Boris heckled by flood-hit victims
BORIS JOHNSON faced heavy criticism over his response to flooding as he met victims in one of the worst-hit areas.
The Prime Minister was told by locals in Stainforth, South Yorkshire, that his trip there had come “too late”, with one telling him: “I don’t know what you’re here today for.”
He was visiting yesterday as around 100 soldiers arrived to assist communities cut off by flooding in the area, one of the worst affected by last week’s deluge.
One frustrated woman, who was pushing around a wheelbarrow, refused to speak to the Prime Minister.
She said: “I’m not very happy about talking to you so, if you don’t mind, I’ll just mope on with what I’m doing.
“You’ve not helped us up to press. I don’t know what you’re here today for.”
Another told him: “You’ve took your time Boris, haven’t you?”
Later on in his trip, he was reprimanded by one woman, local Labour councillor Susan Durant, who told him that he should have come to South Yorkshire when the flooding started last week.
“It took you over five days, you should have been there Saturday morning, having a meeting, making sure that these people get help and support,” she said.
The Prime Minister has been criticised by the Labour and Lib Dem leaders for a perceived lack of response to the flooding, which has hit several areas in the North.
Some had taken issue after he said during a visit to Derbyshire last week that the flooding, which has caused hundreds of people to evacuate their homes, was not something that needed to be escalated to the level of a “national emergency”.
Shelly Beniston is one of the locals helping to organise supply runs to the neighbouring village of Fishlake, another area hit by the flooding.
“We’ve had no authorities helping us. We didn’t know where to start,” she told Mr Johnson.
“We just used common sense, basically.” But one man shook the Prime Minister’s hand and said: “Help these people out. They definitely need it. Well done Boris.”
The Prime Minister later paid a visit to Fishlake, where he told reporters: “We will get people back on their feet.”
On Tuesday, he announced that relief funding would be made available for those affected by the floods and said that funding for local councils to help affected households would be made available to the tune of £500 per eligible household.
Meanwhile, Nigel Farage has refused to stand down candidates in Labour marginal seats despite mounting pressure from Conservatives who believe he could risk another hung parliament.
The Brexit Party leader said he would field candidates in every Labour-held seat – having previously climbed down from his threat to try to fight all seats at the poll.