Jeremy Corbyn criticises PM as he makes visit to meet Storm Dennis flood victims

Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn and former Labour leader Ed Milliband (second left) speak with flood affected residents in Doncaster during the general election campaign. Photograph: Oli Scarff/PA. - Credit: PA

Jeremy Corbyn is to visit victims of the flooding caused by Storm Dennis as he criticises Boris Johnson’s inaction and refusal to visit the communities affected.

The Labour leader is set to visit south Wales on Thursday to meet those affected by last weekend’s flood and speak with residents and volunteers helping with recovery efforts.

The shadow cabinet has criticised the UK government for failing to support communities have repeatedly been flooded in recent years, saying that areas most vulnerable to flooding have been “badly let down time and time again”.

Warning that extreme weather conditions like Storm Dennis will become more frequent and severe as the climate crisis deepens, the Labour Leader has called the government’s response to recent flooding “wholly inadequate”, accusing ministers of failing to grasp the scale of the climate crisis.

“In refusing to visit flood-hit communities, nowhere-to-be-seen Boris Johnson is showing his true colours by his absence,” said Jeremy Corbyn ahead of his visit to Wales.

“Failing to convene COBRA to support flood-hit communities sends a very clear message: if the Prime Minister is not campaigning for votes in a general election he simply does not care about helping communities affected by flooding, especially communities that have repeatedly been flooded in recent years.

“I want to thank our emergency services, the Welsh Labour government, local authorities and volunteers who have come together and worked around the clock to protect homes and businesses from flooding.

“As the climate crisis deepens, extreme weather conditions will become more frequent and severe. The government’s response has been wholly inadequate and fails to grasp the scale of this crisis.

“The government has failed to protect the most vulnerable communities who have been so badly let down time and time again, and ministers have failed to put in place longer-term flood prevention strategies to protect communities from the consequences of extreme weather conditions.”