Liberal Democrat leader Jo Swinson visits Doncaster, which has been badly impacted by floods (Picture: PA)

Lib Dem leader Jo Swinson has paid a visit to flooded areas in South Yorkshire after promising £5 billion to prevent future devastation.

If her party wins the general election on 12 December, she said it will put money towards a five-year plan to protect vulnerable communities most at-risk from extreme weather.

The flood prevention money would come from a capital infrastructure budget funded by borrowing, Ms Swinson said.

This afternoon, the prime minister will chair a meeting of the government’s emergency committee to discuss the severe flooding in Yorkshire and the East Midlands.


Areas around the River Don near Doncaster were worst affected after the river burst its banks.



Downpours last week meant several areas were struck by a month’s worth of rain in a single day.

An aerial view of the village of Fishlake, Doncaster, reveals the scale of the flood devastation (Picture: SWNS)

Pam Webb sits on trailer to stay out of floodwater in Fishlake where around half of the 700 residents have evacuated (Picture: PA)

Around half the 700 residents of Fishlake, near Doncaster, left the village and those who stayed behind have faced waist-high floods.

Annie Hall, the former high sheriff of Derbyshire, died after she was swept away by water on Friday in Darley Dale, near Matlock.

The Conservatives have been criticised for failing to act swiftly enough and today the Lib Dems said the Tory Brexit agenda risks the UK losing access to EU allocations for flood defences.

Ms Swinson also pledged to increase the budget of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) by £1 billion per year.

The Lib Dem leader said: ‘These floods are devastating for local communities and highlight the need to invest in our flood defences.

‘The Liberal Democrats will create a £5 billion flood prevention and adaptation fund over the next five years to support small community and council-led schemes to reduce flooding and protect at-risk communities.

The Liberal Democrats have promised to spend £5 billion in protecting at-risk communities from future flooding (Picture: PA)

Last week, Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn went to South Yorkshire to meet residents affected by flooding (Picture: PA)

‘Leaving the EU will mean that we lose access to the EU solidarity fund for flood relief and the EU structural investment funds that help maintain and strengthen flood defences and improve flood resilience.

‘The Liberal Democrats are committed to investing in our flood defences and protecting communities from the devastation we have seen in the last week.’

The party said the fund would be used to introduce high standards for flood resilience for buildings and infrastructure in high-risk areas.

It would also support coastal areas impacted by storms and erosion to develop their own plans for adaptation, the Lib Dems said.

At the weekend, Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn called on the PM to declare the flooding a national emergency.

He sent a letter to Boris Johnson urging him to convene the emergency response committee Cobra (Cabinet Office Briefing Rooms).

He wrote: ‘If this had happened in Surrey, not Yorkshire or the East Midlands, it seems far more likely that a national emergency would have been declared.’

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