Funding of flood responses.

Local authorities and the other agencies need access to large amounts of money at short notice in order to respond to floods. Government has promised about £14 m so far - a fraction of esitimates, and the equivalent of about 4 hours' spending on Trident (I use the Trident Hour, conservatively given as £2.6 million, as a useful unit of Government expenditure).

A better way to fund floods and disasters would be to have a pooled insurance fund into which all relevant agencies including HMG pay, and on which they can call at short notice when disasters happen. The fund would be ethically invested.

We also need to push for far greater investment in flood prevention. But everyone is doing that anyway.

Lord Levy - free and unblemished

A hearty set of congratulations in a brown envelope to the noble Lord, Lord Levy, and reserve a peerage for whoever it was that decided the investigation into Labours' loans should be pulled.

Trebles of whitewash all round, on the House, and sharpen the knives for the wretched policeman that led the inquiry.

Hutton, BAe, now this - why, this is a Government that could go on for a thousand years!

God's in his heaven, the slug has managed to get off the thorn and polish off another row of greenery, and all's right in this best of all possible worlds.

There was a blow struck against cynicism if ever there was one! Hurrah for the British sense of fair play, and hurrah for our noble peers!

I feel so happy, a poem is popping.

Lord Levy’s Lament

There’s nothing funny
about using your money
There’s nothing queer
In wanting to be a peer.
There's nothing unnatural
With handing over a well-stuffed satchel.
There’s nothing wrong
with getting a gong.
There’s nothing remote-
ly amiss with a note
pressed into the palm.
There’s no harm
in a loan
to Tone.
Why all the fuss?
He's one of us.

Back off Mr Plod
you can’t arrest God.

(c0 Richard Lawson 22.7.2007