Water water everywhere!

Thank-you for your supportive response Yanstill, and I'm sorry to hear that there's been a lot of rain where you are too. I think it is a worldwide problem - it's certainly been affecting the UK every year for the past few years, but usually only in certain areas, and usually in colder seasons of the year. This time, it's at a different time of year, and seems to be far more widespread in areas it doesn't usually happen in. I think you're quite right in what you say about the responsibility of local government to help people to get rid of these problems, and the fact that it's the poorer people who suffer the most. Many people who don't have insurance have been left homeless, and with all of their belongings ruined and unusable now, whereas people who have insurance, and enough money to live in hotels and eat food from restaurants every day don't really suffer that much. Thank-you for your thoughts and best wishes - I wish you all the best, and hope that your country doesn't have the same problems the UK is having.

i see the sunshine today. :) your wish works.thank you,hope my wish will be true too,and hope the government will pay more attention on their people.

That's great news Yanstill :-) I'm sure your wishes will help our situation here too! Thank-you, and all the best to you :-)

I am in absolute and total agreement with angelicemu's statement here. If I were to give my opinion on our government (again), I couldn't make it and clearer than this. They look after themselves, and anything for the actual benefit of the populace is simply a bonus to the original intention of popularity. It's really sickening.

My sympathy for your power/phone cuts, but I'm glad you didn't get flooded out where you are. Sadly, all politicians are the same, and unless the media creates a furore over an issue, they can't be bothered. I think their reasoning behind allowing companies to build without sufficient drainage, is simply because it makes more money for them. Building contracts are highly lucrative, and politicians are generally not still in power when the resulting messes made by their bad decisions occur. That's one of the shortcomings of democracy, particularly now the house of Lords has been gutted, and hereditary peers phased out - there's no long-term interest in the welfare and success of the country anymore. Everything's about appearances, spin, hype, and short-term popularity. I think Gordon's a moron too - for all the raving about his budgeting, the only use it seems to have been put to is funding Tony's warmongering, and misadministered benefits, which the government then have the gall to demand back. Tories, Labour, neither of them have any interest in looking after the poorest section of society, yet they're the only two parties likely to be voted in. The whole system's up the spout if you ask me!

Interesting points, although I have to disagree with your ideas of cutting back on British agriculture. Free trade within Europe and between other countries and this one, have rendered this country virtually without industry, and our farmers would be able to fulfill much of this country's produce needs, if the Supermarkets and cheap imports weren't around as much. A livable wage for everyone, promotion of British agriculture, and legislation passed to ensure that proper drainage of "new build" properties and proper maintenance of existing properties are the way ahead. There's also the issue of second homes, which take homes off the market and drive up prices for first-time buyers. If the government were to put a hefty tax on ownership of second homes, and were to enforce payment of Council tax on both properties, this would go a long way towards not only solving the housing crisis, but also to stopping the running down, and poor local services for residents in rural areas. Perhaps if local councils also refurbished and brought up to scratch buildings which are derelict and boarded up, this would be a far better solution to regeneration of poorer areas, rather than knocking them all down, and turning them into swanky expensive flats, or business parks, or other "prestige" projects, which is all they appear to be interested in, as it draws money, taxes and backhanders to them and their associates. The problem isn't the preservation of agriculture (which in my view is a positive thing, and more should be done to make it a thriving industry, rather than a tokenistic effort to keep up the appearances of tradition and productivity in this country), it's the government's whole attitude which stinks. This country isn't a business, a company or a brand, and we are citizens, not customers, despite what Westminster might think! You make interesting points, but I believe you're looking at it from the wrong angle! Thanks for your response, and even though I disagree with the points you make, they are still thought-provoking!

Indeed! It certainly goes to show what a mockery the political system makes of the idea of local MPs looking after local peoples' interests. The majority (with a few notable exceptions) see politics as a means for self-advancement - a step on their own lucrative career, rather than having any interest in representing those who put them where they are - theoretically the reason they were elected in the first place! In these politicians' minds, Westminster is the centre of the Universe, and London, the only City which needs to be taken care of and funded. I find this totally sickening, and completely hypocritical - but that's British politics for you I suppose... Thanks for another great post, and all the best!

Well that's putting it mildly to say the least. And to be perfectly honest, not being a politician or the owner of a business, I don't care how strong our economy is, as it has very little to do with the lives of the everyday person. People are homeless, people have lost all their possessions, many people have no insurance, and the government and media only take the flooding seriously, now it's affecting the South of England. Just because we're a first-world country (in theory at least, although there are deprived areas of the country which are classifiable as second-world) that doesn't mean to say that the plight of the people doesn't count just as much as it does when disasters occur in other countries. However much Gordon Brown thinks of the country as a business, it's not. People are citizens, not employees of the British "brand". And when companies make vast profits, this makes little or no impact on the lowest-paid people in society. It's only ever the fiscal disasters which have an impact. So Britain's strong economy, to most people in this country, is just a term bandied about by politicians and the media. It has no positive effect on the lives of most people at all, as it doesn't get ploughed back into the infrastructure of the country at grass-roots level.

Well thank-you! I think it's easy to lose sight of the realities of what life's like for the majority of people in a country, if you watch the news and listen to politicians, without bearing in mind their own particular bias and interests. I learned early on, how to translate jargon into terms of actual meaning for the people. In my opinion, the media, politicians and sales-people all live in a little version of "reality" of their own creation. They'd all be buggered if they had to start living in the real world!

You know, I really agree with you. The term strong economy does not mean much fro the ordinary citizen on the street. The government could have billions of pounds in it's pocket but the but that does not mean much to the ordinary citizen or the victims of the flood. You are very right angelicEmu.