Dredging up answers

WIThIN hours of yesterday’s Mail rolling off the presses, highlighting the Third World misery of those caught in the Somerset floods, the Prime Minister ordered urgent action to tackle the crisis.

In an impressive display of leadership, he mobilised extra pumps to clear the water, while issuing instructions to dredge the silted-up rivers of the Levels as soon as this becomes safe. One question: if David Cameron could set in motion what needs to be done, at a moment’s notice, what have the handsomely-paid officials, whose job it is, been doing since Christmas?

Indeed, for many in the area, this is the third year running they’ve endured the devastation and squalor of flooding.

Meanwhile, they’ve pleaded in vain with the environment Agency to resume the regular dredging of local rivers it abandoned 18 years ago.

In its metropolitan obsession with green causes, the agency has preferred to spend its budget on creating wetlands for birds (and how sad and ironic that the floods have devastated wildlife too).

Following the Prime Minister’s lead, why can’t all quangos and public bodies concentrate on their core duties –whether dredging rivers, fighting crime or emptying bins? They are there to serve the people who pay their inflated wages, not to strike fashionable attitudes.