BORIS Johnson has been accused of ignoring people left without power for nine days after Storm Arwen – because they are not in Surrey.
As many as 4000 homes in northern England and Scotland remained without power this morning, according to the Energy Networks Association.
Of these, almost all were in England, with just 30 homes still awaiting reconnection as of 10pm on Saturday, Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks (SSED) said.
It blamed poor conditions on Saturday from restoring power to those households after days working on supplies to thousands of properties.
Areas of Aberdeenshire, Perthshire, Angus and Moray were amongst the worst-hit in Scotland by the November 26 storm.
Appearing on Sky News, Labour shadow environment secretary Jim McMahon MP slammed Downing Street's response to the situation, suggesting it had been taken less seriously than if it had occurred in the south of England.
Had 20,000 properties in Surrey or London lost power following a storm the govt would have "absolutely have treated it with more seriousness" than is currently being seen in the north of England and Scotland, claims Labour's Jim McMahon.#Phillips: https://t.co/sSaIL4VjPC pic.twitter.com/8Msp0BF07f
— Trevor Phillips on Sunday (@RidgeOnSunday) December 5, 2021
Almost 300 personnel from the British Army and Royal Marines were deployed to offer support and go door-to-door to check on vulnerable people.
Meanwhile, Boris Johnson has said he's "concerned" about the number of properties still without heat or light and has held calls with military response coordinator Lt Col Mark Steed, as well as local leaders. In a social media post, he said that "the Government is ready to further support their work in any way we can".
But McMahon has said that's not enough, telling broadcaster Trevor Phillips: "It beggars belief that in a national emergency, it wasn't considered a national priority.
"Where was Boris Johnson, why wasn't Cobra called to deal with this, why has it taken a week for the army to be called in?
"I firmly believe had this been the case where 20,000 properties were without power in Surrey or in London, the government would absolutely have treated it with more seriousness.
"For people in County Durham who I spoke to, they felt isolated, they felt angry and they felt forgotten."
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