The government is failing to protect our peatland hills from burning. This morning, communities which rely on this natural flood barrier are underwater.

Decision-making in Westminster has major consequences for our Northern communities — a thread.

In Manchester, thousands of homes have been evacuated and a major incident declared.

The rivers running through the city drain, via a number of tributaries, from the heavily-burnt grouse moors of the Pennines.
https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/manchester-flooding-thousands-homes-told-19668639

Burning at Stalybridge, Lancashire.

In Hebden Bridge, the community has had a near miss — but it could have been different, as it has been many times before.

The grouse moor above the town has reportedly spent over £1 million fighting legislative attempts to end burning on deep peat.
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/earth/countryside/9061388/Legal-battle-threatens-Englands-grouse-moors.html

In Weardale, a key worker had to be rescued when water pummelling down from the moors engulfed infrastructure.

It's the same as elsewhere in northern England. Burnt grouse moors, damaged peatlands, failing to hold back rainwater, with communities flooded.
https://twitter.com/SkyNews/status/1352143892456435713

The ecological impacts of grouse moor burning are well established.

From contributing to flooding by damaging our peatlands to releasing climate-altering gasses into the atmosphere, there is a catalogue of science showing the harm the practice causes. https://www.leeds.ac.uk/news/article/3597/grouse_moor_burning_causes_widespread_environmental_changes

Despite driving widespread damage, burning is being allowed to increase.

It is now a major threat to England's Sites of Special Scientific Interest. The health of these predominantly-peatland habitats is crucial for tackling flooding in our communities.
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0006320715002372?casa_token=fyjaOPhwT7AAAAAA:w9Lp6wCTRxvC2AJwBjbofLjmt7VC4zP90Ww_iK8Gxa8DArrOu4cPzUyPDjSdcVVK4EoG6j5D6gs

The government's response to this flagrant environmental damage? To politely ask grouse moors to *voluntarily* stop burning peatlands.

By the government's own admission in 2018, "that [voluntary approach] has not proven 100% successful as had been hoped."
https://hansard.parliament.uk/Commons/2019-10-28/debates/B12362DC-0F6A-481B-A1E6-973776F0F9F9/RestoringNatureAndClimateChange#contribution-85911CA7-B284-4980-9D88-1987F0F5787D

The government has said its England Peat Strategy will set out the next steps for protecting communities from flooding by ending burning. It has been delayed for the past two years.

In that time over 660 fires have been set by grouse moors on northern England's peatland hills.

Whilst there’s dither and delay in Westminster, our communities are flooded when the burnt hills fail to hold back the rainfall.

With the onset of climate change bringing more severe storms, this problem can only get worse the longer we leave it.

Please, act now @ZacGoldsmith.