While the Guardian is in something of an ambulance-chasing frenzy, devoting its front page to a hysterical outburst from Lord Stern, in the Telegraph Fraser Nelson has a more thoughtful take on the floods.
No one can be blamed for the rainfall, but the extent of the floods has been linked to human error – and deeply flawed ideology. Some years ago, the Environment Agency took the disastrous decision to stop the routine dredging of the main Somerset rivers, as part of an overall idea that a little more flooding might be a good thing. Now, voters may have some opinions about the agency’s decision to put wildlife before people and property – but no one can be fired. It is a massive quango, outside the direct control of the elected government.
He's right about the problem of quangos, but I think that Fraser's preferred solution - bringing the EA back within the Whitehall machine - is inadequate. Decision making by environmentalists in a Whitehall department is going to be as little responsive to the needs of the people of Somerset as decision making by environmentalists in a Whitehall quango. And at the end of the day, neither will be able to make much impact because decision making in London is actually "decision making" in London. The policies are set - or effectively set - in Brussels.