Adrian Ramsay, co-leader of the Green Party and parliamentary candidate for Waveney Valley spent the weekend talking to people affected by the flooding in Eye, Suffolk. He said “The scenes and stories of flooding I’ve been seeing and hearing from Suffolk and Norfolk residents have been deeply shocking. This is not the first time East Anglia has been flooded, and it certainly won’t be the last. Climate change experts are shouting from the rooftops that these so-called ‘once in a generation’ events will become increasingly frequent.”

“The Conservative government is letting us down badly.  Not only are they not taking the issue of climate change seriously – reigning in on existing commitments – but they, and private water companies, are also failing appallingly when it comes to flood risk management. ”  

 “Before privatisation, public water bodies were responsible for flood defences. Now defences are at best piecemeal. This is another good reason to take our water industry back into public control.”

“We urgently need a long term and coordinated approach. This can only be achieved with a water industry focussed on investing in plugging leaks and protecting communities, not on syphoning off millions of pounds in dividends to shareholders. And rather than bulldozing planning laws, as Labour proposes, we need to reassess planning regulations which still allow for new buildings on flood plains.”

 “It is clear we will need Green MPs in parliament after the next general election making the case for climate action and protecting communities.”