As I travelled down through the brilliant mid-winter sunshine, the train slowed near to my destination and it became clear to all on-board, why we were now creeping along the tracks.

For as far as the eye could see, the landscape had changed from rolling undulating hills to a vast inland sea.

The water was so high, it was lapping at the edge of the buffers of the track. If you didn't know this part of the world, you could be forgiven for thinking that this scene was part of the natural beauty of Somerset. When I met my colleague, he told me that many friends’ houses had become victims to this great flood and that there was great anger from people who had lived in the district for many years.

The reason for their anger was that they had been telling local politicians and their MP’s that cuts to budgets would have an effect on the flow of water from rivers and create flooding. I was told that local people were not surprised when rivers had burst their banks because many of them hadn't been dredged for some time. They were also angry about the building on flood-plains – building houses without plans to divert the water that would surely come; the clue being – flood-plain! They were also tired of Westminster hand-wringing and the usual tea and sympathy to the flood victims and the outpouring of faux-admiration of the emergency services!

Fast-forward to December 2015, and the non-Christmas of the people of Cumbria and Yorkshire!

We are again treated to the nightly stories of families riven by natural disaster and the loss of dreams and memories.

‘Call me Dave’ hot-footed it to the disaster stricken areas and as we can see in this article, the usual soothing words were offered, for example:

“We will look at what has been done, look at happened on this occasion, and look at what needs to be done”.

“I’ve seen the flood defences for myself and they are impressive. But it’s difficult to deal with 14 inches of rainfall in 24 hours. We should look at what we’re planning to build, what we’re planning to spend, to see what more can be done”.

“We’re going to have to take a bit of time to work out exactly what happened; why the [flood defence] barriers overtopped; and what else can be done”.

“This is just the start. We’re at the recovery phase, rescuing people, helping them get out of their homes. But we will make sure insurance companies pay up quickly”.

He told the victims worried about the lack of insurance that they would likely benefit from the Insurance Industry’s not-for-profit scheme (FloodRe), and obtain re-insurance at an affordable price; well thank goodness for that then!

Through all of this there is then the cost, now estimated to be in the region of £5bn!

Whilst articles writhe about the misery of our fellow citizens, not one of them it would appear actually asked the Prime Minister, what direct financial help is available for the victims of the floods, well wait a minute, I can answer the question for him!

Here we go; The official spokesperson for the Prime Minister stated:

“Whilst our hearts go out to the victims of the floods, the PM is to announce today that he is declaring the areas of Cumbria & Yorkshire as Natural Disaster zones. He assures the citizens of Cumbria & Yorkshire that they can rest assured that they will receive the maximum assistance from our emergency services. The PM is also going to announce today the creation of a Royal Commission into what has happened since 2014; it will seek to answer how climate change is impacting on the UK natural environment and it will call all to account, including Ministers, as to what steps should have been taken; he will call further upon the Royal Commission to make recommendations to Parliament as to what needs to be done next and how much we have to spend to protect our communities. In the meantime, the PM will also announce that he has asked the Secretary of State for the Environment to make an urgent application to the EU Solidarity Fund; this is a fund that has been set up through our VAT taxes throughout Europe and provides key supportive funding to a government at a time of crisis from a natural disaster – this additional funding will go directly to help support the victims of the floods and to help them restore some balance in the aftermath of the flooding; we are grateful to the European Union for their words of comfort and for the very existence of EU Solidarity”.

The first part of the Statement was easy to write; apart from the declaration of a natural disaster zone, the help from emergency services etc etc has already been said! Two issues however will not come to pass. One will be the creation of a Royal Commission; now pretty essential in my view if we truly have a desire to help flood-prone areas. The second area reflects what I believe to be neglect on the part of this government. Here we have a pan-European scheme, the EU Solidarity Fund that can provide direct financial assistance to EU Member States affected by a natural disaster and yet, as we saw in 2014 (we last claimed in 2007), ‘Call me Dave’ remains silent on this important source of help for citizens!

Instead, we read of the moral outrage against Michael Sheen, who had the temerity to suggest that Foreign Aid payments should not be diverted to help the flood victims in Cumbria & Yorkshire – the attacks upon him were a great distraction from the real politik of how this crisis should be handled, wouldn't you say? He made the point against the argument to divert foreign-aid funding by stating:

“I think it's a false argument, I don't think it's an either-or. I think it's obviously from the newspapers you talk about – what's known as the right-wing press...I'm completely sick and I'm sure a lot of people are sick in this country of ideological agendas, using very real issues that affect ordinary people in this country and abroad, as a political football”.

What was interesting to read in the article, was the response of one local MP. He clearly wasn't asking the broader question of where funding can be secured from and how do we really stop this misery for his and other’s constituents; instead he appealed to a populist sound-bite that delivers absolutely nothing!

How long will it be before an enterprising journalist actually picks up on these nuggets? How long before the people of Cumbria & Yorkshire formally call on the government, in one mass movement, to seek this funding? Or, is this now a case, where ‘Call me Dave’, who has been caught in the headlights of his own making, is now held hostage to the political imperative to ignore the real and direct help our membership of Europe can give, rather than offer true leadership, and allow this suffering to continue, all for the sake of keeping the peace in a fractured political party? As the song says:

"The history book on the shelf, is always repeating itself"!

© Frank Brehany 2015 - All Rights Reserved (First Published on 30/12/15)