Remember this moment last April?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OnHARmP5BuA&feature=related .
David Conn is in severe danger of giving sports journalism a good name with the excellent features he's written, not least concerning the campaign for justice waged by the Hillsborough families. He yesterday penned a piece (http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/david-conn-inside-sport-blog/2009/jul/30/hillsborough-disaster-liverpool ) which guardedly welcomed the release of the documents relating to the disaster (http://guardian.co.uk/football/2009/jul/29/hillsborough-disaster-documents-alan-johnson ).
Conn notes: "The chanting which interrupted [Andy Burnham's] speech on the day was a difficult moment for him, but it powerfully drew the government's attention to the strength of feeling which persists about Hillsborough."
It's interesting to compare that inescapable fact with the reproving, almost censorious tone of Echo editor Alastair Machray on his blog the day after the service, although he did concede that "the crowd's actions had merit." (http://echoeditor.merseyblogs.co.uk/2009/04/hillsborough-me.html ).
Conn also refers to the required consent of other bodies to the release of the documents, including the Tories: "The consent of the Conservative Party will be necessary if government documents relating to the disaster are to be released, because the Tories were in power at the time."
There's long been speculation about the Thatcher government's dealings with South Yorkshire Police in the days & weeks after the disaster, not least because the force was instrumental in the battle with the miners a few years earlier; when Thatcher visited Sheffield she visibly appeared to be more concerned with the police officers on duty that day than the families of the dead & injured. Moreover, her arrival at one of the Sheffield hospitals treating the injured fans went down like a lead ballon. A friend of mine witnessed the scene as she robotically asked what the fans wanted. One of the supporters told her in no uncertain terms what he thought of her government's treatment of football fans (the tragedy spelt the end for the fans' ID card system she wanted to introduce) as well as her general policy on Merseyside, saying that if she really wanted to help them, she should provide jobs for the area's unemployed. Bernard Ingham ensured the incident received zero media coverage.
Friday, July 31, 2009
Empty Rhetoric & Empty Spaces
Every so often a cold blast of economic reality is allowed to blow through the local recession-deniers; their blithe insistence that Merseyside can somehow escape a global slump would be humorous were it not for the fact that these individuals are in a position to shape or change local opinion.
An unwelcome reminder of reality arrives in the form of a report by the Local Data Company (LDC) (http://www.localdatacompany.com/storage/LDC-Mid-Year-Report-2009-mh.pdf ) which the Daily Post repeats pretty much verbatim, giving the lie to those who still contend that Oldham Hall Street doesn't just publish press releases.
That said, the report finds that one-fifth of the city's retail spaces are lying idle (http://www.liverpooldailypost.co.uk/liverpool-news/regional-news/2009/07/31/liverpool-among-worst-cities-for-empty-shops-92534-24282569/ ), bleakly noting:
"Empty shops have a corrosive effect upon the confidence of any area -- and their numbers are growing.
The spin the Post puts on the LDC report is pretty pathetic. It claims the report says that recovery is "on the way". It goes on to trill:
"[LDC] said official figures showing an increase in sales volume of 2.9% in June compared to the previous year was 'way above expectations and could set the scene for a stronger than expected second half of the year.' "
However (& let's face it, there's always a "however" with these things, isn't there?), the second paragraph of the LDC's comment puts matters firmly back in perspective. So let's welcome back our old friend, However:
" ' However, this has to be balanced against continued rises in unemployment and therefore less spending power overall,' LDC said."
Anyway, back to the approved hymn sheet. Altogether now (to the tune of "Yellow Submarine"), "We're in denial of the slump that's here today, slump that's here today, slump that's here today....".
Candidate's Hopes Submerged?
The word is that local Tories are increasingly concerned about both Esther McVey's involvement with the collapsed building on the Dock Road & her less than adroit handling of the matter with her statement to the media. Indeed, some are even privately referring to her as the new Debi Jones. Sefton's Councillor Jones, prospective Tory candidate for the Crosby seat at the next election, was, you might recall, concerned a few years back about Antony Gormley's "Another Place" installation on Crosby beach. Ms Jones opined that the figures could pose a risk to shipping in Crosby Channel. Even though such a glaring faux-pas won't affect her chances in the newly re-drawn Sefton Central constituency (Labour's Claire Curtis-Thomas has already thrown in the towel after being Telegraphed), the episode marked Councillor Jones down as a future rent-a-quote MP whose appetite for media coverage outweighs concerns about Cameron's view of her.
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
Handling The Fall-Out
I am pleasantly surprised to see that David Bartlett has picked up on my post about Esther McVey (http://blogs.liverpooldailypost.co.uk/dalestreetblues/2009/07/publicity-that-esther-mcvey-an.html ).
Just last week the Dale Street Blues blog noted that Ms. McVey, along with West Derby's Labour candidate Stephen Twigg, had been named as one of thirty parliamentary candidates to watch for the future (http://blogs.liverpooldailypost.co.uk/dalestreetblues/2009/07/esther-mcvey-and-stephen-twigg.html ).
David quoted from a piece on the Insight Public Affairs website (http://www.insightpa.com/InsightPA_PPCGuide.pdf ). Insight noted that "McVey is currently Managing Director of her owncompany Making It (UK) Ltd which specialises in public relations and strategic marketing."
For someone whose forte is claimed to be public relations, Ms. McVey has shown a remarkably cack-handed approach to her little local difficulty on the Dock Road.
Insight goes on to say:
"The party leadership have high hopes for her. With sharp communication skills, befitting a former TV presenter, her background in business and deep local roots make her popular in the constituency and with CCO [Conservative Central Office]."
Cameron's people may well be rolling their eyes & muttering urgently into their mobiles if this is an example of Ms. McVey's "sharp communication skills".
Just last week the Dale Street Blues blog noted that Ms. McVey, along with West Derby's Labour candidate Stephen Twigg, had been named as one of thirty parliamentary candidates to watch for the future (http://blogs.liverpooldailypost.co.uk/dalestreetblues/2009/07/esther-mcvey-and-stephen-twigg.html ).
David quoted from a piece on the Insight Public Affairs website (http://www.insightpa.com/InsightPA_PPCGuide.pdf ). Insight noted that "McVey is currently Managing Director of her owncompany Making It (UK) Ltd which specialises in public relations and strategic marketing."
For someone whose forte is claimed to be public relations, Ms. McVey has shown a remarkably cack-handed approach to her little local difficulty on the Dock Road.
Insight goes on to say:
"The party leadership have high hopes for her. With sharp communication skills, befitting a former TV presenter, her background in business and deep local roots make her popular in the constituency and with CCO [Conservative Central Office]."
Cameron's people may well be rolling their eyes & muttering urgently into their mobiles if this is an example of Ms. McVey's "sharp communication skills".
Sunday, July 26, 2009
Laughing It Off?
Mark Lawson penned a Guardian Comment is Free piece on Friday about the efforts made by Pakistan's President Zardari to ban jokes made about him in the national media & online (http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2009/jul/24/pakistan-humour-ban-jokes ).
The parallels with Ben Chapman are striking. Indeed, the MP for Wirral South would do well to consider Lawson's concluding thoughts:
"By taking offence at jests, President Zardari has made himself a laughing stock. A man who tried to weaken political humour has demonstrated its strength. As the touchy John Major said, in a different context, if it's hurting, it's working. Skilled politicians know that the smart move is to join in the jokes, no matter how much they sting."
Perhaps the producers of "Brick Up the Mersey Tunnels" still have a spare ticket for him?
The parallels with Ben Chapman are striking. Indeed, the MP for Wirral South would do well to consider Lawson's concluding thoughts:
"By taking offence at jests, President Zardari has made himself a laughing stock. A man who tried to weaken political humour has demonstrated its strength. As the touchy John Major said, in a different context, if it's hurting, it's working. Skilled politicians know that the smart move is to join in the jokes, no matter how much they sting."
Perhaps the producers of "Brick Up the Mersey Tunnels" still have a spare ticket for him?
A Dereliction Of Duty
Among those hoping to benefit from New Labour's rout at the next election is Esther McVey, erstwhile daytime TV presenter & prospective Tory candidate for Wirral West. However, Ms McVey finds herself in the difficult position explaining why a property on the Dock Road owned by her father was allowed to fall into such a state of disrepair & neglect that it collapsed on to the road last week (http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/liverpool-news/local-news/2009/07/24/collapsed-liverpool-property-is-owned-by-parliamentary-candidate-esther-mcvey-100252-24228402/ ).
The building, formerly known as Lascar House, crumbled & fell on to Waterloo Road in the early hours of Monday morning. Despite the fact that the Dock Road is now largely closed to traffic, it caused some inconvenience to drivers a few hours' later.
So what is Ms McVey's explanation for the incident? "My dad has been working on the site and the project was under way. We are looking at the development of an education centre in an area that badly needs regeneration, the planning application has been in for some time, it's a great project.
"When it was bought the structural surveys were all done for insurance purposes and it was given an absolutely clean bill of health.
"Everything was done correctly."
Now I'm not saying that Ms McVey is disingenuous in her statement. However, it does smack of a heavily scripted missive from Tory Central Office as a damage limitation exercise swings into effect; it's a pity there wasn't a damage-prevention exercise carried out on the building itself.
The apparent intention to turn the property into "an education centre in an area that badly needs regeneration" seems laudable...until you realise that the area is still partly used for purely industrial purposes, which would make the development of "an education centre" in the vicinity somewhat questionable. Moreover, it does seem a little too convenient to ascribe the derelict state of the property to council red tape.
There's also the role played by the structural surveyors. If they gave the building "an absolutely clean bill of health", & all the procedures were carried out correctly, it raises some interesting questions.
Still, as Ms McVey declared, I'm sure it will be "a great project"...once the investigation has been completed.
The building, formerly known as Lascar House, crumbled & fell on to Waterloo Road in the early hours of Monday morning. Despite the fact that the Dock Road is now largely closed to traffic, it caused some inconvenience to drivers a few hours' later.
So what is Ms McVey's explanation for the incident? "My dad has been working on the site and the project was under way. We are looking at the development of an education centre in an area that badly needs regeneration, the planning application has been in for some time, it's a great project.
"When it was bought the structural surveys were all done for insurance purposes and it was given an absolutely clean bill of health.
"Everything was done correctly."
Now I'm not saying that Ms McVey is disingenuous in her statement. However, it does smack of a heavily scripted missive from Tory Central Office as a damage limitation exercise swings into effect; it's a pity there wasn't a damage-prevention exercise carried out on the building itself.
The apparent intention to turn the property into "an education centre in an area that badly needs regeneration" seems laudable...until you realise that the area is still partly used for purely industrial purposes, which would make the development of "an education centre" in the vicinity somewhat questionable. Moreover, it does seem a little too convenient to ascribe the derelict state of the property to council red tape.
There's also the role played by the structural surveyors. If they gave the building "an absolutely clean bill of health", & all the procedures were carried out correctly, it raises some interesting questions.
Still, as Ms McVey declared, I'm sure it will be "a great project"...once the investigation has been completed.
Monday, July 20, 2009
Having A Laugh At His Expense
Brick Up the Mersey Tunnels, currently running at the city's Royal Court theatre, is the sort of local comedy that leaves me cold. Its premise, that rich people from the Wirral cross the river every day to do jobs which should be done by ordinary Liverpudlians whom they regard as inferior, is both crass & puerile. It also reverts to the Scouse stereotypes which would be greeted with hostility by its audience if trotted out in the national media.
That said, the show's producers have every right to pepper the play's dialogue with topical references. Such as MPs' expenses. Enter stage left, no, sorry, make that Right, the not-so honourable member for Wirral South, Ben Chapman.
Chapman has threatened the show's producers with legal action if they do not drop a reference to his Telegraph moment in May (http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/liverpool-news/local-news/2009/07/20/hit-liverpool-comedy-brick-up-the-mersey-tunnels-rewritten-after-wirral-south-mp-ben-chapman-threatens-injunction-100252-24195803/ ):
"The MP objected to a joke about the parliamentary expenses scandal made by one of the characters comparing benefit cheats and MPs.
"He mentioned 'the MP for Wirral South'."
Chapman's thin skin over a single joke at his expense (sorry!) sits oddly with his bullish demeanour when exposed for his claiming £15,000 for a mortgage already paid off (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/mps-expenses/5340349/Ben-Chapman-overclaimed-15000-on-mortgage-MPs-expenses.html ; http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2009/may/18/ben-chapman-refuses-expenses-repay ; & http://condensedthoughts.blogspot.com/2009/05/list-so-far.html ).
Kevin Fearon, the show's main producer, offers the Echo what begins as an ostensible olive branch statement, but irresistably concludes as a barbed bouquet: "Brick Up [the Mersey Tunnels] is packed with gags and this one-liner would have passed unnoticed if Mr Chapman hadn't taken this heavy-handed approach. We offered him tickets for the show to see the line in context but he's so far refused. If he'd insisted on paying for them, we'd have supplied a receipt."
Given Chapman's declaration that he wouldn't "repay a penny" of the £15,000 when questioned last May, the moral high ground would appear to be a very odd location for him.
That said, the show's producers have every right to pepper the play's dialogue with topical references. Such as MPs' expenses. Enter stage left, no, sorry, make that Right, the not-so honourable member for Wirral South, Ben Chapman.
Chapman has threatened the show's producers with legal action if they do not drop a reference to his Telegraph moment in May (http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/liverpool-news/local-news/2009/07/20/hit-liverpool-comedy-brick-up-the-mersey-tunnels-rewritten-after-wirral-south-mp-ben-chapman-threatens-injunction-100252-24195803/ ):
"The MP objected to a joke about the parliamentary expenses scandal made by one of the characters comparing benefit cheats and MPs.
"He mentioned 'the MP for Wirral South'."
Chapman's thin skin over a single joke at his expense (sorry!) sits oddly with his bullish demeanour when exposed for his claiming £15,000 for a mortgage already paid off (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/mps-expenses/5340349/Ben-Chapman-overclaimed-15000-on-mortgage-MPs-expenses.html ; http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2009/may/18/ben-chapman-refuses-expenses-repay ; & http://condensedthoughts.blogspot.com/2009/05/list-so-far.html ).
Kevin Fearon, the show's main producer, offers the Echo what begins as an ostensible olive branch statement, but irresistably concludes as a barbed bouquet: "Brick Up [the Mersey Tunnels] is packed with gags and this one-liner would have passed unnoticed if Mr Chapman hadn't taken this heavy-handed approach. We offered him tickets for the show to see the line in context but he's so far refused. If he'd insisted on paying for them, we'd have supplied a receipt."
Given Chapman's declaration that he wouldn't "repay a penny" of the £15,000 when questioned last May, the moral high ground would appear to be a very odd location for him.
Saturday, July 18, 2009
When Theory & Reality Collide
Ivory Tower syndrome is never pleasant to witness. Normally respected historians & academics can make us mere mortals sit up & say, "He said what?!" when they dip their toes into the waters of contemporary politics or some aspect of everyday life. The latest casualty from the world of academe is Tristram Hunt, a historian who's done much to popularise Britain's past on TV & through Guardian pieces; he's also written eloquently & passionately about the need to preserve buildings which should be listed & saved from the philistines' bulldozers, something which is certainly pertinent to Liverpool, as the Three Graces are surrounded by bland, soulless high-rise tower blocks (to give them their real description) & acid-influenced edifices "visualised" by stoned Cubists.
Which brings me to Hunt's foot-in-mouth moment. Writing on the Guardian's Comment is Free page the other day, he contrasted the Lib Dems in the Westminster bubble & their counterparts at local government level (http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2009/jul/15/lib-dems-local-councils-green ).
Hunt breezed:
"Of couse, there are many progressive Lib Dem councils. Richmond has pioneered a range of quality-of-life policies, while Liverpool has invested in a cultural strategy embracing the entire city."
Yes, yes, I know, it's horrific, isn't it? Someone call an ambulance, quick!
Hunt's notion that the entire city was fully engaged in truly worthwhile & economically beneficial cultural projects last year, & that last year's legacy continues to benefit communities in Belle Vale, Speke, Kirkdale, Walton, etc. would be dismissed with a chuckle & a comment to the effect that he rivals (Nice, But Dim) Tim Leunig in the commonsense stakes.
At least it would be, were it not for the fact that Hunt unsuccessfully applied to be selected as Labour candidate for Liverpool West Derby after Bob Wareing's deselection (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tristram_Hunt ).
I presume that Hunt actually travelled to the constituency he hoped to represent. If he did, he might just have noticed that West Derby might as well have been in a different city for all the good that came its way during CoC year.
Tell you what, Tristram, why not make a return visit to the area to see the real picture? Just make sure you don't get ambushed by Warren Bradley, Mike Storey, et al as you disembark at Lime Street station. Otherwise you'll be ferried round the waterfront & regaled with stories about the Beatles while Bradley takes you to one side & asks you to pen a CiF piece proclaiming Steve Hurst's innocence.
Which brings me to Hunt's foot-in-mouth moment. Writing on the Guardian's Comment is Free page the other day, he contrasted the Lib Dems in the Westminster bubble & their counterparts at local government level (http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2009/jul/15/lib-dems-local-councils-green ).
Hunt breezed:
"Of couse, there are many progressive Lib Dem councils. Richmond has pioneered a range of quality-of-life policies, while Liverpool has invested in a cultural strategy embracing the entire city."
Yes, yes, I know, it's horrific, isn't it? Someone call an ambulance, quick!
Hunt's notion that the entire city was fully engaged in truly worthwhile & economically beneficial cultural projects last year, & that last year's legacy continues to benefit communities in Belle Vale, Speke, Kirkdale, Walton, etc. would be dismissed with a chuckle & a comment to the effect that he rivals (Nice, But Dim) Tim Leunig in the commonsense stakes.
At least it would be, were it not for the fact that Hunt unsuccessfully applied to be selected as Labour candidate for Liverpool West Derby after Bob Wareing's deselection (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tristram_Hunt ).
I presume that Hunt actually travelled to the constituency he hoped to represent. If he did, he might just have noticed that West Derby might as well have been in a different city for all the good that came its way during CoC year.
Tell you what, Tristram, why not make a return visit to the area to see the real picture? Just make sure you don't get ambushed by Warren Bradley, Mike Storey, et al as you disembark at Lime Street station. Otherwise you'll be ferried round the waterfront & regaled with stories about the Beatles while Bradley takes you to one side & asks you to pen a CiF piece proclaiming Steve Hurst's innocence.
This Ain't Middle England
My late mother used to work at Bootle Job Centre. She'd remark ruefully that the town would always be an unemployment blackspot because it was over-reliant on the declining port & the low skills base of many of those looking for work.
She made that observation in the 80s, when the economic fall-out exponentially increased the underclass. Fast forward two decades & the town's unemployment problem is, it would appear, no longer the sole concern of government. In true New Labour style, private companies are now being encouraged to act not just as potential employers to the jobless, but also as dispensers of advice & even counselling (http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2009/jul/14/tesco-jobs-liverpool-recruitment-drive ).
David Teather's piece describes the scene at a local mission hall in Litherland as long-term unemployed local people attend what amounts to part presentation, part motivational address delivered by a Tesco rep, ahead of the opening of the firm's new store in the neighbourhood.
The rep quickly warms to her task, extolling the attractions of the vacancies on offer & refers to previous applicants in other areas who felt they had no or little chance of regular employment again, only to find that they had skills & attributes employers wanted. There is, however, a shaft of bleak reality when she recounts one particular tale. Teather observes:
"Then she tells a story about a man who had worked at the same factory since he was 15 and was made redundant in his 50s. During a presentation, he had stood on stage and admitted that the reason he had been unemployed for the past few years was because he could barely read or write. [She] speaks about his courage and determination and says that, six months after joining the retailer, he was made a team leader. She later says that when she mentions numeracy and literacy in a room of candidates, she can feel people shifting uncomfortably."
This week's unemployment figures could only begin to tell the tale of those in hitherto high employment areas now painfully adjusting to £60.50 a week on Job Seeker's Allowance (http://www.guardian.co.uk/news/datablog/2009/mar/02/unemployment-and-employment-statistics-economics ).
For areas like Bootle, however, the "boom" years were conspicuous by their absence; no silicon or IT start-ups along the Dock Road, just boarded-up pubs, dereliction on an industrial scale & a raft of social problems largely caused by the town's economic decline. According to the figures, Bootle's unemployment rate has increased by nearly 60% since this time last year.
This recession is just as sharp in its severity as that of the early 80s. Only difference is that it is a New Labour government which blithely presides over its fall-out.
She made that observation in the 80s, when the economic fall-out exponentially increased the underclass. Fast forward two decades & the town's unemployment problem is, it would appear, no longer the sole concern of government. In true New Labour style, private companies are now being encouraged to act not just as potential employers to the jobless, but also as dispensers of advice & even counselling (http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2009/jul/14/tesco-jobs-liverpool-recruitment-drive ).
David Teather's piece describes the scene at a local mission hall in Litherland as long-term unemployed local people attend what amounts to part presentation, part motivational address delivered by a Tesco rep, ahead of the opening of the firm's new store in the neighbourhood.
The rep quickly warms to her task, extolling the attractions of the vacancies on offer & refers to previous applicants in other areas who felt they had no or little chance of regular employment again, only to find that they had skills & attributes employers wanted. There is, however, a shaft of bleak reality when she recounts one particular tale. Teather observes:
"Then she tells a story about a man who had worked at the same factory since he was 15 and was made redundant in his 50s. During a presentation, he had stood on stage and admitted that the reason he had been unemployed for the past few years was because he could barely read or write. [She] speaks about his courage and determination and says that, six months after joining the retailer, he was made a team leader. She later says that when she mentions numeracy and literacy in a room of candidates, she can feel people shifting uncomfortably."
This week's unemployment figures could only begin to tell the tale of those in hitherto high employment areas now painfully adjusting to £60.50 a week on Job Seeker's Allowance (http://www.guardian.co.uk/news/datablog/2009/mar/02/unemployment-and-employment-statistics-economics ).
For areas like Bootle, however, the "boom" years were conspicuous by their absence; no silicon or IT start-ups along the Dock Road, just boarded-up pubs, dereliction on an industrial scale & a raft of social problems largely caused by the town's economic decline. According to the figures, Bootle's unemployment rate has increased by nearly 60% since this time last year.
This recession is just as sharp in its severity as that of the early 80s. Only difference is that it is a New Labour government which blithely presides over its fall-out.
Thursday, July 16, 2009
One City, Two Worlds
It may not quite rival Westminster tales of moats & duck houses, but the dispute between former Lib Dem mayor of Liverpool, Paul Clark, & the city council still shines a brilliant light on how the other half live their lives & the assumptions they make regarding their private whims.
David Bartlett reported in the Echo last week on Clark's battle with the planning committee to build a four-bedroom house & detached double garage...in his garden. Yes, you read that correctly, his garden (http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/liverpool-news/local-news/2009/07/09/former-liverpool-lord-mayor-at-war-with-city-planners-100252-24111204/ ).
Clark lives in a spacious listed property in Grassendale Park, overlooking the Mersey. After Woolton, it is probably the most affluent area of the city. It's unclear why, apart from the obvious pecuniary advantage via rent, Clark wishes to turn part of his rather large garden over to bricks & mortar.
Be that as it may, there's something deeply distasteful about a councillor who represents County Ward in Walton, one of the most deprived in the city, deploying his skills as a barrister &, doubtless, phoning round his mates at the council to win a planning application for his property in an area where the average house goes for at least £500,000.
Having declared his loyalty to fellow Lib Dem councillor & convicted criminal Steve Hurst (http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/liverpool-news/local-news/2009/07/09/disgraced-wavertree-councillor-avoids-second-move-to-have-him-thrown-off-liverpool-council-100252-24111093/ ), it'll be interesting to see if Warren Bradley displays solidarity with Clark & his laudable attempt to slap a four-bedroom house & double garage in a corner of his large garden.
David Bartlett reported in the Echo last week on Clark's battle with the planning committee to build a four-bedroom house & detached double garage...in his garden. Yes, you read that correctly, his garden (http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/liverpool-news/local-news/2009/07/09/former-liverpool-lord-mayor-at-war-with-city-planners-100252-24111204/ ).
Clark lives in a spacious listed property in Grassendale Park, overlooking the Mersey. After Woolton, it is probably the most affluent area of the city. It's unclear why, apart from the obvious pecuniary advantage via rent, Clark wishes to turn part of his rather large garden over to bricks & mortar.
Be that as it may, there's something deeply distasteful about a councillor who represents County Ward in Walton, one of the most deprived in the city, deploying his skills as a barrister &, doubtless, phoning round his mates at the council to win a planning application for his property in an area where the average house goes for at least £500,000.
Having declared his loyalty to fellow Lib Dem councillor & convicted criminal Steve Hurst (http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/liverpool-news/local-news/2009/07/09/disgraced-wavertree-councillor-avoids-second-move-to-have-him-thrown-off-liverpool-council-100252-24111093/ ), it'll be interesting to see if Warren Bradley displays solidarity with Clark & his laudable attempt to slap a four-bedroom house & double garage in a corner of his large garden.
Keeping It Local?
The anonymous commenter who suggested last week that this is little more than an anti-Echo blog may well be interested by latest developments on Oldham Hall Street. How-Do last week reported (http://www.how-do.co.uk/north-west-media-news/north-west-publishing/liverpool-journalists-fear-press-association-pilot-200907095837/ ):
"Journalists in Liverpool have reacted angrily to a Press Association plan to cover some court and local authority stories for the Trinity Mirror's Merseyside titles.
"PA's managing director, Tony Watson, revealed details of the pilot scheme to the Culture, Media and Sport Select Committe earlier this week, but reporters at Trinity Mirror's titles (Liverpool Echo and Liverpool Daily Post) have been emailing How-Do to say that this was the first they'd heard about it."
"Anonymous" claimed that this blog threatened the jobs of those left at the titles. Aside from the risible notion that a blog could have such an effect, I suggest "Anonymous" write to the Echo to ask why roles hitherto carried out by its own reporters are now to be outsourced to the PA.
Moreover, what's left of the Echo's reputation has taken an irreparable hit with this most recent move.
I'm all in favour of supporting local media. The problem is that both the Post & Echo have ceased to be "local". There is also the indisputable evidence that the local titles, particularly the Echo, have gone progressively downmarket. Don't believe me? Take a look, if you can, at this meretricious piece of saloon-bar opining from local celebrity Pete Price in today's edition: http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/2009/07/16/pete-price-put-it-away-jelly-belly-100252-24165433/ .
Time was when this sort of effort wouldn't even have made it on to the editor's desk for approval.
How-Do quotes Watson as saying the reason for the pilot scheme is that "a lack of resources is preventing local papers from covering them."
In other words, Trinity Mirror refuses to allocate money for its own staff to cover local court reports & council meetings. It is Trinity Mirror, not a humble blogger, that should be encouraged to "back the Post and Echo", as "Anonymous" puts it.
"Journalists in Liverpool have reacted angrily to a Press Association plan to cover some court and local authority stories for the Trinity Mirror's Merseyside titles.
"PA's managing director, Tony Watson, revealed details of the pilot scheme to the Culture, Media and Sport Select Committe earlier this week, but reporters at Trinity Mirror's titles (Liverpool Echo and Liverpool Daily Post) have been emailing How-Do to say that this was the first they'd heard about it."
"Anonymous" claimed that this blog threatened the jobs of those left at the titles. Aside from the risible notion that a blog could have such an effect, I suggest "Anonymous" write to the Echo to ask why roles hitherto carried out by its own reporters are now to be outsourced to the PA.
Moreover, what's left of the Echo's reputation has taken an irreparable hit with this most recent move.
I'm all in favour of supporting local media. The problem is that both the Post & Echo have ceased to be "local". There is also the indisputable evidence that the local titles, particularly the Echo, have gone progressively downmarket. Don't believe me? Take a look, if you can, at this meretricious piece of saloon-bar opining from local celebrity Pete Price in today's edition: http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/2009/07/16/pete-price-put-it-away-jelly-belly-100252-24165433/ .
Time was when this sort of effort wouldn't even have made it on to the editor's desk for approval.
How-Do quotes Watson as saying the reason for the pilot scheme is that "a lack of resources is preventing local papers from covering them."
In other words, Trinity Mirror refuses to allocate money for its own staff to cover local court reports & council meetings. It is Trinity Mirror, not a humble blogger, that should be encouraged to "back the Post and Echo", as "Anonymous" puts it.
Friday, July 10, 2009
Wish To Declare An Interest, Larry?
You're known, & sometimes defined, by the company you keep, so the saying goes. It helps to put views & comments into a context which is more rounded, thorough & clear. If you pen pieces for the old or new local media on subjects which involve civic matters, it's only fair to declare where you're coming from. If there's a connection, however tenuous, between a body you're associated with & an article's subject matter, it could be considered remiss not to state that link.
Larry Nield was for many years a distinguished hack on the Echo. In his time on the paper its claim to be a local journal of record could be taken seriously. Larry was also an NUJ rep at the paper. Since taking his leave of the Trinity Mirror circus he's written some thought-provoking pieces for Liverpool Confidential.
However, something he doesn't always declare at the foot of his articles is his role as a consultant for local PR consultants October Communications (http://www.octobercomms.co.uk/ ), a capacity in which he's served for nearly eighteen months now (http://www.how-do.co.uk/north-west-media-news/other-media/larry-nield-joins-october-communications-200802081857/ ).
This news in itself would be greeted with at best a nonchalant shrug from many. There's long been an incestuous relationship between the worlds of journalism & PR, witness the current Guardian coverage of the role played by David Cameron's media handler Andy Coulson when he was editor of the News of the World at the time of its phone-tapping operations.
So what is October Communications' USP? Under its "what we do" page (http://www.octobercomms.co.uk/what.html ) it enthuses:
"We can help you to change opinions, get your name in the headlines, create an advertising splash or deliver a profit-busting marketing campaign.
"We will help to boost your campaign's success and everything we do is aimed at ensuring you achieve your goals."
It also claims elsewhere (http://www.octobercomms.co.uk/who.html ): "Your problems become our solutions."
October Communications list among their clients Neptune Developments. Here's what it says about the arrangement (http://www.octobercomms.co.uk/neptune.html ):
"As a forward-thinking developer, Neptune's schemes always provide a talking point and October work closely with them to ensure that the end results in terms of media and public profile are positive and fruitful. October has provided a full range of media public affairs services for Neptune, supporting them in securing a number of difficult planning applications, and maintaining a strong media presence for the organisation and its developments."
Last week Wayne referred to Larry Nield's involvement with October Communications (http://liverpoolpreservationtrust.blogspot.com/2009/07/warren-bradley-you-are-not-very-clever.html ) & questioned his willingness to be as open as he once was in his views on the changing face of the city centre, given that October's clients include Neptune Developments, the city council & the North West Development Agency (NWDA).
[I'm also intrigued to see that the full list of clients on October's books includes the noth west branch of the Royal Institute of British Architects, RIBA (http://www.octobercomms.co.uk/clients.html ).]
Just in case Larry reads this and starts to reach for the phone to consult his lawyer, I stress that in no way am I inferring, implying or basically saying that there is anything untoward in his dealings on behalf of October Communications; I have no reason, suspicion or evidence to suggest that. However, it would serve the interests of transparency & open debate, online as well as offline, for Larry to note his involvement with October Communications, in passing, when penning another wry & erudite piece for Liverpool Confidential.
Larry Nield was for many years a distinguished hack on the Echo. In his time on the paper its claim to be a local journal of record could be taken seriously. Larry was also an NUJ rep at the paper. Since taking his leave of the Trinity Mirror circus he's written some thought-provoking pieces for Liverpool Confidential.
However, something he doesn't always declare at the foot of his articles is his role as a consultant for local PR consultants October Communications (http://www.octobercomms.co.uk/ ), a capacity in which he's served for nearly eighteen months now (http://www.how-do.co.uk/north-west-media-news/other-media/larry-nield-joins-october-communications-200802081857/ ).
This news in itself would be greeted with at best a nonchalant shrug from many. There's long been an incestuous relationship between the worlds of journalism & PR, witness the current Guardian coverage of the role played by David Cameron's media handler Andy Coulson when he was editor of the News of the World at the time of its phone-tapping operations.
So what is October Communications' USP? Under its "what we do" page (http://www.octobercomms.co.uk/what.html ) it enthuses:
"We can help you to change opinions, get your name in the headlines, create an advertising splash or deliver a profit-busting marketing campaign.
"We will help to boost your campaign's success and everything we do is aimed at ensuring you achieve your goals."
It also claims elsewhere (http://www.octobercomms.co.uk/who.html ): "Your problems become our solutions."
October Communications list among their clients Neptune Developments. Here's what it says about the arrangement (http://www.octobercomms.co.uk/neptune.html ):
"As a forward-thinking developer, Neptune's schemes always provide a talking point and October work closely with them to ensure that the end results in terms of media and public profile are positive and fruitful. October has provided a full range of media public affairs services for Neptune, supporting them in securing a number of difficult planning applications, and maintaining a strong media presence for the organisation and its developments."
Last week Wayne referred to Larry Nield's involvement with October Communications (http://liverpoolpreservationtrust.blogspot.com/2009/07/warren-bradley-you-are-not-very-clever.html ) & questioned his willingness to be as open as he once was in his views on the changing face of the city centre, given that October's clients include Neptune Developments, the city council & the North West Development Agency (NWDA).
[I'm also intrigued to see that the full list of clients on October's books includes the noth west branch of the Royal Institute of British Architects, RIBA (http://www.octobercomms.co.uk/clients.html ).]
Just in case Larry reads this and starts to reach for the phone to consult his lawyer, I stress that in no way am I inferring, implying or basically saying that there is anything untoward in his dealings on behalf of October Communications; I have no reason, suspicion or evidence to suggest that. However, it would serve the interests of transparency & open debate, online as well as offline, for Larry to note his involvement with October Communications, in passing, when penning another wry & erudite piece for Liverpool Confidential.
Thursday, July 09, 2009
Fading Echo
It won't be long now. The Oldham Echo's move to its Greater Manchester base will be sealed at the beginning of August (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/merseyside/8129727.stm ):
"The owners of Liverpool's two daily papers have confirmed that print production will be moved to [Oldham] at the start of August."
The beeb's rather short piece went on to report:
"From October, the Liverpool [sic] Echo will also be released earlier in the morning to 'compete with the nationals', said a Trinity Mirror spokesman."
Competing with the nationals is only part of it; when Trinity Mirror refer to "the nationals", they aren't thinking of the Guardian, Independent, Times or Telegraph. They're thinking of the Mirror (surely some duplication there, methinks), the Mail (in its more, ahem, considered moments) &, yes, the Sun. Many of the older hacks who left the sinking ship recently were in no doubt that the paper was careering even further downmarket; one ex-journo on the Echo (no names, but she knows who she is) allowed herself to get "tired & emotional" whilst savouring Rigby's fine ales on Dale Street a few weeks back. She expressed her considered view, in terms as colourful as a kaleidoscope, that said paper was now little more than a local version of the national red-tops, obsessed with sex offenders, c-list celebrities & ASBOs, & that the management on Oldham Hall Street had been less than firm in its defence of the paper & staff as Trinity Mirror's cost-cutters swooped into offices & identified "savings". Of course, I heavily paraphrase. Quoting her comments verbatim might shock those of a delicate disposition.
Robin Brown on The Liverpool Culture Blog lifted the lid a little further on the Echo's relatively unlamented leaving of Liverpool as well as hinting what it means for its sickly sister (http://www.liverpoolcultureblog.co.uk/2009/07/trinity-mirror-move-pitches-echo-and-post-against-one-another/ ):
"Reading between the lines, the change in deadlines is to accomodate a switch from printing in Liverpool to Oldham, at least one hour's drive away.
"The consensus -- right or wrong -- in Liverpool's media community is that The [Daily] Post is on its way out, with sales down to under 10k, according to various reports I've heard."
The circulation figures Brown posits for the Post are spot-on; even more ominous for the title is that a sizeable proportion of those sales come from an elderly readership in North Wales. Think of the demographics: the writing is no longer on the paper, but very much on the wall for the Post.
Meanwhile, just in case it's been overloked in the headlines about the move, 100 local printers are soon to lose their jobs. The Liverpool [sic] Echo: speaking up for Merseyside...from Greater Manchester.
"The owners of Liverpool's two daily papers have confirmed that print production will be moved to [Oldham] at the start of August."
The beeb's rather short piece went on to report:
"From October, the Liverpool [sic] Echo will also be released earlier in the morning to 'compete with the nationals', said a Trinity Mirror spokesman."
Competing with the nationals is only part of it; when Trinity Mirror refer to "the nationals", they aren't thinking of the Guardian, Independent, Times or Telegraph. They're thinking of the Mirror (surely some duplication there, methinks), the Mail (in its more, ahem, considered moments) &, yes, the Sun. Many of the older hacks who left the sinking ship recently were in no doubt that the paper was careering even further downmarket; one ex-journo on the Echo (no names, but she knows who she is) allowed herself to get "tired & emotional" whilst savouring Rigby's fine ales on Dale Street a few weeks back. She expressed her considered view, in terms as colourful as a kaleidoscope, that said paper was now little more than a local version of the national red-tops, obsessed with sex offenders, c-list celebrities & ASBOs, & that the management on Oldham Hall Street had been less than firm in its defence of the paper & staff as Trinity Mirror's cost-cutters swooped into offices & identified "savings". Of course, I heavily paraphrase. Quoting her comments verbatim might shock those of a delicate disposition.
Robin Brown on The Liverpool Culture Blog lifted the lid a little further on the Echo's relatively unlamented leaving of Liverpool as well as hinting what it means for its sickly sister (http://www.liverpoolcultureblog.co.uk/2009/07/trinity-mirror-move-pitches-echo-and-post-against-one-another/ ):
"Reading between the lines, the change in deadlines is to accomodate a switch from printing in Liverpool to Oldham, at least one hour's drive away.
"The consensus -- right or wrong -- in Liverpool's media community is that The [Daily] Post is on its way out, with sales down to under 10k, according to various reports I've heard."
The circulation figures Brown posits for the Post are spot-on; even more ominous for the title is that a sizeable proportion of those sales come from an elderly readership in North Wales. Think of the demographics: the writing is no longer on the paper, but very much on the wall for the Post.
Meanwhile, just in case it's been overloked in the headlines about the move, 100 local printers are soon to lose their jobs. The Liverpool [sic] Echo: speaking up for Merseyside...from Greater Manchester.
Monday, July 06, 2009
Before The City's Face Was Botoxed
While we're on the subject of capturing images of the city, past & present, Wayne blogged earlier today about the need to record the views of the waterfront before the vandals moved in & disfigured what is still, though not for much longer, I'd wager, a World Heritage Site (http://liverpoolpreservationtrust.blogspot.com/2009/07/ptolemy-deans-view-on-liverpools.html ).
For what it's worth, here's a few shots I took of the waterfront area a few years back when the monstrosities being built weren't even doodlings on an architect's drawing board.
In The Picture
It shouldn't really be surprising that genuinely cultural events are taking place in the city a year after junket, sorry, that should be culture year. A case in point is a photographic exhibition at St Luke's church on the corner of Berry Street & Leece Street (better known to most of us as "the bombed-out church") throughout August.
"Up to something", an exhibition put together by Liverpool-based photographers, promises "a fresh view of the city and residents of Liverpool" (http://www.fabcollective.com/2009/06/18/were-up-to-something-at-st-lukes/ ).
The pictures above are just two of the many snaps I've taken over the years while ambling around the city centre with nothing better to do. You'll be relieved to know that the quality of the photographs on display at St Luke's will be higher than these.
Setting Sun
I was vaguely aware of a blog dedicated to exposing the poison churned out by the Daily Mail, but didn't think any more of it. Now I notice that another enterprising soul has a similar blog dedicated to exposing the propaganda & meretricious crap printed in The Sun (http://the-sun-lies.blogspot.com/ ), titled "The Sun -- Tabloid Lies", with the sub-heading, "Analysing and exposing the many deceptions of the Sun newspaper".
There shouldn't be anyone on Merseyside who really needs to be informed that Murdoch's rag is to journalism what Bernard Madoff is to financial probity. However, it's heartening to come across such blogs because there are millions of dupes out there who, despite their denials when challenged, believe what that publication claims.
There shouldn't be anyone on Merseyside who really needs to be informed that Murdoch's rag is to journalism what Bernard Madoff is to financial probity. However, it's heartening to come across such blogs because there are millions of dupes out there who, despite their denials when challenged, believe what that publication claims.
Saturday, July 04, 2009
Weighting The Scales Of Justice
Thursday's decision by the no-justice secretary I'm-Alright Jack Straw not to grant a pardon to Michael Shields looks even more perverse & indefensible with the news that a confidential Merseyside Police report, prepared for Straw, "says if the case had happened in the UK, Shields may have been given an appeal." (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/merseyside/8134555.stm ).
Meanwhile, the question of class is raised by Eric Allison, the Guardian's prisons correspondent in a Guardian Comment is Free piece (http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2009/jul/03/jack-straw-ronnie-biggs ).
It should be said that Allison muddies the waters somewhat by drawing Ronnie Biggs' case into the equation (Biggs may well be another victim of Straw's penchant for fake machismo, but his is still a far less deserving case than Michael's).
That said, Allison notes that "as so often with this government, it is not so much the decisions they take as the shabby manner in which they conduct their business. In parliament, some weeks ago, Gordon Brown told a Labour MP that Straw's decision on Shields's pardon would be relayed to his solicitors. Instead, yesterday, the 22-year-old was called up to the governor's office in his prison and handed a 50-page document 'explaining' the reasons for the refusal to grant a pardon. According to his solicitor, John Wheate, the language in the document is so technical that 'after 37 years of working in the law, it will take me three days to decipher it.' As with most prisoners in open conditions, Shields is eligible for day release and home leaves. He was due to take a four-day leave this Tuesday, but it was cancelled because of potential media interest. So, a lad who had hoped to be pardoned this week is knocked back, in language difficult for a layman to decipher and then told that a leave-earned by good behaviour is cancelled through no fault of his own."
Allison ends his piece by posing (& answering) an obvious question:
"Michael Shields's father asks if Straw would treat his own children in this way? Of course he wouldn't. But then, there's one law for them -- and the Pinochets of this world -- and another for the working class."
Some observers may point to Straw's reaction when his then teenage son Will was caught in a Daily Mirror sting in 1998. Straw's son was dealing mild amounts of dope at his university. After playing to the cameras in claiming that he'd immediately offered his resignation to Tony Blair (an offer Blair turned down, conveniently), Straw ensured that the media soon dropped the story. Will Straw now works for one of the Washington-based thinktanks.
The Pinochet tale is also instructive; Straw ensured that the ex-dictator, feigning severe illness in an English semi, of all places, escaped justice on such bogus grounds. Once Pinochet's plane touched the ground at Santiago airport the US-backed general demonstrated to all his rude health.
Straw's record shouldn't really be seen as shocking when you consider his toadying (some would use a much more revealing & salacious adjective) approach to war criminal Condoleeza Rice. My sources tell me that when Straw & Rice visited LIPA in the city a few years ago the no-justice secretary was, well, how best to put it, overly attentive to the then US Secretary of State.
Meanwhile, the question of class is raised by Eric Allison, the Guardian's prisons correspondent in a Guardian Comment is Free piece (http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2009/jul/03/jack-straw-ronnie-biggs ).
It should be said that Allison muddies the waters somewhat by drawing Ronnie Biggs' case into the equation (Biggs may well be another victim of Straw's penchant for fake machismo, but his is still a far less deserving case than Michael's).
That said, Allison notes that "as so often with this government, it is not so much the decisions they take as the shabby manner in which they conduct their business. In parliament, some weeks ago, Gordon Brown told a Labour MP that Straw's decision on Shields's pardon would be relayed to his solicitors. Instead, yesterday, the 22-year-old was called up to the governor's office in his prison and handed a 50-page document 'explaining' the reasons for the refusal to grant a pardon. According to his solicitor, John Wheate, the language in the document is so technical that 'after 37 years of working in the law, it will take me three days to decipher it.' As with most prisoners in open conditions, Shields is eligible for day release and home leaves. He was due to take a four-day leave this Tuesday, but it was cancelled because of potential media interest. So, a lad who had hoped to be pardoned this week is knocked back, in language difficult for a layman to decipher and then told that a leave-earned by good behaviour is cancelled through no fault of his own."
Allison ends his piece by posing (& answering) an obvious question:
"Michael Shields's father asks if Straw would treat his own children in this way? Of course he wouldn't. But then, there's one law for them -- and the Pinochets of this world -- and another for the working class."
Some observers may point to Straw's reaction when his then teenage son Will was caught in a Daily Mirror sting in 1998. Straw's son was dealing mild amounts of dope at his university. After playing to the cameras in claiming that he'd immediately offered his resignation to Tony Blair (an offer Blair turned down, conveniently), Straw ensured that the media soon dropped the story. Will Straw now works for one of the Washington-based thinktanks.
The Pinochet tale is also instructive; Straw ensured that the ex-dictator, feigning severe illness in an English semi, of all places, escaped justice on such bogus grounds. Once Pinochet's plane touched the ground at Santiago airport the US-backed general demonstrated to all his rude health.
Straw's record shouldn't really be seen as shocking when you consider his toadying (some would use a much more revealing & salacious adjective) approach to war criminal Condoleeza Rice. My sources tell me that when Straw & Rice visited LIPA in the city a few years ago the no-justice secretary was, well, how best to put it, overly attentive to the then US Secretary of State.
Thursday, July 02, 2009
Straw Washes His Hands Of Michael Shields
While government ministers continue to drag their feet over the release of the full, unedited documents about Hillsborough, it seems that Whitehall is also happy to slam the door shut on Michael Shields' hopes of a full pardon (http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2009/jul/02/straw-refuses-pardon-michael-shields ):
"A statement issued by the ministry of justice said:'Following a detailed and careful consideration of all the relevant evidence the justice secretary, Jack Straw, has made a provisional decision that the application for a free pardon from Mr Michael Shields should be refused.'
The ministry said Straw made his decision in accordance with a high court judgment in 2008 which indicated that, in order to grant a free pardon, he would have to be satisfied that Shields was 'morally and technically innocent'.
"To reach this conclusion the following factors had to be taken into consideration: the Bulgarian courts' judgments as they stood, fresh evidence the Bulgarian courts did not consider, and the evidence they did and their judgment on it.
"This was a high test, the ministry said, and Straw provisionally concluded that on the evidence it had not been met."
Cowering behind the official verbiage is a so-called justice secretary who has decided to turn his face against the growing body of evidence that Michael Shields was not involved in any way with the attack on Bulgarian waiter Martin Georgiev in 2005. I'm no lawyer, but it's clear that hiding behind hastily-assembled, self-serving caveats such as "morally and technically innocent" both buys Straw time to cover his back & allows him to wash his hands of what must have been an awfully inconvenient business for him.
Bulgaria is one of the newer members of the EU & it's not unduly cynical to calculate that Straw's decision owes more to realpolitik than a fresh appraisal of the evidence.
A well-known criminal thug who has long been on the radar of Merseyside police due to a string of violent offences, Graham Sankey, admitted that he was Martin Georgiev's assailant, but later retracted his confession. In addition, Mr Georgiev formally identified Michael Shields when he was still suffering the effects of concussion from the assault.
So far, the campaign website (http://www.michaelshields.uwclub.net/ ) hasn't been updated. Michael's family have 28 days to appeal against Straw's decision.
"A statement issued by the ministry of justice said:'Following a detailed and careful consideration of all the relevant evidence the justice secretary, Jack Straw, has made a provisional decision that the application for a free pardon from Mr Michael Shields should be refused.'
The ministry said Straw made his decision in accordance with a high court judgment in 2008 which indicated that, in order to grant a free pardon, he would have to be satisfied that Shields was 'morally and technically innocent'.
"To reach this conclusion the following factors had to be taken into consideration: the Bulgarian courts' judgments as they stood, fresh evidence the Bulgarian courts did not consider, and the evidence they did and their judgment on it.
"This was a high test, the ministry said, and Straw provisionally concluded that on the evidence it had not been met."
Cowering behind the official verbiage is a so-called justice secretary who has decided to turn his face against the growing body of evidence that Michael Shields was not involved in any way with the attack on Bulgarian waiter Martin Georgiev in 2005. I'm no lawyer, but it's clear that hiding behind hastily-assembled, self-serving caveats such as "morally and technically innocent" both buys Straw time to cover his back & allows him to wash his hands of what must have been an awfully inconvenient business for him.
Bulgaria is one of the newer members of the EU & it's not unduly cynical to calculate that Straw's decision owes more to realpolitik than a fresh appraisal of the evidence.
A well-known criminal thug who has long been on the radar of Merseyside police due to a string of violent offences, Graham Sankey, admitted that he was Martin Georgiev's assailant, but later retracted his confession. In addition, Mr Georgiev formally identified Michael Shields when he was still suffering the effects of concussion from the assault.
So far, the campaign website (http://www.michaelshields.uwclub.net/ ) hasn't been updated. Michael's family have 28 days to appeal against Straw's decision.
Wednesday, July 01, 2009
Merseyside: A Recession-Free Zone
Taking a leaf from the Oldham Echo's book, its sickly sister the Daily Post yesterday published the sort of part puff-piece, part PR noodling which would have been spiked as third-rate copy by the editors even a decade ago (http://www.liverpooldailypost.co.uk/liverpool-news/regional-news/2009/06/30/capital-of-culture-has-help-liverpool-buck-the-recession-92534-24019632/ ).
Its "author" Laura Davis trilled about the "extra one million sq. ft. of retail space and lots of swanky new buildings in Liverpool One, as well as a new museum taking shape just down the river from an impressive Arena".
Yes, Laura, there is so much retail space in the city centre, isn't there? Pity an increasing amount of it lies empty. Still, at least the city's bucking the recession, right? And, of course, there are those "swanky new buildings" at Liverpool One, too. Shame about the growing number of empty retail outlets there also. Still, as you say, we're bucking the recession right here on the banks of the Mersey, aren't we? [Lest anyone protest that Davis can't be held responsible for a misleading headline & that my fire should be focused on the sub-editor, it should be noted that part of the new order on Oldham Hall Street means that the hacks now write their own headlines.]
As for the museum taking shape by the river, well, perhaps it's just as well that Davis chose not to preface it with a gushing adjective, given the fact that it's helped to disfigure the waterfront. Instead, the term "impressive" was wheeled out to describe the Arena. Hmm...OK, if you like soulless, utilitarian venues in which atmosphere is muted & too many punters are allowed to drink themselves senseless. I also note that Davis omitted the Echo's name from the Arena, surely a firing offence on Oldham Hall Street. Or does she know something which has yet to be announced?
Davis' article roped in the odd accomplice for this exercise in parochial self-delusion:
"The situation is better than it could be, according to Prof Peter Stoney, business expert at the University of Liverpool's management school, who believes the city's Capital of Culture status has softened the blow of the nationwide recession. He said: 'It's been good timing. It's mitigated some of the bad effects.' "
Still clutching at Liverpool08, eh? How sad. Moreover, I don't know if Davis reads the papers (the proper ones, I mean), but if she does, she'll find that the recession isn't just "nationwide". Professor Stoney's comment that the slump has been "softened", or, to quote the professor himself, "mitigated" doesn't really tally with the triumphant boast in the headline that the recession has been bucked.
Professor Stoney went on to say that Liverpool One was built "just in the nick of time" & that it would have been scrapped altogether if it hadn't met the 2008 deadline for completion. This will come as news to many, even though such sentiments were privately shared in the council.
Davis' article went on to be little more than an extended statement by Professor Stoney as the Echo hack ernestly & obediently scribbled down his somewhat jumbled & contradictory thoughts:
"Prof Stoney also believes an improved cultural offering and quality of life will also help tackle Liverpool's historical problem of a draining population -- which has halved to around 430,000 in the past 50 years, but is now levelling off."
Pedants may well note that "levelling off" isn't the same as halting, let alone reversing the city's population decline. There was also this surreal gem:
"Many of the likely benefits of hosting a Capital of Culture year, such as residents' renewed sense of pride in their city and Liverpool's improving reputation, are hard to measure."
This is so vague as to be meaningless! In the context of an article designed to act as a feel-good, journalism-lite exercise, it inadvertently gives the game away. When you fall back on ambiguous phrases & cliches removed from hard facts, it exposes your desperation, proof of which was to be found in the figures cited by Davis regarding visitor figures to the Tate, the Everyman, etc. & hotel bookings over the last year. You can prove anything with statistics, they say, & that certainly applies to Davis' piece, as she puts a positive spin on figures which reveal reductions as well as occasional increases.
Its "author" Laura Davis trilled about the "extra one million sq. ft. of retail space and lots of swanky new buildings in Liverpool One, as well as a new museum taking shape just down the river from an impressive Arena".
Yes, Laura, there is so much retail space in the city centre, isn't there? Pity an increasing amount of it lies empty. Still, at least the city's bucking the recession, right? And, of course, there are those "swanky new buildings" at Liverpool One, too. Shame about the growing number of empty retail outlets there also. Still, as you say, we're bucking the recession right here on the banks of the Mersey, aren't we? [Lest anyone protest that Davis can't be held responsible for a misleading headline & that my fire should be focused on the sub-editor, it should be noted that part of the new order on Oldham Hall Street means that the hacks now write their own headlines.]
As for the museum taking shape by the river, well, perhaps it's just as well that Davis chose not to preface it with a gushing adjective, given the fact that it's helped to disfigure the waterfront. Instead, the term "impressive" was wheeled out to describe the Arena. Hmm...OK, if you like soulless, utilitarian venues in which atmosphere is muted & too many punters are allowed to drink themselves senseless. I also note that Davis omitted the Echo's name from the Arena, surely a firing offence on Oldham Hall Street. Or does she know something which has yet to be announced?
Davis' article roped in the odd accomplice for this exercise in parochial self-delusion:
"The situation is better than it could be, according to Prof Peter Stoney, business expert at the University of Liverpool's management school, who believes the city's Capital of Culture status has softened the blow of the nationwide recession. He said: 'It's been good timing. It's mitigated some of the bad effects.' "
Still clutching at Liverpool08, eh? How sad. Moreover, I don't know if Davis reads the papers (the proper ones, I mean), but if she does, she'll find that the recession isn't just "nationwide". Professor Stoney's comment that the slump has been "softened", or, to quote the professor himself, "mitigated" doesn't really tally with the triumphant boast in the headline that the recession has been bucked.
Professor Stoney went on to say that Liverpool One was built "just in the nick of time" & that it would have been scrapped altogether if it hadn't met the 2008 deadline for completion. This will come as news to many, even though such sentiments were privately shared in the council.
Davis' article went on to be little more than an extended statement by Professor Stoney as the Echo hack ernestly & obediently scribbled down his somewhat jumbled & contradictory thoughts:
"Prof Stoney also believes an improved cultural offering and quality of life will also help tackle Liverpool's historical problem of a draining population -- which has halved to around 430,000 in the past 50 years, but is now levelling off."
Pedants may well note that "levelling off" isn't the same as halting, let alone reversing the city's population decline. There was also this surreal gem:
"Many of the likely benefits of hosting a Capital of Culture year, such as residents' renewed sense of pride in their city and Liverpool's improving reputation, are hard to measure."
This is so vague as to be meaningless! In the context of an article designed to act as a feel-good, journalism-lite exercise, it inadvertently gives the game away. When you fall back on ambiguous phrases & cliches removed from hard facts, it exposes your desperation, proof of which was to be found in the figures cited by Davis regarding visitor figures to the Tate, the Everyman, etc. & hotel bookings over the last year. You can prove anything with statistics, they say, & that certainly applies to Davis' piece, as she puts a positive spin on figures which reveal reductions as well as occasional increases.
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Waiting In The Wings
Picture the scene: you're playing at Glastonbury, you know that a certain act from your neck of the woods is topping the bill that evening, & then word is passed round that someone is about to join you on stage to play guitar & provide backing vocals for a song you've written:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/glastonbury/2009/artists/gaslightanthem/ .
http://www.bbc.co.uk/glastonbury/2009/artists/gaslightanthem/ .
Thursday, June 25, 2009
Steven Wells
It was via Simon's No Rock and Roll Fun blog that I earlier learned about the death of Steven Wells from cancer on Tuesday (http://xrrf.blogspot.com/2009/06/rip-steven-wells.html ).
"Swells" had moved to the US in recent years & ensured he made his mark in Philadelphia (http://philadelphiaweekly.com/news-and-opinion/in-extremis/Steven-Wells-Says-Goodbye-49054426.html ), & also blogged for the Guardian music & sports sections (http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/musicblog/2009/jun/25/steven-wells-nme-tribute ).
However, it is as an excoriating NME scribe in the 80s & 90s that Steven will be best remembered.
I always approached his NME pieces with a mixture of relish & awe. Throughout today bloggers & ex-colleagues have highlighted his socialist principles & basic humanity. I didn't always agree with his articles, but he was fearless in saying what he thought. He could be brilliantly scornful of left-wing pop stars who talked the talk, but didn't entirely walk the walk. However, that was as nothing compared to the rage & anger he directed at Thatcher & the system she represented. Steven Wells was truly a one-off.
"Swells" had moved to the US in recent years & ensured he made his mark in Philadelphia (http://philadelphiaweekly.com/news-and-opinion/in-extremis/Steven-Wells-Says-Goodbye-49054426.html ), & also blogged for the Guardian music & sports sections (http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/musicblog/2009/jun/25/steven-wells-nme-tribute ).
However, it is as an excoriating NME scribe in the 80s & 90s that Steven will be best remembered.
I always approached his NME pieces with a mixture of relish & awe. Throughout today bloggers & ex-colleagues have highlighted his socialist principles & basic humanity. I didn't always agree with his articles, but he was fearless in saying what he thought. He could be brilliantly scornful of left-wing pop stars who talked the talk, but didn't entirely walk the walk. However, that was as nothing compared to the rage & anger he directed at Thatcher & the system she represented. Steven Wells was truly a one-off.
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
Walking On Thin Ice
It's not every day that Yoko Ono pops up in the Guardian Diary column, but it is heartening to know that she's got the hang of this Twitter thing (http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2009/jun/23/diary-hugh-muir ).
Hugh Muir urges us all to "carry this thought from Yoko Ono on Twitter. 'You are water, I'm water. We're all water in different containers. That's why it's so easy to meet. Someday we'll evaporate together.' And you know the best of it? Couldn't hear her sing."
Ouch. Given her message, it's safe to assume that Yoko is one celebrity who doesn't have others to tweet on her behalf.
Her words will be a source of great strength to the protestors on the streets of Tehran as they use Twitter to tell the outside world of the latest developments there.
What's more, she's right; we are all water...problem is some of us are the Pacific Ocean while others are the Leeds-Liverpool canal.
Hugh Muir urges us all to "carry this thought from Yoko Ono on Twitter. 'You are water, I'm water. We're all water in different containers. That's why it's so easy to meet. Someday we'll evaporate together.' And you know the best of it? Couldn't hear her sing."
Ouch. Given her message, it's safe to assume that Yoko is one celebrity who doesn't have others to tweet on her behalf.
Her words will be a source of great strength to the protestors on the streets of Tehran as they use Twitter to tell the outside world of the latest developments there.
What's more, she's right; we are all water...problem is some of us are the Pacific Ocean while others are the Leeds-Liverpool canal.
Terminal Tans
A perennial gripe about the national media's coverage of Merseyside is the perpetuation of crude stereotypes & caricatures. However, on far too many occasions Scousers have obliged said media with their own regrettable antics & quotes. In the most recent example of this, the Guardian's Laura Barton delivers a typically offbeat take on a tanning salon in Orrell Park as part of her Barton's Britain series (http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/video/2009/jun/23/bartons-britain-liverpool-tanning ).
Barton notes that Liverpool is "the UK's tanning bed capital", a dubious distinction given the clear link with rates of skin cancer, & relates a couple of exchanges with the salon's patrons who appear to be alarmingly ignorant of the risks.
Barton notes that Liverpool is "the UK's tanning bed capital", a dubious distinction given the clear link with rates of skin cancer, & relates a couple of exchanges with the salon's patrons who appear to be alarmingly ignorant of the risks.
A City In Focus
The changing face of Liverpool has been researched by academics at Liverpool University (http://www.bbc.co.uk/liverpool/content/articles/2009/06/22/places_liverpool_city_in_film_feature.shtml ).
The university has compiled information on "over 1,500 films made in and around Liverpool over the last 100 years.
"The database is part of the City in Film project which looks at the relationship between Liverpool's architecture and moving pictures. Film footage from the late 19th century to the present day is collated in the database which can be searched online."
It will, of course, be an invaluable online resource for both academics & ordinary people. However, when I visited the link earlier (http://www.liv.ac.uk/lsa/cityinfilm/catalogue.html ), it appeared to be having teething troubles.
There will be issues over copyright to consider but it seems that, so far, the project is on track.
Monday, June 22, 2009
Follett's Faux-Pas
I'm not really surprised that those high-calibre journalists on Oldham Hall Street haven't picked up on comments made by junior culture minister Barbara Follett recently to the effect that prior to last year Liverpool had no cultural credentials. Wayne related the story earlier today (http://liverpoolpreservationtrust.blogspot.com/2009/06/stand-up-for-new-liverpool.html ).
A quick Google news check unearths this piece about the matter on "bd The Architects' Website" (http://www.bdonline.co.uk/story.asp?sectioncode=437&storycode=3143041&channel=426&c=2&encCode=00000000019b98ca ):
"Given the sensitivity of Scousers to criticism of their fine city, architecture minister Barbara Follett may not want to visit Liverpool any time soon.
"Speaking at a Theatres Trust event last week, she opined that Merseyside --a Unesco world heritage site-- was something of a culture-free zone before it became European City of Culture last year. The minister has obviously never heard of the Beatles. Or the Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, Liverpool Shakespeare Festival, Liverpool Playhouse, Tate Liverpool, Liverpool Biennial..."
Dot, dot, dot indeed.
It's clearly a mystery why a culture minister, albeit a minor one, should take a leaf out of Boris Johnson's book & open her mouth before thinking about what she has to say. It remains to be seen whether Gordon Brown tells her to get the train at Euston pronto, endures an uncomfortable photo-op at the Albert Dock & makes an even bigger idiot of herself when Roger Philips kindly opens the lines on his Radio Merseyside phone-in.
In all the coverage given to MPs' expenses, it should, perhaps, be noted that Follett, a typical New Labour luvvie (her husband is pulp fiction writer Ken Follett), is one of the growing band of MPs who have repaid the money they fleeced from the taxpayer. According to the Independent (http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/police-will-investigate-mps-expenses-claims-1710730.html ):
"One of the biggest repayments was from junior culture minister Barbara Follett, wife of the author Ken Follett, who gave back £32,976 that she had claimed for security at her London home and the cleaning of a child's rug she had 'claimed in error'. "
So what does this affair say about the intellectual qualities & basic intelligence of the not-so honourable member for Stevenage in leafy Hertfordshire (with a wafer-thin majority of 3,139)?
Perhaps this tale involving Follett, courtesy of those wonderful folks at Wikipedia, helps explain (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barbara_Follett ):
"In 2001 Follett appeared in the television satire programme Brass Eye which satirised media hysteria towards the issue of paedophilia. In the programme she was duped into giving fake warnings about an online game called Pantu the dog, claiming on camera that a paedophile had converted the dog's eye in order to see the child play. Follett went on to demonstrate how the paedophile would wear a t-shirt with a small illustration of a child's body on it, in order to disguise themselves as another child and how paedophiles get children to press their faces against the screen and then use special gloves to feel the child. Follett complained to the BSC [Broadcasting Standards Commission] and ITC [Independent Television Commission] about being duped into appearing on the programme. The BSC noted that the programme makers had deliberately given warning signals to suggest the material might be dubious and thus rejected Follett's complaints against the show as it successfully revealed the dangers of how public figures were willing to speak 'with apparent authority about matters they do not understand.' "
The same could be said about Follett's witless witterings about Merseyside's cultural life & history.
By the way, the Brass Eye clip has been YouTubed: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kx4ixXQFUQY#t=0m17s .
Wikipedia also notes that Follett & her husband "own two properties in London, one in Hertfordshire, a property in Cape Town and a holiday home in Antigua."
Wonder if she ever buys The Big Issue?
A quick Google news check unearths this piece about the matter on "bd The Architects' Website" (http://www.bdonline.co.uk/story.asp?sectioncode=437&storycode=3143041&channel=426&c=2&encCode=00000000019b98ca ):
"Given the sensitivity of Scousers to criticism of their fine city, architecture minister Barbara Follett may not want to visit Liverpool any time soon.
"Speaking at a Theatres Trust event last week, she opined that Merseyside --a Unesco world heritage site-- was something of a culture-free zone before it became European City of Culture last year. The minister has obviously never heard of the Beatles. Or the Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, Liverpool Shakespeare Festival, Liverpool Playhouse, Tate Liverpool, Liverpool Biennial..."
Dot, dot, dot indeed.
It's clearly a mystery why a culture minister, albeit a minor one, should take a leaf out of Boris Johnson's book & open her mouth before thinking about what she has to say. It remains to be seen whether Gordon Brown tells her to get the train at Euston pronto, endures an uncomfortable photo-op at the Albert Dock & makes an even bigger idiot of herself when Roger Philips kindly opens the lines on his Radio Merseyside phone-in.
In all the coverage given to MPs' expenses, it should, perhaps, be noted that Follett, a typical New Labour luvvie (her husband is pulp fiction writer Ken Follett), is one of the growing band of MPs who have repaid the money they fleeced from the taxpayer. According to the Independent (http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/police-will-investigate-mps-expenses-claims-1710730.html ):
"One of the biggest repayments was from junior culture minister Barbara Follett, wife of the author Ken Follett, who gave back £32,976 that she had claimed for security at her London home and the cleaning of a child's rug she had 'claimed in error'. "
So what does this affair say about the intellectual qualities & basic intelligence of the not-so honourable member for Stevenage in leafy Hertfordshire (with a wafer-thin majority of 3,139)?
Perhaps this tale involving Follett, courtesy of those wonderful folks at Wikipedia, helps explain (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barbara_Follett ):
"In 2001 Follett appeared in the television satire programme Brass Eye which satirised media hysteria towards the issue of paedophilia. In the programme she was duped into giving fake warnings about an online game called Pantu the dog, claiming on camera that a paedophile had converted the dog's eye in order to see the child play. Follett went on to demonstrate how the paedophile would wear a t-shirt with a small illustration of a child's body on it, in order to disguise themselves as another child and how paedophiles get children to press their faces against the screen and then use special gloves to feel the child. Follett complained to the BSC [Broadcasting Standards Commission] and ITC [Independent Television Commission] about being duped into appearing on the programme. The BSC noted that the programme makers had deliberately given warning signals to suggest the material might be dubious and thus rejected Follett's complaints against the show as it successfully revealed the dangers of how public figures were willing to speak 'with apparent authority about matters they do not understand.' "
The same could be said about Follett's witless witterings about Merseyside's cultural life & history.
By the way, the Brass Eye clip has been YouTubed: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kx4ixXQFUQY#t=0m17s .
Wikipedia also notes that Follett & her husband "own two properties in London, one in Hertfordshire, a property in Cape Town and a holiday home in Antigua."
Wonder if she ever buys The Big Issue?
Halfway To Paradise?
Billy shows his Fury at what the planners, the council & the Mersey Docks and Harbour Company have done to the waterfront he knew so well.Thursday, June 18, 2009
Good Riddance
The news that David Moores has resigned from the board of Liverpool Football Club (http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/liverpool-news/local-news/2009/06/18/david-moores-resigns-from-liverpool-fc-s-board-of-directors-92534-23918940/ ) will not be greeted with sorrow by most supporters. Moores wept crocodile tears last year in an Oldham Echo "exclusive", saying he felt betrayed by Hicks & Gillett. However, that sense of betrayal was, no doubt, lessened by the £90m he pocketed from the takeover.
Moores & outgoing chief executive Rick Parry bequeathed a toxic legacy in the form of Hicks & Gillett's ruinous reign which has ended any possibility of a new stadium in Stanley Park, the implications of which will be severe for the wider Anfield area (http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2009/jun/05/liverpool-new-stadium-debt ). Rightly or wrongly, some partial regeneration of Liverpool 4 was presented as a hastily-agreed add-on to the stadium project a decade ago. Now, as a source told David Conn in his Guardian piece, "You can forget about that".
The club has been Glazered & the owners have no qualms about leeching off it (http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2009/jun/08/liverpool-tom-hicks-george-gillet ).
Moores & outgoing chief executive Rick Parry bequeathed a toxic legacy in the form of Hicks & Gillett's ruinous reign which has ended any possibility of a new stadium in Stanley Park, the implications of which will be severe for the wider Anfield area (http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2009/jun/05/liverpool-new-stadium-debt ). Rightly or wrongly, some partial regeneration of Liverpool 4 was presented as a hastily-agreed add-on to the stadium project a decade ago. Now, as a source told David Conn in his Guardian piece, "You can forget about that".
The club has been Glazered & the owners have no qualms about leeching off it (http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2009/jun/08/liverpool-tom-hicks-george-gillet ).
Picking Up The Tab For Our Dishonourable Members
After the Telegraph's incendiary revelations about MPs' expenses, today's release by the House of Commons of the (heavily redacted) figures feels like being offered a Burger King meal after feasting on a good three-course dinner.
For what it's worth, there are one or two curios to pour over in regard to Merseyside's MPs (http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/liverpool-news/local-news/2009/06/18/what-did-your-mp-claim-92534-23911746/ ):
"WEST DERBY MP Bob Wareing has charged up to £1,000 a year for taxi fares in London. But the bulk was on £50-£65 trips to and from Heathrow airport for the air shuttle to Manchester airport. Asked why he did not take public transport, the 78-year-old replied: 'Carrying bags and other gear on the Tube is exhausting. I normally travel by rail or drive myself, but often it is more efficient to fly.' "
Wareing may well consider it "more efficient" to take to the skies, but many, including some who voted for him in his own seat, will think it reckless at best, & an act of environmental terrorism at worst; it beggars belief that someone who still likes to think of himself as being to the left of New Labour shows such ignorance of, or contempt for the issue of climate change. However, I am grateful to him for informing me that travelling on the Tube when burdened with bags & other luggage is "exhausting". I didn't know that.
The Echo article also refers to Crosby's Claire Curtis-Thomas, whose claims included "a 'bathroom hair drier in white' costing £75, and £2,154 to fit out a kitchen with appliances including a £318 glass cooker hood, £249 integrated dishwasher and £486.23 integrated larder fridge.......Among her claims was £15 for organic fruit teas."
The only thing which doesn't seem to be "integrated" in Curtis-Thomas' case is modesty. Moreover, organic fruit tea isn't exactly slaking the thirst of her constituents as they read with increasing anger of her claims on their taxes. There was local disquiet about her decision to change the windows on the property she bought in Waterloo, which just happens to be listed. There are clear guidelines regarding changes to the exterior of properties which are listed. However, it is not clear whether the changes Crosby's MP made to the windows were funded from her expense claims.
Riverside's Louise Ellman, aka, the "Dame of dereliction" (http://www.liverpoolpreservationtrust.blogspot.com/2009/06/louise-ellman-mp-dame-of-dereliction.html ) is mentioned. The big & the small of her chutzpah is noted ("a £499 26-inch flat-screen TV and a 64p ballpoint pen") as well as the £2,140 she claimed for her self-serving "newsletter"
The claims made by Walton's Peter Kilfoyle are mentioned, but there's more in his case: "He also claimed back the cost of a £50 summons from Liverpool City Council for apparent non-payment of business rates --he said the Fees Office failed to pay his business rates-- and £910 in fees from accountants he paid to fill in his tax returns three times between August 2004 and July 2006."
Non-payment to the council, eh? That reminds me, Kilfoyle was scathing of those who either couldn't or wouldn't pay Thatcher's Poll Tax; he intoned the mantra composed by Kinnock & co at the time: better to break the poor than break the law. He was elected in the Walton by-election of 1991, after the death of Eric Heffer. He seldom passed up an opportunity to call the anti-poll tax unions reckless & irresponsible. Nice to see he's suddenly discovered some radical backbone & told the council to go & whistle for money it wanted from him while letting the taxpayer pay for the summons issued as well as the money demanded. Right on, comrade!
For what it's worth, there are one or two curios to pour over in regard to Merseyside's MPs (http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/liverpool-news/local-news/2009/06/18/what-did-your-mp-claim-92534-23911746/ ):
"WEST DERBY MP Bob Wareing has charged up to £1,000 a year for taxi fares in London. But the bulk was on £50-£65 trips to and from Heathrow airport for the air shuttle to Manchester airport. Asked why he did not take public transport, the 78-year-old replied: 'Carrying bags and other gear on the Tube is exhausting. I normally travel by rail or drive myself, but often it is more efficient to fly.' "
Wareing may well consider it "more efficient" to take to the skies, but many, including some who voted for him in his own seat, will think it reckless at best, & an act of environmental terrorism at worst; it beggars belief that someone who still likes to think of himself as being to the left of New Labour shows such ignorance of, or contempt for the issue of climate change. However, I am grateful to him for informing me that travelling on the Tube when burdened with bags & other luggage is "exhausting". I didn't know that.
The Echo article also refers to Crosby's Claire Curtis-Thomas, whose claims included "a 'bathroom hair drier in white' costing £75, and £2,154 to fit out a kitchen with appliances including a £318 glass cooker hood, £249 integrated dishwasher and £486.23 integrated larder fridge.......Among her claims was £15 for organic fruit teas."
The only thing which doesn't seem to be "integrated" in Curtis-Thomas' case is modesty. Moreover, organic fruit tea isn't exactly slaking the thirst of her constituents as they read with increasing anger of her claims on their taxes. There was local disquiet about her decision to change the windows on the property she bought in Waterloo, which just happens to be listed. There are clear guidelines regarding changes to the exterior of properties which are listed. However, it is not clear whether the changes Crosby's MP made to the windows were funded from her expense claims.
Riverside's Louise Ellman, aka, the "Dame of dereliction" (http://www.liverpoolpreservationtrust.blogspot.com/2009/06/louise-ellman-mp-dame-of-dereliction.html ) is mentioned. The big & the small of her chutzpah is noted ("a £499 26-inch flat-screen TV and a 64p ballpoint pen") as well as the £2,140 she claimed for her self-serving "newsletter"
The claims made by Walton's Peter Kilfoyle are mentioned, but there's more in his case: "He also claimed back the cost of a £50 summons from Liverpool City Council for apparent non-payment of business rates --he said the Fees Office failed to pay his business rates-- and £910 in fees from accountants he paid to fill in his tax returns three times between August 2004 and July 2006."
Non-payment to the council, eh? That reminds me, Kilfoyle was scathing of those who either couldn't or wouldn't pay Thatcher's Poll Tax; he intoned the mantra composed by Kinnock & co at the time: better to break the poor than break the law. He was elected in the Walton by-election of 1991, after the death of Eric Heffer. He seldom passed up an opportunity to call the anti-poll tax unions reckless & irresponsible. Nice to see he's suddenly discovered some radical backbone & told the council to go & whistle for money it wanted from him while letting the taxpayer pay for the summons issued as well as the money demanded. Right on, comrade!
Monday, June 15, 2009
Well, You Know, We All Want To Change The World
"I'm sick and tired of hearing thingsFrom uptight, short-sighted, narrow-minded hypocrites,
All I want is the truth,
Just Gimme Some Truth.
I've had enough of reading things
By neurotic, psychotic, pig-headed politicians.
All I want is the truth,
Just Gimme Some Truth.
No short-haired, yellow-bellied son of Tricky Dicky
Is gonna Mother Hubbard soft-soap me
With just a pocketful of hope,
Money for dope,
Money for rope."
"Just Gimme Some Truth", John Lennon, 1971.
When the city's civic leaders arrange a (not so) cheap photo-op with someone claiming a Beatle connection, you just know desperation & distraction are the driving factors. Culture year was an all too pathetic attempt to indulge in bread & circus politics while the city's real needs were ignored in an Echo-led orgy of self-congratulation. Ringo arrived with his chums & spent his way through £90,000 worth of expenses before flying down to London & being a little too honest for his own good on the Jonathan Ross show. McCartney was supposed to play his gig at the Salthouse Dock, the idea being that the dock would be drained & the fish would be humanely stunned (yes, really, Tony Parish had the story). After spending thousands on a feasibility study into a Salthouse Dock gig, it was decided to move it to Anfield, where, under the banner of "Liverpool Sound" Macca was joined in a celebration of local music by The Zutons &, erm, Kaiserchiefs, from Leeds.
All of which makes it inevitable that tomorrow's easy PR stunt at the Albert Dock with new mayor Mike Storey & Julian Lennon will be long on platitudes & short on relevance to both the people of the city & its current music scene (http://www.liverpool.gov.uk/News/newsdetail_3054.asp ).
It seems this unlikely duo will call for world peace & all that jazz. No, really, they will. They'll also light a white candle there:
"Candles will be sent to all cities across the globe for civic leaders to do the same in memory of John Lennon's struggle for peace and understanding, and Julian's continuing efforts.
"Liverpool's Lord Mayor, Councillor Mike Storey said: 'John Lennon, and indeed the Beatles are a huge part of the history of the city. As a city we will never forget the contribution John Lennon made not only to music but towards a more peaceful world.
'The candles represent a white feather which was a symbolic part of both John and Julian's life. We are hoping that all major cities will take part and help create a more peaceful world.' "
I like the way "all cities across the globe" becomes "all major cities" in the space of a couple of paragraphs. Must be the council cuts, I take it? I'm also indebted to the city's new mayor for informing me that Lennon & his band mates "are a huge part of the history of the city". Nothing much happened in Liverpool before then, I suppose; perhaps Storey's been taking local history lessons from his predecessor & noted expert on American history, Steve Rotheram.
The council PR release (it appeared on its website under the "news" section, by the way) also quotes Lennon jnr.:
"The white feather is so prevalent in my life. One thing for sure is that it's always represented peace to me. One of the things my father said to me was that should he pass away, if there was some way of letting me know he was going to be ok, or that we were all going to be ok, it was by in some way, shape or form presenting me with a white feather."
A cruel & cynical observer might remark that Julian appears to share his dad's enthusiasm for gobbledygook (In His Own Write; A Spaniard In The Works, etc). However, I wouldn't be so cutting.
Still, it's nice to see that altruism & general bonhomie will be the order of the day, eh? Eh? Oh:
"The event coincides with the opening of an exhibition at the new Beatles Story branch at the Pier Head on Wednesday (June 17) called White Feather - The Spirit of Lennon."
It sounds like a Yoko-approved move to cash in on the name with a new alco-pop concoction, doesn't it?
Imagine no possessions, I wonder if they can. Wonder if Storey's called Lee Forde back to help in the organisation for tomorrow's charade?
Friday, June 12, 2009
Boss, I've Got An Idea
Picture the scene: it's been "a long lunch" on Oldham Hall Street. Alastair Machray reclines in his chair, realises that Friday's edition of the Oldham Echo needs a little more padding than those churned out during the rest of the week & attempts a little blue sky thinking. Fast forward a couple of hours & the Echo editor is stuck. Then Paddy Shennan pops his head from behind his terminal. Can I help, he enquires.
A 50 watt light bulb goes on in Alastair's head.
A few minutes later Paddy's busy at work on his latest opus, a frenetic & eager example of journalistic & civic onanism:
http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/liverpool-news/local-news/2009/06/12/tell-us-what-makes-liverpool-great-city-to-live-in-100252-23860361/ .
By now Paddy's into his stride & nothing can stop him:
"What makes Liverpool great? YOU decide! Tell us what you think are the features and factors which give the city liveability. Perhaps you'll point to the three Ls --location, location, location-- and highlight our much envied, world-famous waterfront and spectacular skyline."
Ah, yes, Paddy, you've raised a good one there. The "much envied" waterfront, where the three Gs (that's Graces, Paddy) will soon have neighbours which should be given architectural ASBOs while burger vans await passengers from near & far. And then, of course, let's not forget how our "spectacular skyline" has been augmented with high-rise developments from the neo-brutalist school of design which can't tempt the punters into them.
Paddy also mentions culture & why not? After all, last year was such a success. Wasn't it?
Yes, there's nothing to stand in the way of Paddy's panegyric to the 'Pool:
"Then again, you might love living in Liverpool simply because it has a cosmopolitan, 'world in one city' feel".
Too true, Paddy, "the world in one city", five & a half thousand of whose residents last week voted BNP.
However, even Paddy knows he has to stop, but not without a final flourish:
"Starting with 'Liverpool is a great place to live because...' simply tell us below, in no more than 50 words, why you enjoy living here so much.
"We'll print as many of them as we can."
So go on, don't be bashful, take up Paddy's invitation & briefly let him know that you enjoy living here so much because of the high-calibre, fearless investigative journalism which is synonymous with the Oldham Echo.
A 50 watt light bulb goes on in Alastair's head.
A few minutes later Paddy's busy at work on his latest opus, a frenetic & eager example of journalistic & civic onanism:
http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/liverpool-news/local-news/2009/06/12/tell-us-what-makes-liverpool-great-city-to-live-in-100252-23860361/ .
By now Paddy's into his stride & nothing can stop him:
"What makes Liverpool great? YOU decide! Tell us what you think are the features and factors which give the city liveability. Perhaps you'll point to the three Ls --location, location, location-- and highlight our much envied, world-famous waterfront and spectacular skyline."
Ah, yes, Paddy, you've raised a good one there. The "much envied" waterfront, where the three Gs (that's Graces, Paddy) will soon have neighbours which should be given architectural ASBOs while burger vans await passengers from near & far. And then, of course, let's not forget how our "spectacular skyline" has been augmented with high-rise developments from the neo-brutalist school of design which can't tempt the punters into them.
Paddy also mentions culture & why not? After all, last year was such a success. Wasn't it?
Yes, there's nothing to stand in the way of Paddy's panegyric to the 'Pool:
"Then again, you might love living in Liverpool simply because it has a cosmopolitan, 'world in one city' feel".
Too true, Paddy, "the world in one city", five & a half thousand of whose residents last week voted BNP.
However, even Paddy knows he has to stop, but not without a final flourish:
"Starting with 'Liverpool is a great place to live because...' simply tell us below, in no more than 50 words, why you enjoy living here so much.
"We'll print as many of them as we can."
So go on, don't be bashful, take up Paddy's invitation & briefly let him know that you enjoy living here so much because of the high-calibre, fearless investigative journalism which is synonymous with the Oldham Echo.
Besmirching Shankly's Name
There's been a relatively muted response in the local media to an incident that took place at an end of season party organised by the Spirit of Shankly group at the Olympia Ballroom in West Derby on May 24th.
By all accounts, a "musician" took to the stage & started a chant about the Munich air disaster in 1958. The idiot's antics were caught on video & posted on YouTube. However, if you visit the link now, you'll find a statement from YouTube: "This video is no longer available due to a copyright claim by the Spirit of Shankly, Liverpool Supporters' Union" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LCtaAhaxLMk ).
SoS is being disingenuous & it knows it. Copyright? Do me a favour, folks, it's sheer embarrasment & shame at a disgusting incident which the SoS allowed to happen.
As Matt Scott wrote in his Digger column in the Guardian sports section on Wednesday (http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2009/jun/10/kevin-bond-bbc-panorama ), SoS have issued an apology for the incident (http://www.spiritofshankly.com/news/Spirit-Of-Shankly-Announcement.html ).
However, that isn't quite the end of the matter. Scott observes that it "does not explain how the singer was allowed to remain on stage for at least five minutes afterwards. A spokesman did not return calls."
SoS has deservedly won plaudits from far & wide for its campaign against the ruinous reign of Hicks & Gillett at Anfield. It would be stupid in the extreme to forfeit such tributes & support by failing to take the necessary steps on this incident. There will always be drunken idiots among the ranks of Liverpool fans who sing about Munich; as long as they're marginalised & told in no uncertain terms to either grow up or shut up, that should be sufficient. However, allowing a "performer" to grab the microphone & repeat such crap reflects badly on SoS's organisational abilities.
By all accounts, a "musician" took to the stage & started a chant about the Munich air disaster in 1958. The idiot's antics were caught on video & posted on YouTube. However, if you visit the link now, you'll find a statement from YouTube: "This video is no longer available due to a copyright claim by the Spirit of Shankly, Liverpool Supporters' Union" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LCtaAhaxLMk ).
SoS is being disingenuous & it knows it. Copyright? Do me a favour, folks, it's sheer embarrasment & shame at a disgusting incident which the SoS allowed to happen.
As Matt Scott wrote in his Digger column in the Guardian sports section on Wednesday (http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2009/jun/10/kevin-bond-bbc-panorama ), SoS have issued an apology for the incident (http://www.spiritofshankly.com/news/Spirit-Of-Shankly-Announcement.html ).
However, that isn't quite the end of the matter. Scott observes that it "does not explain how the singer was allowed to remain on stage for at least five minutes afterwards. A spokesman did not return calls."
SoS has deservedly won plaudits from far & wide for its campaign against the ruinous reign of Hicks & Gillett at Anfield. It would be stupid in the extreme to forfeit such tributes & support by failing to take the necessary steps on this incident. There will always be drunken idiots among the ranks of Liverpool fans who sing about Munich; as long as they're marginalised & told in no uncertain terms to either grow up or shut up, that should be sufficient. However, allowing a "performer" to grab the microphone & repeat such crap reflects badly on SoS's organisational abilities.
Spin Over Substance?
The Oldham Echo's sickly sister the Daily Post today carries a piece by David Bartlett, stating that, despite taking up his new position as Health Secretary, Andy Burnham will continue to campaign for the release of all the original Hillsborough documents in their unaltered & unedited forms (http://www.liverpooldailypost.co.uk/liverpool-news/regional-news/2009/06/12/andy-burnham-says-he-will-keep-fighting-for-release-of-secret-hillsborough-files-92534-23852136/ ).
I'm not calling into question Burnham's personal sincerity on the matter (those of us who attended the 20th anniversary memorial service at Anfield will readily attest to his own commitment on the issue), but it does read uncomfortably like yet another New Labour spin missive which Bartlett regurgitates faithfully. Pressure on the government to fulfill their pledge on the documents will, of course, continue, & Bartlett, to his credit, does mention the march on Parliament for justice over Hillsborough on Saturday June 20, linking to the march's website (http://www.m4j.co.uk/ ).
In the meantime, reminders of the need for movement on Hillsborough should be addressed to the new minister at the Department for Culture, Media & Sport, Ben Bradshaw (http://www.culture.gov.uk/contact_us/default.aspx ).
Bartlett's article repeats the ficticious claim that Burnham was "heckled" at the service in April:
"The Newton-le-Willows-born Everton fan, who was heckled at the recent Hillsborough memorial service at Anfield, has also revealed the way he was barracked was helpful because it helped 'lift the lid' off the feeling justice has still not been done.
"Mr Burnham said: 'The 20th anniversary service of Hillsborough was absolutely a difficult experience.
" 'If I was not a minister, I would have been shouting at the minister.' "
According to my mini-reference version of the Oxford Dictionary & Thesaurus, "heckle v interrupt (a public speaker) with aggressive questions and abuse."
Burnham's address was "interrupted" by the crowd, but not in an aggressive manner towards him personally (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-z3mBIi084Q ).
I'm not calling into question Burnham's personal sincerity on the matter (those of us who attended the 20th anniversary memorial service at Anfield will readily attest to his own commitment on the issue), but it does read uncomfortably like yet another New Labour spin missive which Bartlett regurgitates faithfully. Pressure on the government to fulfill their pledge on the documents will, of course, continue, & Bartlett, to his credit, does mention the march on Parliament for justice over Hillsborough on Saturday June 20, linking to the march's website (http://www.m4j.co.uk/ ).
In the meantime, reminders of the need for movement on Hillsborough should be addressed to the new minister at the Department for Culture, Media & Sport, Ben Bradshaw (http://www.culture.gov.uk/contact_us/default.aspx ).
Bartlett's article repeats the ficticious claim that Burnham was "heckled" at the service in April:
"The Newton-le-Willows-born Everton fan, who was heckled at the recent Hillsborough memorial service at Anfield, has also revealed the way he was barracked was helpful because it helped 'lift the lid' off the feeling justice has still not been done.
"Mr Burnham said: 'The 20th anniversary service of Hillsborough was absolutely a difficult experience.
" 'If I was not a minister, I would have been shouting at the minister.' "
According to my mini-reference version of the Oxford Dictionary & Thesaurus, "heckle v interrupt (a public speaker) with aggressive questions and abuse."
Burnham's address was "interrupted" by the crowd, but not in an aggressive manner towards him personally (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-z3mBIi084Q ).
Tuesday, June 09, 2009
Broadcasting Baloney
The US TV news networks rarely offer their viewers real journalism. Instead, thet serve up a toxic concoction made up of infomercials & deranged, partisan cheerleading (just check Fox News' website...then again, best not to). We all know the broadcast media in the UK has numerous shortcomings, but most BBC reports & Channel 4 News are head & shoulders above anything masquerading as journalism across the pond.
Yesterday's edition of The Daily Show with Jon Stewart was on fine form in skewering the hype, rants & general bullshit which passes for news (http://www.thedailyshow.com/ ).
Yesterday's edition of The Daily Show with Jon Stewart was on fine form in skewering the hype, rants & general bullshit which passes for news (http://www.thedailyshow.com/ ).
Monday, June 08, 2009
Aftermath
The commenter who felt that I was unduly alarmist about the threat of a BNP victory in the North West last night referred me to David Bartlett's updates from the count in Manchester. I read his despatches until just after midnight. Little was he or I to know for sure what would follow.
On his Dale Street Blues blog this evening Bartlett gives an account of the scene at Manchester Town Hall early this morning. He also relates a couple of intriguing anecdotes about the activities of the far-right in Lancashire when he was at the Lancashire Evening Telegraph (http://blogs.liverpooldailypost.co.uk/dalestreetblues/2009/06/a-witness-to-the-far-rights-ri.html ).
Meanwhile Hilary Burrage has updated her posting. Invoking the BBC's political editor Nick Robinson, she continues to contend that only a huge Labour vote would have stopped the fascists. Nope, she still doesn't get it.
On his Dale Street Blues blog this evening Bartlett gives an account of the scene at Manchester Town Hall early this morning. He also relates a couple of intriguing anecdotes about the activities of the far-right in Lancashire when he was at the Lancashire Evening Telegraph (http://blogs.liverpooldailypost.co.uk/dalestreetblues/2009/06/a-witness-to-the-far-rights-ri.html ).
Meanwhile Hilary Burrage has updated her posting. Invoking the BBC's political editor Nick Robinson, she continues to contend that only a huge Labour vote would have stopped the fascists. Nope, she still doesn't get it.
Sunday, June 07, 2009
Heads In The Sand
Within a couple of hours we could have the odious spectacle of Nick Griffin & his suited thugs revelling in a protest vote which has partially gone their way. The grotesque irony of fascists being elected just a day after the D-Day commemorations will be lost on no one. Who's to blame? Contrary to the impulses of some, the answer is messily complex & unsatisfactory.
Labour certainly has to accept a good deal of responsibility for the rise of the far-Right in recent years. When faced with the spectre, their response has been by turns complacent & arrogant. A combination of both was evident on Hilary Burrage's blog (http://www.hilaryburrage.com/2009/06/critical_choices_4_june_09_eur_1.php ):
"In the 2004 European elections the BNP got 6.4% of the vote in the NW [North West] of England region, but no seat. This time they could need as little as 8% to gain one.
"It has been calculated that only a strong vote for the Labour Party candidates...is likely to ensure the critical 8% level is not reached."
She adds later in her post:
"If you prefer other, non-Labour candidates, that's absolutely your democratic choice; but everyone needs to know that not voting (or indeed voting -- however ernestly -- for small parties which cannot realistically win a seat) may end up with just the same result as actually voting for the BNP."
In the following paragraph, Burrage kindly declares her own Labour Party membership.
Such arrogance & complacency is breath-taking. As for Burrage's warped perception that a vote for other parties amounts to a vote for the fascists, I've rarely read such an offensive & imbecilic remark.
You may not be surprised to know that Burrage is honorary chair of Liverpool Riverside Constituency Labour Party & honorary agent for Louise Ellman, the constituency's MP (http://www.hilaryburrage.com/2005/10/about_hilary_burrage_1.php ).
Burrage would have done well to read a Comment is Free piece by the Guardian diarist Hugh Muir, headlined "Who opened the door to the BNP?" (http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2009/jun/05/bnp-labour-conservatives-voters ).
Muir refers to Labour & Tory policies on immigration over the years. Both parties pandered to racist, xenophobic sentiment, he contends. Muir continues:
"And yet, in truth, what we are hearing from both sides is yah-boo stuff. It's irritating because they know the problems involve both of them. This situation hasn't appeared from nowhere. It is the result of negligence. The architects of New Labour did not see the need to involve ordinary working people. They focused their attention on the limited numbers of seats and on the limited demographic they identified as necessary to get the party elected: Daily Mail readers and voters in the marginals. They cut the cord with the unions and the activist left, both of which were seen as a drag on their ambitions. But both provided grassroots links, connections with communities and foot soldiers. There was nothing to take up the slack."
Mandelson, Draper, et al used to sneer, "Where else will they [the working class] go?" when challenged about New Labour's "intensely relaxed" [Mandelson's quote] attitude to the super rich. We may, sadly, know in the next couple of hours.
It would be welcome if Hilary Burrage "got it". Can't see it happening, though.
For the record, I voted Green.
Labour certainly has to accept a good deal of responsibility for the rise of the far-Right in recent years. When faced with the spectre, their response has been by turns complacent & arrogant. A combination of both was evident on Hilary Burrage's blog (http://www.hilaryburrage.com/2009/06/critical_choices_4_june_09_eur_1.php ):
"In the 2004 European elections the BNP got 6.4% of the vote in the NW [North West] of England region, but no seat. This time they could need as little as 8% to gain one.
"It has been calculated that only a strong vote for the Labour Party candidates...is likely to ensure the critical 8% level is not reached."
She adds later in her post:
"If you prefer other, non-Labour candidates, that's absolutely your democratic choice; but everyone needs to know that not voting (or indeed voting -- however ernestly -- for small parties which cannot realistically win a seat) may end up with just the same result as actually voting for the BNP."
In the following paragraph, Burrage kindly declares her own Labour Party membership.
Such arrogance & complacency is breath-taking. As for Burrage's warped perception that a vote for other parties amounts to a vote for the fascists, I've rarely read such an offensive & imbecilic remark.
You may not be surprised to know that Burrage is honorary chair of Liverpool Riverside Constituency Labour Party & honorary agent for Louise Ellman, the constituency's MP (http://www.hilaryburrage.com/2005/10/about_hilary_burrage_1.php ).
Burrage would have done well to read a Comment is Free piece by the Guardian diarist Hugh Muir, headlined "Who opened the door to the BNP?" (http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2009/jun/05/bnp-labour-conservatives-voters ).
Muir refers to Labour & Tory policies on immigration over the years. Both parties pandered to racist, xenophobic sentiment, he contends. Muir continues:
"And yet, in truth, what we are hearing from both sides is yah-boo stuff. It's irritating because they know the problems involve both of them. This situation hasn't appeared from nowhere. It is the result of negligence. The architects of New Labour did not see the need to involve ordinary working people. They focused their attention on the limited numbers of seats and on the limited demographic they identified as necessary to get the party elected: Daily Mail readers and voters in the marginals. They cut the cord with the unions and the activist left, both of which were seen as a drag on their ambitions. But both provided grassroots links, connections with communities and foot soldiers. There was nothing to take up the slack."
Mandelson, Draper, et al used to sneer, "Where else will they [the working class] go?" when challenged about New Labour's "intensely relaxed" [Mandelson's quote] attitude to the super rich. We may, sadly, know in the next couple of hours.
It would be welcome if Hilary Burrage "got it". Can't see it happening, though.
For the record, I voted Green.
Kennedy To Cut & Run?
David Bartlett today observes on his blog that Labour's Liverpool Wavertree MP Jane Kennedy is set to quit her post as environment minister (http://blogs.liverpooldailypost.co.uk/dalestreetblues/2009/06/wavertree-mp-jane-kennedy-on-t.html ).
Bartlett refers to a story in today's Sunday Times in which Kennedy is named as one of two female junior ministers who are about to jump from the sinking ship (http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/politics/article6446324.ece ).
Bartlett also asks us to remember that Kennedy "first came to prominence in fighting the Militant Tendency in Labour. Some would say there are direct comparisons in the manner in which Militant operated and the so-called cabal that runs the government."
Such "comparisons" are lazy in the extreme. Whatever Militant's shortcomings may have been, & whatever your view may be of those years, it should be noted that Brown's "cabal" is slowly disintegrating, something that didn't happen to Militant; democratic centralism, for all its faults, ensured that.
Kennedy has been Telegraphed, it should be said. According to the paper (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/mps-expenses/5349413/MPs-expenses-Full-list-of-Labour-MPs-investigated-by-the-Telegraph.html ):
"Jane Kennedy [Labour, Liverpool Wavertree] regularly claimed £400 a month for food, as well as £200 for telephone bills and £200 for service and maintenance on her second home, a flat in Lambeth."
The reference David Bartlett made to Kennedy's role in Liverpool Labour politics during the 80s reminds me of an episode from that time which speaks volumes about her willingness, or otherwise, to try & justify the claims she made. The Labour Party NEC voted in favour of an inquiry into the running of the Liverpool District Labour Party (DLP) in the wake of the expulsions in 1985. Peter Taafe & Tony Mulhearn recall:
"On the very first day of the inquiry, the Sun reported: 'Shock 150 page blast at Militant'. This dossier had been drawn up by Jane Kennedy and the NUPE leadership in Liverpool probably with the connivance of the union leadership at national level. Jane Kennedy was more than eager to detail the alleged 'crimes' of the Liverpool District Labour Party in the safety of the inquiry's private sessions.
"When the leaders of the District Labour Party appeared at the inquiry, they were given an assurance that they would be allowed to question their accusers and the 'evidence'. When this was revealed to Jane Kennedy by reporters, she was alarmed and threatened to withdraw the 'dossier'. The inquiry was a show trial." ("Liverpool: A City That Dared To Fight", p.356, by Peter Taafe and Tony Mulhearn, Fortress Books, first edition January, 1988).
Bartlett refers to a story in today's Sunday Times in which Kennedy is named as one of two female junior ministers who are about to jump from the sinking ship (http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/politics/article6446324.ece ).
Bartlett also asks us to remember that Kennedy "first came to prominence in fighting the Militant Tendency in Labour. Some would say there are direct comparisons in the manner in which Militant operated and the so-called cabal that runs the government."
Such "comparisons" are lazy in the extreme. Whatever Militant's shortcomings may have been, & whatever your view may be of those years, it should be noted that Brown's "cabal" is slowly disintegrating, something that didn't happen to Militant; democratic centralism, for all its faults, ensured that.
Kennedy has been Telegraphed, it should be said. According to the paper (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/mps-expenses/5349413/MPs-expenses-Full-list-of-Labour-MPs-investigated-by-the-Telegraph.html ):
"Jane Kennedy [Labour, Liverpool Wavertree] regularly claimed £400 a month for food, as well as £200 for telephone bills and £200 for service and maintenance on her second home, a flat in Lambeth."
The reference David Bartlett made to Kennedy's role in Liverpool Labour politics during the 80s reminds me of an episode from that time which speaks volumes about her willingness, or otherwise, to try & justify the claims she made. The Labour Party NEC voted in favour of an inquiry into the running of the Liverpool District Labour Party (DLP) in the wake of the expulsions in 1985. Peter Taafe & Tony Mulhearn recall:
"On the very first day of the inquiry, the Sun reported: 'Shock 150 page blast at Militant'. This dossier had been drawn up by Jane Kennedy and the NUPE leadership in Liverpool probably with the connivance of the union leadership at national level. Jane Kennedy was more than eager to detail the alleged 'crimes' of the Liverpool District Labour Party in the safety of the inquiry's private sessions.
"When the leaders of the District Labour Party appeared at the inquiry, they were given an assurance that they would be allowed to question their accusers and the 'evidence'. When this was revealed to Jane Kennedy by reporters, she was alarmed and threatened to withdraw the 'dossier'. The inquiry was a show trial." ("Liverpool: A City That Dared To Fight", p.356, by Peter Taafe and Tony Mulhearn, Fortress Books, first edition January, 1988).
Forever In Their Debt
Watching the TV coverage of the D-Day commemorations yesterday, I was vaguely conscious of a jarring collision. The almost festive feel of the occasion, coupled with a brisk, uptempo treatment of its significance seemed at tasteless variance with the reality of the landings, the battles on the beaches, the thousands who didn't even make it beyond the shore.
My late father, then eighteen years of age, was one of the lucky ones, one who didn't have a bullet, bomb or booby-trap to cut him short. He made it all the way to Berlin from the French coast, staying on in Germany for a further two years after the war as part of the Military Police (MP).
He was also among the first of the allied troops to liberate the Belsen concentration camps.
[By the time he returned home to Bootle in the late 40s he was fluent in German, much to the consternation of the neighbours.]
With the possible exception of Barack Obama, it seemed as though the heads of state present yesterday cut an incongruous prescence; Brown & Sarkozy, in particular, serving as a reminder that this generation of political leaders, with no direct experience of warfare, think nothing of authorising acts of war based on false premises & dodgy dossiers.
Euan Ferguson pens a moving & eloquent piece in today's Observer. The final paragraph perfectly articulates the chasm between the official remembrance & the bloody reality the troops faced (http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/jun/07/d-day-normandy-veterans-barack-obama ):
"Yesterday the American president, and the world, saw the beauty of Normandy. Marked the glory of heroism. Marked the stirring music, and splendid tales, and noted our courteous ways of the remembrance. One can only hope, as the veterans go, that we do not forget to remember the darkness. Hope that, even for an instant, as the world and its leaders watched, a time-shimmer could allow them to see beyond the beauty, to see what the veterans were seeing: many thousands of young men in personal darkness, losing their minds."
My late father, then eighteen years of age, was one of the lucky ones, one who didn't have a bullet, bomb or booby-trap to cut him short. He made it all the way to Berlin from the French coast, staying on in Germany for a further two years after the war as part of the Military Police (MP).
He was also among the first of the allied troops to liberate the Belsen concentration camps.
[By the time he returned home to Bootle in the late 40s he was fluent in German, much to the consternation of the neighbours.]
With the possible exception of Barack Obama, it seemed as though the heads of state present yesterday cut an incongruous prescence; Brown & Sarkozy, in particular, serving as a reminder that this generation of political leaders, with no direct experience of warfare, think nothing of authorising acts of war based on false premises & dodgy dossiers.
Euan Ferguson pens a moving & eloquent piece in today's Observer. The final paragraph perfectly articulates the chasm between the official remembrance & the bloody reality the troops faced (http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/jun/07/d-day-normandy-veterans-barack-obama ):
"Yesterday the American president, and the world, saw the beauty of Normandy. Marked the glory of heroism. Marked the stirring music, and splendid tales, and noted our courteous ways of the remembrance. One can only hope, as the veterans go, that we do not forget to remember the darkness. Hope that, even for an instant, as the world and its leaders watched, a time-shimmer could allow them to see beyond the beauty, to see what the veterans were seeing: many thousands of young men in personal darkness, losing their minds."
Discordant Notes
The people who gave us that memorable ditty, "There's No One As Irish As Barack Obama" have turned their attention to the MPs expenses scandal. Enjoy: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A1T0xsDCI5o .
[Hat tip: Jennie Rigg's Daily Blog Review at Liberal Conspiracy (http://www.liberalconspiracy.org/ ) .]
[Hat tip: Jennie Rigg's Daily Blog Review at Liberal Conspiracy (http://www.liberalconspiracy.org/ ) .]
Saturday, June 06, 2009
It Was Twenty Years Ago Today
The summer of 1989 was a conflicted one. Traumatised, distressed & angered by Hillsborough little more than a month earlier, most of us were vainly attempting to make some sort of sense of what happened. The FA Cup final had its own drama on the pitch. Off it, in baking heat, Wembley stewards doused Liverpool & Everton fans with water. Emotions were as high as the temperature that day & a regrettably large number of idiots on both sides invaded the pitch during & after the game.
I recall that summer as one of unbroken, glorious weather on Merseyside also.
A few weeks after Hillsborough I saw Elvis Costello play two nights at the Royal Court. He donated all the takings from both evenings (about £25,000 at the time) to the Hillsborough Fund.
I write all this because a clip on YouTube has sparked those memories. Here is Costello performing an acoustic version of "Veronica" for Warner Brothers' staff in Los Angeles on this day 20 years ago:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2k4ZXzhwCkM
I recall that summer as one of unbroken, glorious weather on Merseyside also.
A few weeks after Hillsborough I saw Elvis Costello play two nights at the Royal Court. He donated all the takings from both evenings (about £25,000 at the time) to the Hillsborough Fund.
I write all this because a clip on YouTube has sparked those memories. Here is Costello performing an acoustic version of "Veronica" for Warner Brothers' staff in Los Angeles on this day 20 years ago:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2k4ZXzhwCkM
Friday, June 05, 2009
Retailers On The Rack
Tucked away in the inside pages of the Oldham Echo is the occasional admission that the global recession is affecting the local economy. No, really. So while the front page & first couple of inside pages may be given over to self-congratulatory doggerel & C-list local celebrities, the sobering blast of economic reality is channeled into areas of the paper which may be overlooked on a casual reading.
A case in point was its article yesterday that the owner of Liverpool One has offered its retail tenants the chance to pay rent on a monthly basis. Until now the preferred system has been one of quarterly payments (http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/liverpool-news/local-news/2009/06/04/liverpool-one-helps-retailers-struggling-with-rents-100252-23786061/ ).
I've made the point before, but it bears repeating: Liverpool One is a retail behemoth, dependent on people's ability or willingness to spend considerable sums of money. Fine when the economy's doing well. The recession, however, lays bare the hollow claims of civic regeneration via "retail therapy". Liverpool One may well end up as the biggest white elephant on Merseyside since the Kirkby ski-slope.
Held To Account?
Roy Greenslade is sometimes right on the money when analysing media matters. However, he was way off target yesterday in his contention that local papers are increasingly holding their MPs to account over their expenses (http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/greenslade/2009/jun/04/mps-expenses-local-newspapers ).
Aside from the occasional piece by David Bartlett on his Dale Street Blues blog (http://blogs.liverpooldailypost.co.uk/dalestreetblues/ ), the Oldham Echo has been strikingly reticent to confront local MPs over their expenses. There's been the odd, outraged, tabloidesque editorial on the matter, but it's been scattergun in nature, not focused on particular local miscreants.
True, there are some local papers which have spoken out, to their credit. Indeed, on a local note, Greenslade observes:
"A commenter to my earlier blog posting (Zeds) also pointed to the Wirral Globe (a Newsquest free weekly) for its tough response to revelations about Wirral South MP Ben Chapman. He had flatly refused to talk to the paper and has now decided to stand down."
However, Greenslade's central point that local papers are suddenly showing some journalistic gumption is somewhat undermined by his ownreference to the coverage given by the Manchester Evening News to Hazel Blears' resignation from the cabinet (http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/s/1118830_blears_ill_stay_on_as_mp ). Its senior reporter is quoted as saying:
"Hazel [Blears] is smart enough to know that the Manchester Evening News would be a good bet to get her views across at a local level."
A good bet? What's that got to do with journalism?
Aside from the occasional piece by David Bartlett on his Dale Street Blues blog (http://blogs.liverpooldailypost.co.uk/dalestreetblues/ ), the Oldham Echo has been strikingly reticent to confront local MPs over their expenses. There's been the odd, outraged, tabloidesque editorial on the matter, but it's been scattergun in nature, not focused on particular local miscreants.
True, there are some local papers which have spoken out, to their credit. Indeed, on a local note, Greenslade observes:
"A commenter to my earlier blog posting (Zeds) also pointed to the Wirral Globe (a Newsquest free weekly) for its tough response to revelations about Wirral South MP Ben Chapman. He had flatly refused to talk to the paper and has now decided to stand down."
However, Greenslade's central point that local papers are suddenly showing some journalistic gumption is somewhat undermined by his ownreference to the coverage given by the Manchester Evening News to Hazel Blears' resignation from the cabinet (http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/s/1118830_blears_ill_stay_on_as_mp ). Its senior reporter is quoted as saying:
"Hazel [Blears] is smart enough to know that the Manchester Evening News would be a good bet to get her views across at a local level."
A good bet? What's that got to do with journalism?
Cancel The Plane Tickets
When she isn't ignoring letters & emails from her own constituents (http://liverpoolpreservationtrust.blogspot.com/2009/06/louise-ellman-why-wont-you-answer.html ), Liverpool Riverside's MP Louise Ellman chairs the transport select committe down at the Augean stables that masquerade as the Houses of Parliament. Ellman & her chums were due to jet across the Atlantic next week. However, there's been a change of plan. Hugh Muir in today's Guardian diary column casts a wry look (http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2009/jun//05/diary-hugh-muir ):
"And there will be no early election, goes the line from the bunker. We still have a mandate. We're still getting on with the job. Which makes it quite surprising that the transport select committee, led by Labour MP Louise Ellman, has cancelled a trip to Washington next week fearing that there might soon be an election. It's not as if they would miss out. There's always CNN."
Ellman's majority in her seat has halved to just over 10,000 since 1997. As today's election coverage conveys the scale of Labour's wipe out in the local elections, Ellman will be worried. Very worried.
"And there will be no early election, goes the line from the bunker. We still have a mandate. We're still getting on with the job. Which makes it quite surprising that the transport select committee, led by Labour MP Louise Ellman, has cancelled a trip to Washington next week fearing that there might soon be an election. It's not as if they would miss out. There's always CNN."
Ellman's majority in her seat has halved to just over 10,000 since 1997. As today's election coverage conveys the scale of Labour's wipe out in the local elections, Ellman will be worried. Very worried.
Thursday, June 04, 2009
Exit Stage Left
Acording to the Daily Telegraph, Labour's Crosby MP Claire Curtis-Thomas tried to claim £9,000 for a fire escape. The fees office knocked this figure down to £4,000. There, it seemed, the matter ended. However, I was informed by a more than reliable source last weekend that Curtis-Thomas' constituency home, on Marine Terrace, Waterloo, already had a fire escape. It would appear that the Honourable Member for Crosby has some questions to answer.
Leopards Don't Change Their Spots
Some things don't change. Labour may be in deserved meltdown, the Lib Dems may make noises from the sidelines & Cameron's lot may already be planning for life in government. However, one thing set to continue for the forseeable future is Merseyside's status as a largely Tory-free zone. We know that, they know that.
Be that as it may, the Tories still have to make the right statements for the benefit of their membership & the local media. Last week Tory party chairman Eric Pickles popped up on the Wirral, wanting "Merseysiders" to join the Tory ranks as part of the drive to "clean-up" politics in the wake of Expensegate (http://www.liverpooldailypost.co.uk/liverpool-news/regional-news/2009/05/29/tory-chairman-calls-for-real-merseysiders-to-join-campaign-trail-92534-23739326/ ):
"Mr Pickles said he was encouraged by the number of people from the region responding to party leader David Cameron's announcement he would open up Tory candidates to 'successful head teachers and the owners of small businesses'.
"But Mr Pickles insisted the party was not merely looking to the 'petit-bourgeois' to restore Parliament's credibility in the wake of the expenses scandal, which has rocked Westminster."
[Pickles made his comments from the relative electoral safety of Wallasey, where he also met local Tory candidates (http://www.liverpooldailypost.co.uk/liverpool-news/regional-news/2009/05/29/conservative-candidates-meet-party-chairman-at-wallasey-town-hall-92534-23739323/ ).]
It's worth recalling that Pickles was one of the first MPs to inadvertently fess up on the BBC's Question Time about his expenses & housing arrangements earlier this year. It helped to set the ball rolling on the expenses story: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6MrFV4c_sVY .
Yep, cleaning up politics sure is a messy business. Just ask Eric Pickles, he's up to his neck in it.
Some of us remember the then Tory chancellor Geoffrey Howe saying in the wake of the 1981 Toxteth riots that government policy on areas such as Merseyside should be one of "managed decline". Thatcher's policies throughout her reign were zealously implemented to that end.
Be that as it may, the Tories still have to make the right statements for the benefit of their membership & the local media. Last week Tory party chairman Eric Pickles popped up on the Wirral, wanting "Merseysiders" to join the Tory ranks as part of the drive to "clean-up" politics in the wake of Expensegate (http://www.liverpooldailypost.co.uk/liverpool-news/regional-news/2009/05/29/tory-chairman-calls-for-real-merseysiders-to-join-campaign-trail-92534-23739326/ ):
"Mr Pickles said he was encouraged by the number of people from the region responding to party leader David Cameron's announcement he would open up Tory candidates to 'successful head teachers and the owners of small businesses'.
"But Mr Pickles insisted the party was not merely looking to the 'petit-bourgeois' to restore Parliament's credibility in the wake of the expenses scandal, which has rocked Westminster."
[Pickles made his comments from the relative electoral safety of Wallasey, where he also met local Tory candidates (http://www.liverpooldailypost.co.uk/liverpool-news/regional-news/2009/05/29/conservative-candidates-meet-party-chairman-at-wallasey-town-hall-92534-23739323/ ).]
It's worth recalling that Pickles was one of the first MPs to inadvertently fess up on the BBC's Question Time about his expenses & housing arrangements earlier this year. It helped to set the ball rolling on the expenses story: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6MrFV4c_sVY .
Yep, cleaning up politics sure is a messy business. Just ask Eric Pickles, he's up to his neck in it.
Some of us remember the then Tory chancellor Geoffrey Howe saying in the wake of the 1981 Toxteth riots that government policy on areas such as Merseyside should be one of "managed decline". Thatcher's policies throughout her reign were zealously implemented to that end.
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