ifor,

You fail to grasp a simple fact: as far as floods are concerned the key priority is that the profits of property developers are protected.
And those profits are not at risk because it only the mugs who bought the houses in the flood-plains who are suffering.

I've just heard on the news that the latest Government green paper is suggesting that MORE building in flood-plains will be necessary to meet the "housing shortage" (Government speak for "property developers' insatiable demands for more and more and more profits").

You see we elect the politicians and pay our taxes and the politicians work for property developers - and other forms of Big Business (The Oil Industry, for example - hence Iraq).