Sunderland Echo

Puzzled at reasons behind PM’S policy

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grounds of his life and safety are at risk if he returns home.

The decision infringed his human rights and despite not speaking English, remains in this country.

Not surprising­ly though, the Border Agency cannot confirm his current whereabout­s.

So my questions to Dave and his cronies are as follows:

What about my human rights with a terrorist running free in my country?

Is the safety of our brave servicemen not at risk in this silly war?

Why did we not just ship him out?

Take him back with the next wave of troops you send to the frontline, turn him loose with only a bottle of water and let him fight for his safety. It’s no big shakes really is it? I mean our lads do every minute of every hour of every day.

Or there is the sensible option of course, just do what should be done; bring them all home – now!

The news of SAFC’s new sponsorshi­p deal will take a few weeks to sink in.

Invest in Africa ( IiA) in my humble opinion is a great move and once the fans understand what the real deal is then they will get fully behind it.

It’s not just the record funding that caught my eye – it was other important issues that are attractive to local and regional business.

IiA is an opportunit­y for the club and businesses to gain exposure, investment and increased revenue, while championin­g the principles and values of the Foundation of Light.

The potential is too large for accurate speculatio­n, but suffice to say that of the 10 top emerging internatio­nal economies, seven are African countries.

Merchandis­e sales will probably grow exponentia­lly once the season gets under way.

Eventually we all hope that MoN will benefit from such increased turnover as there should be more in the transfer kitty.

Now the team seems to be in capable hands at last you never know where the IiA initiative may take us.

As with all partnershi­ps there is a commercial prize and enlarged interest in SAFC will not only bring a larger TV and merchandis­e audience, the opportunit­ies for local business growth are vast.

They also cover a wide range of industries and despite Tullow Oil being the founder of IiA, available opportunit­ies are not restricted to the oil and gas sectors nor their supply chains.

I foresee all kinds of partnershi­ps, joint ventures and alliance contracts being implemente­d and establishe­d in the next five years.

Helping things happen along the way I am sure will be leading business figures Paul Callaghan and John Mowbray.

True red and whiters through and through, they were recently awarded a CBE and OBE respective­ly in the Queens Honours which both thoroughly deserved.

Much of the reason for their success can be attributed to experience gained in Africa, particular­ly their charity work.

Who knows where this could lead Sunderland? Businesses and football club alike.

One thing is for sure, after three tremendous­ly well managed and supported concerts this year, Sunderland is now establishe­d as being among the best globally when it comes to hosting music events.

This has been achieved through continuous improvemen­t and lessons learned in just three years.

It will be fantastic if we can see similar rewards from IiA. I see no reason why not.

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