PM VISITS FLOODS... BUT WATER’S GONE!
After 22 days, Boris finally meets the victims of the downpours – and enjoys a VERY mixed response
BORIS Johnson was heckled yesterday when he finally visited floodhit communities – once the water had receded.
Although greeted warmly at a meeting with 100 locals in Bewdley, Worcestershire, the Prime Minister was told to ‘do your f****** job’ while being shown around the town.
One protester also shouted ‘traitor’ – although it was unclear what triggered the insult.
The abuse – which locals said was from ‘outsiders’ – came as Mr Johnson announced a £2.6 billion boost to flood defences.
The Prime Minister faced heavy criticism for staying in the Foreign Secretary’s Chevening country estate in Kent during the height of last month’s floods, rather than visiting regions including Yorkshire, South Wales and the Midlands.
The Daily Mail reported last week from Snaith, east Yorkshire, where the water levels came up to the waist.
Responding to claims he should have visited sooner, Mr Johnson said it was ‘ too easy’ for the Prime Minister to ‘come to a place in the middle of an emergency’.
He added it would have made things ‘not so easy, frankly, for the emergency services’.
The first flooding occurred in the wake of Storm Ciara, a month ago on February 9.
Dr David Hegarty, a GP whose home was flooded when the River Severn burst its banks, and who was at the meeting with Mr Johnson, said: ‘ My view is that when everywhere was in crisis, he should have been in London directing operations, not getting in the way of all the emergency services. He came to Bewdley, he said Bewdley needs a permanent solution. This is what we need from our politicians, to find a way forward.’
Dr Hegarty – who said he, his wife Ruth and their four children were having to live upstairs while their downstairs is repaired over the coming months – added: ‘It came across that the Prime Minister cared, that he was genuinely shocked and wanted to do his best for the community.
‘His words were, “let’s get Bewdley done”. He said we need a permanent barrier solution and that he will do what he can.’
Dr Hegarty, 53, said Mr Johnson spent ‘ 25 to 30 minutes’ in the meeting at a pub, then another 20 minutes speaking to individuals who ‘really appreciated’ his visit.
One resident at the meeting said: ‘There has been a lot reported about people shouting at the Prime Minister. I don’t believe they were from Bewdley. No one who lives here recognised them and they did not get into the meeting.’
John Byng, Bewdley’s mayor and a Conservative councillor, added: ‘The heckling doesn’t sound like the people of Bewdley, to be honest. The Prime Minister was told to stay away during the floods because he would get in the way, which I think was the right thing.
From Saturday’s Mail He didn’t have to come at all. I think Bewdley is grateful he did come.’ While being shown around the town, Mr Johnson described how an earlier visit would have hampered the emergency services’ work. He said: ‘What they have to do is then break off, everybody has to gather.
‘ They’re diverting from their work for hours and hours.
‘What I’ve been doing since the flooding began is coordinating the national response but also looking at what we can do in the next months and years to ensure this country really is ready to cope with the impacts of flooding.’
Mr Johnson also joined members of the emergency services for a cup of tea and biscuits as he told the Government was ‘doubling the budgets we’ve set aside for investment in flood protection across the country from £2.6 billion to £5.2 billion’. Among projects to be funded with the extra cash are 2,000 flood defence schemes protecting 336,000 properties.
There will also be a £200 million fund announced in this week’s Budget to test ‘ innovative approaches’ to improving flood defences.
Mr Johnson, mocked by Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn as a ‘parttime Prime Minister’ who ‘goes AWOL during emergencies’, was heckled as he posed with teenagers for a selfie on a bridge. The town has been among the worsthit areas in England following the wettest February on record.
Bewdley was first flooded on February 16. At its height, the River Severn breached temporary barriers and inundated up to 60 properties with water 2ft deep.
The water has since receded, leaving residents to clean up while awaiting visits by insurance firms. Full repairs to homes and businesses could take many months.
The Prime Minister said he was ‘so sorry to hear it’ when he heard homes had been overwhelmed. He was later mobbed by members of the public as he continued his walk – with a number of people trying to shake his hand and take photos.
‘He said he’ll do what he can’