Cut now, pay later: the floods show what happens when you strip back the state | Owen Jones
"Money is no object in this relief effort," came the passionate anti-austerity cry. "Whatever money is needed for it will be spent. We will take whatever steps are necessary." David Cameron made this statement during the flood crisis of February 2014, and his defenders will point out that the prime minister was referring to flood relief, not defence. But here is "false economy" at its starkest: cutting back on services ostensibly to save money, then having to spend far more on the consequences. As official documents now show, the government's own advisory board recently pointed out that a lack of funds would leave northern communities at risk of floods. One 180m floods defence project was scrapped in Leeds, for example. And now? Well, according to KPMG estimates, the long-term cost of the disaster to everyone could be somewhere between 5bn and 5.8bn.
Related: Labour calls for long-term cross-party flood protection plan
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