UK floods: Pickles defending response in statement to MPs
Live video from the House of Commons.
Communities Secretary Eric Pickles is defending the government's response to the flooding crisis after reports of a clash between senior ministers.
Mr Pickles is making a statement to MPs about the latest developments, with 16 severe flood warnings in place and widespread flooding along the Thames.
He and Environment Secretary Owen Paterson are thought to be at odds over the Environment Agency's performance.
David Cameron has said everyone should "get on with their jobs".
But Labour has accused ministers of fighting "like ferrets in a sack".
Commons Speaker John Bercow has granted Labour an urgent question at 15.30 GMT to ask about the government's handling of the floods crisis amid reports of Cabinet in-fighting.
With Mr Paterson still recovering from an eye operation, Mr Pickles is appearing at the dispatch box. He will then go on to chair the government's latest Cobra emergency meeting.
David Cameron praised the Environment Agency staff helping to repair flood defences
There has been an escalating political row over the UK's preparedness for the crisis, which has seen more than 5,000 properties flooded in the past two months.
River levels continued to rise across south-east England on Monday, threatening homes in Berkshire and Surrey.
There are 14 severe flood warnings - indicating a danger to life - at present in the south-east of England while two severe warnings remain in place for the Somerset levels.
On Sunday, Mr Pickles suggested the government relied too much on Environment Agency advice on river dredging and gave lukewarm support for the agency and its chairman - the former Labour minister Lord Smith.
The BBC understands that Mr Paterson complained "in the strongest possible terms" to the prime minister about what he called Mr Pickles' "grandstanding".
Speaking on a visit to Portland in Dorset, Mr Cameron praised Environment Agency staff and said it was not the time for a "change in personnel" at the top of the organisation.
"This is the time for everyone to get on with the jobs they have," he said. "Everyone has got to focus on the job in hand - the Environment Agency, every department of government."
Lord Smith has urged all sides to refrain from the "briefing and sniping of recent times" and focus on the "serious business" of protecting people's homes and livelihoods.
The former MP, who has rejected calls from some quarters to resign, said the agency's response had been dictated by Treasury rules on how much could be spent on individual flood defence schemes.
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