Thursday, 27 March 2008

LIVERPOOL LIBERAL DEMOCRAT HOUSE OF CARDS STARTS TO CRUMBLE


EACH DAY THE NEWS OF ANOTHER LIVERPOOL LIBERAL DEMOCRAT RESIGNING OR BEING DE-SELECTED BRINGS THE HEAT NEARER TO BRADLEY'S DOOR!



SHOULD WARREN BRADLEY NOW RESIGN TO SAVE HIS PARTY?


OR SHOULD HE CARRY ON CLAIMING HE HAS PASSION FOR LIVERPOOL SO HE CAN DO OR SAY AS HE WISHES?


BRADLEY SEEMS TO THINK IT'S ALRIGHT FOR HIM TO SEE A TOP RATED SHOW IN LAS VEGAS AND CHARGE THE COUNCIL TAX PAYERS FOR THE PRIVELAGE!

IN FULL COUNCIL LAST NIGHT HE WAS ASKED TO EXPLAIN HIMSELF ON A NUMBER OF OCCASSIONS, HE TURNED THE QUESTION BACK TO LABOUR WITH INUENDO'S.

WE WANT A YES OR NO BRADLEY, THE FACT YOU WILL NOT GIVE US THE ANSWER OUR COUNCILLORS HAVE REQUESTED OF YOU, GIVES RISE TO CONCERNS OF YOUR ABILITY TO TELL ANY FORM OF TRUTH?

TAKE A LOOK WHAT YOUR OWN PARTY MEMBERS THINK OF YOU BRADLEY.

LONG STANDING COUNCILLOR HAS DECIDED TO QUIT HIS EXECUTIVE ROLE, SADLY NOT THE COUNCILLOR ROLE, TO GIVE A STRONG AND LOUD MESSAGE TO BRADLEY TO GO.

IF YOU ARE A LABOUR SUPPORTER THEN YOU WILL HAVE, LIKE ME, A BIG SMILE ON YOUR FACE!

BELOW IS TODAY'S DAILY POST HEADLINES.

#PLEASE NOTE TONY PARRISH FOLLOWERS BROKE THIS NEWS WEEKS AGO#

Warren Bradley in row over Las Vegas show tickets

Mar 27 2008 by David Bartlett, Liverpool Daily Post

Warren Bradley Cirque de soliel row

Warren Bradley Cirque de soliel row

LIVERPOOL council leader Warren Bradley was last night accused of failing to declare his attendance at a Las Vegas show at taxpayers’ expense.

Cllr Bradley privately asked Culture Company chief executive Jason Harborow to buy him tickets for Cirque du Soleil’s Love Show, it was alleged yesterday.

At the full council meeting, Labour group leader Cllr Joe Anderson asked Cllr Bradley to confirm he had sent a text message to Mr Harborow asking him to purchase the tickets while Cllr Bradley was on a private holiday in the American resort. He asked if the Lib-Dem leader had then declared the tickets as hospitality.

Cllr Bradley refused to be drawn on the specific issue, but said he was “meticulous” in declaring hospitality.

In the council chamber, Cllr Ander-son said: “Could you confirm to me that in 2006, while on holiday in Las Vegas, you attended a show called the Love Show and requested the Culture Company pay for tickets and sent the following text message: ‘Jason, can you arrange for the show? If you manage to do it, let me know’.”

Cllr Bradley responded: “I am met-iculous in declaring hospitality that I receive from the council and I have the scruples to do so – unlike some who failed to declare gifts since 2003. Certain members failed to declare certain football matches – both before, during and after.”

Cllr Bradley claimed Cllr Ander-son’s question was based on informa-tion gleaned from a “defamatory and ill-informed” blog site.

The Labour opposition has called for an internal council investigation into the matter.

The controversy comes as Stand-ards Board for England investigators are in the city interviewing protagon-ists in an investigation into allega-tions that Cllr Bradley conspired to remove Mr Harborow from his post.

Mr Harborow officially left the employment of the city in January with a £230,000 pay-off.

His complaint to the Standards Board about the way he was treated in a bitter falling-out with Cllr Bradley is subject of a separate investigation.

It is understood the Culture Com-pany and executives from Cirque Du Soleil were in discussions two years ago about bringing the Love Show to Liverpool in 2008, but the talks stalled when it was discovered it would have been too expensive to remove the show from its home in the Mirage.

Earlier this week, Cirque du Soleil brought its Delirium show to the Echo Arena but it is understood this was not a result of previous negotiations over the Love Show.

Unlike Love, Delirium is specifically designed to tour and is run by a different arm of the international company.

Prior to last night’s meeting, Cllr Bradley said: “On the advice of the Culture Company, I took time out from a private holiday to view the Cirque du Soleil show in my official role as vice chairman of the Liverpool Culture Company and leader of the city council.

“Tickets were arranged because at the time we were negotiating with the Cirque production company to bring the show to Liverpool as part of our European Capital of Culture celebrations.”

Labour leader Cllr Joe Anderson last night said he had raised the issue with council chief executive Colin Hilton and requested an internal audit investigation into the matter.

davidbartlett



Liverpool Council's education chief quits

Mar 27 2008 Liverpool Daily Post

Councillor Paul Clein

Councillor Paul Clein _320

LIVERPOOL city councillor Paul Clein has resigned as executive member for children’s services in the wake of the row about the deselection of a Liberal Democrat colleague.

Cllr Clein, who had been on the executive board for ten years, said he had been "unhappy with the leadership of the council for a while".

He is not resigning as a councillor.

He said: "The deselection of my friend and colleague Cllr Kevin Firth was basically the last straw.

"It seems to me there is a strong perception by all and sundry that Kevin was deselected because of his attempts to hold the leadership to account over the Mathew Street business.

"I just felt no-one else was going to stand up and say that is wrong, so I am."

Cllr Clein sent a letter of resignation to the city council leader effective as of today.


WONDER IF THEY WILL NOW DE-SELECT CLEIN FOR SPEAKING OUT AGAINST THE POWER CRAZY LEADER OF LIVERPOOL CITY COUNCIL?



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NADIA GETS TO USE MACCAS GOLDEN SHOWER

NADIA GETS TO USE MACCAS GOLDEN SHOWER

QUOTE OF THE YEAR 2007

Council leader Warren Bradley said that some individual councillors’ behaviour was “appalling” and not fitting of a democratic society.

FULL STORY

BUMBLING BRADLEY

FIREMAN'S INTERVIEW WITH ROGER PHILLIPS, AFTER COUNCIL RANKED THE WORST FINANCIALLY RUN

Roger: This is not a good report for us is it Warren?
Fireman:Well Roger we’ve got to put it into perspective really haven’t we and remember where Liverpool was and that’s not thinking back 10 years. Liverpool has come an awful long way. The people of Liverpool were asking for lower Council Tax and the Liberal Democrats have delivered that and they also wanted better services and you look at the services that are now delivered by Liverpool City Council. If we look at the most vulnerable either elderly or the Children’s Services the social care we are now delivering at a level that Liverpool has never delivered before. We also look at the bread and butter your schools, your sports centres, your libraries, One Stop Shops in communities, our parks, we’ve got 13 green flag parks. It’s like a new home to me when you get an old dilapidated derelict building you’ve got to bring it up to a standard and I think Liverpool City Council under the Liberal Democrats have certainly done that and I am certain if we did a survey of people in the City do you want Liverpool City Council to sit on £20m worth of reserves or do you want the City Council delivering front line services that affect the most vulnerable and people’s lives in the City. I think that they would vote with their feet and say that we support the policies of Liverpool City Council. We’ve got to look at the financial regulations put in by Government and if you want my opinion about this Roger it is purely political.
Roger: Well come on, you know the Audit Commission is not a political body
Fireman: Well with respect Roger and I would beg to differ on that
Roger: Well how can it be a political, it’s an independent organisation?
Fireman: We can say everything is independent to a certain extent but you know you look at what we’ve got at the moment in Liverpool and we’re delivering top quality services.
Roger: But the problem with this is that you’ve got an overall score rating of 2 which was adequate performance into 05, overall score in 06 was 2 which is adequate performance.
This year it is down to 1 below minimum requirements inadequate performance.
Fireman: Based around financial regulations…
Roger: Yes I’m talking about the financial…..
Fireman: Laid down by government. I mean that’s what you’ve got to remember. Don’t try and muddy the waters and say oh this is about Liverpool City Council and their overall performance. It’s not. You look at the issue that we’ve done about achievements. Liverpool scoring 3-4 on achievement at the moment through the Audit Commission.
Roger: I didn’t know that.
(EDs: Pitiful, just pitiful.)
Fireman: And we do seem to always go to the negatives when we’re looking for something like this.
Roger: The District Auditor was pretty negative about you wasn’t he and…
Fireman: No, I have got to say Roger I would love to have £50m in reserves. I would also love not to have to put additions of £7m into adult social care and £2-3m into children’s social care. The facts are we have got to do that because of the pressures that are on Liverpool at the moment.
Roger: So are other Councils….
Fireman: I’m not willing as Leader of this Council to take away care to the most vulnerable to allow it to sit in reserve. I am not willing to do that and I will go to the stake on that the people of the City. Liverpool now is only one of a handful of Councils up and down the country that is providing moderate care to the most vulnerable people in the City. Now to give people an idea of what moderate care is that is home care. These people who’ve got no family to support them and require a visit in the morning or a visit in the evening to make sure they’re ok to help them to take the pills, to make sure that they’ve got the food. Most Councils up and down this country have removed that care. Liverpool City Council is still allowing our most vulnerable people our sort of care. Now is that wrong, is that wrong?
Roger: Now no one would argue that’s wrong but everyone. But many people are affected by housing. Housing is really poor isn’t it. I mean you are so poor you’ve had to hand it over to a different group to run it.
Fireman: Well with respect Roger, with respect, you’ve got to know what the Housing Corporation have done and in partnership with the Government again it’s easy to say it’s the Council, in partnership with the Government we’ve tackled head on through the Pathfinder areas of the inner core of the City some of the housing inefficiencies of the City. That hasn’t happened over the last five years that’s happened over 30 or 40 years. The problems in Norris Green in housing were prevalent 30 or 40 years ago and weren’t tackled. As an Authority we’ve challenged what wasn’t tackled and we’ve challenged it head on and I opened a couple of weeks ago with Flo Clucas and Marilyn Fielding with Cobalt Housing the first phase of Norris Green. We’ve transformed that area and its got houses for sale and social housing in Norris Green that people are seeking to live in now. We’ve got in a core Edge Hill, Kensington, Kirkdale the same issues that have been there for 30 or 40 years that we’re tackling now hand in hand with the Government. I’m not taking the credit for it and the Government isn’t. We’ve got a schools’ programme that is second to none. Liverpool’s young people are now achieving at the national average. I want it higher than national average to give new opportunity but again I’ll say I’m not going to suit accountants’ financial regulations in London and leave £millions sitting in reserve while we have still got the challenges Liverpool has got and I think people you know.
Roger: Do you think it was a mistake to keep Council Tax down or freeze it over the past few years?
Fireman: Well isn’t it ironic Roger how last week John Healey said how Liverpool is charging £101 a head...
Roger: Because its inefficiencies….
Fireman: Well we have taken £150m worth of inefficiencies out of our budget over the last 10 years. We’ve kept Council tax down which is exactly what Government policy is and is exactly what John Healey is saying. Councillor Joe Anderson is saying something completely different to the people of Liverpool that he will put taxes up to build reserves to put in reserve well again this administration this Lib Dem administration is not going to tax for the sake of taxing to leave money sitting in reserve. We will build up the reserves over a period of years and then we will be able to tackle some of the other issues that we’ve got to do. We recognise the health inequalities. To improve health inequalities we’ve got to have a real stable economy offering real opportunity and raising the aspirations in them poorer communities. You cannot do that leaving millions and millions of pounds laying in reserves and this administration will continue the robust financial management that we’ve done. We’ll carry on delivering…
Roger: If it was that robust we wouldn’t have this problem of £20m overdrawn on Capital of Culture.
Fireman: Roger, lets put things into hindsight. We are still delivering front line services. We are still…
Roger: It’s about £20m overall that we’re short this year – now that’s not robust management
Fireman: But Roger we are going through a budget setting process. Every Local Authority up and down the country is in the same process as us. I remember reading about Wirral being £50m short. Other Local Authorities. I meet the core city leaders who are £40-£50m short exactly the same as Liverpool . And let’s not forget I haven’t come on here to knock the Government I’ve come on here to say that I believe we’ve got a robust financial programme in place that is going to deal with the shortfall. We’ve delivered year on year but I’ll say again I am not going to allow millions and millions of pounds to lay in reserve. Cut front line services to the most vulnerable and then say that’s acceptable. Nor as Leader of this Council am I going to allow Council Tax to go through the roof again which will drive the inability to bring further investment into this City. While the Lib Dems have been in control we’ve brought Council Tax down, we’ve brought renewed confidence and we’ve brought real investment that will bring opportunities to the most vulnerable and I think that is the most important and I think the people of this City will stand full square with us on that. I’m proud of what we’ve delivered in this City over the last 10 years and Capital of Culture is part of that."