‘I’ve supported you, come and support ME’: Flood-hit Tory voter offers to buy Boris Johnson a PINT if he visits water-ravaged Ironbridge… while PM enjoy recess at grace-and-favour Chevening
- Vic Haddock’s home is next to the River Severn in Ironbridge, Shropshire
- He has lived there for 17 years and said flooding is the worst it has ever been
- 60-year-old told Prime Minister he wanted a chat to ‘find out who’s responsible’
- Said residents in his area had got no protection despite flood barriers elsewhere
A flood-hit canoe hire firm owner who has suffered £100,000 worth of damage to his home has urged Boris Johnson to ‘come and see me, I’ll buy you a pint’.
Vic Haddock, 60, whose home is next to the River Severn, has lived in Ironbridge, Shropshire, for 17 years and said the flooding was the worst it had ever been.
And he told the Prime Minister that he was a ‘staunch supporter’ of him and wanted to have a chat to ‘find out who’s responsible to give us a little bit of aid’.
Vic Haddock, 60, told Sky News yesterday that he was a ‘staunch supporter’ of Boris Johnson and wanted to have a chat to ‘find out who’s responsible to give us a little bit of aid’
Mr Haddock said that despite the flood barriers put in by the council on the nearby Wharfage, residents in Ladywood had been given no such protection.
He told Sky News: ‘I’m a staunch supporter of Boris Johnson, and I believe he’s going to be a great man for the country, I really do, great ambassador for England. Now I’ve supported him, come on Boris – come and support me.
‘Come and see me, I’ll buy you a pint, we’ll have a chat about this and see if you can sort out the differences between the arguments in the council world, energies, conservation etc and find out who’s finally responsible to give us a little bit of aid.
‘We live by a river. I bought this of my choice, my own accord. I expect to get my feet wet, but I don’t expect this, not when they’re protecting the town on the other side.
‘I think there’s got to be some sort of duty of care etc, or whatever the phrase is. If they support that side, then they should support this side. That’s all we ask, nothing else, the rest we’ll do ourselves – we always have done.
Mr Haddock in his canoe yesterday outside his flooded home in Ironbridge, Shropshire
Mr Haddock owns Ironbridge Canoe Hire Ltd and Atcham Canoe Hire in the Shropshire town
Mr Haddock, who also owns Ironbridge Canoe Hire Ltd and Atcham Canoe Hire, was forced to evacuate his home and saw his £100,000 house renovation destroyed.
He said he has been staying with his family in Wolverhampton because his home has no gas, no electricity and no amenities.
Told by a Sky News reporter that the Government are saying he will get up to £500 in financial hardship payments, he replied: ‘£500? What’s that going to do?
‘There’s £500 worth of damage in the freezer and the fridge alone. They’re a right off. There’s a Rayburn stove in there. Have you seen one of the cost of one of them?
‘Completely written off. That controls all the heating, central heating, all the electrics go through it, everything – we’ve got nothing. We can’t even use the toilets.
Mr Haddock said there is £500 worth of damage in the freezer and the fridge alone in his home
Mr Haddock had to evacuate his home and saw a £100,000 house renovation destroyed
And asked if he was insured, Mr Haddock said: ‘No, can’t get insurance. We’re just ordinary working people down here.
‘They come up with extortionate rates – £7,000 a year, or something like that, ‘oh, but we’re not insuring you, not for floods’.’
Britain faces further torrential rain across large swathes of the country over the next few days along with hail, thunder and snow.
Nearly 300 flood warnings or alerts remain in place today, while up to 4in (100mm) of rain – or a month’s worth – is expected to fall in parts of Wales.
It comes as Conservative MPs in flood-hit constituencies around the country criticised the Government’s slow financial response to the crisis.
Mr Haddock in Ironbridge yesterday as neighbour Pete Andrews pumps water from his home
A view from flood victim Mr Haddock’s home yesterday on the riverside in Ironbridge
Whitehall has been urged to make more money available for flood defences, and Jeremy Corbyn has slammed Mr Johnson for not visiting flood-hit communities.
The Labour leader also said the Prime Minister was showing his ‘true colours’ by not convening the Government’s emergency committee Cobra.
Families devastated by flooding have demanded action from Mr Johnson as he enjoys a grace and favour break with his girlfriend in Kent.
Mr Johnson has chosen to remain holed up with his partner Carrie Symonds at the Government’s 115-room Chevening mansion while the crisis unfolds.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson and his partner Carrie Symonds at Downing Street in December
Mr Johnson is staying at the Government’s 115-room Chevening mansion in Sevenoaks, Kent
Communities Secretary Robert Jenrick has triggered the Flood Recovery Framework, releasing thousands of pounds of aid for flooded homes and businesses.
It means flood-hit homes and businesses can apply for up to £5,000 to help make them more resilient against future flooding.
Households can also apply for up to £500 in financial hardship payments and 100 per cent council tax relief, while flooded businesses can apply for up to £2,500 and 100 per cent business rates relief.
The Environment Agency claims that existing defences have protected at least 20,000 properties while the Government has promised to invest £4billion in flood defences over the next five years.
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