Should the Government have spent more on flood defences (Letters, January 4)? Living on the coast, I would say no.

The cost of protecting our individual properties should be paid by the landlords or owners of them. Nobody could anticipate the weather we’ve been having – it’s like nothing I’ve seen before.

But the fact of the matter is if the Government and councils spent more money on flood defences and nothing like this happened everyone would be complaining that too much money was spent on such defences.

People across the country are happy to complain that the Government didn’t do enough to protect us from the floods that have been hitting over the past few weeks. But look at it from another point of view: we didn’t protect ourselves enough either.

I for one am tired of the general public trying to blame their issues on everyone else.

If they’re issues that you are truly passionate about, why not take some action for yourself?

Madeline Pouard, Brunswick Square, Hove