This is a very uncharitable thought, particularly at Christmas, but watching the harrowing news of the dreadful floods in the north west of England and seeing footage of the fine historic town of Carlisle looking more like Venice, I couldn’t help myself.

The Government has promised to address the problem and the Prime Minister was very quick to visit the area and present himself for the usual rounds of grim-faced photo opportunities. Mr Cameron expressed his sadness and concern that people’s homes and livelihoods have been destroyed (42,000 homes said to be affected) and the Chancellor, George Osborne, has promised £50 million to help alleviate the suffering. The problem is that experts have predicted that the economic damage could well reach ten times that figure, namely £500 million.

My uncharitable thought was this, why don’t we divert some of the £12 billion earmarked for foreign aid next year or some of the £5.8 billion due to be paid over the next 5 years to the International Climate Fund (more than double the figure set aside to combat UK flooding) to help our own people?

As this blog has commented on more than one occasion, whilst we should always be mindful of our moral obligations, charity begins at home. We must take care of our own and if anything is left over then we can consider charitable donations elsewhere. In a question of priorities why would any rational person ignore the urgent needs of his nearest and dearest?