On Friday 6 October 2017, Sheffield Hallam Labour MP Jared O’Mara accepted the petition requesting that his party leader Jeremy Corbyn intervene as a mediator in the Sheffield trees crisis. The petition, which has gained almost 8,000 supporters in less than six weeks, asks that Corbyn attempt to settle the escalating conflict between Labour-controlled Sheffield City Council (SCC) and hundreds of its residents & tree campaigners. O’Mara, who endorses the petition, is the first elected Sheffield-area Labour Party politician to request Corbyn’s intervention. “The majority of Labour Party members in Sheffield do not want the needless prosecution of tree campaigners,” O'Mara said when he was handed the petition this afternoon by a member of the Labour Party who lives in Sheffield. In the past 10 months, a total of 14 tree campaigners have been arrested while trying to protect trees. But the Crown Prosecution Service declined to prosecute. Both the CPS and South Yorkshire Police then essentially told SCC that it was “on its own” when it comes to the trees issue. Over the summer, SCC began civil proceedings and commenced injunctions against more campaigners in a legal offensive that saddled the campaigners with tens of thousands of pounds in legal bills. Under a 25-year-long confidential Private Finance Initiative (PFI) contract with a Madrid based multinational corporation, more than 5,000 mostly healthy street trees have been chain sawed in an area that labels itself Britain’s “ outdoor city.” Tree campaigners call the destruction “authorised vandalism.” “The street trees of Sheffield are a huge asset to the city that make it a beautiful place to live,” said petitioner David Kirkham of Sheffield. “The opposite is true of SCC’s PFI deal with Amey. The SCC/Amey PFI contract should be given the chop,” said the carer and disability activist. PFI deals are now contrary to national Labour Party policy. At the recent LP conference in Brighton, John McDonnell, the shadow Labour chancellor, said: “The scandal of PF … has resulted in huge long term costs for taxpayers whilst handing out enormous profits to some companies.” How much profit Amey has made to date on the £2.2 billion PFI deal is unknown because the contract is confidential. The petition will remain on online to receive more signatures until Corbyn responds to the petition. We'll keep updating you on developments. Please keep signing and sharing the petition.