Flood and Storm Damage (Compensation)

Part of the debate – in the House of Commons at 12:00 am on 23 March 1953.

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Photo of Mr Jo Grimond Mr Jo Grimond , Orkney and Shetland 12:00, 23 March 1953

I largely agree with the hon. and gallant Member for Horncastle (Commander Maitland) in what he said about national responsibility. Broadly speaking, I think we can now feel much happier about that phrase, and in view of what the Home Secretary said last Wednesday and again today I, at any rate, feel that the matter is being dealt with as a national disaster and that people can now find out exactly how, if eligible for it, they can get help and can be reasonably sure that it will come quickly. Before last Wednesday I thought there was some danger of confusion—there had been so many statements—but on the point of national responsibility I now feel more content.

I should like to say a word of welcome to the appointment of Sir Basil Neven-Spence. Certainly, as far as my constituency is concerned, the Government could not have found anyone with greater knowledge of our difficulties. We owe him a particular debt of gratitude for his readiness to take up this new duty comparatively soon after a rather serious personal disaster. At the same time, I rather regret the self-denying ordinance of the Secretary of State for Scotland. I am one of those who rather welcome his long cool silences and his short interjections, but I feel that on this occasion he may be carrying virtue rather too far.

These events in Scotland take rather a different outline from the events in England and we have certain special problems. There is the big problem of blown timber and narrower problems such as that of the inshore fisherman or the crofter who has lost his boat and the small farmer who has lost his hens and the damage to village halls and church property. These losses may perhaps take a rather different aspect in Scotland than they would do in England and are relatively more important in the North than what, I admit, is more serious damage in the South.

I should also welcome further information about the powers of the Waverky Committee in Scotland. I understand that in England the duties of the Committee are concerned with the prevention of flood, but I should be interested to know how they are going to tackle the wind, which is our chief enemy in Scotland. Perhaps, on a future occasion, we may have further information about that.

What I very much welcome in the Home Secretary's speech was, first, the full information which he gave, because it is very important that people should be told quite simply how to set about obtaining relief, and, secondly the stress which he laid on the fact that he has not tried to draw the rules too rigidly, because it is obvious that in a disaster of this nature one cannot have rigid rules. The whole thing is outside the scope of classification.

I should like to take two examples from my own constituency. We had a market at Stromness which was completely demolished. It belonged to an agricultural co-operative and was not a privately-owned business or a limited company. I hoped that a point would be stretched in connection with this case, and I have now received a letter from the Under-Secretary of State for Scotland to say that it probably will be stretched and the severe loss to the community may be made good. I trust that it will.

Then the pier at Whalsay was swept away. There was a complication: the pier was privately owned, although no charges were made for the use of it. But I understand that the county council will take it over and that the Government will assist with its repair. It is in that kind of spirit that we want this emergency tackled. We want aid to go quickly and adequately to those who obviously need it.

Those who distribute the aid have a very heavy duty and not at all an easy one. We should pay tribute to all those who are taking part in that work. I suppose that it must be done on the basis of applications, but those who apply first and loudest are not always those who need most help. I am glad to say that those who are concerned with distributing this aid are taking the trouble to visit places to try to find the people who have not made a great song and dance about it but whom, nevertheless, the House wants to assist.

I feel personally that any Government are put in a rather invidious position when a disaster like this takes place. The Government have to make up their minds what they are going to do by way of assistance. On looking up previous occasions I found that there is considerable discrepancy between what has been done on one occasion and another. There was the danger of our getting rather heated and getting a very unpleasant division of opinion over this matter.

That has been avoided by today's debate, but there is always that danger. Difficult though it may be, I wonder whether the Government should try to establish some principle of aid on occasions of national disaster. It might be an insurance scheme or something of that kind. If the Government are not prepared to do that, and I fully see the reasons against it, they might at any rate consider making plain the principles on which aid will be given.

Last year, my constituency was struck by a hurricane. The Government gave us aid which I think amounted to, roughly, one-tenth of the damage. There was a grant of £20,000 against a total damage of nearly £500,000 and there was also direct aid of various kinds. On this occasion the Government appear to be going to give aid which will amount to something between half and three-quarters of the cost of the damage. I am not complaining about this in the least from the point of view of my constituents, although they are a small and poor community who merit assistance. I give these figures only to show that there can be great discrepancies in these matters at times when the House would like to feel that people are treated on a fair and equal basis.