Nick Herbert MP - Albion hating snob.

[Pavilionaire]

I'm extremely disappointed that Herbert describes the Falmer decision as one of the most damaging to affect the Downs in the last few years.

He talks as if the site is lush green open pasture, not a grotty browfield site south of a major dual carriageway adjacent to a railway track, next to a University on the edge of a small town.

The project is providing work for the local construction industry and when complete will offer a COMMUNITY stadium, not just a football stadium.

The fact he's mentioned Lewes as being a town likely to be disadvantaged by National Park status probably tells us all we need to know.

All this is very sad because he is a very active M.P., and generally does a good job, but his comments are misguided and have pissed me off.

 

[Carrot Cruncher]

I agree with him...

If the councils were given more power, Falmer wouldn't have needed to go to a public enquiry as the council said yes and we could've, in theory at least, moved in about 7 years ago!

 

[Seagull73]

I agree with him...

If the councils were given more power, Falmer wouldn't have needed to go to a public enquiry as the council said yes and we could've, in theory at least, moved in about 7 years ago!

Quite right.

 

[Seagull73]

So by Falmer being built we're instantly going to start making hundreds of thousands of pounds are we?

My point was the club has managed to survive this long as does every other FL club because it lives within it's means. Granted we can't go on for ever losing money hand over fist but the ground where ever it may get built isn't going to be a the golden bullet some of you people think it will be. Just look at Southampton currently.

Who has ever said that Falmer will be the 'golden bullet' as you put it? It will be a better place to play football with better facilities and more chance attract interest in the club locally.

And for Southampton, look at Hull. For Leeds United, look at Swansea City. For Coventry City, look at Cardiff City. The list could go on, yet you seem hell-bent on putting a negative spin on everything, because it doesn't suit your own agenda. You must be so lonely and miserable.

 

[Brovion]

Is staying at Withdean an option anyway?
Having attended the Planning Committee meeting last year where the Albion's tenure was extended until June 2011, I doubt that committee would vote to make this permanent or to extend further if the Falmer project was cancelled.

True. We've already been at Withdean longer than we said originally and we are on borrowed time. If Falmer went tits up it can't be taken as a shoe-in that the Council would allow ANOTHER extension of our tenure, especially as it would imply that Withdean was going to be our permanent home. NIMBY-hater that I am I would have a lot of sympathy with Withdean residents and others opposed to us being there as we'd have gone back on our word.

 

[Gwylan]

I agree with him...

If the councils were given more power, Falmer wouldn't have needed to go to a public enquiry as the council said yes and we could've, in theory at least, moved in about 7 years ago!

The trouble is that one council said "yes" and another council said "no" so we'd have been stuck.

 

[Arthur]

Who has ever said that Falmer will be the 'golden bullet' as you put it? It will be a better place to play football with better facilities and more chance attract interest in the club locally.

And for Southampton, look at Hull. For Leeds United, look at Swansea City. For Coventry City, look at Cardiff City. The list could go on, yet you seem hell-bent on putting a negative spin on everything, because it doesn't suit your own agenda. You must be so lonely and miserable.

It's not being negative, it's being a realist. If we're playing shite football we won't get paying customers through the gate when the honeymoon period ends, simple as.

 

[Lord Bracknell]

It's not being negative, it's being a realist. If we're playing shite football we won't get paying customers through the gate when the honeymoon period ends, simple as.

Falmer isn't a honeymoon destination. It's the Albion's home for the next hundred years.

Arthur's argument is like saying Chelsea are permanently DOOMED, because they only managed to attract 8,923 to a home league game at Stamford Bridge in 1994 (against Coventry City in the Premiership).

 

[Colbourne Kid]

Nick's biography
Nick has been the MP for Arundel & South Downs since May 2005. In December 2005 David Cameron appointed Nick as the Shadow Minister for Police Reform. In July 2007 he was promoted to the Shadow Cabinet as Shadow Secretary of State for Justice, and in January 2009 he was appointed Shadow Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.

Prior to his election Nick was the Director of Reform, the independent think tank which he co-founded in 2002. Reform aims to “set out a better way to deliver public services and economic prosperity” and has been described by commentators as “the most important think tank to emerge for a decade”.

Before that, from 1998 to 2000, Nick was Chief Executive of Business for Sterling, where he launched the successful ‘no’ campaign against the euro. He continues to believe that too much power has been transferred to the European Union and that the process not only needs to be halted but also now put in reverse so that powers are returned to national parliaments where they belong.

In the 1997 election Nick stood as the Conservative Parliamentary candidate in Berwick Upon Tweed, one of the most rural seats in England. Nick is passionate about defending rural communities. From 1990 to 1996 he worked for the British Field Sports Society, becoming its Director of Political Affairs. In this role he played a leading role in setting up the Countryside Movement, which became the Countryside Alliance.

Since becoming an MP Nick has worked closely with the international development charity Results on the growing problem of tuberculosis, especially in developing countries. In 2006 he helped to form, and was elected co-chairman of, the All Party Parliamentary Group on Global TB.

Nick went to school at Haileybury, from where he won an Open Exhibition to read Law and Land Economy at Magdalene College, Cambridge.

Nick lives in Arundel with his partner Jason Eades and in his spare time he enjoys racing and country sports and watching cricket and rugby. He also enjoys going to the theatre, cinema and opera.

 

[fatbadger]

Looking at his voting record in parliament according to TheyWorkForYou.com, he is far closer to my views than my local invertebrate MP.* He also voted for a majority- or entirely-elected HoL. I think he's wrong on abortion (he voted for a cut in the upper limit) and on Trident, and stronger voting against the government's vicious so-called anti-terrorism legislation would be appreciated by me, but other than that he's pretty spot on when it comes to the key issues listed on the site. And yes, obviously, he wouldn't have voted the same way if his party had been in power - that goes without saying.

*although he is a f***ing idiot on Falmer.


TheyWorkForYou.com's key indicators:

Voted for a transparent Parliament.
Voted very strongly against introducing a smoking ban.
Voted very strongly against introducing ID cards.
Voted moderately against Labour's anti-terrorism laws.
Voted very strongly for an investigation into the Iraq war.
Voted very strongly for replacing Trident.
Voted for equal gay rights.
Voted for laws to stop climate change.