When your village gets flooded everything sort of comes to a stand still. It's all brown and muddy and a ton of crap gets dragged through your streets and into your home, including David Cameron. In his spin doctored 'I really care about flooding' wellies he jumps on several photo opportunities, grabs a news bite or two, eyes up some pigs and leaves. It's a grim affair for all involved.
Unfortunately, people up North have little time to hear how apparently 'sorry' a man who slashes spending on flood defences is that their family and friends' homes are ruined. It really does become a bitter pill to swallow when the guy offering condolences is the man still pursuing unclean energy policies that contribute to climate change and seemingly blind to the huge recovery investment Northern villages need. We really don't care for the insincere sympathies of someone who thinks they are a man of the people because they donned a high-vis jacket and a pair of wellies to wade through water for a few minutes. Cheers Dave, you trooper.
We'd rather spend time thanking and acknowledging those who genuinely did something. The dads who spent their boxing day not in front of the tele eating their child's Lindt reindeer, but waist deep in water turning sofas on to tables and building walls of sandbags. We'd rather have a chat with the emergency services who rescued our loved ones and did their best to protect our homes, or the landlords who opened their pubs as refuge and a sanctuary of free drink and food. In short, the people who cared because they wanted to and not because it made good party promo.
So while the whole thing might be a cute little day trip for Dave and a temporary dabble in the lives of normal people to keep up that good guy image, the damage actually lasts a lot longer for the residents of flooded villages. It doesn't stop when the cameras aren't rolling or your wellies start to rub and the next appointment comes along. Recovering a village is actually a pretty lengthy process, but its rare a politician ever sticks around to find out.
So next time you fancy an afternoon in the Lake District, some time in Northumberland, or a day trip to Lancashire, spare us the bullshit and don't bother Dave. No one wants to hear it.