England has just suffered the wettest January in 248 years and February is not shaping up to be any better. Parts of the South West of the country have been under water since the start of the year, the West coasts of England and Wales have been repeatedly battered by continuous storms and the River Thames is about to break its own record for flood warnings. Farmers have lost their livestock, businesses have collapsed, thousands of homeowners  have lost their worldly possessions and the Met Office says that there is still no end in sight of this freak weather.

This is a humanitarian crisis of high proportions and what do our politicians do? They point their fingers at one another and look for blame, trying to score points while families try desperately to hold their lives together. Government departments accuse each other of incompetence whilst telling the media that it’s not their fault. And politicians wonder why we dislike them so much?

Forget the posturing, you idiots, and do something about it. Ensure that all of these poor people are re-housed and their possessions replaced and then take whatever steps are humanly possible to ensure that British citizens, their homes, property and livelihoods are protected against future calamity.

Oh, and if the Government is wondering where the money is going to come from, do as one sensible Member of Parliament suggested over the weekend; for this year at least, suspend payment of the billions of pounds we give in Foreign Aid – £11.5 billion in 2013. We have enough problems of our own.