Watson - Vote for Flood Funding shows Europe at its best

1.08.00pm GMT Tue 11th Mar 2008

Following today's successful European Parliamentary vote to grant the UK over £115million of EU Solidarity Funding following last summer's disastrous flooding, local Lib Dem MEP for the South West and Gibraltar Graham Watson commented;

"My constituents in the affected areas will welcome today's vote. Following last summer's floods I wrote to Gordon Brown urging the Government to lodge an application for solidarity funding, and I am pleased Ministers have done so.

This is the first time the UK has received a grant from the Solidarity Fund. It shows Europe at its best, working together for the benefit of its citizens, be it forest fires in Portugal or floods here in the South West, we all chip in to help one another."

On ensuring Gloucestershire gets its share of the funding Mr Watson said;

"I will continue to press the case for funding to aid our Councils in Gloucestershire. I have written to Hazel Blears at the Department for Communities and Local Government to ensure the Westcountry gets its fair share of this funding, as I do not want to see the huge clean-up bill falling on already overstretched local authority budgets, leading to increases in Council Tax."

Editors note:-

Around 48,000 homes and 7,000 businesses were affected in the South West, the Midlands, Yorkshire and Humberside in June and July. The European Union Solidarity Fund set up after the catastrophic flooding which hit Central Europe in summer 2002, is designed to provide fast, effective and flexible emergency financial aid to areas struck by natural disasters. Member States must submit an application for funding no later than 10 weeks after the first damage.