With the General election less than 50 days away, bizarrely social media is tonight being dominated by the sacking of a man who assaulted someone at work and someone quitting a boy band.  Former deputy prime minister John Prescott, one of Labours most senior figures tonight tweeted “bit torn between joining Top gear or One Direction”.

The recent Scottish referendum saw almost full engagement with over 80% of those eligible to vote doing so. With what could be the most important election in decades looming there seems little evidence of such engagement from the British public.

Today saw the final Prime Ministers questions before the election, one which was destined to be at least one of the leaders last, was on the whole uneventful. The official campaign hits top gear next week with what looks to be a whimper. The main focus of debate in recent weeks has been whether there should be a televised debate. Of course it is clear from the last election that the debates have little if any effect on the result of an election but at least it gives the electorate a chance to hear the candidate’s version of what they would have us believe they might do if elected. Nick Clegg was considered by most to have won the debates last time round but ended up with fewer seats than the party set out with. Clegg has been critical of Prime Minister David Cameron’s refusal to take part in TV debates.

Deputy PM Clegg’s Sheffield Hallam constituency could be the scene of one of the biggest upsets on election night. A recent poll has Labour candidate Oliver Coppard a massive 10 points ahead, although other polls do have the gap at 2 or 3 points. The New Statesman is even running a story on the battle.

Mr Coppard last night told a delegation of Trade Unionists that Clegg has decline repeated offers of hustings and debate, agreeing only to a behind closed doors debate with an audience of school children to answer questions exclusively pre-selected by The Star newspaper, the only media to be allowed in.

The Sheffield Hallam seat that was once occupied by late Tory favourite Sir Irvine Patnick, is the sixth wealthiest in the country, so it would seem unlikely that a Labour candidate could triumph there; but Mr Coppard - born, bred and current resident in the area thinks the voters still appreciate traditional Labour values and won’t be quick to forgive Clegg, who has done little to represent the people of Sheffield in the last 5 years. Clegg lied to the massive student population in the city and has signed off on grossly unfair cuts levelled at Sheffield city council. The infrastructure expenditure in London is £250 per capita while in Sheffield it is less than £3.

Despite this potential huge upset, the main news outlets prefer to focus on whether it appropriate for the leader of the opposition to have a second kitchen. Little wonder then that the electorate seems as disengaged in politics as ever.

No one trusts the Tories to keep their promises on the NHS, but similarly people are dubious as to Labours record on the economy. The conservatives have proved repeatedly that they are on the side of the few at the cost of the many but it is still neck and neck in the polls.

The budget last week saw George Osbourn promise to relax the austerity measures in the last year of the next government but most people are in little doubt that a Tory Government will continue to punish the poorest in society while protecting the richest.

His pension release plans and suggesting that annuities could also be freed up is a blatant attempt to capture the OAP vote. When asked by Andrew Marr recently what the Government plan to do if reckless pensioners decide to blow their money and then come with their hand out for benefits, the Chancellor refused to answer, instead smugly stating that it was a patronising question.

The Tories have relentlessly attacked the Labour party for receiving cash from the trade unions and it is clear that if they win a majority they will try once again to crush the unions, taking with them worker’s rights and making it easier to sack people, pushing more “hard working families” deeper into poverty and onto the dole, wiping out communities and lives in their wake.

So whoever the British public vote for in May, for the sake of 95% of the population let us pray that it is not the Tories or the country will be going in one direction- down the pan!

"if the roof blows off -you have no choice but to repair it, the choice you have is how you control the terms of the loan."

Just short of 5 years ago Labour party candidate Paul Blomfield narrowly beat Liberal democrat Paul Scriven, to be elected MP for Sheffield central. In a few weeks- time we go to the polls again with Blomfield looking to win by a bigger margin. With Scriven now passing his days in the house of Lords, Blomfield is sitting comfortably in position to be re-elected. I caught up with him this week to ask if after 5 years of Tory government, is Britain a better place to live than when Labour was in office. He told me emphatically that we have become poorer and more unequal. He claimed that Labour was already leading a recovery when they lost the election and that the recovery was not only hampered by the Government cutting too far and too fast, with huge social consequences and the economy pushed into recession for the early years of the Government.

 I reminded Paul that the Green party are claiming to be the only anti austerity party, he replied by saying “if you have a house and the roof blows off - you have no option but to repair it, the choice you have is how you control the terms of the loan”. He went on to say that Labour would reduce the deficit without undermining the economy or leaving people afraid to switch on the heating. The deficit reduction under Labour, he said, would not be at the expense of the people.

 I asked Paul if he had seen any evidence of the Green surge on the doorstep in Sheffield, and if he had, did he attribute it to students and young people leaving the Lib Dems, or were the Greens taking a share of the labour vote. He said their membership had doubled from a very low base and had then plateaued. It was an expression of dissatisfaction at conventional politics he thought, as well as the flip side of the Ukip vote. The surge has put the Green party under scrutiny and people were now wondering if their policies are credible. He thought it was unfortunate that up and down the country, the Greens are only targeting Labour seats, as this would help the Tories into Government.

With the election only weeks away, I asked Mr Blomfield why he thought Labour weren’t clear leaders in the polls.

He emphasised that, although Labour lost the last election, no one won it. For the last five years the Tories have relentlessly blamed Labour for the crash and the media have largely followed suit, but until the rather convenient financial crisis, the Tories had agreed with Labours spending. He said he failed to see how Labour were to blame for sub-prime letting in America and the collapse of Lehman brothers, yet even today, almost five years after they took office, the Conservatives maintain that it was Labours fault. We talked about how the Tory led government had consistently made claims about the thousands of new Doctors and midwives they had introduced despite all those medics being trained in initiatives that Labour put in place. Paul said despite the narrow polls there has rarely been a wider gap in the two party’s policies.

Next I asked if Paul thought that the TV debates would or should go ahead. He was clear that the while the elections should go ahead, they actually made little difference to the outcome. He said that most people claimed Clegg had won the debates in 2010, yet on polling day Clegg mania did not translate to seats. The election shouldn’t be a popularity show on TV but decided on policies.

Talking of policies, I pointed out the article published that day which claimed immigration was by ½ million since 2011 and asked are people really angry about immigration or is it an argument invented and perpetuated in the Ukip obsesses media?

Paul was clear, people raise the issue a lot. He said it is a complicated issue that the media and right wing party’s tried to reduce to simple arguments but when most people bring up the immigration argument, the thing that they are actually angry about isn’t caused by immigration. He gave the example of Polish people. The Poles came over when there was work and when it dried up, most of them went home, but people still complain about the Poles taking our jobs.

He also said that when in 2012 he was treated for a brain tumour, none of the Doctors or consultants that treated him were Brits and that the NHS would not be able to function without immigration.

Sheffield Central Constituency has 36,000 students, many of whom are from outside the UK and Paul says these students are as important as any other constituent. He said that the city’s international students bring £120m to the local economy and are responsible for around 6,500 jobs in the city as a result of them being here. While many of the students let down by Clegg’s broken promises will have graduated and moved on many will remember them, and Ed Miliband’s promise last week to cut student fees to £6k was an immediate measure, keeping the door open to further change, and evidence that Labour will not make commitments they can’t keep.

With many tipping Clegg could lose his seat in Sheffield I asked if Labour candidate Oliver Coppard was capable of winning the seat. Paul said that Oliver was running a great campaign to take what has been a traditionally Tory seat for decades, and still is effectively Tory today with Nick Clegg as the MP.

On Paul’s own aspirations, I made reference to recent claims that he was positioning for a cabinet position and was unable to make his own choices as a result. I asked “do you consider yourself to be a local politician or would you like a seat at Ed Miliband’s table? With half a wry smile Paul said that when he first stood in 2010 he was concerned about the lack of trust in politics and wanted to explore ways to rebuild relationships with people. Since being elected he is proud of coordinating cross party agreements that created enough pressure that they led to changes in the way payday lenders are regulated. He has also fought hard locally to ensure the bridge at Sheffield train station was kept open to the public and worked tirelessly on council estates like Wybourn and Manor, visiting schools and workplaces in those areas where he gets chance to speak to many of the 40,000 doors he has knock on to connect with the public. He did recognise that someone has to take on Shadow Ministerial jobs, but it wasn’t something he was seeking.

I was just asking Pauls thoughts on the suggestion of capping benefits on more than three children when his assistant reminded Paul that his next meeting had arrived. In spite of his next appointment waiting Paul told me the policy was an outrage and will undoubtedly lead to an increase in child poverty.

Without appearing contemptuous, smug or overly confident Paul Blomfield seemed happy with the work he has done and I think he firmly believes he will be re-elected. I suspect he is right. Whether his party will enjoy the same success remains to be seen.

"We can't have environmental justice without Social justice"

Has the electorate finally got fed up of the two party politics we have seen in the UK for too long?The multi millionaire Tory Government sneering and smirking as they impose more and more ideological cuts on the poorest and most vulnerable people in society, the uneducated, the disabled and the sick; the slightly less rich, slightly less sneering, slightly less patronising Labour party, refusing to over turn any of the vicious experimental policies the Con Dem government have implemented, and committing to carry on with austerity measures. Both sides more intent on attacking the other than actually asking us the voter how we feel, what we want or what we need.

Then of course on the fringes there are the even nastier parties such as UKIP, who charade as an anti- establishment party but is made up of Tories and bankers whos popularity seems to be on the wane, even leader Nigel Farage seems to have disappeared from our screens lately.

Amid the vulgarity of Westminster and the nastiness of the front benches have emerged a party that really does seem to offer something different.  Its representatives and members appear to be caring, individuals, hell bent on fairness.

The Green surge swept me along this week to the grandeur of Sheffield Town Hall where I met Dr Jillian Creasy, Green party parliamentary candidate for Sheffield Central.

On a freezing cold morning with snow still sitting on the ground I was worried I might look out of place in the splendour of the Town Hall, dressing in my Wellies, but was relieved when Dr Creasy arrived and had also walked to the office in winter wear.

I begun by asking her if the image of the Green party gathering in the woods preventing trees from being felled or campaigning on the Ozone layer was now an outdated perception.  She said “we can’t have environmental justice without social justice”, adding that most Green campaigners now focus on the social justice- 1%of the population have 50% of the wealth, so there is extreme inequality.  It also true that the rich usually have a bigger carbon footprint due to flying in aeroplanes and driving big cars as well as the tablets, laptops, mobile phones etc. 

Dr creasy was a GP until entering politics, in some of the most poverty stricken areas of the city in some cases.  She is still on the register to practice as a locum. She said the NHS will play a massive part in the election campaign, as will all public services.

Defeated in the last election, coming in 4^th behind the main three parties I asked if she thought this year could be different. She said it felt very different to 1010 when it was all about Labour versus Lib Dem, Paul Blomfield (who won by less than 200 votes eventually) versus Paul Scriven. Both were middle aged, well spoken men with similar policies (even similar names) so it was never going to be Greens year. This time Dr Creasy believes that the Greens feel like the official opposition, although even she never expected the new popularity to take off like it has.

A public meeting with Green party leader Natalie Bennett speaking  received over 100 RSVPs in less than 90 minutes recently and there is a real growing number of volunteers turning out to knock on doors.

 I asked considering her defeat 2010 what made her decide to stand again this time?  She answered simply but in no way arrogantly that she feels she is the best person for the job- Labour has lost its way in the city and she has the profile to lead the best challenge. Notably she has previously been involved in high profile campaigns such as getting prisoners held without charge in  Guantanamo bay after the Iraq war released, and led the protests when the G8 security ministers held a summit in Sheffield.  She is leader of the Green group in Sheffield which now has 4 councillors compared to the one (her) it used to have.

I asked if she had ever become lonely in those days and considered joining one of the more high profile parties.

Absolutely not was her response without a moment’s hesitation.

I commented that watching BBCs Question Time last week I was struck by the sheer nastiness of MPs in the main parties and that whenever there is a Green party spokesperson it always seems much more dignified and less personal. I asked if this was by accident or consciously done.

Dr Creasy confirmed this is a conscious effort. She said   “I don’t dislike David Cameron or Ed Miliband, it’s their policies I dislike so there is no need to attack the person just the policy”. She continued to add that in Sheffield Paul Blomfield has led some important campaigns but with Labour backing Austerity and Mr Blomfield being a career politician looking for a cabinet position, he has to toe the line. As a member of an opposition party she isn’t lead by such ideas and can focus on the policies she really believes in such as developing local economies and encouraging people to produce their own food in Market gardens

Dr Creasy is concerned that not only is the capitalist way of life affecting us, it effects other countries as well. Capitalism works by making a few very wealthy while many are exploited. We buy most of our fruit from countries like Spain and France where it is produced using very cheap labour.  She thinks global food could be in jeopardy in the next 10-20years and projects such as Wortley Hall gardens, run by  Heeley City Farm and the Hazelhurst Community supported Aggriculture on the South East of the city,  are great examples of things we can do to not only encourage people to grow at home but educate them how to do it as well.

I asked Jillian if she thought there was a certain group of voters that had swung the way of the greens, for example the students that Nick Clegg let down so badly at the last election. She was quick to point out that it was 5 years ago and most of those students will have left University now but she dis concede that a large number of the membership is made of young people. Not just students but young people from all backgrounds, who don’t trust the  main-stream parties and said that there is also an anti UKIP feeling among members outraged by the racism and the bigotry offered by some groups. Are recent poll showed that the Greens have overtaken Labour and are the leading choice amongst 18-24 year olds.

Dr Creasy has already announced that she will stand down as a local councillor at the next election so I asked if unsuccessful, what next? Hardly planning retirement Dr Creasy suggested that she will spend time campaigning for the NHS as well as the healthy eating projects she will undoubtedly be involved in even  if she is elected.

When I asked Dr Creasy if she would allow me an hour of her time to conduct this interview I also asked three Labour MPs from Sheffield, two of whom are standing  down at the next election. One of them declined immediately ( via her personal assistant) and one didn’t reply yet. The other replied but neglected to mention the interview. 

When most people compile their fantasy dinner date guest list it usually comprises of the same people- Nelson Mandela, Mohamed Ali, Martin Luther King etc., etc. For me, the first name on that list has always been Keith Edwards. Over 30 years ago, as an 11 year old boy, I somehow managed to discover where my then favourite footballer, Keith Edwards lived. After sharing the information with my friend, David Brown, the two of us dared each other to turn up and knock on his door. Much to our delight Edwards invited us into his home and happily signed our souvenir posters. We were probably in his house for less than 10 minutes but the memory of meeting the man will probably stay with me for ever.

This 10 minute meeting elevated Keith Edwards from being my favourite player to the head of the top table on my fantasy dinner guest list. Admittedly there were more predictable names on the list-James Dean, Marlon Brando, John Wayne and the likes, although the majority are dead. 
In the absence of a medium to contact any of them, I set about trying to find top of the list, Keith Edwards.

Keith Edwards played for Sheffield United in 1981, finishing the season with 36 goals; a post war record still held today. He is one of a select -few players to have scored over 250 goals in his professional career.  

He now commentates for BBC radio Sheffield on United’s games.

I have tried for years to track him down, in the deluded hope that I could persuade him to allow me to write his biography. (He recently published the book without me)

.

 I searched the internet, searched face book, twitter and any other website I could find, but the elusive Mr Edwards was nowhere to be found. I even emailed the radio station, but got no reply.

I had all but given up when a friend at work told me that his mates Dad is friends with Keith. Although I was undeniably impressed, I thought little else of it until a few days later when he told me he had fixed up a meeting with me and Keith Saturday morning to do an interview..
Friday night felt like Christmas Eve. I could barely sleep. It actually felt like I was a small boy with an appointment to interview Father Christmas.

Then the fear set in. What if the man I had blindly worshipped for so many years turned out to not live up to the legend? What if he was awful? What if he thought I was?

Despite having only a few hours’ sleep after being up until the small hours trawling the internet once more, trying to find some inspirational questions, I awoke Saturday morning bright and early. (Much like a child does on Christmas day). I set off in plenty of time to the agreed location, his local golf course and arrived 15 minutes early. I entered the building nervously, wondering if I had got the right place.

Three ageing gentleman were sat watching TV as I walked in and all three of them turned to face me. I told the men that I thought I was there to meet Keith Edwards. One of the men confirmed I was in the right place and another followed up with “he’ll be here any minute – you’ll hear him.” While this seemed to amuse his companions it only served to fuel my nerves. I was ushered into a waiting area, where I sat alone for 5 minutes getting ever more nervous by the minute. At one point I almost persuaded myself to turn and run, leave him in the distant past as a childhood memory, never quite sure if I imagined the whole thing. Just then a well-tanned gentleman entered the room with another man and distracted me with a story about Sticky Vicky in Benidorm.

What seemed like an eternity later, Keith Edwards walked in, and at exactly the time we had agreed. We went through to a lounge area where Keith directed me to a table. It wasn’t quite a fantasy dinner party but coffee with the man at the top of my wish list was close enough. Not only were we to have coffee together, he was actually making it for me.
He entered into some banter about his book with a couple of by-standers while making the coffee as I sat trying desperately to look like this was no big deal.

The first thing he did when he sat down was apologise for taking a while to respond to the invitation but he had been very busy working.

To give the day some context I told him about my visit aged 11 and tied this to my first question. I asked that considering so many look to him with a kind of hero worship, was he aware of this in everyday life, and asked if this makes him consciously act in a certain way. He replied that he hoped football hadn’t changed him. He said that he was often arrogant on the field and is sometimes accused of being when he is on the radio, but actually in real life that’s not him and at the end of the of the day he’s a council lad. (Could the answer have been any closer to my heart?) He went on to say that he grew up in house with older brothers and if he was too cocky he would have got a good hiding- and sometimes did...
He continued that he came into football late after working in the cheese factory. When he isn’t on the radio, he now works as a lorry driver.

Next I informed him that according to the internet, he had scored 256 goals in his career and asked did he remember any of them? He proudly told me that he remembered them all but not before he had corrected me that they were just the league goals. He said you name a game and I will tell you the score and how I scored it.

When asked if the game today had changed from the game he played in, he acknowledged that the players are fitter and the centre backs can turn quicker but the nets he scored in were quite similar to the ones used today.

The arrogance he warned me of stayed well hidden for the most part but when we talked about the 4^th division campaign where he scored his 36 goals, he told me bluntly that he found that league easy. He said he was too good for that league, which he undoubtedly was. He thinks the following season in the third division was a better haul and mentioned the contribution of the brilliant Colin Morris.

I referred to my 18 year old nephew, who, when told that Keith had a book out commented that he should be United manager. This seemed to please Keith. He looked proud that someone who had never seen him play respected his opinion as a commentator.
His response to the suggestion of his being a manager was that you don’t go from lorry driver/ radio commentator to being a football manager.

Turning to the current Blades team, I said a colleague at work that supports rival Sheffield Wednesday, had said recently that the media circus surrounding the club had meant that he hadn’t realised that United were actually 5^th in the league and doing rather well.
Keith picked up on my inference that the media focus on negatives related a story from his playing days. In an away game to Blackburn he scored his 200^th league goal, making the score 1-1 at half time. Blackburn ran out 5-1 winners in the end and when asked by a journalist what he thought to the performance Keith said “I thought it was even in the first half and even worse in the second”.

My hour with Keith passed quickly; too quickly. I could have sat there quite happily for whole day but I didn’t want to outstay my welcome and finished my round of questions bang on the hour we had agreed on.

My fears that Keith Edwards might in some way not live up to my expectations were completely unfounded. He was entertaining, polite, humble and human. It was an absolute pleasure talking to him. Most journalists have to work many years before they get to interview their heroes, I have interviewed mine before I even have the right to call myself a journalist.

On November 25^{th 1984   Bob} Geldof and Midge Ure put together the greatest names in contempory pop to make a record to raise money for starving Ethiopians. Band Aid went on to be the biggest selling single of all time, (although this was later surpassed by Elton John’s tribute to Princess Dianna, Candle in the wind ’97).

In todays technological age is hard to appreciate the enormity of what the record meant to music fans. As a 13 year old boy I vividly remember the excitement of seeing so many world renowned artists in one place. In 1984 CD’s were a thing of the future and downloads were unheard of. Do they know it’s Christmas was produced on vinyl and if you wanted a copy the option was to go to a shop and buy it.

Never before had so many famous singers appeared on one record. Considering that there were no texts or emails, no mobile phones or skype, just the telephone – just contacting those involved must have been a huge effort. Bob Geldof managed it through pure grit and determination forcing almost every living artist of the time to turn up. This was no ordinary super group either. The performers were not of a single genre but consisted of almost every ones favourite, what-ever your taste. My sister and I thought we were rebelling by being U2 fans and were delighted to see them turn up and sing on the track.

Some of those involved were U2, Phil Collins, Paul Young, Simon Lebon, Paul Weller, George Michael, Boy George and Sting, even Paul McCartney showed up. Almost all of those involved performed the record live on BBC’s Christmas top of the pops, which at that time was almost as big as the Queens speech for anybody under the age of 18. I still recall listening in awe to the B side where the likes of Bono had recorded a “merry Christmas and a happy new year “ message.

Such was the success of the record that the following year the biggest free concert ever seen was performed at London’s Wembley Stadium. The concert was broadcast live and ran simultaneously with a similar event in Philadelphia USA.

The Queen set is still considered by many as the greatest live performance ever, with Freddy Mercury leading over 72,000 fans in singing Bohemian Rhapsody, we are the champions and memorably Radio Ga Ga, where it seems every single person in the crowd joined in with the hand clap.

5 years later they did it again with considerably less success as the likes of Bros, Kylie Minogue, Cliff Richard and Jason Donavan tried to repeat the act assisted by popular producers Stock, Aitkin and Waterman.

To mark the 20^th anniversary of the original track the ensemble was re-gathered, this time including Robbie Williams (via satellite from LA), Will Young, Dido, Busted and Bono once again made a guest appearance.

Now Sir Bob Geldof has put together todays biggest stars, one direction, Sam Smith, Ed Sheeran, Olly Murrs and Bono. All the stars involved gave their time and sang a new version of the original to raise money for the Ebola virus in West Africa.

In April this year, Sir Bob’s daughter, Peaches Geldof died of a heroin overdose. Her mum Paula Yates died in September 2000 on the 10^th birthday of daughter Pixie. Yates youngest daughter,  Tiger lily who she gave birth to after a relationship with INXS frontman Michael Hutchins before his death, was taken on and brought up by Sir Bob.

Despite the man’s saintly nature and undoubtable best intentions, many people have criticised Band Aid 30. They have claimed there are better ways to give money and condemned the likes of Bono for not paying taxes. Others have called the record patronising for its lyrics.

These people are missing the point. The record will give the chance of life to many Africans. More than that they are giving millions of music fans the opportunity to see the biggest super group they have ever heard of. We have become such a bitter and miserable nation that we would rather just hand over our coppers for nothing than celebrate an event. To many people of my age, Live Aid was our Kennedy shooting. Ask any 40 something where they watched live aid and most will be able to tell you.

Yes, people need to pay their dues. Yes the rich and famous should pay more than the rest of us but for Gods sake stop politicising every single act of kindness and accept it for what it is, a song!

Former professional footballer and convicted rapist Ched Evans was released from prison just over a week ago, after serving just two and a half years of a five year sentence. Since he release so much has been said and written that even high-brow shows like the BBC’s This Week have discussed the case. Life- long Sheffield united fan and journalist Charlie Webster appeared on the show urging the club not to re-sign the former striker.

On day time favourite loose women, Judy Finnegan felt a backlash after seemingly defending Evans. In a vile twist her own daughter Chloe Madeley received threats on social media site Twitter following the airing of the show. I’m not suggesting this is representative of the people supporting Evans claim that he was wrongly accused, but it certainly raises more questions about the moral attitude of some individuals.

In this country we pride ourselves on the old adage that a man is assumed innocent until proven guilty. This is the only way to run a free society otherwise there could simply be a free for all with men and women making false accusations every time they want to wreck somebody’s life. We must defend this ideal. Some might say that it is equally important that once someone is convicted and has paid the price that they are allowed rehabilitation and have a right to restart their life. In many cases it is a major contributor in preventing reoffending.

Ched Evans was found guilty and was sent to prison.

He has always maintained his innocence and continues to do so. It is therefore unreasonable to expect the man to apologise for the rape, at least until his appeal has run its course. His appeal is largely based it seems on the fact that the teenage girl was a willing if drunken participant.   

His new defence team are said to be confident they can overturn the verdict. Until their confidence becomes reality, their client was tried and found guilty of a disgusting crime and is at present a convicted rapist and the lady in question is the victim of that crime. it is therefore wholly innapropriate to publicly call into question her morals.Shortly before his conviction I wrote an article called oh Lord where art thou, in which I talked about my childhood experience of meeting my own sporting hero, Keith Edwards.

When I was 10 year old, I somehow managed without the aid of the internet to find out where Mr Edwards lived. My friend and I turned up unannounced at his door, posters in hand, hoping that he might sign them for us. Not only did he sign them, he invited us into his home, apparently oblivious of the intrusion of his privacy, and made us feel very special. It is a memory that has stayed with me vividly to this day. Although it didn’t seem so at the time, (and probably wasn’t then) but what happened that day was to him no doubt, part of his job. He was a role model. He was worshipped by thousands of men, women, boys and girls and along with that adoration comes responsibility.

Like being a politician, or a film star, or a radio presenter, being showered with the privileges and opportunities that celebrity status brings you, being a professional sportsman demands that you act in a fit and proper manner.

Let’s assume for a nanosecond that Evans’ claims of innocence are found to be true. Let’s assume that the lady involved invited him and his friend (also a footballer), to have sex with her in a hotel room. Evans had a girlfriend and also had an army of impressionable fans that sought to emulate his behaviour. He not only had a responsibility to his family, his girlfriend and his fans he had a duty to his drunken victim, a duty to behave in a manner that the position bestowed upon him demanded. He failed.

Were Ched Evans a school teacher he would not be allowed to continue teaching. If he were a policeman he would not be allowed to serve again. Some would argue that he isn’t in contact with vulnerable people but my experience and his own show that clearly being a footballer potentially brings the vulnerable public to your door. For this reason I would urge not just Sheffield United to ignore his talents on the field but I would urge all clubs to ignore Ched Evans. I’m not saying he should never be allowed to earn a living again. I’m not suggesting he hasn’t been punished already. Whether I think the sentence given was light or indeed strong is irrelevant. The fact is that a convicted rapist is not a fit and proper person that should be allowed to be adored by fans singing his name and wearing his name on their backs. If he finds employment in anonymity and is allowed to continue the rest of his life working in a mundane 9-5 normal job then fair enough.

Times have changed, and sadly most right minded parents would not let their children knock on a stranger’s door without a chaperone like I did over 30 years ago, but nor would I want my children to respect a man that behaves like Ched Evans did.
 

Despite suggestions that Rotherham council and South Yorkshire Police tried to cover the horrific exploitation and sexual abuse of over a thousand children for fear of being politically incorrect, it is now well documented that the perpetrators were mainly of Pakistani origin. There has been widespread condemnation of PCC Sean Wright; indeed I called for his resignation here two weeks ago. He finally did the right thing and stepped down last week.

Last week end Joyce Thacker, director of children’s services agreed to leave her £180,000 job, by mutual consent, following strong criticism of her part in the failings.

Council leader Roger Stone, chief executive Martin Kimber and Wright had already stepped down before her.

Ms Thacker, who was forced to defend her decision in 2012 to remove three children from foster carers because they voted UKIP.

What this whole sorry episode has done is open the doors of Rotherham and neighbouring towns to UKIP and even less savoury groups such as the English Defence League. The EDL had a strong presence in Rotherham last Saturday where their thuggish supporters ran amok in the town intimidating shoppers and generally being antisocial. Also present on Saturday were around 200 protesters including a Muslim protest group.

Chief executive of the British Ramadhan foundation, Mohammed Shafiq said “we want to see justice for the victims, and we want the community to come together to say not in our name”. Mr Rafiq went on to say “There has been utter systematic failings in South Yorkshire Police. We want to see the system that has failed these girls changed so that people believe the victims rather than labelling them as prostitutes or a lifestyle choice.”  

This is absolutely where the focus should be going forward. It is not appropriate for politicians elected to serve the public to trample over each other desperately trying to score cheap points for their parties. It is obscene to say this is the fault of the Labour party, the Tory party or any other party. This is the fault of wicked men who systematically groomed, abused, raped threatened and violently tortured young girls. It is not right to say all Asian men have no respect for white women.

 It is easy to point the finger at a police force already on the ropes, following the damning Hillsborough enquiry and the report into violence against minors at the Orgreave site in the 1980’s. It is easy to blame the beleaguered Mr Wright, who clung to his job probably longer than he should. It easy to raise the point that less than 20% of the electorate turned out to vote in the PCC elections, it is clear that the role is now in question and the Government (whichever colour rosette they wear) has to think very carefully about whether the role should be scrapped and replaced with a body that can itself be held to account.

None of these things will help the victims.

The harrowing tales told by some of the victims brave enough to speak out, is enough to make one ashamed to live in Yorkshire and in some cases, ashamed to be a man.

One victim, who called herself Sarah, told the BBC that police found her naked in the bed of a man when she was just 11 years old and they left without taking any action. The girl, who was in care at the time, tells how she was taken to a house where there were two Asian men waiting, and another girl showed her what to do. The two girls were naked by the bed when police arrived but despite making clear eye contact with the terrified victims, the police left the property, leaving the children behind to be abused until the next day.

When Sarah reported the abuse, which she says went on for over 5 years and involved more than 40 men; she says police accused her of lying.

Another victim, who calls herself Jessica in the article, claims she was groomed for two years by a man who picked her up in his car when she was just 14. Her father went to [police four times to report the abuse but officers told him that if she chose to hang around with these men she was consenting, effectively saying she deserved it.

Others tell of being raped once a week every week while their families were being threatened and intimidated yet police and local authorities did nothing to protect them, presumably feeling the victims deserved it.

It was not just abuse from the perpetrators it was abuse of power by the authorities. People who earned a good living to protect vulnerable children and families betrayed the trust that their position offered them.

It is true the victims deserve justice. They deserve an apology. They deserve an explanation why this abuse went on for years and years without being opposed. They deserve to know that this will kind of abuse will never ever happen again.

In my previous blog post two weeks ago, I called the scandal the perfect political storm. Politicians, social services, police authorities, and the Pakistani community have all been accused. I too called for Sean Wright to resign, but there are still other aspects which remain largely unreported. It is a fact that the vast majority of the victims were poor vulnerable children. Many were in care and many others came from poor working class families. The establishment’s lack of respect for working class females lays at the heart of the events that took place in Rotherham.

This sort of organised abuse and abandonment by the authorities simply does not exist in middle class lives. Imagine a wealthy business man and his well-tailored solicitor walking into a police station to report such crimes being sent on their way or threatened with arrest.

Removing the people from office that were responsible for allowing the abuse is not enough. Stiff prison sentences for the vile men who committed these despicable offences is not enough. There needs to be a mechanism put in place to ensure that this sort of crime can never happen again.

David Cameron and Ed Miliband need to stand up and be counted. They need to apologise to the victims and they need to say which ever one of runs the country in future must absolutely guarantee that this type of abandonment of poor vulnerable working class females will not be tolerated no matter what colour or religion the accused are.

The way the police deal with sexual assault victims needs immediate overhaul. It is unacceptable that a victim be told by police that it will be their word against the attackers. It is unacceptable that child victims are forced to face courts and accused of being liars or called slappers by solicitors. Obviously there needs to be a level of protection from malicious accusations but there must be a system where victims of such life destroying crimes feel comfortable that they will be believed and treated with dignity rather than being forced to relive the nightmare.

Anyone who is employed as a social worker or police officer must empowered to take difficult decisions and be open minded to reports of crimes regardless of the colour of the accused or the social standing of the victim’s family. Communities must stand together and say we will no longer tolerate our young being treated with such little respect; we will no longer tolerate people employed to protect, turning a blind eye to these behaviours.

The Asian community has to stand side by side with neighbouring communities and say this is not acceptable. While we continue to have pockets of ethnic minorities concentrated into areas such as Rotherham or Sheffield’s Page Hall. Integration is the answer. Forget pandering to extreme groups like EDL or the respectable face of racism UKIP and blaming immigrants, forget fear of offending ethnic groups of people, integrating people of all races into all places is the way to solve the problem. Community leaders and local politicians need to do more to help the multi-cultural society we are so proud of, become one community. We need to stop demonstrating against the building of a mosque and take the time to educate ourselves about how vast majority of law abiding peace loving immigrants live in reality.

 If we can begin to have this kind of existence and rid ourselves of the ignorance blighting the lives of victims such as those of Rotherham, we can begin to ensure never again will anyone be afraid to speak out or stand up and be counted for fear of being lambasted

The victims deserve it.