Blaming the wrong person

In his usually excellent blog, Francis Pryor (of Flag Fen and Time Team fame) talks about comments from the chairman of the Environment Agency in which the chairman says that the countryside might have to have flood protection funding removed in favour of towns and cities.

Below is part of Francis Pryor's blog:

I was astonished to hear that the chairman of the Environment Agency has written in the Daily Telegraph that when it comes to flooding we must decide between town and country – and this from a political party that is supposed to number rural people among its supporters (but that doesn't include me, I hasten to add!). I cannot believe what is being said.

I have some sympathy with his core point: I'd like to see more funding for flood protection of the coast and low-lying areas. But he is making a rather dramatic error in equating the chairman of the EA with the government. For the chairman is Lord Smith of Finsbury, AKA Labour peer Chris Smith, who was Labour's Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport during the early years of the Blair government. He was appointed as chair of the EA in 2008.

Blaming this government for the comments of a Labour peer who was made head of a quango by a Labour government seems rather misguided.

Sadly, Francis Pryor does not allow comments on his blog, so I can't comment there directly.