The floods have exposed Johnson – he is equal parts reckless, careless and useless | Martin Kettle

The prime minister promises money and maximum preparations against swollen rivers – but it’s all talk

Back when Boris Johnson and his advisers started plotting a December election, it’s a fair bet that they stress-tested a list of possible seasonal negatives for a winter poll. They will have discussed factors such as the dark and the cold, the reluctance of older voters to answer the door at night, the effect on the student vote, and the wider preoccupation with Christmas. They will have weighed whether these problems would help or hinder their Brexit cause. And, self-evidently, they have decided that they were worth the risk.

What is clear is that they completely forgot about floods. It’s an astonishing oversight. November and December have become serious flooding months in Britain in recent years. The now politically fashionable town of Workington was almost cut off from the rest of the country by floodwater in November 2009. Yorkshire and Lincolnshire were flooded in December 2013; so were Kent and Sussex. In early 2014, the Somerset Levels were overwhelmed. In December 2015, Lancashire and Cumbria were inundated. At Christmas that year, it was Yorkshire’s turn again.

The floods took place in precisely the kind of leave-voting parts of the north that the Conservatives are targeting

Related: Plant some trees to save a town from flooding? Not a bad idea | Nick Cohen

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