to think that overseas aid should be diverted to those affected by the flooding

[Ohbehave1]

What the title says really. Especially from places like india who can afford a space program and nuclear power

Who also have had their budget slashed..

All for the benefit of cutting taxes for the wealthy and subsidising big business ah aren't you glad you all voted tory?

You reap what you sow..

so no idea then ...

I repeat, there will be no change at all regarding this problem. Things will continue as they are until the next set of floods.

I really hope the people on here who don't give a shit end up on the receiving end and then see what they think.

Pirate smile. I agree totally.

It won't get the help it needs because it's not in the Home Counties

"Of course, we could vote in a government that actually priorities spending on infrastructure and flood defences"

Shame that didn't happen in the aftermath of the 2000 floods, when public spending was nowhere near as tight. Hindsight is a great thing, isn't it?

Ghosty I have every idea, I have close relatives who have been effected by flooding, but to suggest that we take from the foreign aid budget is utterly alien to me.

Stop trident, there's at least £5bn a year to aid the poor folk effected by flooding. Stop HS2, get the big banks to pay more tax and then we can afford it, get the wealthiest to pay more tax etc etc.

Pirate - I'm sorry that you find my post to be childish. However there are people on this thread clearly scapegoating foreigners and asking why countries like India receive foreign aid (it doesn't). I find it frustrating that it's poor foreign people that are seen as the problem rather than, say, expensive vanity projects like HS2 and the garden bridge that only the rich will use. Or major banks avoiding paying any corporation tax at all. This all amounts to far more than what the overseas aid budget costs us.

Let's get Cadbury who have a very cosy relationship with Mumsnet, as well as Amazon etc to pay their taxes. Then the Tories can't use their pathetic 'reducing the deficit' argument to justify screwing the ordinary people of the UK.

Maybe we could cut tax relief on independent schools to help flood victims?

I don't care where the money comes from, the flood defences need serious attention in this country. This keeps happening and keeps happening.

But also because we keep approving houses built on flood planes. Those who own houses on river banks are ( or bloody should be) aware of the risks.

Again, look at the environment agency funding cuts, and find your reasons there.

and there you go longtime I asked how long it would be before the victim blaming started

Thousands of people have been affected who don't actually live on a river bank.

Not victim blaming, but if you own a house on a river bank you must at least have considered the possibility that the river will burst its bank? Surely that isn't victim blaming.

But this is mumsnet, where victim blaming is fine when its to do with people on benefits.

So in the idiom of mumsnet ( and with heavy sarcasm) We can blame river bank dwellers as its their "lifestyle choice".

Not victim blaming though, we need to sort it out agreed, it just isn't a good idea to take from the even more needy to do so.

How about a government that invested in vital infrastructure to prevent the floods ( creating real jobs) or a bit of centralised planning? I might get accused of being a socialist with this idea.

As a civil engineer, who works for the Environment Agency (and a bit of a Socialist), who has been at work for the last 2 days, I couldn't agree more. It'll never happen. Governments never think longer than their term of office. It was only this year we got a 6 year funding strategy.

longtime - there are a lot of homes and streets currently flooded in York that have never been flooded before, so it's not fair to say that people should expect it. When councils allow new developments on flood plains, that affects existing houses that may never have come close to being flooded before.

Must be terrible to be flooded like these poor people. Funds for UK disasters should always come first. Foreign aid second.

Jeffsmummyshouldomoreresearch;

UK aid to India was £280M in 2014/15. Glad to help.

The UK aid budget is about 0.7% of government spending, and pledges to recipient communities need to be honoured.

There are plenty of other departmental budgets to raid when looking for additional resources for crisis management.

I said if you live on the river bank you should maybe have considered the possibility, not anywhere else...

It has stopped this year though. So the OP's point that we should stop foreign aid there in the wake of the floods is redundant. Thanks for your helpful passive-agressive post and witty play on my username, though.

It stops buy the end of the year redbinneo, so what aid has gone since the floods started. None.

Do your own research better.

How about we stop Western countries from taking resources from abroad, far more than is 'given' to them and see how you can afford those flood defences

"buy the end of the year"?
I've heard of the new year sales, but I didn't realise that time itself was up for purchase!