Angela Smith
Main Page: Angela Smith (Liberal Democrat - Penistone and Stocksbridge)(10 years, 9 months ago)
Commons ChamberRead Full debate Read Hansard Text
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Mr Pickles
As always, my right hon. Friend is correct. We cannot have conventional orthodoxy, and neither should we replace one inflexible orthodoxy with another. We have only to stand close to these rivers, some of which were previously gentle and meandering, or to see that monstrous gap in Brunel’s railway to see the sheer strength of nature. Conventional orthodoxy has to be re-examined, and instead we need bespoke solutions for each area of the country.
Angela Smith (Penistone and Stocksbridge) (Lab)
When he got the job, the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs removed from his Department’s list of priorities an intention
“to prepare for and manage risk from flood and other environmental emergencies”.
Does the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government agree that this was a terrible error of judgment on the part of his colleague?
Mr Pickles
My right hon. Friend replaced an enormous, overbearing bureaucratic system with an emphasis on some key issues, one of which was flood defences. As a consequence, we are spending more on this than the Labour party did in its last five years in office, and no matter how much the Opposition huff and puff, they cannot get away from that basic fact.