UKC

Seems to me that he's conspicuous by his absence and keeping his head down.

Apparently he wasn't even at yesterday's COBRA meeting. What is he doing and where is he?

In reply to FesteringSore:

He was just on the BBC in Somerset

In reply to FesteringSore:


I wasn't either. Was he invited?

In reply to Uluru:

And the local MP has branded him a coward and a git and has said he would like to stuff his head down a loo and flush it.

Apparently Smith has said he will not resign.

In reply to The New NickB:

"Cabinet Office Briefing Rooms (COBR) refers to the location for a type of crisis response committee set up to coordinate the actions of bodies within the government of the United Kingdom in response to instances of national or regional crisis, or during events abroad with major implications for the UK. The constitution of a COBR meeting depends on the nature of the incident but it is usually chaired by the Prime Minister or another senior minister, with other key ministers as appropriate, and representatives of relevant external organizations"

I think Smith would be hard pressed to deny that the EA was a relevant external organization; so the question remains, why wasn't he there?

In reply to FesteringSore:

Was he invited? It is a simple question, you have not answered it, you may not know the answer, but it is somewhat relevant.

In reply to The New NickB:
Ni Nick as Festering Sore does not know the answer to that question even though he is keen to slate Lord Smith and the Agency, no he was not required to attend yesterday Paul Leinster did this role instead

In reply to FesteringSore:

Why should he resign? Do you think what people are saying to him is appropriate? Being flooded must be an absolutely horrific experience but as far as I know he doesn't control rainfall.

In reply to Uluru:


Given his role as head of the agency with responsibility for flood forecasting, control etc, his communication and public visibility seem poor to non-existent. Wandering around 6 weeks after major flooding is hardly going to do his position much good. A visit much earlier and some communication about what caused the flooding and what is and is not possible as a result would have helped him. Don't know if resignation is appropriate though- maybe he has done everything else in his job wonderfully.

In reply to Uluru:

But as far as I am aware his department is (partly)responsible for either taking measures to minimise the risk of such events or taking measures to ensure that when such events do happen that appropriate remedial action is taken. As far as his non attendance at the COBRA meeting I would have thought that the situation was sufficiently serious as to warrant the attendance of the person in overall charge of the EA. Whilst I applaud the efforts of the personnel "on the ground" the hierarchy seem to have been rather quiet.

Lord Smith visited the area a year ago and 'promised he would have this sorted within six months'