YP Comment: A good deal for the Steel City

THE news that Sheffield has struck a deal worth more than £1bn with one of China’s leading construction firms is a huge economic boost for the city.

We are told this historic 60-year partnerhsip agreement with Sichuan Guodong Construction Group, one of the largest companies in Sichuan Province, will initially see £220m invested in city centre schemes with more money to follow.

The fact that it is the biggest Chinese investment in the UK outside of London underlines how significant this trade agreement is, not on only for Sheffield but South Yorkshire and beyond.

It will create hundreds, possibly even thousands, of new jobs and as such Sheffield City Council deserves great credit for having the vision, determination and patience to seal the deal.

We should not underestimate its importance. At a time of volatility among global markets and economic uncertainty over investment in the wake of the EU referendum, this is a welcome and tangible sign that Yorkshire is open for business.

It is a timely boost, coming just weeks after the short-sighted decision to shut the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills offices in Sheffield, amid concerns that the Government was turning its back on the city.

The fact that such a prominent Chinese firm has chosen to invest so heavily in Sheffield is testament to the city’s growing international reputation as a home to innovative business and pioneering research.

This investment will benefit the city for decades to come and if the much talked about Northern Powerhouse is to bear fruit then this is the kind of dynamic, “can do” attitude that can make it happen.

Sheffield was one of the great driving forces behind the Industrial Revolution and more than 200 years later the city is once again leading from the front.

Flooding fears

Defences still not up to scratch

THE Calder Valley has been susceptible to flooding since at least the early 19th century. Last winter, storms produced the worst floods to hit the area in living memory.

Yet just as residents and business owners are starting to get back on their feet, fears are being raised that the funding allocated to prevent a repeat is insufficient.

A local commission set up to examine what needs to be done has said the money that has been made available should be merely the first step and significant investment will be required over a number of years.

The concern must be that defences in Calderdale and many other parts of the region will remain inadequate – and rainwater measuring metres deep could soon flow down high streets again just as it did last December.

Nor does it inspire confidence that Theresa May is understood to be ready to scrap the so-called ‘flood tsars’ introduced to great fanfare by her predecessor David Cameron seven months ago.

The envoys, we were told, were going to oversee the response to flood-damaged homes and businesses, as well as make sure new measures to alleviate future floods were fit for purpose.

Just 28 weeks later they are being deemed surplus to requirement, which gives the impression they were just part of a cynical PR offensive – unless Mrs May has more robust measures waiting up her sleeve.

Otherwise we are left with the very real prospect of history repeating itself, with all the misery and disruption that severe flooding on the scale we witnessed seven months ago entails.

A new Iron Lady?

May’s assured performance

TORY veteran Ken Clarke was caught on camera describing Theresa May as a “bloody difficult woman” in the days before she replaced David Cameron in Downing Street.

Following her first Prime Minister’s Questions yesterday, embattled Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn may well agree with him.

Mrs May’s was an assured performance. She dealt with Mr Corbyn’s questions on the economy and affordable homes with an ease and decisiveness which suggested she had been doing it for years, rather than minutes.

However, it was her retort to his challenge on the issue of job insecurity which served notice of the type of non-nonsense leadership she will provide.

The delivery of her “remind him of anyone?” jibe after a pointed taunt on the subject of “unscrupulous bosses” bore all the hallmarks of her predecessor as a female British Prime Minister.

Could we have a new Iron Lady on our hands? In the present circumstances, it might be just what Britain needs.