Boris Johnson heckled by furious locals as he visits flood-ravaged South Yorkshire
13 November 2019, 11:29
Boris Johnson was harangued by furious locals as he visited a flood-ravaged community in the north of England today.
Mr Johnson was visiting Stainforth in South Yorkshire where he was repeatedly confronted by angry residents.
The Prime Minister has been criticised for not taking the flooding seriously enough. He first visited a donation centre where food was being gathered to be delivered to people whose homes have been damaged by flooding before meeting locals.
He was accused of taking five days before coming to visit people who have been hit by the flooding.
The Prime Minister has been heavily criticised - being accused of showing an “utterly outrageous” lack of concern about the severe flooding. More than 1,200 properties have been evacuated in northern England and a woman died.
The prime minister chaired a meeting of the government’s emergency committee Cobra on Tuesday after he was criticised by Jeremy Corbyn for not declaring a national emergency.
As he met with residents today, one woman helping the troops with her wheelbarrow refused to talk to the PM.
She said: "I'm not very happy about talking to you so, if you don't mind, I'll just mope on with what I'm doing.
"You've not helped us up to press, I don't know what you're here today for."
One woman, speaking at a round-table with the Prime Minister, asked: “Why did it take you so long, five days Boris, to come and see us here?”
Mr Johnson replied: “We’ve been working round the clock to address these problems.”
The woman went on: “ I was here Saturday dinner, me and my three daughters, and about 10 other ladies from the community, we were here for about 48 hours, no help from the council.”
Another woman said: “You should have been there Saturday morning, to make sure these people got the help and the support, and I’m sorry the announcement was a pittance.”
The woman is thought to have been referring to the £500 given to each household to help towards repairs to flood damage.
Another resident collared Mr Johnson on the bridge over the River Don: "You've took your time Boris, haven't you?"
Mr Johnson told him: "We've been on it round the clock."
Dorothy Whitehead told him: "What's happening then Boris, are you going to get it done for us?"
Mrs Whitehead and her husband Harold described how they had been flooded across the river in Fishlake and said: "We've got no home, we've lost everything and we've got two cars trapped.
"We'd just like to get over there."
He was also subjected to a four-letter tirade from one furious man.
He said: “The whole country’s a joke. F*** the government, f*** the council.”
The prime minister told reporters he understood the anger of residents towards the Government.
He said: "I perfectly understand how people feel and you can understand the anguish a flood causes.
"The shock of seeing your property engulfed by water is huge and also the anxiety of what may still be to come and I do thank the emergency services for everything they are doing."
Mr Johnson has already said that businesses can expect £2,500 from the Government to pay for damage caused by floods.
Walking through Stainforth, he shook hands with one sandwich bar owner who said: "We're not going to complain compared with what's happened over there (in Fishlake).
"We're going to try and help if we can."
One man who shook his hand said: "Help these people out. They definitely need it. Well done Boris."
Jeremy Corbyn was also heckled today as he went out and about in Glasgow.
He was branded a “terrorist sympathiser” by a Church of Scotland minister and was asked why he wasn’t wearing an “Islamic jihad scarf” during a visit to a community centre.
