"Page Hall has problems, but demonising whole communities is not 'spot on'" - Reader's letter
Shiregreen and Brightside councillor Mark Rusling responded to a recent opinion piece from our editor-in-chief after The Star revealed proposals to send ex-military officers into Page Hall...
Let’s start by acknowledging that there are clear problems in Page Hall. And those problems threaten other neighbourhoods, like Grimesthorpe. They were proud working class communities, diverse for decades, built around the industries on their doorsteps.
In recent years, that pride has gone. So, yes, we need difficult conversations.
It’s said that leaders “drop in, shake their heads and walk away again”. Some do, some don’t. The ones who stay recognise that simple answers to complex problems are generally wrong.
So do the people on the ground who work in Page Hall and Grimesthorpe day in, day out. People I’ve spent time with like Greentop Circus and the teacher at Fir Vale School who gives up his weekends to keep the area’s children on the straight and narrow.
Suggesting that Page Hall’s problems come from ‘authorities cramming people in’ is almost conspiratorial.
Complex problems need complex solutions: action against organised crime, like we have undertaken in Brightside recently; stopping private landlords from profiteering at the expense of whole communities; prosecuting the people who use our streets as their dustbin.
Much more is needed and we should question whether enforcement approaches are working.
However, we should be clear that nobody on the streets of our city enjoys impunity – whether in Page Hall or Dore.
That is why describing a councillor who has called for a military solution as “spot on” is so dangerous.
Coun Lee described his plan to me as a “Belfast and Basra-style solution”. Armies that entered territories suffering violent conflict and supported one side over another. Is that what will help Page Hall? Where next in the city? Sharrow?
We know where this is coming from. Coun Lee was elected as Reform UK, a party that calls for a UK force modelled on the US ‘ICE’ – the ‘Basra style solution’ that killed US citizens on the streets on Minnesota.
Page Hall has problems, but demonising whole communities, deeming them in need of military occupation, is not “spot on”.
We know where that ends and it doesn’t end well.
Editor’s note:
In her opinion piece, editor-in-chief Nancy Fielder wrote: “There are far more sensible ideas that could make the lives of people in Page Hall better ... yet not a single politician, police boss or council employee has named one, let alone actually implemented something that will truly stop the rot.
“Saying there is no problem is ludicrous. Pretending that residents in that neighbourhood don't need intervention and support is naive and insulting. This isn't a game - this is real lives and the city should be ashamed that we're too afraid to even talk about it head on.
“Mick Lee is spot on - something needs to be done urgently and it must involve senior community members from Page Hall. Intervention from the ex military? Violence and fear are never the answer but I can see why people who suffer from it daily also struggle to see other ways.”