, responding to figures showing that flood defence funding has been cut by 30 per cent in South West England, said:

“David Cameron has been caught out by the truth. Despite his claim that ‘money was no object’ when it came to flood defences, figures show his government actually cut funding by 30 per cent in the worst-hit areas of the country in the last three years.

“This is a major embarrassment for David Cameron. The Tory-led Government failed to prepare and protect against climate change and it failed to learn the lessons of earlier floods.

“Ministers cut funding for flood protection when they came to power in 2010. That short-termism has cost the country dearly as they will have to spend more in the long term to protect our flood defences for decades to come.”