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UK PRIME MINISTER Boris Johnson was accused of doing nothing to help flood victims as he took a break from electioneering to visit one of the worst hit areas.
One resident in flood-hit Stainforth in South Yorkshire told the Johnson: “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.”
The woman, clutching a wheelbarrow alongside the troops sent to the area to help, added: “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?”, to which Johnson replied: “We’ve been on it round the clock.”
Speaking to reporters at the scene, Johnson said: “I perfectly understand how people feel and you can understand the anguish a flood causes.
The shock of seeing your property engulfed by water is huge and also the anxiety of what may still be to come and I do thank the emergency services for everything they are doing.
Johnson arrived in the area as nearly 100 soldiers began assisting communities cut off by the flooding.
Army personnel laid down sandbags in the town of Stainforth, attempting to shore up the village’s bridge.
Another local, Shelly Beniston, told the Prime Minister she had helped organise supply runs to the neighbouring village of Fishlake, another area to be hit by flooding.
She said: “We’ve had no authorities helping us. We didn’t know where to start. We just used common sense basically.”
Another man shook the Prime Minister’s hand and said: “Help these people out. They definitely need it. Well done Boris.”
The help from the Army comes amid fears that further bad weather could be on the way on tomorrow, with he UK Met Office issuing a yellow warning for rain for the whole day covering a vast region from Portsmouth to Hull.
One official from the Environment Agency told Johnson that an estimated 20mm to 30mm of rain was expected to fall in the next 24 hours.
The official said that 2019 had already seen the third wettest autumn on record, adding: “We need to look at what we need – particularly in the context of a changing climate.”
There are 34 flood warnings still in place across England and seven flood alerts are also in place in Wales, where the Met Office is predicting further heavy rain today.
But five severe “danger to life” warnings on the River Don in South Yorkshire have been downgraded.
Yesterday evening, the Prime Minister warned there could be further flooding across the country after chairing a meeting of the government’s emergency committee.
Johnson also announced relief funding would be made available for those affected by the floods and said that funding for locals councils to help affected households would be made available to the tune of £500 (€583) per eligible household.
Up to £2,500 (€2915) would be available for small to medium-sized businesses which have suffered severe impacts and which are not covered by insurance.
The PM also urged people in affected areas to heed the warnings of emergency services, after some residents in Fishlake remained in their homes despite being advised by Doncaster Council to evacuate.
The announcements came after both Labour and the Liberal Democrats criticised the government’s response to flooding, which is rapidly turning into an election issue.
Apparently this guy had been watched 24/7 since 2016. They spent all this time, money and resources on a guy who wasn’t even a New Zealander and this still happens. Why wasn’t he just deported?
@Colleen: Because you can’t arrest people for crimes they are yet to commit.
@Niamh Hayes: you can if you can prove conspiracy
@Michael Burke: They obviously couldn’t prove conspiracy then.
@Colleen: he would face “torture and violence” if he was deported, his lawyers said
@Niamh Hayes: yes you can.. I saw it on a documentary called “minority report”
@Niamh Hayes: look up the difference between deported and arrested.
@Colleen: NZ has a varefullg-crafted superiority complex to consider.
@Niamh Hayes:
You’re right but he was arrested previously for planning an attack but it was ruled by a judge that planning an attack is not illegal. Maybe it should be.
@Paul O Connor: that’s outrageous if true. Planning mass murder isn’t a crime?
@Niamh Hayes: crazy law
If he was known to be a violent extremist since 2016 why wasn’t he deported.
@Philip Kedney: because they are too soft. Now they are paying the price.
@Philip Kedney: because of barbaric principles like “innocent until proven guilty”?
Its only a matter of time before something like this happens in Dublin, plenty of extremists here under investigation; Sure didn’t one of the attackers in England have an Irish ID card a few years back and a Dublin address
@David Lee: got married in Ireland ya. Was staying out in Santry for a bit too, you are correct. Ireland, albeit an enemy to the Islamic State, is less likely to be attacked due to our strategic benefit to IS. Our security is incredibly lax and we share an unmanned border with the UK who would be a much bigger target in their eyes. They use Ireland as a gateway and therefore would not like to draw attention or give cause for increased security and scrutiny to their activities in Ireland by launching an attack here. Of course that is a large co-ordinated attack. We would very much be at risk from the lone wolf nut-jobs alright who are inspired by IS twisted ideology.
in ireland he would have got a good slap on the hand and a strongly worded letter
Was wondering how far down the page we’d make it before the obligatory inane ‘comparison’ comment.
Terrible thing to happen. Please God, all the victims will make a full recovery.
Great to see we have so many security and anti-terrorism experts, all putting their skills to their best use writing comments on thejournal.ie.
So they lied when they originally said it was “random”? Or are they just that incompetent?
@Thomas Smyth: It’s sounding as if he was copying IS attacks but not in a cell of terrorists conspiring to plan an attack? It’s that odd difference again between a gang with a religious or political motive and a wanna be serial killer, I suppose.
Unclear at this point whether or not suspect was NZ citizen / if he was might help explain why he wasn’t deported.
What was a Sri Lankan doing in NZ for 10 years? Was he legally resident,with status? Why wasnt he deported for his known extremist views?
‘Under surveillance’ resulting what the authorities suspected would happen is laughable. Same with the London Bridge attack…..’under surveillance’ before the guy had even left prison.
Going after New Zealand no country is safe from terrorism.
@andrew: no country is safe from a lunatic. ‘Terrorism’ is a handy tag.
@Alan McArdle: Some countries are more susceptible than others particularly in the era were living in.
have your say