MP's blast over flood defences

A GREATER Manchester MP has called for urgent action rather than "investigation, plans, dither, and delay" to protect communities across the North of England that have been repeatedly devastated by flooding.

- By ROB PARSONS

Josh Simons, the Labour MP for Makerfield, says he wants to see "spades in the ground and construction starting as soon as possible" in Platt Bridge and other areas where homes were left underwater on New Year's Day.

Platt Bridge in Wigan flooded in the 2000s and in 2015, with a report the following year recommending "improvements to the standard of flood protection" to stop it happening again.

But writing in The Northern Agenda newsletter, the MP said: "And yet, despite knowing the answers, nothing was done.