THE ROTTWEILLER ATTACKS THE UNIONS AT LIVERPOOL DIRECT

THE ROTTWEILLER McElhinney is trying to force Liverpool Direct staff to do whatever he wants.

The dirty doctor has written to the trade unions to try and get a clause in the LDL contract scrapped.

The clause prevents him from forcing council staff - ie, secondee's to Liverpool Direct - to work for any external business.

If the unions agree, it would mean the evil McElhinney could have Liverpool Direct staff answering calls on behalf of his own private interests, such as Corrupt Bastards Inc, or that infamous local company, Evil, thieving, lying Cabal or the legendary TakingthepissoutofLiverpool.com or anyone else, more reputable, who is prepared to pay through the nose.

The move to scrap the clause follows the blog's recent exposure that Liverpool Direct was handling calls about Bernard Matthews's bird flu crisis for DEFRA.

This caused huge ructions for the thieving McElhinney, with protests from trade unions and politicians that calls to care staff were going unanswered while Liverpool Direct staff answered calls about turkeys.

The evil McElhinney is blaming the unions for leaking the story to the blog (wrongly, ed) and is now trying to get them to agree to the clause being scrapped so he can make sure that, in future, he can take money from anyone he likes.

He wants to take the clause out of the contract that states he has to consult with staff and unions on any changes in contracts and then use the staff in anyway he see's fit.

No union in its right mind would give McElhinney carte blanche like this, of course. But stranger things have happened in Liverpool...

In his letter notifying the unions of an official consultation period for removing the clause, McElhinney's motives become transparent.

He first tries to blackmail the unions over jobs, clumsily reminding them that LDL was originally set up as an alternative to outsourcing (in other words, we can always outsource your jobs again lads, unless you agree to this, ed)

He claims that the council wanted LDL to win "third party work" (who exactly is supposed to have agreed to that then? ed)

He then goes on: "You will know that the success of LDL's support to Defra during the recent outbreak of Avian influenza was heralded by the city as a major achievement." (Who was the numbskull 'herald' in this case then, Dr? ed)

McElhinney has clumsily included the bird flu example to anger the unions (who were horrified at what he was doing, ed) and give them a slap in the face about how untouchable he is (along the lines of, 'I can do what I like lads, so get stuffed - like those turkeys', ed)

The evil McElhinney claims 80 new jobs have been created from this so-called 'third party work,' withouthout producing any evidence for his claims. Indeed so flimsy is this particular claim that he has to repeat it twice, (presumably so 'the thickos in the unions' as he calls them, get his point? ed).

Then comes the sting - unless the unions agree to scrap the clause, there will be "the potential risk of redundancy or redeployment."

Crude blackmail.

Of course, McElhinney is hoping the unions will cave in and allow him to continue running his own private enterprise, without any challenge or accountability.

He wants to use council employees - public servants - without being accountable to anyone else. Least of all the unions, or councillors.

No doubt his mates in the ABA, his boxing friends, his jogging pals, websites for members of his family - and any other blonde ladies like very-well-looked-after-employee Sarah Parr (right) who need special 'services' - could benefit again from this nasty, vicious, arrogant little megalomaniac being allowed to do whatever he likes, while he laughs all the way to the bank.

Any hope of the Lib Dems doing anything to defend the interests of the workforce is, of course, absolutely pointless.

Dr David McElhinney

THE VOICE OF THE PEOPLE...

THIS COMMENT WAS POSTED ON THE HENSHAW AND THE EVIL CABAL BLOG, ABOUT SIR DIDDY BEING THE HIGHEST PAID BUREAUCRAT IN THE COUNTRY WITH HIS £340,000 PAY OFF. IT DESERVES A WIDER AUDIENCE, SO WE ARE REPEATING IT HERE:
Stanford88 said...
I am a care worker in Liverpool.
I work hard looking after the elderly people I care for. We all do.
The council are going to cut my wages by almost 30% in July for me to do the same job as I am doing now.
They have massive wages whilst I go and clean peoples backsides and take a massive pay cut.
Dont I provide a valuable service to my community?
Well the council bossess obviously dont think I do.
I earn just above minimum wages already, If they cut my wages, I will have no choice but to leave my job and work somewhere else.
Does anyone else know what is going on at the council?
Have a look at this site: http://liverpoolcareslaves.blogspot.com/2007/04/minimum-wage-vs-maximum-wage.html
The council bosses are earning over £100000 pounds a year. Why can't they take a pay cut?

AN EXCELLENT QUESTION, STANFORD 88.
WE WOULD LIKE TO SUGGEST THAT AT NEXT YEAR'S COUNCIL ELECTIONS, THE LABOUR PARTY HAS A MANIFESTO COMMITMENT TO FREEZE THE WAGES OF ALL COUNCIL STAFF EARNING ABOVE, SAY, £100,000 A YEAR. WE WILL SEE WHAT THE PEOPLE OF LIVERPOOL MAKE OF THAT RADICAL POLICY.
AND IF STANFORD 88 WANTS TO POST ANY MORE COMMENTS, THEN BE OUR GUEST MATE - WE WILL GIVE YOU A PLATFORM.

FEATHERS FLY OVER BALD LEGAL EAGLE

Liverpool city council's bald legal eagle has been left in a flap after he was snubbed for the job of City Solicitor.

Boring bureaucrat Michael Kenworthy, whose hair is as thin as his legal acumen, has been publicly humiliated by the council's decision not to appoint him to the job.

Kenworthy had been Acting City Solicitor since Graeme Careerist left last year after his disgraceful toadying to greedy Henshaw.

Creer's card was marked when he repeatedly snitched about the ruling Lib Dem group's plans to discipline Henshaw over his attempted coup d'etat.

So Creer then moved to a comfy job with Weightmans amid suggestions that he had used his council position to secure the job.

Step forward his No 2, Kenworthy, who had languished unnoticed and unimpressive in the wings of the Municipal Buildings for years.

The bald legal eagle decided to try and distinguish his chances by beginning his long, costly and ultimately doomed hunt for the legendary Tony Parrish.

This failed to endear him to anyone (except the cabal, ed) and only underlined his gross ineptitude for the top job.

Both the ruling Lib Dem group and Labour opposition were united in their low opinion of his skills, ability and judgement and have been determined to ensure he did not get the job.

The continuing saga over Bill Davies and his multi-million law suit over the Henshaw-inspired mess over Chavasse Park (another chicken coming home to roost, ed) only emphasises Ken(un)worthy's feebleness.

But his boss, the smiling assassin Hasitall, has seized the opportunity offered by the vacuum to suggest that the city council now try and buy in its legal expertise from surrounding firms in, for example, nearby Sefton. (Where Hasitall's mates live, ed).

Is Hasitall now trying to fix up another one of his well-heeled Tory mates with a lucrative council contract? Only time will tell.

Meanwhile Kenworthy continues with his hunt for TP (they seek him here, they seek him there, ed)

Or as one of our correspondents has wittily remarked: "The hunt for Tony Parrish reminds me very much of one of Elmer Fudd's hunting expeditions: 'Shhhhhhhh, be vewy vewy quiet; I'm hunting wabbits here.'"

CITY COUNCIL CAN'T DO ITS SUMS: - HASITALL CAN'T ADD UP SHOCK!!!

No surprise that the city council should get the worst possible score for its financial planning.
Guess who is responsible for this?
None other than evil cabalist Phil Hasitall, aka the smiling assassin.
He has been in charge of the council's finances for the last seven years, but obviously still can't add up.
That's why the council is £29million adrift and can't balance its books.
And why even the District Auditor, a long-standing golfing partner of Hasitall's, has been forced to publicly acknowledge his mate is not up to the job.
But nothing will happen to the £169,000-a-year Porsche driving Hasitall who will continue to disappear from the Municipal Buildings by mid-afternoon, heading for the local links.

Or to go and watch a band for free with his millionaire mate Chas Cole.

Hasitall of course gave away more than £3million of council taxpayers money to old schoolmate Chas for the Summer Pops.

Chas repaid this with, amongst other things, an appearance for Hasitall's son's band alongside Status Quo.

Hasitall also had a distinguished record of public dis-service with Henshaw, engaging in conspiracy, an attempted coup, law-breaking, blackmail and trying to fit up staff.

Hasitall, whose son was a Tory candidate in Southport and is an avid reader of the Daily Torygraph, has recently, like the slimy little hypocrite he is, been desperately trying to curry favour with the Labour opposition.

He has been quietly favouring them with the odd tip and wink in the last few weeks and been his ever so helpful self with any opposition query.

(It fools no-one, ed)

Of course, he has been careful to ensure none of this reaches Fireman Bradley.

This pro-Labour about turn is in a desperate attempt to try and ensure that if the Lib Dems get turfed out next year, he will still be secure in his well-paid job.

Colin Cover Up has meanwhile rewarded Hasitall's financial incompetence by making him acting Chief Executive while he is away on his five-star jollies.

No wonder the city goes to wrack and ruin.

PS We wonder if this year, Hasitall has had his Performance Related Pay bonus of 10 per cent of his salary for getting the city into such a financial hole? Perhaps someone should ask the question?

COUNCIL TO CUT CULTURE BY £21 MILLION - BUT WHERE HAS ALL THE MONEY GONE?

Liverpool city council is making cuts of £21million to Capital of Culture in 2008.
Liverpool's proud year is now set to be a penny-pinching damp squib because of the financial waste and neglect of the city council and Culture Company.
After frittering away a small fortune paying off first the greedy Henshaw (£340,000) and then Robbing Archer (£180,000), the Culture Company have squandered millions on Archer's creative team, an army of private consultants from outside the city and a string of public relations companies, lobbyists and designers, mostly from outside Liverpool. Their contribution to culture in Liverpool has been distinctly underwhelming - but it has cost council taxpayers a fortune.
Then there has been:

• The millions disgracefully wasted on the rottweiller McElhinney's ruinous contracts with LDL
• The £18,000 spent on a roof to keep the pigeon shit off Colin Cover Up's posh car
  
• The private shower built for the evil rottweiller at MisadVenture Place
• £377,000 spent on toy wheely bins, rubbers and 't' shirts
  
• Council leader Bradley's all expenses paid trip with Cover Up to the south of France next week
• The £3million which treasurer Phil Hasitall gave to his mate Chas Cole for the Summer Pops
• The £25,000 spent to get Jayne Casey into bed (outrageous waste of money, ed)
  
• Two all expenses paid trips by The Harbarrowboy to Los Angeles (that's a new one! ed)
• Sending The Harbarrowboy back to school at Harvard (what's wrong with Anfield Comp? ed)
• Posh champagne receptions for the great and the good in Liverpool and London
  
• A huge hospitality budget for posh lunches, dinners and entertaining, courtesy of council tax payers
• At least £1million paid out in Performance Related Pay to senior managers like Cover Up, the smiling assassin Hasitall and the rottweiller who have performed so badly the council now faces a huge financial crisis!
• Cover Up's £210,000 a year salary. Hasitall's £200,000 a year salary. The Harbarrowboy's £185,000 a year salary, etc, etc, etc, etc.
  

All of this - and does anyone deny any of it? - adds up to a monumental waste of public money which has left the fat cats fatter and the city of Liverpool a whole lot poorer.
The city council is only now being forced to admit it is strapped for cash after trying to hush up the full scale of the mis-management. See The Echo story (amazingly, ed)
The Lib Dems had even intended to set an illegal budget which didn't balance the books, but their cover has been blown.
Now it has been revealed that within the next three months they are planning to renege on their promise to give £5.8 million to Capital of Culture for 2007/8.
Another £12million is being lopped off spending for Culture in 2008 itself.
And there is a shortage of almost £4million in sponsorship (I thought the Harbarrowboy was responsible for bringing in sponsors? No wonder they are sending him back to school, ed)
The only conclusion to be drawn is that 2008 will now be a huge wasted opportunity and a massive disappointment to all those who hoped it would help change Liverpool for good.
The council and the Culture Company are directly responsible. They have bankrupted Liverpool's future.
But no-one from the council or the Culture Company has yet explained how they have spent the millions from the government and European Union which has already been handed over.
Can anyone now trust any of these wasters with any more public money?
Make them pay.

MORE PUBLIC MONEY GOES DOWN THE DRAIN (Part 4) - £377,000 SPENT ON MARKETING TOYS FOR COUNCILLORS AND OFFICIALS

LIVERPOOL city council has spent £377,000 on a massive advertising campaign...for re-cycling!
The council, which has one of the worst re-cycling records in the country, has forked out a small fortune on marketing gimmicks which cannot even be re-cycled!
Councillors were astonished this week to receive surprise 'goody bags' to their Town Hall post boxes.
The bags, hundreds of which were sent around the city, contained a Liverpool Recycles 't' shirt, a small plastic blue wheely bin, a pencil sharpener, a rubber, a notepad, a plastic biro and a plastic cup, along with all the usual PR bumpf.
These were the wonderful marketing gimmicks dreamt up by some PR company, as part of a £377,000 campaign which is aimed at promoting re-cycling in the city.
With such little goodies there is usually at least a 100 per cent mark-up involved for the PR company which arranges them.
But quite why all of the city's councillors need to be persuaded to start re-cycling is beyond us - since any councillor with half a brain should be at the forefront of the campaign anyway.
We wonder did councillors notice the amount of plastic used in manufacturing these expensive little toys?
But the little goodie bags also went to senior officers, including chief executive Colin 'Cover Up', who authorised the spending, and treasurer Phil Hasitall, aka the smiling assassin, who has just warned that the council is virtually bankrupt.
Neither of these men apparently questioned whether these marketing gimmicks were the best use of council taxpayers money.

A council spokesman angrily defended the use of council taxpayers money on such gimmicks.

He said: "If we want to waste thousands of pounds on little plastic wheely bins, pencil sharpeners and rubbers, then so what?

"That's nothing compared to the millions the city council has already wasted on contracts with McElhinney's Liverpool Direct, as the chief executive has so usefully pointed out in the past."

LETTER TO THE EDITOR, DAILY POST, BUT NOT PRINTED.

Dear Sir,

Contributors to the Liverpool subCulture blog have made a number of practical suggestions about the £50million cuts which the city council could make without hurting the most vulnerable in the city.
We wanted to share their suggestions with Daily Post readers.
Amongst the most popular are to dispense with the services of the city treasurer, the chief executive and the gaggle of highly paid senior managers, since the cash crisis is their responsibility.
Other suggestions include getting back the £340,000 the city council paid the former chief executive Sir David Henshaw for retiring early, since he doesn't appear to have retired.
Scrap the hospitality budget, end the posh lunches and take away the posh cars the council pays for.
Stop paying Liverpool Direct Limited for the services they charge the Council.
Charge for the use of the purpose built shower on the third floor of Venture Place.
Demolish the pigeon loft at the back of the Municipal Buildings (saving £18,000)
Get our money back from Robyn Archer.
Scrap the neighbourhood services talking shops (controversial this one)
Halve the quangos in the city.
Put an immediate freeze on all performance related pay awards for senior managers, since they have obviously failed to perform.
Suggestions are still coming in and they will all be forwarded to the current Leader of the Council, Councillor Warren Bradley in his hour of need. We would welcome any more. Perhaps DPost readers might like to make their own suggestions?

Tony Parrish47
Liverpool subCulture

CAN YOU HELP THE CITY COUNCIL SAVE £18MILLION?

LIVERPOOL CITY COUNCIL faces an £18 million budget deficit and is thinking about selling off the family silver to make up some dosh.
But you can help save the city's Municipal Offices and Capital of Culture from the axeman in this our historic birthday year.
We are appealing to all our loyal readers and to the thousands of council employees now labouring under the threat of cuts for suggestions about how the city council can save money.
No amount is too large or too small. No idea too stupid or inspired. No cut too savage or slight. (that's enough 'no's', ed).
We will send all your ideas to council leader Warren Bradley (if he is still there, ed). Then he will forget them. But we will have fun making the suggestions.
You can make comments in the usual way and we will post them here (in the now time-honoured tradition, ed)
To kick off this glorious exercise in democratic participation can we make our own suggestion about how to cut the budget deficit which has built up so unexpectedly? (You can, ed)

OUR SUGGESTION IS THIS: Why don't the council sack the smiling assassin, Phil Halsall?

After all he has been the sodding treasurer for the last seven years and it must be his bloody fault if the council is strapped for cash now.

What on earth has he been doing?

Sack Halsall and the council would save more than £300,000 a year.



MILDRED said...
I suggest sacking Hilton, and getting the dwarf to give back all the money he stole.Dr Dog should sell his shower to the highest bidder.In fact sack most of the AED'S they do nothing useful anyway.Stop other managers wasting money on meeting rooms posh lunches,and take away the posh cars the council pays for.Selling our heritage is not the option but as usual the people of Liverpool are the ones who suffer and the staff from the council who can't even have a decent cup of water!Cuts always affect those who most need help and cannot continue to happen, it is always the front line services who suffer, if you see the budget report you will find that once again the leaders of the council want to cut services to people who most need assistance yet they don't cut their own expenses or their overpaid salary.They will get 10% bonus for cutting services and selling our heritage.Now that would be a great saving if they cut this expenditure.One of the main areas of saving money is not to pay LDL for all the services that they provide for the Council, the services belong to the people of Liverpool, not Dr Mc, slice the payments they are giving to BT for services that we already own, we would save millions
Friday, February 02, 2007 3:55:00 PM
Len said...
my suggestion is to sue Diddy for the money he blacmailed out of the city. That's another 350 grand.
Friday, February 02, 2007 6:24:00 PM
Jimbo said...
My suggestion is to charge anyone using Mcilhenny's shower. Perhaps we should charge £10 a time. It would soon mount up with all the running he is doing.
Friday, February 02, 2007 6:26:00 PM
Tommy said...
I suggest that the council scraps its hospitality budget so that it no longer has to pay for the thousands of sandwiches that are left to curl up all over the city. It's a waste and needless expense people can buy their own.
Anonymous said...
I agree - stop the butty budget!!!!

PH and DrMce said...
You'll never take our butty budget never!!

Saturday, February 03, 2007 7:26:00 PM

Anonymous said...
give back the pooh screen ?

Saturday, February 03, 2007 7:31:00 PM

Anonymous said...
Get Robbing Archer and DH and Dr Dog and the Happy Assassin to give it all back?

Saturday, February 03, 2007 7:31:00 PM

Anonymous said...
Regrade all senior Council and Capital of Culture officers so that their packages are commensurate with their ability and performance (NB this could result in a positive cashflow to the Council)

Saturday, February 03, 2007 7:32:00 PM

Anonymous said...
seriously scrap the neighbourhood services. they are the most expensive talking shops ever

Sunday, February 04, 2007 12:36:00 AM

Anonymous said...
halve the quangos in this city.
the butty budget and the expenses of transporting them from talking shop to talking shop will save a fortune also think of the benefit to the environment cos they won't be travelling into the city from sunny southport and wirral every day

Sunday, February 04, 2007 12:39:00 AM

grass roots worker said...
i agree. put an immediate freeze on all performance related pay for senior managers. that would save an absolute fortune. what about it warren?

Sunday, February 04, 2007 4:46:00 PM

Colin 'Cover Up' finally admits: "TONY PARRISH TOLD THE TRUTH"

Liverpool city council have finally admitted that Tony Parrish told the truth on his legendary liverpoolevilcabal blog.
The admission comes in a confidential report compiled by the city council's own internal audit department and endorsed by chief executive Colin 'Cover Up' (Colin Hilton, ed)
The 12-page report sets out to try and prove that the city council's former media chief, Matt Finnegan was the real Tony Parrish.
Readers will recall that Finnegan had worked for the council for six years as Director of Communications before Henshaw suspended him on trumped up charges over his pension row with council leader Mike Storey.
The internal report was leaked to the Liverpool Echo before Christmas by the city council's smiling assassin, Executive Director Phil Halsall (left) in an unsuccessful attempt to try and damage Finnegan.
The Echo however chose not to swallow the bait and pointed out the report was littered with half-truths, speculation and conjecture, the council itself admitting that it was inconclusive.
However, what has surprisingly been ignored is the report's description of events within the council which lead to the sudden appearance last summer of the liverpoolevilcabal blog.
For the first time, we can reveal the circumstances in which the legendary Tony Parrish gave birth to the blog.
And they give a fascinating insight into what was going on inside the Municipal Buildings soon after Sir Diddy (chief executive, Sir David Henshaw, ed) was made to walk the plank and retire early.
One page of the report is headed: Access to Council Material

It describes how five Freedom of Information email requests were made by "Tony Parrish" to the then acting chief executive Colin 'Cover Up' (Colin Hilton, ed) on 20th April last year. (Henshaw had departed on March 31st, ed).
The extremely detailed questions, which were about The 08 Place, The Summer Pops and internal audit's lack of activities, requested official documents about all three. (The council has still failed to respond - a flagrant breach of the law, ed)

But the internal report goes on:

"One of the five emails...asked for documentation relating to the sub tenancy of The 08 Place. Although, at that time there was no evidence as to the identity of Tony Parrish, the belief was that these requests had been provoked by information provided by council sources. " (You betcha bottom dollar, ed) In an email to those involved, the chief executive (Hilton, left) stated: 'I received five requests from the same person under the Freedom of Information Act in relation to this complaint and The 08 Place. In view of the information in the requests it is reasonable for me to believe that only those directly involved could have supplied information to this third party ." (Our hero, Tony Parrish, ed)

So, you will be asking, who were those 'directly involved'?
Well, Colin 'Cover Up' was one. The now discredited and pensioned off Head of Internal Audit, Gerry Callaghan was another.
And there were two councillors - former leader, Mike Storey and current leader, Warren Bradley. (Take your pick folks, ed)
All four had met to consider allegations made about The 08 Place, Henshaw blackmailing the city, The Summer Pops, The Kensington One Stop Shop, etc, etc.
(It is revealing, isn't it folks? that Hilton already appears at this point to have been more interested in trying to trace the source of the leak than properly investigating the specific allegations which had been made at such a senior level. Warren should have been warned then, ed)
It was thus as a result of Hilton's failure to respond to lawful questions and to properly act against corruption and criminality that the liverpoolevilcabal blog was born.
Clearly Tony Parrish was determined that the evil cabal should be publicly exposed.
So that's when all the fun started.
The report goes on to say:

"A significant amount of the material on the liverpoolevilcabal website related to Council business that was not in the public domain or public knowledge. Examples not necessarily exhaustive, include:

• Allegations in relation to 08 Place, which contained detail that was only available to a handful of individuals within the city council (guess who folks? ed) including a reference (27th July 2006), to detailed documents being presented to the Chief Executive and Head of Audit. (ah-ha, as Alan Partridge would say, ed)
• The posting of 3rd July (told you they were following every word, ed) which reproduces extracts of Councillor Antrobus's account of events, referred to on the website as "Henshaw's attempted coup - by Coun Antrobus") (This was Henshaw threatening to report Storey to the Standards Board unless he quit, ed)
  
• The postings of 21st and 22nd July which reproduce extracts of Councillor Clark's account of events, referred to on the website as "Henshaw threatened Storey's job - shock new evidence" and "Henshaw's blackmail note". (Aaaaah, this takes us back to exciting times, ed. As the sun beat down, Tony Parrish lazed about with his laptop, sipping Chablis and detonating one grenade after another as the stunned council recoiled. It was almost Dickensian in its scope and cast of sordid characters as the seedy underbelly of Henshaw's evil cabal was revealed in all its full horror, ed. Those were the days, ed.)
• The Cream proposals for running the Summer Pops. (This was the attempted stitch-up with CMP and the Harbarrowboy, ed)

It is reasonable to conclude that material such as this could only have emanated from Council sources" the report concludes, (with amazing insight, ed).

Here's the thing though - what was Hilton doing about the allegations which were emanating from such senior council sources? (Bugger all - he banned the blog instead, ed)
'Cover Up' was clearly aware of the allegations being made - particularly about Henshaw blackmailing the city council, but repeatedly failed to call in the police to investigate. Why not? (There could still be more developments on this though, watch this space, ed)
So there you have it.
Tony Parrish was being fed confidential information from inside the council by 'you know who', decided it should be made public and not covered up by Colin.
The blog was born.
And that started the city council's witch hunt against TP (banning the blog to the public, threats of writs, letters to Google, the smiling assassin's pathetic letter to the Information Commissioner, Inspector Clueless wandering around scratching his head, etc, etc)
Oh what fun it all was.
And there's a nice little postscript.
The confidential report can barely disguise its disappointment when it describes how it had intended to raise all this stuff about confidential information with Mattie Finnegan (below) to: "ascertain if he could provide any information or shed any light as to the source(s)."
(We can imagine his direct two-word response to this particular enquiry, ed)
But he thwarted them by upping and resigning in disgust before they could question him. (Apparently Callaghan had been practising his 'hard cop, soft cop' routine in an office mirror for weeks in readiness for this confrontation, ed)
The report concludes:
"In the circumstances, in the absence of any further information, it is not possible to draw any conclusions as to the source of Council material used in e-mails or on the liverpoolevilcabal website."
And we daresay that there are one or two senior people at the city council today who are gratefully breathing a huge sigh of relief.
(We just thought you should know the truth....ed)

OH SHIT - IT'S ANOTHER 'COVER UP' BY COLIN!

Oh Shit! Colin 'Cover Up' Hilton has spent £17,000 of taxpayers money on a new roof for his car!
This is at the same time that the city council is planning to stop free school buses for 4,500 of the city's kids.
Hilton ordered the cover up to protect his gleaming paint work from the bird shit dropped by the city's seagulls and pigeons.
He agreed that the money should be spent on putting a roof over the free car park spaces that he and the smiling assassin Halsall, who drives a new Porsche, occupy at the rear of the Municipal Buildings in Victoria Street.
The scandal has been highlighted by the Liverpool Daily Post (was the Echo fast asleep again, or just being consistently craven? ed) in a fantastic story today.
Amazingly Council Leader Warren Bradley has defended the use of taxpayers money on featherbedding (ouch, ed) well paid officials like this, accusing critics like Labour's Joe Anderson of being 'mischievous.'
(Here is another lengthy editorial aside: A word of advice Warren. Being Leader of the Council does not mean that you have to justify everything the city council does, nor defend the indefensible as in this case, whatever Hilton tells you. You keep on doing this as though you are performing some kind of public duty - whether it is over the shambles that is Culture, the whitewash over The 08 Place or The Summer Pops. You do not have to keep doing this. It is stupid. Your job is to protect and defend the public interest - that is not the same thing as the council's interests. Please grow up, act like a mature politician, be your own man and use a bit of common sense and judgement, or we will not be so kind to you in the future, ed)
The roof has been built for the cars of highly paid senior executives such as Hilton and Halsall who already enjoy FREE car parking at the rear of the Municipal Buildings - unlike all other council employees.
It seems they can't afford to pay for their own cars to be cleaned so they wanted a roof building instead.
Apparently the fingers of McElhinney can be found all over the roof plan for the pooh park at the MO.
And of course, Halsall would have had to sign off the expenditure as city treasurer.
As Councillor Anderson remarked: "It's like something from One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest".
In the meantime these luxury loving motorists want to axe free school buses for 4,500 Liverpool children because it costs too much.
See how the evl cabal still survives, folks?
Disgraceful. Write to your local councillor and get the canopy torn down.

BRADLEY GETS HIS MAN AS REGEN BOSS

An awful lot of bollocks has been talked about the appointment of John Kelly as the city council's new regeneration chief.
Labour have been complaining that Kelly's appointment was stitched up in advance and that no attention was paid to the other applicants.
Of course it was stitched up!
Warren Bradley insisted that Kelly was appointed to the post and he was determined enough to ensure that his fellow Lib Dems voted the way he wanted.
What's so surprising about that? It may not be a fair and transparent appointment process, but there is no such thing in Liverpool.
Henshaw's corrupt regime at the city council was constantly characterised by stitched up appointments of people Sir Diddy favoured or who would do his bidding (even if Mike Storey didn't want them, ed).
How else does anyone think McElhinney came to be appointed from Knowsley?
Cos he was Storey's choice?

Don't make me laugh.
Henshaw shooed in his rottweiller. Just like he shooed in Halsall and all the others.
All that is happening now is that Bradley, for once in his life, is asserting some control over council officers and ensuring that his hand-picked men (and sadly, they will be mainly men, ed) are the ones who get the jobs.
It's called realpolitik.
You may not like it, but learn to live with it - especially when its exercised by councillors - at least they are accountable for the people they appoint.
The alternative is to ignore proven experience and talent by making appointments based instead on a beauty parade of candidates who perform best at interview.
Hence the appointment of complete bullshitters like Kris Donaldson at Culture.
Performed brilliantly at interview - but absolutely hopeless at his job. A man who can't even decide when to cross the road.
The truth is that for a whole host of reasons, and despite noticeably lacking some human and personal qualities, John Kelly was undoubtedly the best appointment for Liverpool.
For a start, he is probably the city council's only fully paid up intellectual.
(And amongst those pygmies, he stands out a mile. Observing the completely blank faces of his colleagues around the table at meetings is an utter joy.)
Secondly and most importantly, he was amongst a group of senior officers in Regeneration who, under the direction of the departing Charlie Parker, helped Mike Storey compile his dossier on McElhinney, Halsall and The 08 Place, Summer Pops etc, etc. (More power to his elbow then, ed)
Thirdly, he was one of the few senior council officers to loudly condemn Henshaw's evil cabal for their attempted coup d'etat against Storey. He accurately compared it to the head of the civil service trying to depose the Prime Minister.
Fourthly, he hates McElhinney. (Say no more, ed)
He was one of the few senior officers who accurately identified McElhinney's vicious bullying streak.
At one memorable event, Kelly demonstrated his theory to onlookers by using his considerable height to 'accidentally' bump into the rottweiller, who like the authentic bully he truly is, instantly recoiled in terror when physically confronted. (Why didn't they just make this guy the chief exec? He sounds a top man! ed)
Fifthly, he had the good sense to twice turn down cast-iron invitations from Storey to become chief exec of Capital of Culture and replace the Harbarrowboy.
At the time, this was seen as a blow - now it is clear that Kelly was displaying great common sense and that he plans to be around a long time after the damp squib of 08 is long forgotten.
Sixthly, Henshaw was gloriously intimidated both by Kelly's intellectual supriority and by his physical stature - he's about 6 foot 6 inches and made Sir Diddy appear as puny as he is.
And seventhly (that's enough reasons, you have persuaded us, ed) he is well-liked because he is a genuinely good and decent guy who believes in old fashioned stuff like democracy, truth and justice.
And although a resident of Eccles, he now appears to have made Liverpool his spiritual home.
Kelly is one of the few clever, dedicated and conscientious officers working for the city.
He believes in Liverpool.
And he won't be afraid to take on Hilton or Halsall, who he loathes, or any of the other cabalists who rightly fear his increasing influence and popularity.
Which is exactly why Bradley wanted him so badly.
Kelly could now easily turn Regeneration into the rival city power base which it has long promised to become. He may even be able to make it deliver.
He is just the sort of guy, Labour should now be considering as a potential future chief executive...

KENNEDY EXPOSES HENSHAW AND MCELHINNEY'S COMPUTER SCAM IN COMMONS

Seasons Greetings to Liverpool Wavertree MP Jane Kennedy for exposing Sir Diddy's corruption to a national audience at Westminster.
The crusading Labour MP, who earlier this year devastatingly described Henshaw as "A man in whom I have no confidence, and for whom I have no respect" has now taken her campaign to the floor of the Commons.
She described as a "scandalous waste of money" the £2.5million bill paid by the city council to hire personal computers for Liverpool's 90 councillors from Liverpool Direct, run by Henshaw's chief hatchet man and rottweiller, 'Dr' (like Crippen, Goebbels and Faustus, ed) David McElhinney.
And Labour Leader Joe Anderson then jumped in and gave the disgraceful deal a well-deserved good kicking too.
Ms Kennedy pointed out to MP's and Local Government Minister, Phil Woolas:
"a recent report by KPMG suggests 43 ways in which the council could save money on the external contracts negotiated by its former chief executive, Sir David Henshaw "
(See how Jane cleverly fingers Henshaw as the man directly and ultimately responsible for this monumentally corrupt theft of council tax-payers money? Go Girl! ed)
Ms Kennedy continued: "One of them commits the council to a service charge of £11,000 a year per councillor, to be paid to a company called Liverpool Direct for computers supplied to councillors."
(If PC World charged that much this Christmas, their would be riots on Bold Street, ed)
And Kennedy then also managed to raise the subject of the publication of the KPMG report which new chief executive Colin 'Cover Up' Hilton is, true to his name, trying to keep covered up.
She asked our old mate Mr Woolas: "Will my hon. Friend examine the report to ensure that he and his officials know the background, and to ensure that Liverpool council tax payers receive the best services that can be provided from the significant resources that the council receives?
Which left Mr Woolas with an open goal: "I am grateful to her for raising the important point about the KPMG survey."
"Of course, in terms of the allocation of revenue support grant one cannot take into account such specific reports, but Liverpool is subject to the Gershon requirements, as are other authorities, and I would have thought that a consideration of that important report would be a contribution to that agenda in Liverpool."
(In other words, pay attention to this KPMG report Liverpool city council, consider yourselves seriously reprimanded for allowing this disgraceful deal with Liverpool Direct to happen and make sure you implement all the KPMG recommendations or there will be big trouble for you, ed.)
All of which will have made Henshaw turn in his grave with embarrassment and shame (I doubt it, ed) and cause much uncomfortable foot shuffling by McElhinney, the so-called guardian of public money Halsall, (aka the smiling assasin) and by Mr Cover Up.
Of course a council spokesman then tried to make an ill-advised defence of this corrupt computer deal (prompted by the rottweiller's foaming at the mouth ragings) rather than have the decency and the humility to admit that the people of Liverpool had been robbed blind by McElhinney (wouldn't have happened in Matt Finnegan's day, ed).
Which just threw a huge great pan of fat on the fire.
But full marks to the Daily Post, Joe Anderson and most of all MP Kennedy for again having the bottle to expose Henshaw's evil bastards and refusing to be initimidated by his cabal.
Our eternal loyalty is thus secured....

Dr David McElhinney

ANDERSON CALLS ON COPS TO INVESTIGATE MCELHINNEY

LABOUR Leader Joe Anderson is asking police to investigate what went on with McElhinney's Liverpool Direct Limited.
He has written to Chief Constable Bernard Hogan Howe after the secret report by independent auditors, KPMG made 37 separate recommendations for changes in the way the city council deals with LDL.
Chief executive, Colin 'Cover Up' Hilton has already agreed to implement all 37 recommendations, admitting that LDL has cost city council taxpayers millions of pounds.
But he is still refusing to make the full report public.
Anderson has asked the police to examine why no action was taken by the city council when he first raised questions about the way LDL was being run more than three years ago.
He has specifically asked Hogan Howe to look at the circumstances surrounding the level of charges imposed by Liverpool Direct, under the direction of chief executive Dr David McElhinney (the Liverpool rottweiller).
In particular Anderson is rightly concerned about the £200 PER INDIVIDUAL PHONE CALL charge made by LDL for handling education grant enquiries from the public.
This astronomical fee for every single phone call was imposed after the council's utter cock-up over handling education grants.
Interestingly enough, of course, Hilton was in charge of Education at this time. He agreed the charge.
Anderson is also keen to discover exactly how many millions (to the nearest £100,000 would do, ed) the contract with LDL has actually cost the city council's taxpayers.
His intervention is particularly interesting since, as well as Hilton, it also points the finger very firmly at former chief executive, Sir Diddy Henshaw and the smiling assassin, Halsall as well as former council Leader, Mike Storey.
They were all on the same watch when McElhinney was ripping off millions from the city council.
Why the cabalists should not be held individually accountable for the huge sums of public money lost by their incompetence, greed or corruption, (or all three, ed) is the question which no-one has yet answered, of course.
PS The rottweiller's poodle, the highly strung Councillor Marilyn Fielding (trained observers will notice that she is also a blonde, ed) seems to have escaped everyone's attention in the LDL scandal. This is surprising since she was the Executive Member responsible. She was, of course, busily concentrating instead on making moon faces at her beloved McElhinney, who could do and say no wrong in her eyes, while he ripped off millions behind her back. Council taxpayers should send demands for their money back to Counc Marilyn Fielding, c/o Municipal Buildings, Dale Street, Liverpool. Dr David McElhinney

Whitewash at The 08 Place

THE city council's internal report into The 08 Place has given the go-ahead for private firms to lobby senior council officers about lucrative contracts.
The report says there is "nothing wrong" in them making such contact.
It also admits that the thieving rottweiller, McElhinney did not tell the truth to councillors about The 08 Place contract.
But charitably, arrogantly and unbelievably naively, it concludes:
"there is no evidence that the statement was made knowing it to be untrue and in order to mislead."
The report, by bald legal eagle, Michael Kenworthy reluctantly admits that it was "not good practice" for Chas Cole's CMP Entertainment to instruct council contractors about fitting out the Culture one-stop shop.
In other words, the council now believes that a private company should not give orders to council workmen about fitting out its own offices with posher lights than normal, better carpets, more expensive decorations and fitments etc, etc. (It's certainly immensely re-assuring that the city council have now very firmly drawn the line at that unthinkable state of affairs ever possibly happening, ed. Just who the hell is in charge of this amateur outfit?)
Drawing himself up to his full 5 foot 8 inches, Kenworthy positively oozes smug pomposity, self-importance and arrogance as he concludes: "Any reasonably (sic) minded members of the public will accept that the matter has been dealt with properly by the Council, CMP and the Audit Commission."
(Oh no we won't, ed)
And anyway, quite what the findings of a council report has got to do with a private company like CMP, or why the council should now be bending over backwards to defend a private company like CMP, is beyond us. (Kenworthy has typically over-reached himself, ed)
We are ignoring the Audit Commission completely since they were fast asleep on the job when McElhinney was ripping off the council for millions on behalf of Liverpool Direct.

Kenworthy's report is:

• silent on McElhinney, Halsall and Cole's close relationship

• silent on the specific allegation about them running together in the New York marathon

• silent on Halsall's son's band appearing at the Summer Pops and of course it is also

• silent on the amount of free car parking and the rent free period given to CMP by McElhinney as part of the deal.

The report is also highly selective - it:

• fails to reveal that former council leader Mike Storey presented the report to Colin Cover Up (why? ed)
• fails to include any evidence from the city council's surveyors 20/20 (why? ed)
• fails to detail Henshaw's secret role in covering up the terms of the deal (why? ed) and
  
• fails to provide any evidence for its glib conclusions.

In other words it is the most servile, complicit and complacent cover-up imaginable. The cabal will be laughing like drains.
Kenworthy is either gullible or a fool. (Probably both, ed)
He says, for example, astonishingly:

"Given CMP's historical (sic) connection with the city's Summer Pops (he means Chas Cole's relationship with the smiling assassin, Halsall ed) and inevitable contact with senior officers of the council (two in particular, of course, Halsall and McElhinney, ed) it should not have been surprising to anyone that the lessee (CMP) should have tried to use those contacts..."

Really?
Oh, that's okay then. Fair enough. We will keep quiet in future about private contractors trying to use their contacts with senior council officers to win a better deal. Nothing wrong with that - they should be able to wine and dine them, take them to the villa in Marbella, arrange trips to New York.
Do they think we are all bonkers? Is Kenworthy certifiably insane?
Kenworthy goes on to say the free parking and rent free period for The 08 Place was agreed by 20/20. He fails to explain why they actually gave completely different advice and, in emails, officially expressed surprise at the terms of the deal. Why?
He admits that McElhinney gave the wrong information to the Select Committee about work on The 08 Place - but doesn't say McElhinney wrongly told councillors work had ceased and then failed to correct that information. (So that's ok then, McElhinney can lie all he likes in the future, too. Presumably he has not aplogised to councillors for misleading them either? ed)
It also claims that McElhinney was 'very clear' that no works should continue on The 08 Place beyond the £900,000 figure approved by the council.
So why did McElhinney fail to tell councillors that work was continuing beyond that amount?
Kenworthy says there is no evidence that McElhinney acted inappropriately or had any pecuniary interest in the transaction. (What investigations did he conduct to examine that interest then? ed)
Kenworthy finally asks us to rely on the assurances given by the Chief Executive(s) (the greedy blackmailer Henshaw and Colin Cover Up, ed).
He must be joking.
His report is based on ('trust me, I'm the very important Acting City Solicitor) mere assertion, with no evidence whatsoever adduced to support his conclusions. If he says it, it must be true.
I don't think so, bald eagle.
Crucially Kenworthy's report does not explain why the cost of The 08 Place soared from £900,000 to £1.4million. Half a million pounds of public money down the drain.
Nor does it apologise for that massive increase.
Nor does it explain what steps have been taken to prevent the same situation happening again.
Nor does it call for the appropriate distance to be observed between council officers with control of lucrative contracts and the bosses of private firms.
It is the most specious, superficial and condescending report produced by the city council in a long time.
And it now proves, without any question, just who is really in charge of Liverpool city council.

NB Contrary to the craven Echo's incorrect story last night, the report does not even deal with the allegations concerning Liverpool Direct Limited. (Spin gone into overdrive again, methinks, ed)

Dr David McElhinney

SUBCULTURE EDITORIAL: WHY THE COVER UP, COLIN?

HEAR NO EVIL, SEE NO EVIL, SPEAK NO EVIL

Chief executive Colin Hilton has steadfastly refused to bring anyone to justice over the mis-rule of Henshaw's evil cabal.
But why the cover-up?
We now know that back in March 2006, a dossier of evidence supplied by whistleblowers was presented by former leader Mike Storey to Hilton and new leader, Councillor Warren Bradley.
This evidence concerned amongst other things, The 08 Place, The Summer Pops, the Kensington One Stop Shop and various other supplementary matter
The Head of the council's Internal Audit department, Gerry Callaghan ran panic-stricken from that confidential meeting to tell all to Exec Director Halsall, aka the smiling assassin, who in turn alerted The Liverpool Rottweiller, McElhinney.
So what did Hilton do in response to the serious issues which had been officially reported to him, by a senior councillor on behalf of the council whistleblowers?
First of all he refused to take any action against Callaghan for breaching a confidential meeting and compromising an internal investigation.
And even though he had discussed with Storey and Bradley calling in the police to investigate the allegations and concerns raised, Hilton then refused to take any further action involving the cops.
Instead he relied on a tame internal audit report which Callaghan, under the direction of Halsall, had hastily compiled which whitewashed the whole thing.
But Hilton did call in external auditors KPMG to mount a detailed investigation, including examining Bradley's increasing concerns about the way McElhinney had been running Liverpool Direct Limited.

• Amongst the issues which have been repeatedly raised are the £200 cost of handling phone calls charged by McElhinney's LDL to the council's Education department.
• The £12,000 annual cost of providing one single LDL computer to one single councillor. (This was what LDL charged to all 90 of the city's councillors, making them the most expensive computers in the universe).
• The constant office moves which were ordered by McElhinney, shifting council staff from one building or floor to another, with crippling charges imposed for carrying out the removals.
• Repeated double-counting of charges, fees and costs for a huge range of IT and other services.
• Wilfully disguising the LDL pricing structure, so no-one could clearly see where all the money was going.
  

(Do you think the craven Echo might have investigated any of these? ed)
As LDL made hay with the money merry go round, Hilton allowed McElhinney to escape the council's clutches by transferring to become chief executive of the joint venture, Liverpool Direct Limited.
Are you with us, so far? (Every step of the way, ed)
So in other words the alarm had been loudly raised, but the householder then stood twiddling his thumbs and looking the other way, while allowing the burglar to escape with all the loot.
Then in desperation, the legendary Tony Parrish entered the fray, chucking in his grenade of the liverpoolevilcabal blog to blow apart what Hilton was determined to keep hidden (thank you, Tony).
This at least succeeded in forcing Bradley to ignore Hilton momentarily (while he was on holiday) and present the dossier (and further evidence) to the police.
And then everything settled back to normal - Bradley ran out of steam, Hilton got back behind his desk and the cabalists escaped.
It is now clear that the police are unlikely to take any action against Henshaw, Halsall or McElhinney (who are jointly and individually responsible) unless Bradley is prepared to take matters much further.
(There now follows a lengthy ediorial aside: I have always wondered why Councillor Paul Clark's statement which showed Henshaw literally trying to blackmail the city council, could not be sent straight to the police. They would then have to talk to everyone involved and decide whether Henshaw had committed a criminal offence by demanding money with menaces. Then the whole thing would be blown open. Just a thought, ed)
All the signs are that Bradley has given up, is now backing Hilton's 'let's stay schtum', line and will keep his head down. For a quiet life.
So why won't Hilton hear no evil, see no evil, speak no evil?
Ever since he was appointed, Hilton has told councillors that he wants to draw a line under the mis-rule of Henshaw's evil cabal.
"That was then, this is now," is how his public position can best be described.
Some observers may wonder then, why Hilton could justify continuing to pursue suspended media chief, Matt Finnegan who had been framed by the cabalists for supporting the Leader? (Good question, ed)
There are some other interesting explanations for Hilton's failure to act:
1) Loyalty to Henshaw who appointed him as Director of Education in the first place.
2) Loyalty to the cabalists who he had worked with for five years.
3) He went to the same school as Chas Cole and Halsall.
4) He did not want his first few years as chief executive to be dominated by the Henshaw mess, when Liverpool needed work.
5) He had no affection for Storey and was glad to see him go as Leader.
6) He had no affection for Finnegan and was glad to see him go.
7) He wanted Bradley to know who was boss, so there would be no question of another public battle between Leader and chief executive.
8) Taking action would only damage Liverpool and the Lib Dem administration.
9) McElhinney and Halsall both had some serious personal dirt on Hilton, which they threatened to throw at him.
10) Hilton is a boring technocrat who will do anything to avoid rocking the boat.
11) Hilton is a fully-paid up member of the officer class, with little commitment to old-fashioned notions such as democracy or justice and little respect for, or understanding of, politics and politicians. Sweeping everything under the carpet is his natural inclination.
No doubt readers will be able to offer up some of their own alternative explanations. The truth is probably that Colin has covered up for all of the above reasons.
What is not in doubt any longer is that there was serious mis-handling by the evil cabal of millions of pounds in public money, which Liverpool could ill afford to lose.
And no-one has been held accountable for that by Hilton, as guardian of the public purse, or by anyone else. The cabal have escaped scot-free. And in a democracy, that is not good government.

CONCLUSION:

• Hilton's failure to take action against any individuals, in particular McElhinney and Halsall, shows other council officials that they can get away with anything they like. (In fact, both McElhinney and Halsall have been rewarded for the mis-use and loss of public money). The system can therefore be abused by senior officers with impunity. What future confidence can the people of Liverpool therefore now have in Hilton's integrity, or the city council's?
• Public administration within the city has been brought into further disrepute. Everyone knows there has been a cover-up and that the cabal perpetrated disgraceful abuses of their power and positions which cost Liverpool millions. No action has been taken as a result. (The Harbarrowboy incident when he acted as a lobbyist for Cole demonstrated Hilton's complete lack of interest in rooting out corruption).
  
• Politicians like Bradley, who despises the cabal, have been seriously undermined. Bradley can hardly start critiscising quangos in the city, when he can't even put his own house in order.
• The city council can only exist with the goodwill and support of the people of Liverpool. Even though less than a third of us vote for councillors, there is a tacit acceptance of the city council as both a civic and legal entity. However, Hilton now appears to have condoned illegality and to have turned a blind eye to the abuse of trust which went on. Ironically, his failure has given even further credibility to the campaign for an elected mayor.
  
• Any moral authority which the city council possessed has been destroyed. Why should someone who has not paid their council tax, submit to a demand from Halsall's department, when his mate, McElhinney has robbed the people of Liverpool of millions of pounds? And when Halsall has connived with, conspired with and condoned all that went on?
  
• Why should anyone pay their parking fine to Liverpool Direct Limited, when its boss McElhinney continues to waste huge amounts of public money to feather his own nest?
• The organisation of the city of Liverpool is now effectively morally bankrupt.
  

Ultimately this whole sorry saga can only bring greater cynicism about public life, public service, politics and politicians.

"They are all in it for themselves," people will shake their heads and say.

And who now will ever be able to contradict that view?

Certainly not Colin Hilton.

And perhaps that corrosive spread of cynicism is the biggest crime of all.