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Councillor Shaffaq Mohammed has a Cunning Plan

Councillor Shaffaq Mohammed has a Cunning Plan
Councillor Shaffaq Mohammed has a Cunning Plan

As Baldrick to Nick Clegg’s duplicitous Blackadder, Councillor Shaffaq Mohammed has a long history of cunning plans. They’re reliably moronic, but the latest is his worst yet.

He was quoted in last Saturday’s Star as saying this:

These figures show the Labour council is one of the softest when it comes to cracking down on council tax dodgers.While turning to bailiffs should always be a last resort, the vast majority of people who do pay their bills have a right to ask why Sheffield’s Labour councillors are failing to take action.

So there it is. The hapless sidekick of the man partnering Old Etonian David Cameron in the most ferocious assault on the vulnerable in living memory is outraged, which if it wasn’t so serious really would be low comedy masquerading as politics.

First, he cheerleads his master’s government in ruthlessly slashing the money for council services and in implementing the punitive Bedroom Tax, both of which hammer the many honest people already struggling to pay their bills due to the ConDems’ austerity. Then, when those in arrears face legal action due to the difficulties he’s had a hand in creating, he complains that they’re not victimised further!

But what’s the pay-off for this cunning plan of epic proportions? To help his master cosy up further to David Cameron, and for the Sheffield Lib Dems to get votes from those local Tories that think being poor is a crime punishable by flogging. It’s like clockwork!

But unfortunately for him, Cllr. Baldrick’s cunning plan is yet another dud. Why? For the same reason his plans never work: the people of Sheffield are wiser than him. They see the actions of the government, and they see how he supports their vindictive assaults on public services. They see how everything he does is in support of his Tory-loving master, Nick Clegg, and they see their joint contempt for those suffering due to their actions. They see, and they’ll remember, and they’ll remind him at the next election.

Perhaps Cllr. Baldrick should consider that the next time he has the cunning plan of attacking those going through hard times.

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Birley Labour at the South Yorkshire Festival, Wortley Hall

Birley Labour at the South Yorkshire Festival Wortley Hall Image 1
Birley Labour at the South Yorkshire Festival Wortley Hall Image 1

Last Saturday, Birley Ward’s Labour councillors attended the South Yorkshire Festival at Wortley Hall, along with members of Birley Ward Labour Party.

This was a wonderful event, with many stalls from trade unions, local Labour branches and community organisations from across the region, as well as stalls selling all manner of arts, crafts and foodstuffs.

Birley Ward members and councillors had a great time in the sunny weather, fundraising and discussing with festival-goers how best to fight the cuts foisted on Sheffield and South Yorkshire by this pitiless Conservative/Liberal Democrat government.

Councillor Denise Fox said: ‘It was great to see so many people at the festival that are determined to fight for those suffering from the coalition’s policies. The cuts on local services and the bedroom tax are having a terrible effect, and it’s all thanks to the government that the Sheffield Liberal Democrats support. The message to them from today is clear: the people of Sheffield and South Yorkshire won’t stand by while you attack the most vulnerable’.

Birley Labour at the South Yorkshire Festival Wortley Hall Image 3
Birley Labour at the South Yorkshire Festival Wortley Hall Image 3
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Sheffield Lib Dems Retract Weekly Bin Collection Pledge

Anders Hanson: Perpetually Confused About Bins. Poor Man.
Anders Hanson: Perpetually Confused About Bins. Poor Man.

Sheffield Lib Dems made a great song and dance about alternate week bin collections upon their introduction, which is unsurprising since they haven’t got much else to talk about (unless you count their remorseless attacks on public services as part of the Coalition – wonder why they’d want to avoid that subject?). According to Lib Dem Councillor Anders Hanson, fortnightly bin collections were something to be fought tooth and nail: indeed, he promised to ‘mercilessly attack’ the Council for moving to fortnightly collections

But not only are Sheffield Lib Dems now dropping their opposition to alternate week collections… they’re doing it on the quiet! Last week, without publicity they submitted a motion to December’s Full Council meeting saying: “it would now be extremely difficult to revert back to weekly black bin collections”. In other words, Sheffield Lib Dems’ thundering opposition to fortnightly collections has ended with a whimper; they won’t include funding for weekly collections in their proposed budget for next year.

But this flip-flopping isn’t new. Earlier this year the hapless Mr. Hanson let the cat out of the bag with his comments in some obscure publication called Lib Dem Voice: “I think it has now become almost impossible politically to introduce new fortnightly bin collections as both the opposition and the press will mercilessly attack anyone who does it. … However most people are happy with fortnightly collections when they get used to it.”

So it’s clear that Sheffield Lib Dems have been publically campaigning against fortnightly collections while admitting in their barely read in-house magazine that that the public have no problem with them! The only conclusion to draw from this is that their opposition was nothing more than cynical political opportunism, intended to distract Sheffielders from the damage their Tory and Lib Dem colleagues in Westminster are doing to our city.

An exasperated Councillor Jack Scott, cabinet member for Environment, Recycling and Streetscene said:

“The Lib Dems are the only party to break their promises even when they’re in opposition. It now looks like they have finally accepted that we had no other option but to move to alternate week collection due to the massive cuts Nick Clegg and the Tory Government are imposing on the council.
 
“Their campaign against alternate week collections has been merciless and politically motivated, people can see through that. The Lib Dems should apologise to the people of Sheffield for making false promises yet again, they have a lot of questions to answer
 
“With further cuts coming from their Autumn Statement it’s about time the Lib Dems started campaigning against the cuts that will affect the people of Sheffield. It is wrong that they continue stand up for their government’s decisions instead of standing up for Sheffield.”

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Liberal Democrats Propose Blowing £132,000,000 on Free Parking in Sheffield!

Sheffield Lib Dems Burning Money
What the Sheffield Lib Dems Want to Do With Your Money

Not content with collaborating with Tory cuts that are bleeding our city dry, the Sheffield Liberal Democrats are now coming up with schemes to waste mind-boggling amounts of taxpayers’ money. Their latest one is a proposal to waste £132,000,000 – yes, you read correctly, £132,000,000 – by giving free parking to Sheffield residents during the Streets Ahead project due to revitalise Sheffield’s roads.

After this proposal was put forward by the hapless Lib Dems in October, impartial feedback was given by council officers. This projected that free parking for the amount of cars likely to be affected simply could not be provided by the council without calling in private contractors. Even using conservative estimates of one car per household, with each car charged for parking at £4 per day, the bill would come out at £26,400,000 per year. For the five years the project is due to run that makes a grand total of £132,000,000!

In the present financial climate this is astonishingly irresponsible, and demonstrates that the Liberal Democrats have spent so long pandering to their Tory masters that they’ve lost touch with financial reality.

The Sheffield Labour Party, on the other hand, have proposed the prudent and sensible solution of asking residents to arrange parking alternatives for themselves for the short time their street is being improved. Not only would this avoid spending a ridiculously large amount of money; it would avoid the imposition of a solution when many car owners would prefer to find one for themselves. In addition, it has the benefit of harnessing Sheffielders’ famous self-reliance.

Labour Cabinet Member for Environment, Recycling and Streetscene, Councillor Jack Scott, was incredulous when he said:

“I’m not sure if the Lib Dems are on the same planet as everyone else. The council is being absolutely hammered by this Government, which the Lib Dems are propping up, and at the same time they want us to spend over £26 million for the next five years to give free parking to everyone in Sheffield.

“The Lib Dems latest ludicrous idea that we need to give people free parking to everyone for 20 weeks whilst the Streets Ahead project is in their area, but the fact is that most people will only be affected by the Streets Ahead improvements in their street for a few days.”

“I can’t imagine that anyone else in Sheffield would support spending so much money on giving free parking to everyone, especially when we have had such heavy cuts imposed on us by their Government.

“Inevitably this will cause some disruption for some people but we wouldn’t be asking people to do it wasn’t to make such important improvements to transform the roads network, which we all know that people really want to see. The Lib Dems are playing silly games making stupid promises.”

We’ll add to Councillor Scott’s words by asking: with this shocking disregard for taxpayers’ money, could the Sheffield Lib Dems be trusted to run a stall at a jumble sale, never mind council finances? We think you’ll agree with us that the answer is definitely not…

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Tories/LibDems Force Punitive Cuts on Sheffield

Nick Clegg Doesn't Care About The Cuts Attacking Sheffield - He'll Be Long Gone!
Nick Clegg Doesn’t Care About The Cuts Attacking Sheffield – He’ll Be Long Gone!

As may be seen in our previous post, Sheffield City Council has just issued a press release regarding the Council’s budget for the near future.

It’s important that all residents of our city read it, as it sets out the extremely tough financial environment the council will have to operate in in the next few years and beyond. Press and political opponents will no doubt paint this as ‘Labour cuts’, but these cuts are entirely the result of the Conservative/Lib Dem coalition slashing the money that Sheffield receives from council tax receipts raised in the city. It’s true that councils across the country are facing reduced funding, but these reductions are both disproportionate and partisan: so far Sheffield has lost £280 per head of population (with more to come), while Tory/Lib Dem councils in the south have lost much less. Dorset, for instance, has only lost £40 per head!

Given this, it’s essential that all people striving to build a better Sheffield find out for themselves the extent of the Tory/Lib Dem attack on our city, and then set the record straight in discussion with family, friends and work colleagues. These cuts are not Labour’s doing: they’re the scheme of a government that has it in for working class people, and that message has to be heard. It would be scandalous for hard-working Labour councillors to take the blame for this, thus letting in the Lib Dems again… the very party that’s colluding in this brutal attack on our public services!

But the most shocking thing is that this attack on Sheffield’s being driven by one of our city’s own MPs! Co-architect of the cuts Nick Clegg doesn’t care, though: he has no illusions about getting re-elected in Sheffield, and no doubt has already lined up some lucrative job at the EU for when the cuts truly hit and the voters of Sheffield show him what they think at the next election.

If you’d like any more information on this, please don’t hesitate to contact your Labour Councillor (for Birley Ward, these are Councillors Bryan Lodge, Denise Fox and Karen McGowan).

It’s up to the people of Sheffield to ensure that the Tories and Lib Dems get the credit they deserve for what they’re doing to our great city.

 

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Why Do Sheffield Lib Dems Oppose Successful Bus Partnerships?

Norman Baker MP Tells Sheffield Lib Dems What To Do With Their Transport Policy
Norman Baker MP Tells Sheffield Lib Dems What To Do With Their Transport Policy

Despite increasing numbers of cities seeing the real benefits of Bus Partnerships, Sheffield Liberal Democrats are still opposing them. Along with their Green Party allies, they’re continuing to advocate the outdated ‘Quality Contract’ model for bus service provision, despite it being more costly for the taxpayer and less responsive to the wishes of the travelling public.

Their position is so wrong, even their own Transport Secretary – Liberal Democrat MP Norman Baker – opposes them! In a recent policy document – ‘Green Light for Better Buses’ – he wrote:

“…recognises the welcome difference that partnerships are making up and down the country. Collaborations between local authorities, operators and passengers are helping co-ordinate timetables in Liverpool, Oxford and Sheffield…They are succeeding because they combine local knowledge of what passengers want in their area with the resources to make a difference.”

A Voluntary Bus Partnership – a key policy of Sheffield Labour Party – is by far the best way to run the city’s bus system, as it is more affordable, better integrated with other transport options, and much more in tune with the needs of the bus users of Sheffield. Furthermore, since it involves passenger groups, the bus companies and the local authority working together, the Partnership can be changed quickly and effectively as issues arise. Councillor Leigh Bramall, Labour Cabinet Member for Business, Skills and Development, said:

“The bus partnership is the best deal for Sheffield and it is supported by cross-party MP’s at a national level. Norman Baker has praised Sheffield for its collaborative approach to improving bus services in the city. The Lib Dems are trying to score political points by stalling improvements and are not concerned about the best interests of Sheffield residents.”

The opposition of Sheffield’s Lib Dems to the city’s successful Bus Partnership is yet another sign of their increasing disarray. Not only do they oppose the needs of Sheffield’s travelling public, they’re now in conflict with the preferred policy of the senior transport spokesman of their own party! If the Lib Dems’ last administration wasn’t so damaging to Sheffield, we might even be starting to feel sorry for them…

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Lib Dem Double Standards?

Back in October 2011, repairs on the Town Hall clock were heavily criticised by Lib Dems. The repairs were deemed necessary under health and safety grounds and admittedly, the cost of repairs at approximately £19,000 were high. But clearly people walking below the clock would be at risk after harsh weather had taken its toll on the clock faces.

Wind forward a few months and we have Lib Dem Cllr Diane Stimley encouraging the council to spend £7000 to clean a statue of Queen Victoria in Endcliffe Park!. As Lib Dem leader Cllr Mohammed said at the time of the clock repair “It seems like an eyewatering amount of money to spend at a time when vital front line services are feeling the squeeze.” Will he be saying that to Cllr Stimley? I doubt it.