Boris Johnson calls emergency committee meeting to discuss response to horror floods

Boris Johnson will chair an emergency committee meeting tomorrow to discuss the response to recent flooding, Downing Street has said.

Downing Street’s announcement of the meeting came after Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn sent a letter to the Prime Minister, calling on him to hold a Cobra meeting and “take personal charge” of the Government’s response.

A Government spokesman said on Monday night: “The Prime Minister will chair an emergency COBR meeting tomorrow to discuss the response to recent flooding.”

Mr Corbyn had said he disagreed with the Prime Minister’s assessment at the weekend that the flooding was “not looking like something we need to escalate to the level of a national emergency”.

He said in his opinion if the flooding had occurred in Surrey, rather than Yorkshire or the East Midlands, it would be “far more likely” that a national emergency would have been declared.

Downpours last week meant several areas from Yorkshire to Derbyshire and the East Midlands were deluged with one month’s worth of rain in a day.

One woman died after being swept up in floodwaters.

The body of Annie Hall, the former High Sheriff of Derbyshire, was found in the River Derwent on Friday morning after she was engulfed by floodwater in Darley Dale near Matlock.

On Sunday, Mr Johnson said he was “in awe” of flood-hit communities’ “spirit and resilience” after he visited Matlock.

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