What have the people of Liverpool gained from the honourable title of European Capital of Culture?

Well for a start they have this huge bill paid to yet another "outside of Liverpool" PR Company!

Taken from Daily Post

LIVERPOOL Culture Company has paid more than £320,000 to a London public affairs firm to promote the city over the last two years.

Last night it emerged FD-LLM has been paid £323,758 since July 2005, almost £12k a month, for lobbying and staging networking events.

It also emerged £35,000 was paid to Kent company Strange Cargo for a giant Beatles-inspired sculpture on wheels called “Jude”, for the city’s 800th birthday pageant celebrations.

Labour group leader Joe Anderson has now called a meeting with the district auditor to scrutinise the way the Culture Company has spent money. But the council insists the work of FD-LLM was “vital” in raising Liverpool’s profile as European Capital of Cul-ture 2008 amongst influential Westminster and Whitehall audiences.

Liberal Democrat council leader Warren Bradley said FD-LLM provided engagement between senior figures from the city and London based politicians. It also established the Liverpool 2008 All-Party Parliamen-tary Group in December 2005, which included prominent politicians like former Conservative leader Michael Howard.

Liverpool Confidential - Mathew Street cancelled

 

THANKS GO TO A SOURCE FOR THE COUNCIL VERSION OF WHY THE MATHEW STREET FESTIVAL HAS BEEN CANCELLED.

NEED I ADD ANYTHING?

HAPPY BIRTHDAY LIVERPOOL

 

This year's Mathew Street Festival has had to be cancelled for health and safety reasons. Below you can read the full council press release.
Liverpool's 2007 Mathew Street Festival has been cancelled for health and safety reasons.

The decision follows independent advice from Capita Symonds Limited, the country's leading experts in health and safety at outdoor events.

They were employed by the Liverpool Culture Company to undertake a comprehensive review of the plans for the festival, and highlighted the loss of the Pier Head and extensive regeneration work taking place in the city centre in August, which has reduced Liverpool's capacity to host an event which regularly attracts more than 100,000 people to the city.

Their advice, backed by Merseyside Police, states that this reduction in capacity, combined with huge crowds in an open, licensed environment, means there is a significant safety risk to the public. 
The detailed planning for the event, and discussions between the city council, police and safety officials, cannot fully eliminate the risk.

Chief executive of Liverpool City Council, Colin Hilton, said: "We have been working tirelessly for months to try and make the Mathew Street Festival work in the city centre. Unfortunately, it has just not been possible to make it happen this year. We have a responsibility for the safety and welfare of every single person attending the event.

"We brought in the country's leading experts to examine our plans, and look at the health and safety issues, and we have to take their advice. We are rightly proud of the festival, and were desperate for it to go ahead this year, but public safety must come first."

Merseyside police's assistant chief constable, Helen King, said: "Having had sight of the advice from the independent consultants to Liverpool Culture Company, we fully understand why they have made the decision to cancel Mathew Street festival this year. Public safety has to be the paramount consideration."

The loss of Pier Head and other regeneration work going on in the city has made planning for this year's festival an extremely difficult exercise, but staff worked right to the 11th hour to try and produce a workable plan which could accommodate the festival in the city centre.

Extra measures this year included an extensive temporary CCTV network to monitor crowd build-up, a big increase in the number of safety stewards and the use of seven stages across the city centre to spread the density of the crowds. 
The festival is the only major event for which a large area of the city centre is licensed for the sale and consumption of alcohol.

However, despite these extra measures, police and safety staff still had reservations about possible crowd safety implications, particularly in light of events in Clayton Square last year. 
To ensure the event provided the maximum protection for the public, organisers called in independent experts in to examine all public safety aspects of the event.

Regrettably, that review has concluded that there would be too many risks for the festival to go ahead as planned.

The advice relates specifically to the unique conditions surrounding the staging of the Mathew Street Festival this year, and does not affect the city's ability to stage other large-scale events, including the city's 800th birthday celebrations on 28 August.

Colin Hilton, added: "We have done everything we can to make sure the festival goes ahead and explored every possible alternative, but there comes a point where you can do no more, and this is it. Everyone is hugely disappointed it cannot go ahead."

Jason Harborow, chief executive of the Liverpool Culture Company, said: "In many ways, the Mathew Street Festival has become a victim of its own success this year. The huge growth in the popularity of the festival, combined with the loss of the Pier Head, presented us with a massive problem. 

"Unfortunately, that problem has proved to be insurmountable. We worked hard to try and find a way to stage the event in the city centre, but even after months of planning we were still not satisfied. As a last resort we employed national safety experts Capita Symonds to see if they could see a way through these intractable problems. Sadly, they have concluded there is still too great a risk to attempt to do so."

"The festival has become an integral part of the city centre's calendar of activities. We know that businesses and the public want to keep it in the city centre, and that's why we've tried right until the very end to achieve that."

The major difficulty in staging this year's Mathew Street Festival has been the redevelopment of the Pier Head which, in recent years, has served as a focal point for the festival.

The Pier Head can accommodate up to 34,800 visitors at any one time, but visitors to this year's festival would have to be accommodated on the city streets - many of which are also undergoing regeneration works.

The works at Pier Head include an extension to the Leeds Liverpool canal link, a replacement Mersey Ferry terminal with new visitor attraction, a new cruise liner terminal and the new Liverpool Museum. 

In total, these developments will deliver £260 million of new investment, attract 1.2 million visitors each year and create almost 1,000 jobs.

 

 

 

Liverpool Confidential - Mathew Street cancelled

LIVERPOOL CARE CRISIS GETS EVEN WORSE!

Liverpool care firm collapse hits 500 patients

Jul 13 2007

by Jessica Shaughnessy, Liverpool Daily Post

A HOME care agency relied on by hundreds of Liverpool’s most vulnerable people is to go into liquidation. Lyndhurst Home Care will shut down today, leaving more than 500 service users, mostly elderly, and 200 carers uncertain of their future. The closure comes just weeks after the company warned that controversial changes in city council contracts would drive it out of business. Liverpool City Council last night moved to reassure the elderly people dependent on the agency that plans were already in place to look after them. But care industry insiders say the news spells the start of a “wake-up call” for the authority. Tearful carers, who will not be officially informed by Lyndhurst, about the redundancies until a meeting at 3pm today, last night accused company directors of keeping them in the dark. One said: “We feel used and let down. Our future has been hanging in the balance since the new contracts were signed weeks ago. “We were encouraged by our managers to campaign against the council and attend meetings. We stuck up for Lyndhurst. “They have been planning this for days and they have not told us a thing. We have only heard rumours.” In a legal letter written to the council days before it went under, Lyndhurst blamed recent controversial contract changes, and asked for an urgent meeting in a last ditch-bid to avoid liquidation. The letter said: “The implications of making staff redundant will be that some 525 service users will not receive care from the company. “This may result in life-threatening situations for those service users that have a high degree of dependency on the care provided. “The company has attempted on a number of occasions to raise these concerns with Liverpool City Council. Despite these efforts, no constructive response has been received. “The company wishes to avoid any liquidation proceedings and would seek to meet with LCC as a matter of urgency to try and resolve this situation.” But this week no compromise agreement was reached, and the company will now fold. The carers and services users are now being divided between three of the city’s other care providers, Merseycare Julianne, Homecarers and Local Solutions. Managers at the firms and council officers are said to have been working around the clock over the last three days to ensure as smooth a transition as possible. The council says that where possible, patients will be transferred to a new company with their existing carer. Officers were last night contacting as many carers as possible to tell them which company they will be working for from tomorrow. Executive director of community services Tony Hunter said: “Our first priority is the safety and care of our clients. “I am pleased that we have been able to work very closely with our other providers, who have shown great professionalism and commitment during this challenging period in agreeing to take on the additional work at extremely short notice. “Our commitment to providing excellent services will continue throughout this transition period and the city council and its contractors will be providing advice and support, and overseeing the entire process until all of the necessary arrangements are in place. “Every single person who receives care from Lyndhurst will be receiving a letter from the city council outlining the process and how the new arrangements will be implemented.” The city’s home care industry warned its future was unstable after their contracts were changed. The terms meant that carers faced a pay cut of up to 30% and in the weeks after the companies signed up, staff walked out in their droves. But last night, one home care manager said the future would be more certain for the other companies. He said: “A major problem for all of the companies was that we were given less hours on a lower rate. “Now the agencies left over have more hours, it means we will become more viable.” GMB regional organiser Karen Atkinson said last night that unions and staff were still in the dark about the developments. She said: “We asked Lyndhurst only this morning what was going on and they denied they were closing. “The staff are very distressed. Some of them say they have not received the right wages in two weeks.” Cllr Roz Gladden, Labour chairwoman of the Health and Social Care Select Committee, said: “This has been on the cards for weeks and the council did not listen and now there is chaos. This is no way to run a service.” Last night, the director of Lyndhurst, Len Collins, was unavailable for comment. * SERVICE users or carers who would like information about arrangements made for their care or future employment should call the city council’s Careline call centre on 0151 233 3019. READ more news from the Liverpool Daily Post

Top

CULTURE OR CARE?

This article is taken from society guardian on-line.

ALTHOUGH Blair McPherson is from Lancashire Council, he speaks as a general idea based on his experiences in Lancashire.

all thoughts on the article itself is from a capital view front, however it strikes a cord given Liverpool is actually CAPITAL of CULTURE!

Support your local carers, demand that they and the vulnerable people of the City do not suffer even more, just to fund the CAPITAL in the CULTURE events of 2008.

ANYONE GOT A SPARE £30 MILLION?

Capital in culture

Councils must take seriously the social and economic value of the arts when weighing up their spending priorities, writes Blair McPherson

Tuesday June 26, 2007
SocietyGuardian.co.uk

Blair McPherson: 'Culture is a fundamental ingredient in making for a better place to live'

Times are hard in local government. Big financial savings are required. Do we close a family centre or a museum; do we keep small rural libraries at the expense of closing a day centre for older people?

It's a no-brainer: services to vulnerable people come before culture. Or is there a case for cultural services being fundamental to delivering the big agendas of regeneration, community cohesion, social inclusion and wellbeing?

The significance of culture for local authorities is best understood by describing the range of services provided by local authorities that fall within the Department of Culture, Media and Sport's remit. In Lancashire, these services include libraries, museums, arts and archives.

Cultural services are not about aesthetics and taste but about the way communities describe and express themselves, how they portray themselves and about their sense of identity.

Community art can be used to help give a place an identity and a positive image by building on a place's heritage. Art projects can be used to harness the creativity of a community and to express loss, anger, celebration and aspiration in the face of economic and environmental change.

The outpouring of creative energy that was harnessed to help coal and shipbuilding industries adjust to loss and change was invaluable. Art, drama and music traditionally have been ways of rebelling and expressing dissent in a way that petitions, reports, and letters can never capture. Performing arts can provide an awareness-raising experience and connect with sections of the community that are often described as hard to reach.

An example of this nationally is the group of elderly people who have got together with a record producer to release a version of The Who's My Generation, drawing attention to the poor quality of life endured by many older people in society today.

Lancashire has its own sinfonietta, comprised of some of the country's finest musicians. Linked with the Sure Start programme in Lancashire, the sinfonietta puts on baby-friendly concerts. Classical musicians play Mozart live to young children from disadvantaged backgrounds.

Cultural events such as music festivals can engage the young or showcase minority ethnic cultures through Caribbean carnivals or Asian melas. Art exhibitions can record a place's past or reflect present diversity. Plays in schools, films made by community groups and radio adverts designed by young people can engage a wider audience in addressing juvenile crime; bullying, binge drinking, graffiti and littering. In this way drama, music and art can bridge the generation gap and bring together sections of the community that might otherwise have no contact.

Libraries can provide venues for creative social activity, especially for the old and the very young. Libraries also provide access to computers to people who otherwise may not have access to email and the internet.

Museums provide the deep mines of heritage from which many communities extract their ideas about their past. In Burnley and the surrounding area, the terraced housing, canal-side warehouses and the large Asian population are all a direct result of the cotton industry. Well-preserved cotton mills that capture the noise, heat and risk to health and safety are not just interesting school history trip destinations, they are how your grandparents made a living and they explain why Burnley is different from other parts of Lancashire.

The economic benefit of a vigorous cultural services policy can equally match the social benefits. Cultural services - museums, arts and archives - attract visitors as part of tourism. It is estimated, for example, that for every £1 spent by Bolton council on its museums, an additional 60p is generated through the economic/tourism multiplier.

Arts development, including theatre, sculpture and crafts, also provides and supports an environment in which creative industries can thrive and support employment. In Lancashire it is estimated that each £1 spent on arts development generates an additional £5 from outside agencies, which in turn generates an economic multiplier.

Cultural services can influence a place's image and have a positive impact on people's view of where they live. An active cultural landscape is an indicator of whether a community is forward-looking, self-respecting and inspirational. These factors can be as important to the local economy as access to good road and rail links and a skilled workforce.

Investing in culture and investing in an area's cultural infrastructure requires local authorities to see the links between culture, regeneration, community cohesion, social inclusion and wellbeing. It requires recognition that, far from being the icing on the cake, culture is a fundamental ingredient in making for a better place to live, work, visit and invest in. In my experience it is not the local politicians who need convincing of this but my fellow local government officers.

· Blair McPherson is director of community services for Lancashire county council.

SIGN THE PETITION TODAY, OR HAVE NO-ONE TO CARE FOR YOU IN THE FUTURE

THESE PUBLIC SPIRITED AND VERY CONCERNED CITIZENS HAVE SIGNED THE PETITION I CREATED TO ASK THE PRIME MINISTER TO ENSURE THE BUDGETS FOR ELDERLY CARE GO ON THE ELDERLY AND NOT THE OVER PAID SENIOR MANAGERS WHO ARE PAID IN EXCESS OF £50,000 UPWARDS UNTIL YOU STOP AT THE HEAD OF ADULT SERVICES AT £130-150,000 PLUS 20% PERFORMANCE RELATED BONUS.
GO TO ACTUAL WEBSITE TO COMPLETE FORM, THIS IS JUST A COPY OF THE SITE.
HOME ADDRESS IS NOT KEPT OR PUBLISHED IT IS TO ENSURE YOU ARE FROM A BRITISH RESIDENCE. CLICK HERE TO SIGN

We the undersigned petition the Prime Minister to Provide more public funding towards the care of the elderly and vulnerable in Liverpool City. More details

Submitted by Tori Blare – Deadline to sign up by: 01 December 2007 – Signatures: 53

I, sign up to the petition.

Your email:

Confirm email:

Your email will not be published, and is collected only to confirm your account and to keep you informed of response to this petition.

You must be a British citizen or resident to sign the petition.

Your address (will not be published):

UK postcode:

Or, if you're an expatriate, you're in an overseas territory, a Crown dependency or in the Armed Forces without a postcode, please select from this list: -- Select -- Expatriate Armed Forces Anguilla Ascension Island Bermuda British Antarctic Territory British Indian Ocean Territory British Virgin Islands Cayman Islands Channel Islands Falkland Islands Gibraltar Isle of Man Montserrat Pitcairn Island St Helena S. Georgia and the S. Sandwich Islands Tristan da Cunha Turks and Caicos Islands

More details from petition creator

The Liverpool City Council are £29 million pounds overspent in their budget for Capital of Culture. The Liberal Democrat controlled Administration have insisted that the Private care providers, sign a new contract for this provision of care which equates to a 30% cut across the services, having the direct effect on the staff and the vulnerable. The same administration has decided to cease the existence of the generic council run home care service. This again has a direct impact on the carers and the vulnerable. We request that the Government ensures the full budgets are released for the vulnerable and elderly citizens of Liverpool and not in the form of high wages for the senior management teams of the caring profession.

Current signatories

Tori Blare, the Petition Creator, joined by:

• pat b
• daniel duffy
• Charlotta Jones
• margaret walker
• Sue Mayers
• Mailytn Sheeran
• John Michael Bramwell
• Chris Collins
• Helen Bramwell
• Thomas McNiven
• Pam Scrimshaw
• victoria wright
• Timothy Hayden
• doreen watling
• pat watling
• Anne Campbell
• MARIE THOMAS
• chris austin
• Katie Fowler
• carol davidson
• Pat Dandy
• Julie Finnigan
• Rob Lacy
• Neil Hughes
• Pat Williams
• Mildred Moahner
• Stori Blare
• Steve Downey
• Janet Jones
• Matthew Eland
• Helen willingham
• Brenda Hincks
• Wendy Smith
• susan healy
• Carolyn Curtis
• Jenny Hincks
• P. Stevens
• BRENDA WHEATLEY
• andrew healy
• Irene Witter
• Nick Wall
• Liam Foster
• Martin Burke
• maria seanor
• Sue Egan
• colin hincks
• kelly sweeney
• Celia Waiters
• Jo Waiters
• Angela Stevenson
• Michael JP Lawler
• Caroline Jeans

Henshaw and the evil cabal: JUNE 27, 2007 - IT'S THE END OF AN ERROR AS THE GREAT MAN FINALLY STEPS DOWN

IF YOU READ THIS LINK BELOW YOU WILL KNOW THAT TONY PARRISH IS ALIVE AND WELL AFTERALL!

HE'S JUST BEEN TOO DRUNK TO SEE THE COMPUTER!

IT'S BECAUSE OF ALL THE STREET PARTIES HE'S BEEN TO CELEBRATING THE FURTHER DEMISE OF SIR DAVID CUBANS HENSHAW .

HE'S GONE, HE'S GONE THE BELLS OF AIGBURTH RANG,

HE'S GONE, HE'S GONE THE REST OF LIVERPOOL ROARED!


Henshaw and the evil cabal: JUNE 27, 2007 - IT'S THE END OF AN ERROR AS THE GREAT MAN FINALLY STEPS DOWN

JUNE 27, 2007 - IT'S THE END OF AN ERROR AS THE GREAT MAN FINALLY STEPS DOWN

ONCE he strode the world like a collossus, carrying all before him.

Crowds lined the streets, open mouthed as his chauffeur-driven Jaguar sped by.

He rubbed shoulders with the great and the good, courted the glitteratti and enjoyed luxury holidays in the sun.

Some critiscised his love of the high life, his ego and his fondness for a quick and easy headline.

Even the press seemed in thrall to him.

But today, dear readers, we have witnessed the end of an error.

Sir David Henshaw has finally departed Liverpool, leaving his house at 9 Barkhill Road, Aigburth like a thief in the night.

All that is left to remind us of his evil reign of terror is an empty safe left in the attic and a huge pile of unused rubber heels found beneath the floorboards.

Sir Diddy's huge cheese plant - appropriately presented to him by an obsequious former colleague - lies forlorn and forgotten in the corner of an empty downstairs room.

His new oak and granite kitchen, paid for with his £16,000-a year expense account, is deserted. No sign of any humble pie here - of course, the beans had been spilt a long time before.

His favourite desk plaque, which he had brought from his office in the Municipal Buildings when he had been forced out, has been left discarded on the bare floor. "Sack someone today" it proclaims, underlining Sir Diddy's crude and humourless management style.

On the floor behind the letter box lies only a pile of discarded junk mail - offering homes abroad, offshore bank accounts and tax evasion strategies.

The only clue to Sir Diddy's fate is a £12,000-a-year council computer screen still left switched on. Frozen forever, for all to see, is an image of Kirk Douglas with arm raised aloft in triumph.

Neighbours were today mystified by Sir Diddy's sudden disappearance.

"We don't know where the little bastard has gone," said one neighbour, "we heard some strange sounds - like a huge pile of coins being counted - in the middle of the night and in the morning, the house was empty.

"We never liked him - he was a sanctimonious, evil little shit with a massive ego."

But official sources in the city say Henshaw has finally departed Liverpool for pastures new in mid-Wales and his luxury apartment in Manchester city centre.

"His name will be forever mud in Liverpool, "said one member of the great and the good. "No one has a good word to say about him any more - everyone knows that he was bad news for Liverpool. The evil cabal blog did him in, good style - and deservedly so."

A few miles away in a safe house, surrounded by laughing and excited friends and relatives, Tony Parrish sipped his champagne. And smiled contentedly.

Posted by Tony Parrish47 at Wednesday, June 27, 2007

LIVERPOOL EVIL CABAL BLOGSPOT CREATOR HAS DISSAPPEARED

Monday, 25 June 2007

TONY PARRISH, WHERE ARE YOU?

IN THE SUMMER OF 2006, A BLOG SITE CALLED LIVERPOOL EVIL CABAL,APPEARED ON THE INTERNET AND TOOK LIVERPOOL BY STORM.

THE BLOG WAS CREATED BY THE NOW INFAMOUS TONY PARRISH.

LIVERPOOL CITY COUNCIL PRESSURED THE BLOG TO CLOSE DOWN.

COLIN HILTON BANNED ANY COUNCIL WORKER FROM READING THE BLOG.OR WAS IT DR DAVID MCELHINNEY?

THE LOCAL LIVERPOOL NEWSPAPERS HEADLINED THIS BAN, THE POLITICIANS FROM THE LIVERPOOL LABOUR PARTY OBJECTED TO THIS BAN AS IT INCLUDED ANY COUNCIL COMPUTER, INCLUDING THE LOCAL LIBRARIES, THIS IN EFFECT BANNED THE GENERAL LIVERPOOL PUBLIC FROM READING THIS BLOG.

GAGGING THE LIVERPOOL TAX PAYERS IS NOT A POPULAR STANCE TO TAKE.

THIS OF COURSE HAD THE OPPOSITE EFFECT AS HUNDREDS OF COUNCIL WORKERS RUSHED HOME TO READ THIS EXCITING BLOG, JUST BECAUSE THEY WERE BANNED FROM DOING SO.

WHEN PEOPLE ACTUALLY READ AND DIGESTED WHAT THIS BLOG WAS PROCLAIMING, THEY WERE SHOCKED AT THE DIRTY DEALINGS OF THE LIVERPOOL EVIL CABAL, THE VERY PEOPLE WHO WERE BANNING THEM FROM READING THE BLOG IN THE FIRST PLACE.

THE NEWS WAS OUT AND COLIN HILTON HAD HELPED IN PROMOTING THE SITE. WELL DONE COLIN!

AFTER A FEW MONTHS, THE COUNCIL SUCCEEDED IN PUTTING PRESSURE ON TONY PARRISH AND THE BLOG WAS SADLY CLOSED DOWN.

NUMEROUS PEOPLE, INCLUDING MYSELF, HAD SAVED ENTIRE PAGES OF THE BLOG,

THE NEWS WAS OUT THERE, THE COUNCIL COULD NOT STOP THE INTERNET WORLD FROM REPRODUCING THE WORDS OF TONY PARRISH!

A FEW MONTHS LATER, ANOTHER BLOG APPEARED, THIS WAS CALLED, LIVERPOOL SUBCULTURE.

THIS BLOG HAD MORE EXCLUSIVES THAN THE ECHO HAVE EVER MANAGED!

THE SUBCULTURE SITE HAD ALL THE USUAL SCANDAL THAT WE HAD READ IN THE LIVERPOOL EVIL CABAL BLOG, INCLUDED IN THIS SITE WAS ,GOSSIP, CITY OF THE DEAD, POSTCARDS, REVIEWS OF CULTURE AND THE TONY PARRISH FRINGE.
AFTER A WHILE TONY TOOK THE POSTCARDS AND THE TONY PARRISH FRINGE OFF THE BLOG AND CONCENTRATED ON GOSSIP, FACTS OF SUBCULTURE AND THE CITY OF THE DEAD SITE.

OH WHAT FUN WE HAD READING THE EXCLUSIVES!

TONY RECEIVED INFORMATION FROM PEOPLE HIGH UP IN THE LIVERPOOL CITY COUNCIL AND EVEN HAD COPIES OF WARREN BRADLEY'S EMAILS!

TONY PARRISH HAS BECOME A NAME IN FOLK LAW AND I AM PROUD TO HAVE SUPPORTED HIM IN HIS QUEST TO OUT THE CORRUPTION OF LIVERPOOL EVIL CABAL.

NOW AS SUDDENLY AS HE APPEARED, HE HAS DISAPPEARED FROM OUR INTERNET?

WHERE ARE YOU TONY?
WHAT HAS HAPPENED?

THE LAST POST TONY PUBLISHED WAS CONCERNING AN EMAIL HE RECEIVED FROM GOOGLE, WHO ADVISED HIM THAT LIVERPOOL CITY COUNCIL WERE NOT REALLY HAPPY WITH HIM POINTING THE FINGER AT THEM AND SUCCEEDING IN UPSETTING A NUMBER OF THE EVIL CABAL.

LIVERPOOL CITY COUNCIL WERE THREATENING GOOGLE!

IS THIS THE REASON OUR HERO HAS TAKEN HIS BLOG OFF THE INTERNET?

HAVE THE EVIL CABAL GOT HIM?

DID THE BALD EAGLE FIND HIS SAFE HOUSE IN THE WIRRAL?

DID MACCA THREATEN HIM WITH HIS LUFFA?

THE FAMOUS "HENSHAWS EVIL CABAL" IS STILL ACCESSIBLE BUT SADLY THERE HAVE NOT BEEN ANY RECENT POSTINGS.

TONY IF YOU STILL READ THE BLOG, LET US KNOW YOU ARE SAFE?

HAVE THE EVIL CABAL MANAGED TO GAG YOU?


SOME WORDS OF WISDOM FROM OUR LIVERPOOL WHISTLE BLOWER

Tony Parrish
Posted on 15 Jun 2006 12:18 pm (Report this comment)

Tony Parrish: To anyone in Liverpool, it is absolutely amazing that Hutton has appointed Henshaw. As chief executive of the city council Henshaw mounted an attempted coup d'etat against the Leader of the Council, Mike Storey, when the city council turned down Henshaw's bid for a £360,000 pension deal. In a typical fit of pique, Henshaw announced his retirement when the council turned him down (this was in March last year) and then appears to have changed his mind. However he got rid of his media chief, Matt Finnegan (suspended on trumped up charges) because he did not like the publicity that his announcement and the council's decision had attracted. Then he got access to Finnegan's computer and used emails from the Leader of the Council, expressing his opposition to the pension deal, to try and blackmail Storey and then to try and get rid of him! Everyone in Liverpool knows Henshaw is a greedy little (literally) bully who is only interested in himself. Other MP's - former health minister Jane Kennedy - have objected to other lucrative part-time jobs that Henshaw has secured since finally retiring from Liverpool in March. Henshaw is also getting more money than the Head of the CIvil Service for this CSA job! Try icliverpool or the guardian or telegraph for more on Henshaw. It is absolutely incredible. Rumour has it that this report has been done months ago and they just want Henshaw to front it. He's an arrogant, nasty piece of work, who is full of bull.

Council leader fumes as 'evil-cabal' site is blocked

Aug 10 2006

By Larry Neild, Daily Post

LIVERPOOL council leader Warren Bradley last night demanded to know who ordered the blocking of a controversial internet blog set up in a war against senior council officials. The leader's call came just hours after the council's chief executive, Colin Hilton, revealed he had asked for a police investigation into the so-called "Liverpool-evil-cabal" website. Thousands of people are looking onto the site, but council staff, councillors and visitors to internet rooms at public libraries and one-stop shops, have found the site has been blocked. Last night the city council denied the site had been blocked on the orders of Liverpool Direct, the company jointly owned by the council and BT, headed by former executive director David McElhinney. A council spokesman said the order for the blocking had been made by the city council, and carried out by Liverpool Direct who run the computer website servers on behalf of the council. "The city council took the decision to block access. Liverpool Direct runs servers for the council and the libraries and an instruction was issued to them by the council to block it. " The council has a duty of care to its staff and as a consequence took a decision to block access to this anonymous site, which makes allegations that would not be printed or broadcast by the media. "An increasing number of council staff, some relatively junior, have been named and it has caused a considerable amount of distress and upset to them." But Cllr Bradley last night appeared to come to the defence of the controversial site. He said: "I had a meeting with the head of libraries Joyce Little, and asked about the blocking of the website. I was informed that it had been done by Liverpool Direct. I want to know why we as a council are blocking access to sites that people with their own computers can access without problem." One view among councillors is that the deliberate blocking of the site has prompted people to seek it out on external computers. Chief executive Colin Hilton finally broke his silence on the website by issuing a message to more than 20,000 council staff, as well as the 90 councillors. In his communication, issued through the council Intranet - a site closed to the general public - Mr Hilton reveals the council has gathered evidence which is helping to identify the mystery author of the blog. The website, now compulsive reading among council staff and many of the city's key movers and shakers, contains many intimate details about council activities that point to information being fed by town hall insiders. The phrase "evil cabal" first emerged in a series of e-mails between former leader of the city council Mike Storey and the head of the council's media department, Matt Finnegan, currently suspended. The council spin-doctor has been away from his office, on full pay since April of last year as part of an investigation into a series of e-mails between him and Cllr Storey in which there was evidence of a plot to smooth the exit of Sir David Henshaw from his post as chief executive. Mr Finnegan is due to fight for his reinstatement to his Dale Street office at an internal disciplinary hearing next month. Mr Finnegan cannot comment about his situation at the city council because of the forthcoming case, scheduled to be heard by a panel of councillors. Last night his solicitor, Rex Makin, said: "There have been numerous rumours about the identity of the blogger. There is no evidence about the authorship of the blog. As far as I am concerned reference to a criminal investigation is futile since criminal libel was abolished some years ago. Those who sue for defamation, as Oscar Wilde found out, may discover that the cure is worse than the disease." Last night a spokesman for Merseyside Police said: "We can confirm that several complaints have been received in relation to the website. Inquiries and an investigation are on-going." Hilton's letter of explanation to Liverpool Council staff "YOU will probably be aware that some weeks ago an internet blog site was set up to run a series of libellous articles in a journalistic format. "The initial targets for its malicious activity were senior officers of the council, but over time references have been made to a wider number of staff, causing both distress and anger. "To date, I have held back from making any public comment on the matter in order to deny the site any credibility and to prevent further publicising its existence. "Behind the scenes, however, we have been working with colleagues in audit, legal services and the executive member for Central Services, Cllr Richard Marbrow, to put in place steps to deal with the anonymous author of this disreputable website. " I can now inform you that we have gathered evidence which is helping us identify the author. Today, on my instruction, officers have started investigations on the evidence received. I have also formally asked the police to launch a criminal investigation. I have received a number of requests for information from people who intend to pursue civil action against the author and will be taking legal advice on this. We are also attempting to have the website removed in order to prevent further upset to colleagues. "You will realise that I cannot give you any further information, but I think it is important to give all employees reassurance that matters are in hand." Blogger to face legal action Aug 23 2006 EXCLUSIVE by Deborah James Daily Post Staff LEADING Liverpool council officials and others named on a controversial website about town hall dealings are preparing legal action against its author, the Daily Post can reveal. City lawyer Mark Manley confirmed he is acting for several people who want to sue the author of the Liverpool-Evil-Cabal blog for defamation. It is understood the group include current and former council officials and other high profile city figures named on the website, which criticised and attacked the council's former management team. The website attracted over 80,000 visitors during July and August, but was shut down amid controversy about its contents last week. Last night Chas Cole, who runs Summer Pops operator CMP Entertainment, confirmed he is among those who have sought legal advice after his business was discussed on the site. He said he was prepared to sue the mystery author of the site, who wrote under the name "Tony Parrish", when he is unmasked. Privately at least one council official believes the group now have firm evidence about who wrote the blog. Solicitor Mr Manley, of Brabners Chaffe Street, said: "I have received a number of instructions from a number of people which led me to take appropriate steps to close down the blog, which we did. "The highly defamatory comments published about a number of people on that site cannot go uncorrected. "I anticipate that when our inquiries are complete the author or authors of those statements will be sued." The website, which had a humorous tone, listed Tony Parrish's occupation as "whistleblower" and interests as "victory". Mr Cole said: "Whoever it may be I will sue them. I have taken legal advice, and we are prepared to take legal action. "We are planning action against whoever the blogger was, whether that be one person or several people. "I have heard all the rumours. If they prove to be correct then I will sue the author and his associates if there are any. "The evidence from what I hear is in the hands of the council. I will be interested to hear the outcome of the council investigation." The blog is named after a comment by Cllr Mike Storey in a dossier of e-mails between him and the council's suspended media chief Matt Finnegan, which led to Cllr Storey standing down as council leader. It focused on alleged conduct by three town hall officials, former chief executive Sir David Henshaw, resources director Phil Halsall and Dr David McElhinney, managing director of the Liverpool Direct call centre. Mr Halsall declined to comment last night, and Sir David and Dr McElhinney were not available for comment. The site also heavily criticised the council's approach to Capital of Culture, the departure of artistic director Robyn Archer and an investigation into council contracts with private firms Enterprise and BT. Earlier this month Merseyside police were called in by council chief executive Colin Hilton, and he blocked council employees from viewing it on municipally-owned computers. Police said the website did not break the law, but it was taken down 10 days ago. deborahjames@dailypost.co.uk

Was the council right to block Evil-Cabal website? Aug 15 2006 Action to silence the website raised issues of free speech. Larry Neild investigates Daily Post VISITORS to Liverpool's libraries were banned from visiting a controversial website spilling the beans on life at the Town Hall earlier this month. The Liverpool Evil-Cabal website attracted over 80,000 visitors during July and August as a mystery blogger, known as Tony Parrish, teased and attacked, for the most part, the former management team of Liverpool City Council. The site closed down at the weekend with Mr Parrish, who has become known as the Liverpool Pimpernel, saying "we have now been promised that there will be a proper investigation into the allegations made on the blog". Last week, Merseyside police, called in by council chief executive Colin Hilton, announced that the website does not break the law. Mr Hilton, recently installed as chief executive, wrote an email message on the council's intranet, breaking the council's silence on the issue. He said attempts were being made to have the website removed to prevent further upset to council staff. Council leader Warren Bradley has demanded to know who gave the order for the website to be blocked in the libraries. Like many people, Cllr Bradley is concerned about censorship, although he is no defender of the blog itself. Council staff using municipally-owned computers are also barred from visiting the site. The contents of the blog indicate there is a source, or sources, within the corridors of power, willing to leak sensitive information to the mystery bloggers. The big question, though, is does the council have any right to deny, in a country that promotes the concept of free speech, access to a blog site, however uncomfortable the contents may be for those who feature? Today the Daily Post asks: Was Liverpool council right to block the Evil-Cabal website? larryneild@dailypost.co.uk NEXT YES: The case for >>> Website is a slimy retailer of malicious gossip YES SAYS Cllr Richard Kemp, Lib-Dem representative on the Local Government Association YES, the site should be blocked. Free speech is one of the fundamental safeguards of democracy. Tyrants and dictators close down means of communications to help enforce their tyranny. Too often in our history, those who have defended free speech have appeared like Frodo Baggins taking on the might of Sauron! But the person (people?) behind this blog site is (are) no Frodo - the character that springs to mind is Gollum, the disreputable slimy creature that is evil, devious and disreputable, and lurks in dank caves and slimy caverns. The website is not a champion of democracy but a sordid retailer of malicious gossip, spite, spleen and tittle-tattle. Specific claims have been made against officers. Correspondents have made a series of claims about leading councillors. No-one has yet done the proper thing - to report these allegations to the appropriate external and independent authorities to have them properly investigated. If members or officers are on the take, then it is illegal and they should be dealt with by the police and then by the courts. If they have been doing things which are outside the standing orders and regulations of the council, they should be dealt with by the District Audit Service and then by the courts. If councillors have broken the code of conduct, they can be dealt with by the Standards Board for England. Indeed, a check has recently been done. The Audit Commission has undertaken a governance review of the council. I cannot believe that the things being described on the website could be going on and not have been seen by these people. The report will come out in the autumn, but I am sure that action would already have been taken if 5% of the allegations had any substance whatever. So remedies exist - yet none have been tried - so that leaves the council with two quandaries. The first is about telling the truth. If you knowingly repeat a lie, then you too are a liar. The council knows that these things are untrue. British justice says they are untrue because every person is innocent until proven guilty. The second is how we care for staff. We have a legal duty of care to our staff (including former staff) to protect them from harm and abuse. So, there we are then - gossip but no substance, allegation and no follow up. The council should not assist with this for legal and moral reasons. But, above all, bloggers - put up or shut up. If you really think that there is any truth in what you say, it is your duty and responsibility to go to the police NOW! NEXT NO: The case against >>> Mr Hilton may not like it, but it is called democracy NO SAYS Rex Makin, lawyer AT A time when our freedoms are under threat, it takes either a very brave man, or a very stupid one, to censor freedom of speech. But the new chief executive of the city council, Colin Hilton, is guilty of that in banning the Liverpool Evil-Cabal blog from computers in Liverpool's public libraries. Cllr Warren Bradley did not appoint Mr Hilton as Big Brother to the bloggers. Nor was Mr Hilton appointed to decide what the people of Liverpool choose to read or believe. The council taxpayers of Liverpool pay for the council's computers, the public libraries and the £190,000-a-year salary for Mr Hilton. It is up to them what they do when they surf the web in their local library, provided, of course, that no offence is being committed. And certainly the blog's growing army of thousands of daily readers are not committing any offence. Nor I believe is the blogger himself, who goes under the name Tony Parrish. What Mr Parrish and his associates are doing is, arguably, providing a vital public service to the people of Liverpool. Liverpool-evil-cabal is merely exposing a wider Liverpool audience to startling allegations about the regime of former chief executive Sir David Henshaw which have been circulating among the great and the good in the city for months. The blog asks some serious questions about the awarding of council contracts worth millions of pounds, and questions the relationships and actions of highly-paid senior officers who, we should remind Mr Hilton, are servants of the public. Mr Hilton may not like this, but it is called democracy. Along with the blog's serious purpose comes a fair amount of humour, direct language, gossip and innuendo from Mr Parrish and his readers, of the sort that might be heard on the number 79 bus every day of the week. Mr Hilton's over-reaction has been to ask the police to arrest the bus driver. The police should be after burglars, not bloggers. Banning the blog from council computers has predictably sent thousands of city council staff rushing home to avidly log in for the next instalment. As for Mr Hilton (if it was he who was really behind the ban), he would better serve the people of Liverpool if he investigated the allegations being made. People will not tolerate a cover-up of past procurement irregularities. They look to Mr Hilton to come clean and put his own house in order first. For, as Mr Parrish has eloquently stated, the genie is now out of the bottle and it can't be put back in. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ONE THING TONY? WHERE IS THE GENIES BOTTLE?