Thanks John Precott

[aftershavedave]

having spent a little time digesting what people have extracted from the official reports i'm now absolutely convinced that prescott has made a very large political decision to support our stadium bid in the light of extremely negative planning reports. i'd go as far as to say that he is bending over backwards to help us based on the evidence presented to him.

and to top that he's actually contrived a way of us winning this one without a judicial review....quite clearly there would have been grounds for one if both inspectors said no, and he said yes (since a judicial review is a review of the legal process rather than the case itself).... as long as we remove the other sites as options.

cheers john, you're doing us proud

 

[bobbycodpiece]

"as long as we remove the other sites as options."

....& get BHA chucked out of Withdean in two years before they've built somewhere else....do you really want to ground share with Palace

 

[Brixtaan]

I think you could be right

 

[kevinbha]

I hope you are right mate, but my concern is JP has done a delay job to get Labour through the Conference and also maybe delayed enough for the next election, possibly keeping the 3 labour MPs in a good light hope I am wrong

 

[balloonboy]

There is absolutely no chance he will delay it until after the election. That would be as damaging as a No in political terms.

100% agree - if the decision isn't made by Christmas, then things will begin to get dodgy for The Labour Three. If it drags on til May 2005, the natives will be VERY restless, a Seagulls Party will have been formed, and no self-respecting Albion fan (active or armchair) will vote Labour. Only a YES will give the Labour Party any hope of securing those three seats in a General Election.

 

[Seagull73]

100% agree - if the decision isn't made by Christmas, then things will begin to get dodgy for The Labour Three. If it drags on til May 2005, the natives will be VERY restless, a Seagulls Party will have been formed, and no self-respecting Albion fan (active or armchair) will vote Labour. Only a YES will give the Labour Party any hope of securing those three seats in a General Election.

The problem with that of course, is that all 3 Labour MP's suport Falmer, and one of those three Defence Minister. Is anybody going to vote Tory, because the Lib Dems don't support it?

 

[Turkey]

The John Prescott Appriciation Thread.

 

[Yorkie]

having spent a little time digesting what people have extracted from the official reports i'm now absolutely convinced that prescott has made a very large political decision to support our stadium bid in the light of extremely negative planning reports. i'd go as far as to say that he is bending over backwards to help us based on the evidence presented to him.

and to top that he's actually contrived a way of us winning this one without a judicial review....quite clearly there would have been grounds for one if both inspectors said no, and he said yes (since a judicial review is a review of the legal process rather than the case itself).... as long as we remove the other sites as options.

cheers john, you're doing us proud

JP has covered his back, avoided a judicial review and basically said yes, just wait a while.

 

[Sergi Gotsmanov]

What does happen if the decision is dealyed past a general election, Labour lose and the tories get back in (it could happen!).

Does the whole process start again with a new DPM?

 

[London Irish]

100% agree - if the decision isn't made by Christmas, then things will begin to get dodgy for The Labour Three. If it drags on til May 2005, the natives will be VERY restless, a Seagulls Party will have been formed, and no self-respecting Albion fan (active or armchair) will vote Labour. Only a YES will give the Labour Party any hope of securing those three seats in a General Election.

A Seagulls Party would be an abysmal failure - it would shatter the pro-stadium alliance into a thousand pieces and ensure a bitter, dismal defeat.

The pro-stadium campaign has built alliances with many different groups and sections of Sussex society. None of these would back a kamikaze electoral assault on the political party that has done the most BAR NONE to get Brighton fans a new stadium.

I would never do anything to endanger our local health service and education system - Albion fans need those as much, if not more, than most Sussex residents because I suspect very few of us have private health insurance or can pay for private education for our kids.

 

[Brovion]

I totally agree with afters, I think if it wasn't for Prescott the whole thing would have been rejected out of hand. Both inspectors came out against us! (What's to stop a third?). Their mindset is totally: "These are the regulations, they must be enforced. People don't matter, dogma does". Nobody has any inkling what a football club means to a community - except those much-maligned and derided politicians.

Which brings me on to London Irish's point which I also totally agree with. Even if Prescott had said NO I would not have voted for a Seagulls Party in any forthcoming election. This isn't like Charlton, the local council are on our side! Ditto the City's MPs. Who put down the EDM? What's the point of putting up single-issue candidates to stand against people who already support that same issue? It would be insane and as LI says would actually split the pro-stadium lobby and do far more harm than good.

That rant obviously applies to people who live in the City. If you live outside Brighton and Hove (Lewes, East Sussex, Worthing) etc then great. If you live in Brighton and Hove and you want the stadium THEN VOTE LABOUR.

 

[Sorrel]

Looking at the decision in the light of the next day, I too am impressed by JP. If he had been a Tory, I think we would have been told "No" within ten minutes of the report being on his desk.

He HAS been influenced by the campaign, and I think it is more than just political expediency on his part.

 

[n1 gull]

I think the main thing is that we ARE going to get a stadium, its just a matter of where and when.
That also makes me think that a Seagulls Political Party would be pointless.
Everyone now agrees we should have a stadium, now lets just make sure Falmer is the place and the worst case scenerio is that its at another venue in Brighton.

I too think JP has made a pretty wise decision and I'm sure it was helped by the local Labour MP's / Council.

 

[balloonboy]

A Seagulls Party would be an abysmal failure - it would shatter the pro-stadium alliance into a thousand pieces and ensure a bitter, dismal defeat.

The pro-stadium campaign has built alliances with many different groups and sections of Sussex society. None of these would back a kamikaze electoral assault on the political party that has done the most BAR NONE to get Brighton fans a new stadium.

I would never do anything to endanger our local health service and education system - Albion fans need those as much, if not more, than most Sussex residents because I suspect very few of us have private health insurance or can pay for private education for our kids.

I'm not saying I endorse a Seagulls Party. It's rather like a nuclear weapon - it only really serves a purpose as a threat - once you have to use it, you're in big trouble, and the consequences will be dire!

 

[Life After Bobby]

having spent a little time digesting what people have extracted from the official reports i'm now absolutely convinced that prescott has made a very large political decision to support our stadium bid in the light of extremely negative planning reports. i'd go as far as to say that he is bending over backwards to help us based on the evidence presented to him.

and to top that he's actually contrived a way of us winning this one without a judicial review....quite clearly there would have been grounds for one if both inspectors said no, and he said yes (since a judicial review is a review of the legal process rather than the case itself).... as long as we remove the other sites as options.

cheers john, you're doing us proud

spot on.

 

[Perry's Tracksuit Bottoms]

That rant obviously applies to people who live in the City. If you live outside Brighton and Hove (Lewes, East Sussex, Worthing) etc then great.

I'll be interested to see Norman Baker's results at the next election. I was ecstatic that we managed to vote out Ratbone in '97, and I even found Norman to be very helpful when I went to his surgery for some advice a few years ago.

BUT none of my family, who all voted for him before, will do so again following his (often blinkered and non-sensical) opposition to Falmer. There must be loads of people who think the same in the constituency.

Having said that there's still no political alternative...