Thunderstorms and Flooding - You Cannot Be Serious!

Published in Stockport Express on Wed 15th Jul 2009

Stockport was hit by some of the most spectacular and torrential thunderstorms for a long time last week - leading to blocked roads, flooded cellars, and worse in many areas. Even my own garage took a hit. For some people in Romiley it was the third time their homes had been swamped in a year.

You are right - it was worse than usual. What the boffins call 'an extreme weather event'. There are going to be more and more of them as climate change turns from being a rather boring story you hear about on BBC 2 into real life, affecting our own lives and property.

It's going to cost millions just for bigger drains and sewers in Stockport, let alone for the whole country. So when I stood up in Parliament last week to call for more action to tackle climate change I wasn't just following a fad, it was part of an urgent fight to slow down the rise in carbon emissions which are now a real threat to us all.

The trouble is that too many people - and politicians - still don't get it. Faced with the facts they are still 'disputing the line call'. Make changes to our lifestyles? You cannot be serious!

So the Government still hasn't put in place the simple measures passed in my Act of Parliament back in 2004 that could have already saved several million tons of carbon emission by starting to get our homes more energy efficient - saving money as well as the planet.

When it comes to taking action on the most serious threat facing our world, it is they who cannot be serious.

So get out the sandbags, and standby for some more thunderstorms.