Dear Mr Cameron,

I understand you are hoping to have the European referendum this summer - if your fellow heads of government would get on with renegotiating Britain's relationship with Europe. Have you ever wondered why they are so reluctant to do so? Could it be because they know the difference between real life and political life?

Remember that city with canals for streets that you visited just after Christmas? It's my city, York. If you came now you would see a very different city. We have streets instead of canals, with empty gutted shops and piles of flood-damaged furniture and belongings alongside shops somehow managing to keep going, and residents determined to rebuild and show that York is open for business.

Earlier this week I was in Bridge Street, Tadcaster. That's the town whose bridge collapsed leaving it split in two with a gaping wound in its heart. Again, its people are determined to show that they can overcome their problems and that Tadcaster is open for business. Two places, both with the same real-life problem.

Let me give you some more names: Somerset Levels, Doncaster, Sheffield, Carlisle, Cumbria, the Thames Valley, the Severn Valley, Gloucester, Shrewsbury, Worcester, Nottingham, Cornwall, Helmsley, Boscastle. They're all places that have seen devastating floods since 2000, some of them, like York and Tadcaster, more than once, and that’s just in England.

These are not the result of exceptional weather, they are the result of what is now normal weather. Every year or two, there is another deluge somewhere in this country that leaves whole communities devastated. There'll be more names added to the list by this time next year, I can guarantee you.

York Press:

Wading in? The PM dons wellies for a visit to York. But was it just a photo op?

What have you done to help them? After you'd got your wellies wet, you went back to the European issue, a political problem. The only reason we are having a referendum at all is because some right wingers just won't shut up on the subject. I have yet to hear of anyone killed by the wording of a European document, or who has seen their home or livelihood destroyed in hours by the same. I have not seen crowds marching in the streets demanding a referendum.

Your fellow heads of government know your “renegotiations” are really about sorting out your internal party divisions and they are just not interested. Why should they be when they have the migrant and refugee crisis among other real-life problems to sort out.

Every time there is a flooding disaster we hear how potential prevention work didn't happen because of lack of time, money or resources, or all three. When you promised to do something following the months-long disaster of Somerset Levels and the flooding of the stockbroker belt near Chequers, what happened? Your special emergency Cabinet committee faded away within months. Funding for the Environment Agency to maintain existing flood defences was cut and you went off to Europe to try and renegotiate our treaty with the European Union. This time you want to spend months of effort and money in a referendum campaign.

Mr Cameron, on behalf of the millions affected by flooding now and in the future, cancel the European Referendum.

Instead, put your energy into making this country more flood resilient. That should be your number one priority. Rebuild the bridges and the roads, sort out the flood defences, set up strict building regulations aimed at making buildings and bridges floodproof similar to the anti-earthquake regulations in places like San Francisco. Enforce a ban on building in flood plains so that they can be used to store floodwater away from villages, towns and cities. Encourage research and investment into ways to keep the water on the hills longer so it doesn't overwhelm defences downstream.

I do hope I don't have to send this letter again after the next floods.