The Spectator’s notes

David Cameron was in a tight spot because of the floods. He had arranged to address the Rwandan parliament, and this fitted with his wish to proclaim his welcome interest in development issues and his party’s new document on the subject. He could not convincingly have told the Rwandans that the rains forced him to stay in Britain. And yet his absence has been a mistake. ‘Middle England’, as well as being a political concept, is a geographical reality, and this week half of it has been under water. It was a unique moment when the leader of the opposition could have been visibly helping — getting wet, getting muddy on the ground while Gordon Brown was safely in the skies above, getting coverage. In among the sandbags, Mr Cameron could have raised whatever issues he thought fit about housing, emergency services, flood defences and so on. He could have embodied that combination of humorous patience and mild grumbling which the English like so much. True, he did visit his own inundated constituency at the weekend, but by the time the waters were at their height, he was on a plane for Africa. This allowed Mr Brown to get away with various banalities unchallenged. And it reinforced an unfortunate impression, which Mr Brown is trying to foster, that Mr Cameron is the political equivalent of a gap-year student — amiable, well-meaning, inexperienced, paid for by his parents; nice, yes, serious, no.