Put UK flood victims FIRST: As Britons endure unimaginable hardship, the Mail launches a petition calling for cash from the £11billion foreign aid bud

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The Daily Mail today launches a petition to urge ministers to divert some of the UK’s £11billion foreign aid budget to the floods crisis.
As thousands are driven from their homes, there is growing anger that Britain is spending billions on foreign development projects, and so little on flood relief at home.
Last night Mark Kirby, his wife Kate and their three children, from the devastated Somerset village of Moorland, said simply suspending aid for a brief period could raise enough money for UK families.

Mrs Kirby, 44, a teaching assistant, said: ‘We have always given to good causes when we could afford it but now we and other people who have been flooded out need help.’
The petition, which will be presented to the Prime Minister, says: ‘I strongly urge you to divert some of the £11billion being spent on overseas aid this year to ease the suffering of British flood victims and to build and maintain flood defences to prevent a repetition of the current crisis.’

Readers can either sign it online at the bottom of this story.

 

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[h=3]DAILY MAIL COMMENT[/h]Britain has given hundreds of millions in aid towards flood relief overseas.

Now, our own people are enduring the misery.
So today we launch a petition calling on Mr Cameron to divert some foreign aid to tackling our domestic disaster – to relieve victims’ immediate needs and to repair and update our neglected defences so nothing like this can happen again.
We urge every reader who shares our belief to sign our online petition at the bottom of this article.

 

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Victims: Mark and Kate Kirby with sons Dom, 16, left, and Theo, 10, in their devastated home in Moorland, Somerset

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From above: Aerial view showing flooding covering Shepperton, Surrey. The Thames has hit record levels causing extensive flooding to parts of the South-East

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Operation: Rescuers help a woman out of a flooded road by bringing her to dry land in a boat, in Egham, Surrey

 

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Still going in: School children are ferried by boat in Old Winsor, Berkshire, after the River Thames burst its banks

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Water surrounds flooded properties in the village of Moorland on the Somerset Levels near Bridgwater (left) while a man carries a family member through rising flood water after the River Thames burst its banks in Datchet (right)

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Dog's life: Sue O'Brien and her three puppies being rescued from her home which is flooded in Wraysbury, Berkshire

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Devastation: Cars are surrounded by water in the village of Moorland on the Somerset Levels

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Water surrounds flooded properties in the village of Moorland on the Somerset Levels. Thousands of acres of the Somerset Levels have been under water for weeks, yet flood levels are still rising

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Wet wet wet: Aerial view showing flooding at Bourne End, Buckinghamshire where the River Thames has burst its banks

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Dangerous: The woman was caught up in flood water in Old Windsor, Berkshire, after the River Thames flooded the area

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Waist high: A local resident makes her way through flood water in Shepperton, Middlesex

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In need of assistance: Flood water continues to rise in Datchet, Berkshire, after the River Thames burst it's banks

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Prime Minister David Cameron speaks with residents whose homes were damaged during recent storms in Kingsand, south-west England

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[h=3]HOW THEY'VE SQUANDERED YOUR BILLIONS ON VANITY PROJECTS [/h]Britain's £11 billion overseas aid programme has become a byword for waste, inefficiency and political correctness. Critics say much has gone on vanity projects or to countries that don’t really need it. Controversies include:

• A £1.2 million donation to the World Bank’s flood prevention and control scheme. Taxpayers contributed a further £986,000 to protect the biosphere in developing countries and a further £115 million has gone to flood prevention work overseas.

• Billions to foreign governments for projects to tackle global warming, such as wind turbines in Africa – while cash is also helping to build foreign coal-fired power stations. One in South Africa is almost five times the size of a UK plant.

• Millions towards disaster recovery following floods abroad, including £42.5 million to aid agencies in Pakistan in 2011.

• Enormous sums going to China (£27.4 million) and India (£290 million), both of which have space programmes.

• Millions wasted on road projects which critics say are in the wrong place or never finished. In Mozambique, a British-backed EU project to build a £60 million road to Malawi ran out of cash four miles short of the border.

• Lavish salaries for aid officials. Tony Blair’s former aide Sir Michael Barber was paid £5,000 a day to advise on spending money in Pakistan. And the £100 million Trademark Southern Africa scheme was closed down after concerns staff received six-figure salaries.

• Sainsbury’s given British aid to improve conditions for foreign suppliers – such as a radio show for Kenyan farmers.

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Prepared: Emergency work to prevent flooding continues - including the distribution of tens of thousands more sandbags by the Royal Marines. Datchet is pictured

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Problems: Flooding in Datchet, a village next to the Thames near Windsor in Berkshire, forced National Rail to cancel trains

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Worries: Communities Secretary Eric Pickles said areas near the Thames are expected to suffer 'significant' problems by the middle of the week. Datchet is pictured

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Working through the night: Royal Navy and Environmental Agency building flood defences in Datchet, Berkshire

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Driving through: A woman standing in flood water watches as a lorry approaches in Old Windsor, Berkshire, after the River Thames burst its banks

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Still going in: School children are ferried by boat to their classes in Old Winsor, Berkshire

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Answers: Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg is interviewed by the media next to the flooding sites at Burrowbridge, Somerset, during a visit to the area

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Aerial view showing flood water covering properties in Shepperton, Surrey, as the Thames river has hit record levels causing extensive flooding to parts of the southeast of England

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Thousands of acres of land underwater: Flooded propeties are seen as water surrounds the village of Moorland on the Somerset Levels near Bridgwater

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Cutting through: Flood water surrounds the main railway line on the Somerset Levels near Bridgwater

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Difficult time: A man walks through flood water in Datchet, Berkshire, which has been badly hit after the Thames burst its banks

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Disruption: A man and woman walk across the flooded railway line at Datchet train station in Berkshire

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Wide shot: A panoramic view of the flooding in Datchet, Berkshire, which has left most of its streets under water

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Helping out: Members of the fire brigade make their way into Old Windsor to assist with evacuations

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Assistance: Firefighters help school children out of a boat that had been transporting them in Old Windsor, Berkshire

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On a visit: Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg visits the flooding sites at Burrowbridge, Somerset


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[h=3]THAMES BARRIER WORKING FLAT OUT [/h] The Thames Barrier has closed nearly as many times in the past six weeks as in the whole of the 1990s.

The stormiest and wettest period of weather for a century has seen the barrier, which protects London from tidal flooding, closed a record 29 times since the beginning of the year – compared with 35 times between 1990 and the end of 1999.

The 520-metre wide structure in Woolwich, south-east London, opened in 1982. It was used four times that decade and more than 100 times since 2000.

Last month it was closed on 13 consecutive tides. The equivalent of the water in 283 Lake Windermeres has fallen on Britain since the storms began. December and January were the wettest two months ever recorded for the south of England.

The Centre for Ecology and Hydrology found that 89,238 million cubic metres of rain fell in the two months.