Row rages over UK’s ‘too little, too late’ response to disaster
‘As much help as possible’
BRITAIN’S response to the Hurricane Irma devastation has been ‘found wanting’, two senior MPs warned last night.
Some 200 Royal Marines were scrambled to the Caribbean yesterday to be followed by a transport plane carrying two helicopters. The Royal Fleet Auxiliary ship Mounts Bay arrived in Anguilla last night.
But there had been a ‘ lack of forward thinking’ once it was clear British Overseas Territories were likely to be hit, say MP Tom Tugendhat, chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee, and Stephen Twigg, chairman of the International Development committee.
In a letter to Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson and International Development Secretary Priti Patel, they said the Government’s response ‘ still requires improvement’ and argued the UK’s territories in the region are ‘still in grave need’.
They also said it will take the Royal Navy flagship HMS Ocean two weeks to reach the region, which ‘will be later than any of us would wish’.
Downing Street rejected criticism of the Government’s response to the crisis, saying it was ‘swift’.
Theresa May chaired a meeting of the Cobra emergency committee yesterday, and officials pointed out that Mounts Bay was in the region before the hurricane struck.
At least 87,000 British nationals, including holidaymakers and residents, were believed to have been on four of the British Virgin Islands lashed by winds of up to 180mph. The islands suffered severe damage and face a humanitarian crisis.
Downing Street said three flights departed yesterday carrying Marines and engineers. Another C17 transport plane will leave today carrying two Puma helicopters.
Defence Secretary Sir Michael Fallon said the UK is ‘determined to get as much help as possible’ to those affected. Speaking at the naming of Royal Navy aircraft carrier HMS Prince of Wales in Rosyth dockyard, near Edinburgh, he said: ‘We positioned a ship in the Caribbean precisely to help with hurricane relief, that’s why we send a ship during each hurricane season.
‘Mounts Bay is there and has been helping the people of Anguilla, getting emergency supplies ashore. She’s now moving on to the British Virgin Islands to assist there.
‘We will be sending further planes today, transporting engineers, medics and emergency shelter, to get help where it’s needed. We had a ship in the region ready to help with a helicopter, ready to provide help and we’re backing that up and are determined to get as much help as possible to the people of those islands.’
But Mr Tugendhat and Mr Twigg said in their letter: ‘We are concerned that many in the UK’s overseas territories in the Caribbean are still in grave need.
‘In Anguilla, Montserrat and the British Virgin Islands and Turks and Caicos, our response still requires improvement and the arrival of HMS Ocean in two weeks’ time will be later than any of us would wish.’
The MPs argued there were ‘predictable needs and demands’ from the storm hitting, suggesting they believe the official response was flat-footed.
‘Experts and many in the area have been critical of the overall level of relief currently on offer as well as the apparent lack of forward-thinking once the storm’s route to Florida became more than just a possibility,’ they added.
The Department for International Development’s disaster response centre was sending supplies of aid to be loaded on to HMS Ocean, which has been diverted from the Mediterranean to the Caribbean to help with the relief efforts. Its load includes 10,000 buckets and 5,000 solar lanterns.
Mounts Bay is loaded with shelter kits, tin sheets and plywood to help with the reconstruction.