Floods crisis - UNISON gave EA cuts warning before February storms

As the arrogant and odious Eric Pickles MP blames the blame game on the flooding crisis in the South West of England, it is worth remembering the warnings given by UNISON at the beginning of the year about the likely catastrophic impact of large scale funding cuts at the Environment Agency. Will this Government ever learn that austerity is ruining lives? "Staff in the Agency have worked day and night to keep communities safe and prevent flood damage, and work tirelessly to support those devastated by the aftermath. The government can't have it both ways, praising the sterling work of members in the Agency but at the same time imposing further damaging cuts."
http://www.unison.org.uk/news/cuts-to-environment-agency-jobs-would-be-catastrophic

"There is a significant cost associated with managing flooded land, and cutting services to save money in the short term is a false economy. There's a real danger that cutting staff will reduce the Agency to a crisis management level, with less maintenance and infrastructure to deal with emergencies. On top of this, there is a real risk of a significant loss of knowledge and emerging talent."

Please ask your MP to sign Early Day Motion 947, put down by former UNISON President Dave Anderson MP, which is calling for an immediate moratorium on cuts to the Environment Agency budget http://www.parliament.uk/edm/2013-14/947