Rees-Mogg pledges to press for aid as floods hit community again

JACOB REES-MOGG has vowed to press ministerial colleagues to help a flood-hit Welsh community following an emotional Commons plea.

The Commons Leader said he will ensure the plight of the Rhondda is “known across” the UK Government after heavy rain in the area in South Wales, which affected almost 200 homes.

Labour’s Chris Bryant, MP for Rhondda, urged the UK Government to help, given his constituents also suffered in February from floods caused by Storm Dennis. He told the Commons: “We’re a resilient community in the Rhondda but I honestly don’t think we can take any more without significant help from outside.

“We had some of the worst flooding in the country earlier on this year, hundreds of homes lost everything, many of them without any insurance at all, and last night we had another bout of flooding which has affected about 200 homes.

“I spoke to one woman last night who was in tears because she’d only just managed to get builders to sort her home out, she was about to move back in and now it’s ruined all over again. On top of that we’ve got a tip, half of which has fallen down into the river, 60,000 tonnes have got to be moved and the whole thing has got to be made safe.”

Mr Rees-Mogg said Welsh Secretary Simon Hart would speak to the leader of the council about the flooding, adding that Government funds of £2.6bn are available to tackle flooding in the country.

Meanwhile, some parts of the country were hit by flooding yesterday. Two yellow weather warnings have been issued by the Met Office, covering much of southern and central England and Wales.