Flooding issue
WE HAVE again seen the results of our rivers flooding.  
When is someone going to ask the question of what is causing our river to keep flooding? The answer is, do not blame it all on the weather. 
The blame lies with the environmental agency and conservationists for blindly following EU regulations which say that you must not dredge rivers, dig ditches around fields, nor dredge nor clear streams.
Those of us who can remember what life was like before we were conned into agreeing to join the then Common Market will recall that those rivers which flooded occasionally did so over fields which farmers kept purely for pasture because they were prone to floods should there be excessive rainfall. 
Cultivated fields had ditches dug around them to drain off excessive water, local authorities kept streams in built-up areas cleared and our rivers had pleasure craft on them, ensuring that any silt which entered the river from the hillside was not allowed to settle in the river bed but washed downstream to the river estuary and out to sea.
If you have a toothache and go to the dentist, the dentist finds the cause and removes it, they do not just give you a painkiller and tell you it will go away of its own accord. 
Instead of throwing billions of pounds at flood defences, remove the cause and lower river beds, clear streams and let farmers dig ditches again. 
EU countries have similar weather to us but do not have flooding problems like us because they take appropriate action. 
If the overpaid bureaucrats in the Environmental Agency are too blind to see the cause because of all their degrees etc which do not give them the answer, then they should resign and allow those who can see the cause to take charge and remove the cause.
RAYMOND KNIGHT
Newport
Shropshire