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smiggs

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Posts posted by smiggs

  1. 22 hours ago, Colin Foster said:

    Agreed. She knows full well she's no chance of holding the seat as a Lib Dem and she knew when she defected she wasn't representing the wishes of the constituents who voted for her.

    I wouldn't fully rule out Lib Dems in the next General Election, they won 4 of the 6 council wards here in 2019 so I reckon if the Tory vote splits to Brexit Party they have a good chance of finishing second and an outside chance of winning the constituency, it is debatable whether Angela Smith would actually help them though.

  2. Looks like Sheffield is missing out as a host venue on the Tour de Yorkshire as well. The full route will be announced in December.

     

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-45747403

     

    But includes Barnsley and Doncaster, so the organisers want a South Yorkshire stage (or two) but Sheffield council aren't prepared to put up with the disruption in the city centre or pay the expense of having them here. Well I'm sure I'll find my way to Doncaster or Barnsley during the Tour de Yorkshire shame our council are such stick in the muds.

  3. Realistically it would be difficult for Sheffield to take a minor part in these events as these events are all centred around Harrogate the required route length would be too long for anything but the main race on the final day to feature Sheffield but with Leeds clearly wanting to feature in the final day the organisers would face a significant challenge to trying to shoehorn both cities in. I'm sure cycling fans in Sheffield would love us to host the whole shebang but given they effectively take over the city for more than a week Sheffield could only really take part if somewhere like Chesterfield or Doncaster was nominated as the base.

     

    There were rumour abound in the spring that Yorkshire was trying get involved in doing stages for the Vuelta and the Tour of Yorkshire doesn't clash with the Snooker this year, it's not like this is the last chance for Sheffield to host international cycling, I do hope the council relax a little and let them into the city centre if the organisers wan to.

  4. Everyone deserves a second chance.

    Have you never done anything in the past that you regretted ?

     

    Unfortunately for Jared politicians very rarely get second chances in the modern era. Just ask Nick Clegg or Tony Blair how much political capital they have after a misstep.

     

    Time to stop the mouth frothing, stand back and see how he performs.

    If it all goes pear shaped then I'm sure you will be the first on here to say 'I told you so'.

    But meanwhile - allow him to get on with it and see how he performs.

    His speech was not 'truely awful' - this is your prejudice speaking I think.

    The Speaker of the House didn't think so.

    He has made a good start - now that he has been allowed to.

     

    O'Mara did not speak in the chamber for more than a year after his election, we already know how he's performing.

  5. It is not legal to buy and hasn't been for a while now.

     

    While Spice is illegal to sell in final form it's a lot easier to move around the basic legal chemical substances used to make up spice than it is to move an illegal substance in Cannabis. I'd rather we had a regulated alternative, tested to ensure maximum safety for those who consume this type of substances because it's becoming more and more obvious that people will consume these substances legal or not.

  6. And there’s me thinking it was the Hallam electorate that chose O’Mara as their MP.

     

    Most people will just vote for their favoured party very rarely do we get a large negative personal vote especially for new candidates, it's up to the parties to select competent candidates people trust them (or used to trust them) to run the country so selecting candidates ought to be the easy bit.

  7. But they would not be subject to a whip to make sure they vote the way a party wants. I notice in the news today that John Woodcock MP has now resigned from the Labour party and will become an independent. Sorry but in my books both him and Omara should actually resign as an MP and so should any other that decides to change sides.

     

    O'Mara is resigning likely because he faced deselection and would not be able to stand in the seat and claim the bonus payments he would get for standing and losing. Now he can stand and lose as an independent at the next election. This two faced conniving idiot is not fit for the office to hold the of MP and knows that whether wearing a red rosette or standing as an independent he'll lose. The only plus side is that it has exposed Labour's lacklustre lazy selection policy, you might hope that the quality of the candidates would improve but it seems unlikely.

  8. It depends on what these creative hubs are going to be - it's all a bit vague. Near existing creative types (which I'm still not convinced is an essential) might be a pre requisite but so might good logistical links - pinewood studios is in the middle of nowhere, media city on the other hand has it all except it isn't London.

     

    I would have thought you would need both, businesses like to be near other businesses of that type, it was the whole premise of the council's bid to move HS2 to the centre rather than Meadowhall.

  9. They're not looking to build an art gallery for people to walk round either. It's more likely to be a production office with good transport links amongst other things.

     

    We're talking creatives here who fought tooth and nail to stay in London, I don't think they take kindly to being stuck on a Motorway junction even if it did have a fast train station, they demand the facilities of a city centre which aren't just shops.

     

     

    I reckon Manchester Liverpool or birmingham. I don't think Glasgow is a good choice with the ever present threat of Scotland leaving the UK, particularly as we don't know how brexit will pan out.

     

     

    My money is on Bristol, Liverpool or Glasgow. If Scotland declared independence Channel4 would find themselves in an odd position but would probably receive additional money from the Scottish government to stay in Glasgow.

  10. Looking to the future, Sheffield has missed out massively on potential connectivity with the HS2 fiasco. Leeds will almost certainly be quicker to get to from London than Sheffield due to it being stuck at the end of a low speed branch line. Well done SCC.

    A nice site near Meadowhall COULD have been a benefit

    BUT.............

     

    Sheffield's creative heart is in the centre, Meadowhall has it's a place for industry, distribution, big box shopping and the odd call centre but there is zero creative industry there, having Channel4 in Meadowhall would be like fitting your spare tire for your Lamborghini to an articulated lorry. If there is to be a creative hub in Sheffield, it'll be near our trendy night spots in Kelham, our art spaces around Brown St, and our theatres and cinemas, not some motorway junction they ain't looking for a service station or call centre.

  11. That sounds like a very long train. Platform 8 was able to take a 19 coach train, and 6 could take 16 on summer Saturdays. If HS2 trains are going to be that long, or even longer, they won't fill them twice an hour, or even once an hour, wthout a very big increase in rail travel. Existing London train services must surely be cut back to even half fill the new ones.

     

    Most of Britain's railway expansion plans are based upon increased passenger numbers and the likelihood that they will keep increasing. The Midland Mainline and Cross Country services will almost certainly not decrease in numbers but instead will add additional stops to their timetables and perhaps in the case of Cross Country be broken up to provide more local services.

  12. As I see it the market lacks competition between traders and is probably a deliberate ploy by the market cartel traders organisation. Go to most fruit and veg stalls and the prices seem identical (quality not so much) except on a few items and the same goes for the majority of the meat stalls. They need to compete with the likes of Sainsbury's opposite in terms of quality and price to gain customers.

     

    I would expect most of the fruit and veg stalls just match each other prices, they aren't a secret they can just have a quick wiz round the market every few hours to check they aren't being beaten and then update their own prices with a marker pen. I would like a better quality stall though there was one for a bit a couple of years ago they moved out saying rent was too high.

  13. OK. Let's attempt a concise definition.

    Perhaps try this as a first draft:

    employment other than:

    a. in the pay of a politician or of one's own relative; or

    b. obtained by the intervention of a politician or of one's own relative.

     

    So if you've worked for your family's business for 20 years, first in say the shop and then later managing the business you couldn't become an MP. This would seem to be at the same time a huge denial of democratic rights and really easy to work around if you're a political prodigy from one of the main parties.

     

    In recent years we seem to have moved away from politics run by students of politics these days so I'm not sure we really need to legislate for what is already happening.

  14. Car access can be a little bit of a pain in the arse and even people coming by bus is a pain as very few buses actually use the bus station these days. There will likely be a redevelopment for HS2, if they want new terminating platforms as seems likely the logical place for this is where the taxi rank and drop off is right now, so they will need to have new arrangements.

  15. Agree about the access but presumably that is included in the high satisfaction rating?

     

    Leaving Midland Station & arriving at Manchester Piccadilly is like advancing 50 years in 50 minutes.

     

    As Anna rightly points out Piccadilly is let down by the through platforms confusing disconnection between West Coast and other platforms and in the main atrium. This makes Piccadilly confusing for those travelling through and will no doubt affect satisfaction ratings. The only complication at Sheffield is that people might get confused about which exit to use. While Piccadilly does have far better facilities when compared to Sheffield station this is supplementary, I don't go to a train station to have a meal or shop.

     

    Piccadilly also has congestion problems and these are being sorted by adding additional platforms using the Ordsail chord to link Manchester stations together meaning services can stop at both Victoria and Piccadilly.

  16. I note STAG's press release claims 5 gains from Labour by the Greens and Lib Dems.

     

    https://www.facebook.com/groups/392913244219104/permalink/948755171968239/

     

    Sums not STAG's strong point?

     

    Usually, gains refer to since the last full election rather than since by-elections so Mosborough would count as a gain for the Lib Dems.

     

    Lib Dem Gains:

     

    Mosborough

    West Ecclesfield

    Crookes and Crosspool

     

    Green Gains:

     

    City

    Broomhill & Sharrow Vale

  17. The "Echo Chamber" is in full swing over on the STAG Facebook page. They seem convinced that last night's results somehow validate their approach. They are blind to the fact that Labour took 40 % of the vote yesterday (it was 35% in 2014), and think that a few seats to the Lib Dems and The Greens are indicative of a trend. They're not.

     

    Alison Teal's magnificent performance aside, it's just business as usual. In fact, nationally Labour did so badly that last night can be seen as a triumph in Sheffield.

     

    The unfortunate thing about local politics in Sheffield is there is not really enough opposition campaigners to have a dramatic swing. Lib Dems managed to swing the 3 seats they were campaigning heavily in that they did not hold in 2016, Greens I think were 2 from 4.

  18. Are there only 6 western wards then?

    And all of the eastern wards are 'working class'? :roll:

     

    ---------- Post added 04-05-2018 at 11:15 ----------

     

    Hillsborough ward for example, looks fairly to the west to me, unfortunately a strong labour hold. Even an alliance between the lib dems and greens wouldn't have been enough to unseat them.

     

    In terms of East-West Sheffield council stretches out to Stannington and Stocksbridge but if there a divide it is based on economic deprivation not actual Geography.

  19. really? Then maybe you can tell me why didn’t that gaydo fawks website break the news about Jared’s past then ?

     

    You are funny sometimes. Guido goes after nationally known politicians not failed candidates from the shires.

     

    O'Mara also stood for council in 2004, he by lost just over 300 votes. This was at the height of his 'troubled youth phase' that lead to his internet trolling which had his actual face in his profile.

     

    It's up to Labour to vet their candidates properly, they let the people of Sheffield Hallam down by letting his allegations against him go unanswered until it was too late. If they couldn't see a problem with O'Mara well I'm not sure they are fit to run this city.

  20. Labour didn’t expect to win, hence they stuck a blazer on an unknown and improperly vetted local lad and paraded him in front of the electorate as their candidate.

     

    O'Mara has been has been standing for Labour for years, in 2016 he came less than 300 votes from winning the West Ecclesfield seat on the council, they knew what he was and ignored the issue until it was too late.

  21. That grotty bit of scrubland that Sheffield have offered up is just a joke.

     

    It's a joke that it isn't used it's a prime location for office space with only 300 people moving there's ample room there but I'm sure they could find space at St Paul's or in the new West Bar development that is probably up for Channel4 to decide themselves.

     

    Channel4 are said to be looking at 3 new offices a HQ and two region centres. For me the three locations that make most sense are Glasgow, Manchester, and Birmingham, I'm rather hoping Sheffield can displace Manchester as a regional hub with a HQ in Birmingham and a regional hub in Glasgow.

     

    If they choose Manchester or Leeds, Sheffield will get nothing.

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