Floods bring people together, but they also wash away trust | Martin Kettle

If I were David Cameron, I would fast-track flood defences ahead of HS2, and say: 'These are the people's priorities - I get it'

Ever since at least the time of King Canute, and probably long before that, those in authority have had an uneasy relationship with the forces of nature. And with good reason, as this week has once again reminded many parts of Britain.

Floods, like the ones that have coursed through so many communities in northern England and southern Scotland this week, have a way of uprooting more things than the cars, trees and bridges that have been the stuff of the week's television news bulletins. Water can sweep away the metaphysical as well as the physical. It can carry away authority, trust, and some of the certainties of ordered life with them too. And floods are no respecter of reputations either. King Canute understood this. It is not so clear that David Cameron does.