Business of the House

Katherine Fletcher Excerpts

Thursday 10th September 2020 Commons Chamber

[Stuart Andrew]

I am afraid I do not accept that that is what we are saying. We are deactivating a certain EU law restriction in a specific and limited way to make sure that the Government always have the ability to protect the peace process and to ensure we can support our economic recovery, but the hon. Gentleman has every opportunity over the five days of the next fortnight to raise those points, and knowing him, I am sure that he will.

[Katherine Fletcher (South Ribble) (Con)]

May I welcome my hon. Friend to the Dispatch Box, where he is taking both hostile and friendly fire with aplomb? As a northerner, he will know that the residents, farmers and business owners of South Ribble are a resilient bunch. However, this summer too many of them have been flooded in Leyland, Tarleton, Hesketh Bank and Banks. People have lost crops. They have lost possessions, and their businesses have been damaged, and they are rightly cross and upset. The ways to fix that distressing problem sit with too many individual organisations at the moment. Will my hon. Friend join me in encouraging the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs to urgently bring forward its surface water flooding proposals and get this serious problem addressed?

[Stuart Andrew]

My hon. Friend is right to highlight this incredibly important issue, because people are rightly worried about the threat of flooding. I know that she has met with the Under-Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, the hon. Member for Taunton Deane (Rebecca Pow). I will certainly make sure that the point she has raised is passed on again, but it is important to remember that we have announced record amounts of investment. I know that she wants that sooner rather than later, and I will certainly push the specific questions she asked.