Speeches by Kirkham.

“I do. Second homes are a whole other debate. Every parish should be able to identify a community hub that residents can go to in an emergency. It should have a generator, battery packs, blankets, food, and a pre-registered list of volunteers. I know that parishes in Cornwall are considering that, but it could be encour…”

“Do you think there is anything in the Bill that will help with that low conviction rate?”

“Really quickly.”

“I agree. A better way of sharing data must be found. Different utility companies and the council had different lists, and the parishes could not get hold of them at all. That is a really important issue.”

“That is why a satellite link across villages might be something to consider. On broadband, Openreach and service providers do not have a good system of fault notification. During Goretti, they were unaware of faults, and the notification of faults solely through third-party providers did not work well, as residents str…”

“Can you talk us through why that is? We all know lots of reasons why, but why is the conviction rate so low for these offences, and why do you think there is a discrepancy between civilian and service courts?”

“That sounds like an interesting proposal. Our local resilience centre was in Exeter, and I think that is why the category 1 responders did not declare a major incident; Exeter is a long way away from us, so I understand the hon. Gentleman’s idea of having a flood control centre. When Goretti hit, the Cabinet Office act…”

“Yes, I agree. One of the most profound lessons that we must learn from Storm Goretti is to increase communications infrastructure, particularly in rural areas. Many of our constituents were left without power or broadband in areas that have weak or no mobile phone signal, so they struggled to get help. Although we are …”

“Yes, a great deal of work will have to be done in future, because this will not get better; it will get worse. Businesses that rely on electricity and broadband are paralysed by outages during extreme weather events, and hospitals risk losing power or water. Heavy rainfall has even led to overflowing septic tanks and s…”

“As my hon. Friend’s constituency is next to mine, he will know that we have exactly the same problems in Truro and Falmouth, and I will move on to that next. I have had wash-up meetings across my constituency since the storm, and we have been talking to Ministers. I welcome the suggestion that Cornwall could serve as a…”

“I am a Cornish MP, and we are a people on the edge. With sea on three sides and cut off from England by a river and a precarious train line, we have become used to being at the centre of a world that is a long way from everyone else. That has made us resilient, independent and proud. But being at the edge of the countr…”

“I understand the hon. Member’s point, and I know that his constituency was the worst affected, with people losing their water as well as their power. I agree that we must learn the lessons from Goretti. Utility teams worked around the clock with local authorities, engineers and emergency responders to restore essential…”

“The hon. Member feels my pain. Yes, of course we need a strategic plan for our rail in the south-west. That is fundamental, and I will come on to it later.”

“I agree that farmers have been incredibly helpful in so many ways; I am thinking about Storm Goretti and all the work they did with clearing trees. Of course, hopefully some of the work that this Government are doing on the sustainable farming incentive will also enable them to do that work to store water. We need to b…”

“I agree with the hon. Member. We must prioritise flooding, which is becoming more and more of a risk. Every week when I get on the train—which has often been a bus—from Cornwall to London, I see what looks like a lake or sea, but it is in fact the Somerset levels submerged under floodwater.”

“Of course, the EA has struggled with funding for the past 10 years, after it had been cut so badly.”

“I agree. I was going to say that that kind of cross-departmental strategy is so important, because all Departments are impacted and can do things that could help, but that is made difficult when Departments are so siloed. The EFRA Committee, on which I sit, has an ongoing inquiry into climate and weather resilience. Fa…”

“I agree; the fire service is absolutely fundamental, particularly in Cornwall, where it did amazing work during Storm Goretti. In its response to the UK’s third national adaptation plan, the Climate Change Committee called on the Government to urgently refresh NAP3, as it fell short of preparing the UK for the climate …”

“My question is about planning and licensing for renewables. There was a site in North Devon where cabling was going to come in from one of the test and demo models for floating offshore wind. That took a very long time to get planning and part of the issue was that there were lots of back and forths about, “You need th…”

“Are you happy that environmental standards are being maintained through that process?”