Nick Clegg has said he will ask the Prime Minister to ensure that fishermen whose lives have been made a misery by the stormy weather have the same access to hardship funds as those in the worst hit flood areas.
The Deputy Prime Minister was speaking after a visit to Porthleven Harbour in West Cornwall yesterday where he met with local fishermen, who have been unable to fish or tend to equipment because of the violent weather.
The Cornish Fish Producers Organisation warned earlier this week that fishermen who have been trapped on land because of the ferocious storms may risk sailing in dangerous conditions to take advantage of soaring prices due to dwindling fish market stocks.
Mr Clegg, who is visiting Newquay to meet with Visit Cornwall head Malcolm Bell, said he was keen to ensure the fishermen got the same access to hardship funds as businesses who have been affected by the floods elsewhere.
“They have had a terrible time of it,” he said. “It seems to me the fishermen have a very good claim to be able to apply to hardship funds in the same way that a village shop in rural Somerset has been able to claim. I will be asking the Prime Minister back in Westminster to look at just that.”
The Liberal Democrat said the country was facing the most unprecedented level of disruption caused by weather it had faced in over 200 years.
Following on from a speech earlier, where Energy Secretary Ed Davey said Britain’s climate change policy was under threat from a “diabolical cocktail of nimbyism, he said he suspected the recent violent weather was as a result of climate change.
He also backed plans to explore alternative options to the line through Dawlish and said it was important people listened to the message from businesses that Cornwall is open for business.
He said: “I certainly think it needs to be looked at and that’s exactly what Patrick McLoughlin is going to do. We need to make sure we look at every route which is viable, whether it’s a return to pre-beach route or another route.”
