In just a few days' time a nervous & probably fortified Ringo Starr will bash on a drum kit at the top of St. Georges Hall. This Pythonesque act will help inaugurate the official start to 2008.However, an endangered ex-Beatle is not the most pressing & serious matter facing those "organisers" of Capital of Culture year.
The shambolic, inept & laughable run-up to this point is briefly referred to in today's Guardian:
http://guardian.co.uk/society/2008/jan/09/localgovernment.regeneration .
The article appears to give city council leader Warren Bradley an easy ride with soft questions, judging by his stock responses.
The real meat in the piece, however, is the admission that the conflicting premises of 2008 could be discerned on day one:
"According to Mark Featherstone-Witty, chief executive of Liverpool's Institute of Performing Arts (Lipa), many of the problems stemmed from an inability to separate the cultural programme from local politics. The Liverpool Culture Company (LCC) was formed, but with around 65% of its funding and most of its staff coming from the local authority, independence was always unlikely. 'The city council produced the chimera of separateness, but that's all it was. That was the first fundamental mistake,' says Featherstone-Witty."
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