Last week people across our part of Devon saw their livelihoods swept away as thunderstorms and heavy rainfall resulted in a series of flash floods that turned our roads into waterways. The flooding was particularly heavy along the banks the River Otter, especially in and around Newton Poppleford – a small village which is in the East Devon Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB).

Richard Foord www.devonlive.com 

The damage of flooding takes a long time to clean up. Indeed, several days after the waters receded, we still saw pictures of people’s living rooms and business places still under water. It’s clear that the work to rebuild has only just began. The work of both emergency service workers, who initially responded to the floods, and the local people, who have rallied together to support each other, has been hugely inspiring. Their swift and resilience has really shown us at our best.

Now the focus turns to the clean-up operation and arduous task of repairing the damage caused by water, mud, and silt. I have spoken to several community leaders, including the local District Councillor, about what help they need to properly rebuild their lives.

We must ensure that this work is properly supported by Devon County Council and the Government in Westminster, both in the immediate aftermath – but also in the long-term too. There is real concern that while help is often forthcoming in the days after the flooding takes place, this tends to peter out as the weeks go by.

Flooding is not something we can avoid, but it is something that we can prepare for. We know that cases like this are only going to get worse as we see the effects of climate change continue to shape our world. It is now incumbent on the Government to set out exactly how they plan to help those affected.

Local Councils have seen their budgets repeatedly hollowed out by the current Conservative Government, forcing many to make cutbacks to vital frontline services. This means they are unable to properly respond to events like this in the scale that is needed.

That’s why we need clarity on what package of support is being given to Devon authorities to help kickstart repair work. I recently wrote to the Flooding Minister Rebecca Pow to ask this very question, but also to try and understand what the formal process was for triggering extra help for areas affected by flooding.

We need to have confidence that these decisions are being made fairly and quickly, not on an ad-hoc basis at the whim of Ministers. This is the only way we can ensure that our communities get the support they need to properly rebuild and repair the damage done by environmental events like these.

Last week’s Council elections showed that things are changing. People are fed up with being taken for granted by the Conservatives and are will not allow the neglect of rural areas like ours to continue. Now we wait to see whether the Government has finally got the message and is going to listen.

Liberal Democrats are the main challengers across Devon and are fighting to get a fair deal for our county. If that’s what you want to see too, then join us and help us kick these out of touch Conservatives out.

This meeting is the one that has been dubbed a “PR Stunt”. 

Our Simon knows a lot about PR so he should have been in his element.

He backs farmers, but since he is a PPS he is obliged to back the government.

Only a few days ago, NFU President Minette Batters, was highly critical of the government’s trade deals with Australia and New Zealand which come into force on May 31.

These post-Brexit trade deals have done no favours to British farmers and threaten to undermine welfare standards. – Owl

honiton.nub.news 

Simon Jupp, the MP for East Devon, has been in Westminster today ahead of this week’s Devon County Show and the UK’s Farm to Fork Summit.

Mr Jupp welcomed new investments, announced today, which the government say will help support British farmers. It is hoped the measures will strengthen food security and grow the economy. 

The MP, who lives in Sidmouth, also provided feedback from the most recent farmers roundtable in Sidford to the Prime Minister about the need to keep focused on food security, reducing red tape, and improving access to advice and support.

Both the Farm to Fork Summit and the Devon County Show will take place this week at Westpoint, with Mr Jupp attending both events and speaking to farmers, visitors and producers. 

The pledges announced today include putting farmer’s interests at the heart of trade policy through a new framework for trade negotiations, committing to protect the UK’s high food an welfare standards and prioritising new export opportunities. 

New measures announced by the government today include: 

• Farmers’ interests will be put at the heart of trade policy through a new framework for trade negotiations, committing to protect the UK’s high food and welfare standards and prioritise new export opportunities. The Prime Minister has written an open letter to farmers today setting out how these new principles will help the industry benefit from the trade opportunities available to us outside the EU.
• Investing £2m to boost our programme of global trade shows and missions, as well as providing £1.6m for the GREAT food and drink campaign.
• Extending funding to promote seafood exports around the world with an extra £1 million between 2025 and 2028 and create a new bespoke £1m programme to help dairy businesses, particularly SMEs, to seize export opportunities, particularly in the Asia pacific region.
• Confirming the government will improve future support for horticulture by replacing the retained EU Fruit and Vegetable Producer Organisation Scheme when it closes in 2026 with an expanded offer as part of new farming payment schemes.
• New reviews into fairness in the horticulture and egg supply chains, in light of the impact of global challenges on these sectors in particular.
• Recognising the unique role and needs of the sector, and listening to the calls from the NFU, FDF and others, the Grocery Code Adjudicator will not be merged with the Competition and Markets Authority, in recognition of its importance in ensuring our food supply chains function.
• Plans to cut the red tape currently holding farmers back from delivering projects on their land to diversify their incomes, such as repurposing farm buildings to use as shops, with a call for evidence later this year.
• Increasing water security by accelerating work on water supply infrastructure, so that farmers can count on steady access to water, including in periods of intense dry weather.

You can read the full list here. 

Simon Jupp, MP for East Devon, said: “The new investment and support for farmers announced today is great news for the agricultural sector. 

“East Devon’s farmers work hard around the clock to keep great quality food on our plates, so it’s good to see the Prime Minister hosting this important summit today. 

“Our farmers are at the heart of our rural economy, bringing jobs and opportunity to East Devon. I regularly hold farming roundtables across East Devon with local farmers and I always share the feedback with government. 

“East Devon produces some of the best food and drink in the country, and I will continue to work with producers and ministers to support a productive and thriving agricultural sector, which I look forward to seeing in all its glory at the Devon County Show later this week.”

Rishi Sunak MP, Prime Minister, said: “I will always back British farmers, and I pay tribute to their hard work and dedication all year round which keeps shelves stocked and food on our tables. 

“Supporting our farmers and food producers must, and always will be, at the heart of our plans to grow the economy and build a more prosperous country. That’s why I’m proud to host this summit, and working together, I’m determined to build resilience, strengthen our food security and champion the best of British at home and overseas.” 

Ann Widdecombe has told people to not make cheese sandwiches if they cannot afford to buy the ingredients as a way to deal with the ongoing cost of living crisis.

Tara Cobham www.independent.co.uk 

The politician, who is a member of the Reform UK party, was asked what she would advise people faced with the spiralling costs of basic food items on a panel discussing BBC research that showed the price of a homemade cheese sandwich has shot up by a third in the past year to 40p.

On the Politics Live programme, the former Brexit Party MEP said: “You don’t do the cheese sandwich.”

She added there was no “given right” to low food prices and spoke of how farmers would “constantly” complain to her about supermarket pricing when she was Conservative MP for Maidstone.

“The only way this is going to be tackled is if inflation is going to come down,” Ms Widdecombe said. “You will not get inflation coming down if you continue to have inflationary wage rises.

“We just have to be as grown-up about this as we can and stop thinking it’s solely a UK problem, because it isn’t.”

New Statesman journalist Rachel Cunliffe said the situation is so dire for some families that they “cannot afford to feed their children” as a result of the increasing price of basic items. But Ms Widdecombe shot back: “None of it’s new. We’ve been through this before.

“The problem is we’ve been decades now without inflation, we’ve come to regard it as some kind of given right…”

Separately, Ms Widdecombe has suggested those claiming unemployment benefits should be made to fill labour shortages by picking fruit.

Speaking on Jeremy Vine on 5, she said: “I ask why it is that we’ve got 1.2 million people on the dole, and I do mean on the dole, on unemployment benefit. Some of them obviously wouldn’t be fit enough to work at fruit picking. But 1.2 million?

“And the word that is always used is that our people aren’t ‘willing’ to pick. Now ‘willing’ doesn’t matter if you’re drawing public money – I think you should be made to pick.”

Shareholders in water companies will initially fund the investments. However, the costs will be recouped from customers through unspecified increases in their bills determined by regulators, in a move which threatens to add further pressure to household costs.

Shareholders have been creaming profits for nearly a quarter of a century, time for a haircut! – Owl

Alex Lawson www.theguardian.com 

Water companies have apologised for repeated sewage spills and pledged to invest £10bn this decade in an attempt to quell public anger over pollution in seas and rivers.

The companies will triple their existing investment plans to plough funds into the biggest modernisation of sewers “since the Victorian era” to reduce spills of overflowing sewage into England’s waterways.

Industry body Water UK said the plans will cut the number of overflow incidents by up to 140,000 each year by 2030, compared with 2020.

Environment Agency figures earlier this year showed there were a total of 301,091 sewage spills in 2022, an average of 824 a day.

The spending on more than 350,000 miles of sewer comes on top of the current £3.1bn being spent between 2020 and 2025.

Shareholders in water companies will initially fund the investments. However, the costs will be recouped from customers through unspecified increases in their bills determined by regulators, in a move which threatens to add further pressure to household costs.

The investment will see new facilities built to hold surges in rainwater, increased capacity for sewage treatment works, measures to reduce rainfall entering sewers and fixing misconnected pipes from properties.

An online hub will launch next year, giving the public almost live information on overflows and the state of rivers and coastal waters. The companies also pledged to support up to 100 communities in creating new protected water for swimming.

The move comes after intense criticism of water companies from politicians and campaigners.

Water UK, which represents 25 companies across the UK, issued an apology and said the public was “right to be upset about the current quality of our rivers and beaches”.

There have been calls for greater fines for breaching environmental laws and The Environment Agency has even suggested that water company bosses should be jailed for serious pollution.

Ruth Kelly, the chair of Water UK, said: “The message from the water and sewage industry today is clear: we are sorry. More should have been done to address the issue of spillages sooner and the public is right to be upset about the current quality of our rivers and beaches.

“We have listened and have an unprecedented plan to start to put it right. This problem cannot be fixed overnight, but we are determined to do everything we can to transform our rivers and seas in the way we all want to see.”

Britain’s privatised water and sewage companies paid £1.4bn in dividends in 2022, up from £540m the previous year. Annual bonuses paid to water company executives rose by 20% in 2021, as water bosses paid themselves £24.8m, including £14.7m in bonuses, benefits and incentives, in 2021-2022.

Last week the chief executives of Yorkshire Water and Thames Water and owner of South West Water declined their bonuses in an acknowledgment of the public anger over companies’ dumping of sewage in Britain’s rivers.

Liberal Democrat leader Ed Davey said: “This apology and plan just don’t go far enough. For years water companies have arrogantly dismissed the public’s fears of rivers, lakes and coastlines being damaged by sewage discharges.

“This announcement does nothing to match the billions water firms have paid out in dividends to overseas investors, or stop their CEOs being handed multimillion pound bonuses.”

Davey also called on the environment secretary, Thérèse Coffey, to apologise.

In a letter apologising to its customers, Yorkshire Water said it is investing £180m in reducing discharges from storm overflows over the next two years.

Its chief executive, Nicola Shaw, said: “Tackling overflows, which were designed into the system as a relief valve, is a priority for us, but it is also a significant task … further investment from our shareholders is helping us tackle this issue.”

Last month, Coffey said the government would introduce legislation to put plans to reduce storm overflows on a “new legal footing”.

Stuart Singleton-White, head of campaigns at the Angling Trust, said, “This must be only the beginning. The problems our rivers face will not be solved by sorting out overflow spills, chucking in some money for swimming, and putting nature-based solutions on the end of pipes.”

A spokesperson for Ofwat, the water regulator, said: “We welcome the apology from water companies and this now needs to be turned into action.

“We have been pushing water companies to do more, faster, for their customers and for our waterways and beaches. We look forward to seeing the plans and how companies will step up performance.”