Wednesday, July 25, 2007

The Floods

This summer we have seen unusual though not unprecedented heavy rain and terrible flooding in parts of England. While one sympathises with those whose homes have been badly damaged I cannot but reflect on the blame culture that emerges and the failure of people to take responsibility.

Whenever I hear people in West London complaining about the noise from Heathrow planes I want to ask them who was here first, them or the airport? As far as I can see almost everyone with the exception of Her Majesty at Windsor, chose to buy or build knowing they were near a flight path. Get over the noise or move I say.

Similarly, if you have chosen to live on a flood plain, you really should not be surprised at floods or blame the government for not protecting you enough. The government of course has something else to blame. Global warming is the culprit.

One swallow does not make a summer and one wet summer does not confirm that global warming is responsible. Read the history and you will find catastrophic floods have always been with us.

In Sunday School we used to sing,
"The wise man built his house upon the rock.......
The foolish man built his house upon the sand.
The rain came down and the floods came up........"

We are told there is a great need for new homes and there will have to be building on flood plains. Why is there such a need? There are two main causes. Family disintegration means people want to live apart. Unrestricted immigration, particularly from the E.U. is the other factor. Government cannot do much about the former but the solution to the second problem is obvious. Get out of the European Super State.

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