To have no sympathy with Paul Daniels and Debbie McGee for having their house flooded

[ReallyTired]

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-26184129

I feel more sorry for people in council housing along the river than multi millionaires who can CHOOSE where to live.

If you buy a multi million pound house by the river thames then you should not be surprised if it gets flooded. I don't agree with the idea of dredging the river thames as I feel it would destroy wild life.

I agree with them that planning permission should not be given for properties that are guarenteed to flood. Or if people must build on the flood plain then the houses should be built on stilts so that the occupants stay dry. My parents' house is on the flood plain and it is built two feet off the ground so reduce the chances of getting flooded.

[JohnFarleysRuskin]

He was odd. I feel uneasy that I am on his side. Eww.

[ReallyTired]

I don't think the river thames should be dredged. Wildlife have a right to a home as well. The Thames used to be a dead river and now it has a range of fish and birds. If the river Thames was dredged then the result would look hideous.

Paul Daniels and his wife don't live in a shoebox. He knew the risks when he bought his home. Conveyancing would have shown that the same area flooded badly in 1968 and 1980. There have been numerous smaller floods since. Many properties beside the thames are completely uninsurable because insurers know that it is pretty much guarenteed that they will flood.

The Thames has flooded several times before and the 1968 floods were as bad if not worse. The enviromental agency has spent a lot of money to control the Thames with a system of locks and the Thames barrier. There is only so much that is humanly possible to control the flow of any river. The water has to go somewhere. Govement has to balance the needs of the rest of the country with a few people.

People who don't own their own homes have far less choice where they can live. If the council put someone on a property where no insurance company will give them contents insurance then they are in hideous position as they cannot protect themselves against the risk of flooding. Low income families lack the financial resources to replace their belongings.

In a time of recession why should the goverment bail out home owners who have chosen to live in a high risk area. That is what housing insurance is for. If a house is uninsurable then multi millionaires should be responsible for replacing their belongings.

[TunipTheUnconquerable]

Paul Daniels and Debbie McGee have flooded before and made an informed decision to stay there, surely? I'm quite sure they're living there out of choice, because they like the lovely riverside setting and are prepared to take the rough with the smooth - and good for them.

I have nothing against either of them but I have to say I don't particularly feel sorry for them - the people who have my sympathy are the ones who have limited choice about where to live or whose homes have never flooded before and who had no reason to anticipate this happening.

[trufflehunterthebadger]

I feel very sorry for them. Being flooded is awful, no matter how rich you are

I have a soft spot for Paul Daniel's as he's the double of my Dad.

[WooWooOwl]

Paul Daniels and Debbie McGee are lovely people, I've met them a few times though a charity that I and they support, and I've seen them out and about a few times when I'm in the area they live in. They aren't the sort of millionaires that couldn't give a shit about anyone else who live in a bubble of wealth.

It really is horrible and nasty to suggest that they aren't deserving of any sympathy just because they have had successful careers that have enabled them to buy a nice home.

[trufflehunterthebadger]

Please excuse random apostrophe, no idea how that snuck in !

[Bowlersarm]

Hopefully planning permission will be more relaxed now in cases like theirs, and people can modify their houses accordingly to cope with flooding.

To give your point of view a bit of credence, OP, I guess that they and other wealthier people will at least be able to afford to rent somewhere or stay in a hotel whilst they repair their house. Which other people won't have the financial means to do.

However, it is quite a mean attitude to have, to have no sympathy for them.

[thecook]

OP - you sound like a nasty piece of work.

[OhYouBadBadKitten]

According to the EA 1 in 6 properties in England are vulnerable to flooding. Should 1 in 6 households try and find somewhere else to live? Flooding doesnt just happen to the rich. Its an equal opportunities disaster.

[JohnFarleysRuskin]

You feel the same about anyone living in Somerset levels right? High risk etc, etc. Or is it just wealthy people?

[Wantsunshine]

Wow you are nice op. At least the people in council houses won't need to worry as any repairs will get done for them and won't have to pay out a thing. Are you just bitter you didn't bother in school and have not done well in life?

[MrsKwazii]

Have just facepalmed myself for responding on this thread. Musn't feed them!

[WorraLiberty]

And as much as I'm an animal lover, disagreeing with dredging rivers in case it destroys wildlife is ridiculous.

Look at the state people are in.

There have been lives, homes and livelihoods lost...not to mention people freezing in their homes due to having no power.

If you were affected only half as much as those poor people, I bet you'd be screaming for them to dredge the rivers OP

[WooWooOwl]

In a time of recession why should the goverment bail out home owners who have chosen to live in a high risk area.

Because they pay tax and they are British citizens that deserve the support of their own government as much as anyone else does.

At least the council tenants you speak of don't have to find the money to insure or maintain or repair the buildings they live in. It's shit for them if their homes flood, but it can easily be argued that they have less to lose than homeowners.

If you don't think that multi millionaires are worthy of support from their councils or their government because they should pay for everything they need themselves, then presumably you think they should be entitled to pay very little tax, what with them not being allowed to use state services paid for through tax?

[Ev1lEdna]

I hope your next poo is cactus like.

I am so saving this one up.

[notso]

I am bemused as to why he is still referred to as TV magician and I don't like how they come across as a couple-cringey.
However, it must be awful to have your home flooded and possessions destroyed especially if you feel it could have been prevented.

[LtEveDallas]

I feel sorry for anyone that has flooded.

I feel sorry for Daniels and McGee because they applied and failed in their application to 'flood proof' their home.

My parents may well flood this year (they came close in 2007/2008 but luckily for them only lost their garden. They are in the middle of a red zone as of last night. They own their own house - and have been mortgage free for years. Will you feel sorry for them ReallyTired, or only people living in council houses?

[OhYouBadBadKitten]

The problem is, is that our rivers are very much man made artifacts now. A natural river has no real banks except where it cuts through rock and big open flood plains. If we dont manage them, that is what they will tend to revert to. As we have built along side them we have no choice but to manage them.

[OhYouBadBadKitten]

LtEve - I hope your parents come out unscathed.

[ChazsBrilliantAttitude]

Perhaps they felt that because they were well known they would get air time to get across the points that many flood victims want said. Let's face it, if you want an issue to get publicity then getting a well known figure involved helps.

[WorraLiberty]

Exactly Chaz

[Tryharder]

I feel "sorrier" for people in this situation who own their own homes whether they are mansions or terraces.

If you have a mortgage, you can't just up sticks and live somewhere else.

Which is not the case if you live in a council house.

But I feel dreadfully sorry for anyone on this situation. It must be absolutely horrendous.

[WooWooOwl]

The local council benefits financially from having a lovely riverside that rich people want to live beside and pay extortionate council tax for. They also benefit from the fact that the river brings the local businesses a lot of trade through tourism and the regatta.

Therefore it's only right that they should support all their residents when the downsides of living near a river decide to appear.

[oldgrandmama]

Right ... I remember the floods of 1953, affecting Britain and The Netherlands. My Dutch grandmama's tiny house (one room and primitive kitchen, beds in cupboards, one cold water tap, lavatory a smelly shed in the tiny back yard) was rescued floating on a table in her home.

Still - all her fault, an elderly Dutch lady, for choosing to live in Holland, where everyone knows the sea level is above much of the land levels!

[OhYouBadBadKitten]

It's as though so many people have capacity to only have empathy with a limited number of people. Flooding is flooding. Until you've been in that situation or watched/helped someone in that situation its hard to understand the real helplessness and desperation that people feel.