Planners and local authorities should be held liable when permission is given to build on a flood plain. And one in ten of all new homes in England are.

In a new parliamentary motion George Galloway demands that those responsible for allowing building on known flood plains should be guilty of a criminal offence and face the prospect of being sued by homeowners for damages.

The motion:

That this House believes that local authorities who give permission to develop in a flood plain should be made legally responsible; points out that in countries like Norway and France planners and politicians held liable may go to prison; notes that some five million people and 2.3 million homes are on flood plains in England and Wales; further notes that each year around one in every ten new homes in England are built on flood plains, justified by planners that urban drainage systems work when they palpably do not; believes that those whose lives and well-being are put at risk for profit should be able to sue those responsible; and demands that the government ensures that in future no houses or businesses are allowed to be built on land which is designated as in a flood plain.