Flooding (West Cumbria)

I share that concern. I am delighted to see here the former Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Leeds Central, who vividly remembers the floods. On the first morning, I rang Steve Broomhead, the chief executive of the regional development agency, and said, ““There's devastation here. If you look down the main street you will see that businesses have been flooded beyond repair.”” He said, ““You can have £1 million,”” and not only did he deliver on that, but in the end he delivered £1.45 million to businesses. About 90% of the businesses in Cockermouth are back up and running, due in large part to the care, work and effort of the RDA, and that will be sorely missed.