Let's improve Shirecliffe

For who knows present-day residents may even protest and physically try to prevent any planting such is the scale of conflicting thoughts on other topics. I hope that we can root out any problems and branch out, turning a new leaf to improve the ambience of Shirecliffe like neighbouring Norwood.

Mike Dodgson

Marchwood

Uneasy bed fellows

Bryan Lodge, a councillor and a politician belonging to a power-majority, wants to set the record straight. Politician and straight are uneasy bedfellows, and the twisting began straight away.

Quote Mr Lodge “...a tree is only replaced if it’s dead, dying, diseased, dangerous, damaging footpaths or roads or discriminatory...” He is ‘accusing’ trees of discrimination against people with disability. A politician indeed.

What is massively dishonest about this politician’s setting the record straight, is that he uses words like ‘dying’, ’diseased’, ‘dangerous’ as if they were binary terms. A dangerous tree, for example, should be defined against criteria that are generally agreed. In this case they are not, so using the word ‘dangerous’ in this context is nonsense.

His use of “our resident survey” data, similarly is anything but setting the record straight. (1) Surveys have in-built biases, depending on who commissioned it, and he makes an inference that because (according to his favoured surveys) 7 per cent of respondents are against the programme (whatever that means) that the remaining 93 per cent therefore favour cutting down mature beautiful trees – so again the words are wildly veering from anything to do with setting the record straight.

What really is, to use Mr Lodge’s words, “...costing hard-pressed rate payers’ are councils like Sheffield signing contracts like this one that we people of Sheffield are paying for, and makes our environment poorer.

Chris Morton

by email

Against the people’s will

Not surprisingly the House of Lords ignore the will of the people and vote against the government regarding foreign EU nationals residing here. As Lord Tebbit said “they would sooner help foreigners than our own”.

Those in the House of Lords have knowingly colluded in this attempted derailment as part of a malicious conspiracy to blackmail, if not commit Referendum fraud upon us, the British people, by helping Brussels and not the UK. Treason maybe? Time to get rid of this rag-bag of over 800 unelected deluded ‘has-beens’, who we pay £300/day each just for signing in and then falling asleep on the job.

Terry Palmer

South Lea Avenue, Hoyland, Barnsley, S74

A serious contender?

On Wednesday, March 1, Terry Palmer wrote comments about Gareth Snell’s words on Brexiteers.

Mr Snell is entitled to his comments the same as Terry Palmer is.

Mr Palmer should be pleased as anything, as I am that Brexit won the referendum but I am certain his comments are made due to the jealousy of his party leader losing the Stoke by-election that he was meant to and should have won but due to Paul Nuttall trying to latch on to the Hillsborough disaster and then lying, he tied a noose around his neck.

He then blamed one of his advisers for it as he slowly tightened it too far and snuffed out any chance of what he clearly should have won.

I don’t like Nigel Fararge but I am sure had he have made the same mistake he would have been a gentleman and apologised. I very much doubt Paul Nuttall will ever be taken as a serious contender for election as a Member of Parliament again.

I may at some time have to eat my words, I don’t know but people do not forget.

Alan Charlesworth Spa Lane, Woodhouse, Sheffield, S13

Let everyone travel for £1

I read the article about the number of people not using buses now, compared with the 1980s.

Not so many people were lucky enough to own their own transport then, and relied on buses to get to work and go shopping.

From 1979 in South Yorkshire, a certain “Lady “ came to power and started to dismantle our local pits and the steel industry, and put a hell of a lot of people out of work.

I started my apprenticeship in the steel industry in 1968 and used to catch a bus to work and home every day.

I used to catch my bus on Prince of Wales Road and then had a choice of the 71, 2, 59, 703, 704.

All I had to do was get to Prince of Wales Road and the buses used to flow up and down, one after the other, you could always get one.

Sadly those days are long gone now, as is about 80 per cent of the steel industry.

Nowadays people tend to travel in their cars, even though parking is a problem at times, bus prices are on the rise again, and the bus companies, as we read in the Star, from readers letters, are providing an intermittent service in some cases.

As for the price of a journey, they should let everyone travel for £1 and see if that fills the buses up, and involve the trams as well.

PJH

Sheffield

How is this democratic?

I recently learned of some information regarding our exit from the EU that will alarm anybody who believes in democracy.

Our decision to exit the EU may become null and void, thanks to a change in the rules of the Lisbon Treaty that are due to take place on March 31, which will state that member states will have to vote a majority of over 14 in favour of a states departure in order for that state to be given permission to leave.

We have heard time and time again from the remain side that the EU is democratic and yet it seems that a democratic vote to leave the EU can be overruled.

I would like to hear from the many Remain supporters who have sung the EU’s praises throughout the Referendum.

I would particularly like to hear from Veronica Hardstaff, as she is the only sensible Remainer I can think of.

I would like to hear what is democratic about that?

We all know that if we go past the 31st deadline we may be outvoted in the EU parliament.

Never mind a majority of at least 15 states voting against Brexit, they will have a majority of 27, as the EU don’t want us to leave, because they do not want to miss the billions we plough into the budget every year.

This is the final nail in the coffin, as far as I’m concerned.

I was with Theresa May when she said that we want the EU to prosper and go forward in its own direction.

My only wish now, as harsh as it sounds is for the whole thing to crumble as soon as possible. People in Europe are been sold a dud.

How can the EU or indeed anybody call this outdated block democratic?

Matthew Hobson

by email