Jase thought he had it boxed off...until the bald legal eagle swooped!

MYSTERY today surrounds the contents of eight huge boxes seized by city council chiefs from the Harbarrowboy.

Speculation is rife that as well as ice cream recipes and a fair amount of CoC Up branded merchandising tat, the confiscated haul also included copies of confidential emails.
It is also alleged that the seizure included Harbarrowboy's personal notes of a series of meetings between him, Fireman Bradley, the Storeyteller and Cover Up.

Together with details about other key Culture Company and Culture Board personnel - including our Lord Redmond.
So what is going on?
When the Harbarrowboy was asked to clear his desk at the Millennium House Fun Palace, he left strict instructions with his PA that all his personal effects should be placed in boxes and shipped over to the hacienda in Spain.

This was apparently agreed with Cover Up as part of his £250,000 pay-off.

Included in the deal, at Jase's strong insistence, was his little laptop computer - an ancient steam-powered jobbie that was still loaded with WIN95.

It appears that Jason Orange actually liked the 'blue screen of death' because every time his laptop crashed, it reminded him of all the events he'd CoC'd-up during his sojourn as "Chief Executive of Nothing".
By the time the Harbarrowboy's secretary had gathered together all his personal clutter, she had managed to fill SIXTEEN large boxes.

(That's an awful lot of 'T' shirts, badges and CoC bollocks, eds)

These sixteen boxes were then referred to the late lamented bald legal eagle, Ken Unworthy, former city solicitor.

His department was given responsibility for vetting the entire contents of the boxes and signing them off for shipping to Espagna, por favor.

So the bald eagle got down from his perch and began scrabbling through the Harbarrowboy's assembled knick-knacks to make sure he wasn't looting the Council's property and stuffing the boxes with council issue paper clips, rubber bands and indiarubbers.

It's far from clear precisely what instructions for stuffing that Jase had given his secretary.

But after the bald eagle had finished rummaging through Jase's haul, the sixteen boxes had been whittled down to just EIGHT.

It took an urgent meeting with Cover Up, who was given a detailed report on the sequestrated contents, before the remaining boxes were cleared for dispatch to the hacienda.

What is beyond doubt is that the Council had recovered a sizeable chunk of its own property from the sixteen boxes.

If Jase had taken a leaf out of Sir Diddy's book, of course, he would have got one of his minions to shred all the incriminating files, dodgy dossiers and backhanders one quiet weekend when no-one was looking.

So we are now starting a City of the Dead competition.

What was amongst the items seized?

First prize of a box full of paperclips goes to the person who makes the best suggestion.

MATHEW ST 2007 : 'CAN THE ECHO JUST MAKE IT UP?'

Still no approval for Mathew St on June 5, 2007 – the day after Lee Forde resigned

-----Original Message-----
From: Doran, Mike>

Sent: 05 June 2007 13:57>

To: Green, Chris; Harborow, Jason; Forde, Lee>

Cc: Newman, Paul>

Subject: Mathew Street Music Festival>

Importance: High>>

Chris/Jason/Lee,>>

The Liverpool ECHO are on deadline (tomorrow) for a summer festival publication and are going to include the MSMF.

They have already spoken to bands who have been invited - but want the> official line on what is happening this year.>>

I know there's proposal - subject to approval. Do we know when this will happen?

If its not by tomorrow - are we happy for ECHO to make it up?>>

ECHO publication will hit the streets June 23.>>

Cheers>

Mike>>

Mike Doran>

News Officer>

-----Original Message-----
From: Green, Chris>

Sent: 05 June 2007 14:40>

To: Doran, Mike>

Cc: Newman, Paul; Harborow, Jason; Forde, Lee>

Subject: RE: Mathew Street Music Festival>>

Can we encourage them to take the line - 'happening over the bank holiday weekend' without mentioning time and place? This will not be formally approved till after tomorrow.>>

Chris>>

Chris Green>

Operations Director

SUPPORT EBBS AWAY FROM THE FIREMAN - JUST LIKE MING!

INTERESTING that not all Lib Dems feel able to support Fireman Bradley's inept handling of the Mathew St debacle.

At the full council meeting, it was noted that Councillors Jan and Paul Clein abstained from voting with their besieged Leader.

Whether Bradley will end up being stabbed in the back like Ming the Merciful remains to be seen.

But the Cleins could not bring themselves to praise his handling of the Culture cock-up and the ridiculous notveryindependent investigation into what went wrong.

Whatever people might think of the weak and incompetent Fib Dems, the Cleins were amongst the few who stood up to the personality cult propagated by the disastrous Sir Diddy Henshaw.

Jan Clein, who can be nine bob short of a shilling on other matters, was the only Lib Dem who had the bottle and principle to refuse to join the public toadying led by two-faced Bradley at Henshaw's enforced departure.

(When will the Lib Dems ever learn that hypocrisy does the city no good? eds)

Hubby Paul, of course, was one of those who unsuccessfully challenged Bradley for the Leadership after Storey-teller walked the plank.

With the other failed contender, Flo 'shall we dance?' Clucas now thoroughly discredited, it would seem Clein might be the only Lib Dem left who is still able to mount a serious challenge to the floundering Fireman.

There is no doubt that a substantial number of Lib Dems are now having serious mis-givings about Bradley's misbegotten leadership.

As well as damaging the city and costing council taxpayers a fortune, he has also succeeded in making his own party a laughing stock and publicly ridiculed.

Judging by the panic-stricken Fireman's desperate swivel-headed scanning of the Lib Dem ranks behind him on Wednesday night, he fears any one of them could plunge the dagger between his shoulder blades.

At any moment...

CONSPIRACY OF SILENCE?

WHY has the media failed to expose the evil cabal?

Why have they largely ignored the corruption and wrong-doing at Henshaw's city council, despite the current council leader handing a secret dossier last year to the chief constable?

Why have the media been largely silent on the waste of millions of pounds in public money by the current city council and the Culture Company?

Is the answer to any of these questions explained by the ownership of the media?

("You might think that, but I couldn't possibly comment," Francis Urquhart)

That's what members of the National Union Of Journalists think anyway.

And it's what many in Liverpool think when they see the cosy deals being done between unholyTrinity Mirror and the Culture Comedians and the local media's failure to hold the Harbarrowboy to account.

Any chance that commercial considerations could be interfering with editorial integrity?

Journalists are today reduced to a cross between call-centre workers and data processors. Stuck at their desks re-jigging press releases. Who knows what corruption, lies, and law-breaking is going on in the corridors of power – no-one has the time to look. Or is even encouraged to delve a little deeper.

Except the occasional brave blogger...

Members of the NUJ descend on Manchester on November 5 to urge their bosses to stand up to greedy media owners.

The NUJ is organising a lobby of the Society of Editors conference at the swanky Radisson Hotel on Peter Street, Manchester.
Union president Michelle Stanistreet said: “The media is owned by a smaller and smaller group of extremely wealthy corporations.
“They make big profits but they want more. So journalists face a constant round of job cuts and dwindling editorial budgets. This means that more and more news is just recycled press releases.
“We want our editors to join with us and stand up to the culture of cuts. If they believe that journalism is important for democracy and for local communities they must take a stand.
“They are meeting on a site that was developed to commemorate the Peterloo massacre. We hope they will take courage from history and seize the moment.”
The Manchester event is one of the focul points of Stand Up For Journalism Day which will involve events all over Europe.
There will be lobbies at the European Parliament and in towns and cities across the UK and Ireland.
In Manchester journalists and their supporters will gather outside the offices of the Manchester Evening News on Hardman Street, off Deansgate at 12.30pm on November 5.
They will march to the Radisson Hotel, on the site of the old Free Trade Hall, to lobby the editors’ conference. There will be a rally in defence of journalism at 1.30pm in the Friends Meeting House on Mount Street.
Michelle Stanistreet and NUJ General Secretary Jeremy Dear will be among the speakers. For furtherinformation visit http://www.standupforjournalism.org.uk/

FOOT AND MOUTH LATEST: Staff and council services suffer

Council staff from One Stop Shops are being diverted to Liverpool Direct to handle the DEFRA foot and mouth calls.

The rottweiller McElhinney is ordering them to do this within their normal working time, instead of overtime.

Readers will remember that the dirty, blonde-loving doctor, got round protests from councillors last time over the bird flu calls, by insisting council staff were collecting overtime.

This time there is no such deal.

This is illegal of course.

Council staff are doing work for someone else which they are not actually officially contracted to do.

But the Lib Dems are powerless to do anything about this breach of the terms and conditions for council staff.

And UNISON officials of course are in McElhinney's pocket so they will also stay schtum.

McElhinney is already infamous for treating staff like cattle, farming them out around the city and treating them with contempt.

This is his management style as an evil cabalist.

The result of him nicking council staff to do private work for LDL is that the One Stop Shops are short of staff.

The Dingle office had just five staff the other day to deal with more than 200 people.

So council services suffer while McElhinney prospers. No change there then.

Dr David McElhinney

JUST WHEN YOU THOUGHT IT COULDN'T GET MUCH WORSE....

YOU would have thought that new Premier Gordon Brown would have enough problems - Iraq, Afghanistan, Bush, terror attacks, global warming, floods, the support of the Daily Mail, Ruth Kelly in his Cabinet, etc, etc, etc.


Then foot and mouth disease strikes again.


Can it get any worse? Gordon must have been asking himself.


Well yes, it can, Gord.


Unfortunately, your Government department in charge of the outbreak, DEFRA, has cocked up again.


It has given responsibility for handling phone calls about the crisis to the rottweiller McElhinney!


That's right - Liverpool Direct has been handed the lucrative contract by DEFRA.



Like putting a paedophile in charge of an orphanage.


No wonder you look a bit down in the mouth, Gordon.



Pity the poor farmers who phone up expecting some sympathetic response from the dirty Doc.


He will probably accuse them of plotting the outbreak amongst themselves to get some compensation.


Or worse - he might even insist on asking them for their natural hair colour before ordering his minions to reply.


This new contract follows McElhinney's past successes with Bernard Mathews and bird flu.


What is this connection between McElhinney and sick animals?


What any of this has to do with providing a decent service to the people of Liverpool, who pay the evil, dirty little doctor's astronomical wages, is a complete mystery.


After all, it's not as if the city of Liverpool has been hit by foot and mouth disease.


(Just you wait until 2008! eds)


So Gordon, you have been warned...

Dr David McElhinney

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

SIGN THE DOWNING STREET PETITION IN SUPPORT OF THE CARE WORKERS....(courtesy of Tori Blare)

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

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.

Sign the petition here: http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/LiverpoolCare/#detail

THE VOICE OF THE PEOPLE....

Below are comments posted by the people of Liverpool on the care workers dispute...

Stanford88 said...
Congratulations on attracting so many comments Tony.

It's good to be able to tell others of the way council is treating us.

I will certainly post news and comments to it !

Guess what? – more bad news !

I bumped in to one of the ex office staff where I work today. She said our company had lost a few of the areas that we are working in because of the new contract and this would affect my blocks.

It appears that I have to go and work for another new care agency if I want to stay with my service users.

What are the council trying to do to me?

What are the council trying to do to the people I look after?

Are they deliberately trying to upset us?

Are they deliberately picking on us?

First of all, a 30% pay cut, secondly, IF I manager to stay a carer, I will have to transfer to another care agency because of toopee to stay with my service users?

I don’t want to change agency.

I am happy with my wages, I am happy with service users, I am happy with the agency I work for.

Are all these changes for the good?

If so perhaps Curly, Larry and Mo (AKA Antrobus, Hunter and Brazil) be able to tell me how?

I have served this city as a loyal carer for a number of years (on less money than them).

I think I am entitled to some explanation.

PS I am a council tax payer - so I am demanding an answer...

Tepec said...

I am a social care manager.

I just can't believe where they are coming from on this one.

How can they disrupt so many vulnerable people?

Thursday, May 31, 2007 11:45:00 AM

TAX PAYER said...

Yes and I am DEMANDING to know what the hell they are up to.

I am also a tax payer. I object to my hard earning money being used to feather the nests of Social Services and P.C.T. managers also the allowances for so called 'Coucillors'.

YOU need to take some Counsel yourselves.

These are very vulnerable Liverpool Citizens and care staff you are putting at risk.

People you are not even fit to wipe there boots.

GIVE US THE ANSWERS YOU FACELESS PEOPLE instead of pocketing MY MONEY yourselves.

Thursday, May 31, 2007 12:15:00 PM

Carol said...

So very very sad. Oh! to be elderly. Nobody cares.

Thursday, May 31, 2007 5:24:00 PM

Pete said...

If you want to save money to have more to spend on yourself and Jollies to Cannes and elsewhere who do you pick on?....... The elderly and children they can't hit back.Thats about the level we have sunk to in Liverpool.

Thursday, May 31, 2007 9:08:00 PM

Anonymous said...

"Never before have so many been taken for so much and left with so little."

Thursday, May 31, 2007 9:56:00 PM

SURPRISE, SURPRISE! City council rapped for hushing things up!

For immediate release

Press release

Date: 11 May 2007

Liverpool City Council criticised for Freedom of Information handling

The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has criticised Liverpool City Council over its handling of requests under the Freedom of Information Act.
In a letter to Chief Executive, Colin Hilton, the ICO cites a catalogue of failings by the council to meet the requirements of the Act and outlines what the council needs to do to improve its performance.
According to the Information Commissioner’s Office the council does not have
adequate procedures in place to deal with freedom of information requests and
failed, on a number of occasions, to provide the ICO with the information required to investigate a complaint under the Act.
A practice recommendation issued by the ICO highlights the council’s ‘symptomatic poor practice in handling freedom of information requests’ and criticises the council’s failure to provide adequate advice and assistance to individuals requesting information under the Act.
The ICO will continue to monitor the council’s information request handling
procedures and performance and will assess its progress against the ICO’s
recommendations in 6 months.
Last year the ICO prosecuted Liverpool City Council for breaching the Data
Protection Act after it failed to provide an individual with their health records held by the Council, despite several warning from the ICO.

ENDS
If you need more information, please contact the Information Commissioner’s press office on 020 7025 7580 or visit the website at: www.ico.gov.uk
Notes to Editors
1. The Information Commissioner promotes public access to official information and protects personal information. The ICO is an independent body with specific responsibilities set out in the Data Protection Act 1998, the Freedom of Information Act 2000, Environmental Information Regulations 2004 and Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations 2003.
2. For more information about the Information Commissioner’s Office subscribe to our enewsletter at www.ico.gov.uk
3. For a copy of the Practice Recommendation issued to Liverpool City Council please go to http://www.ico.gov.uk/upload/documents/library/freedom_of_information/notices/liverpool_city
_council_practice_recommendation.pdf

MOURNING FOR MARBROW? - NO, CELEBRATING AND PLANNING MORE TO COME!!!!!

Dear blogosphere,

We are taking the Bank Holiday off to celebrate the well deserved demise of Inspector Clueless in the local elections and the extremely heartening results in Liverpool, dramatically bucking the national trend.

Congratulations to all concerned. Especially to those who played such a fantastic role in helping get rid of one of the most pompous, self-opinionated, puffed up (literally, ed) arrogant, stupid and naive Lib Dem tossers, it has ever been our misfortune to come across.

Revenge is sweet.

We will be back on Tuesday with some extremely interesting material about some remaining very senior Lib Dem councillors.

We are also interested in hearing more detail about the astonishing dirty tricks which went on in the local election campaign, which are already attracting the attention of the police and the Standards Board for England.

(Oh, we do love to tease, ed)

Now, pass me the champagne....

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?

SPEKE HAS SPOKEN: BRING ON THE MAY CITY COUNCIL ELECTIONS!!!!!

OUR MAN AT THE COUNT WRITES.......

LABOUR stormed to a thumping by-election victory in Speke last night, overturning a Lib Dem majority of more than 800.
Colin Strickland swept to victory with a Labour majority of almost 800 - giving a huge smack in the face to the council's ruling Lib Dem administration.
The huge turnaround in Speke brought forecasts that Labour, led by no-nonsense Joe Anderson, could now take control of the council in 2008, Capital of Culture year (wouldn't that be sweet? ed)
It was a particularly sad night for Inspector Clueless, bumptious Councillor Richard Marbrow, the by-election campaign chief who masterminded the Lib Dem's stunning defeat (right)
Marbrow was last night celebrating his 73rd birthday (well he acts like an old git, ed) by bringing his shiny new birthday laptop to the count so that he could play at being a real-life election supremo (the pompous fool, ed).
Marbrow sat down with his lap top toy, while various impressionable Lib Dem types ran around trying to look like they knew what they were doing and fetching him pieces of paper.
Marbrow, whose seat in Kensington has already been abandoned in May by Lib Dem leader, Warren Bradley, got glummer and glummer on his birthday as the scale of the defeat sunk in.
Another of our favourite characters, Colin Cover Up read out the result (wonder if he also pocketed an extra £25,000 as returning officer, just like greedy Henshaw? ed) to victorious Labour cheers.
But the shocked and disappointed Fib Dems hurriedly escaped before they could be serenaded away by the triumphant Labour campaigners with a chorus of "Happy Birthday, dear Clueless..."
Now watch the in-fighting break out in public amongst the Lib Dems as they panic over which seats they will lose in May.
And keep an ear to the ground for signs of an early leadership challenge to Bradley.
(Tell me the old, old Storey, ed)

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

LETTER OF JANUARY 19TH TO COUNCILLORS BRADLEY AND STOREY REGARDING TONY PARRISH'S QUESTIONS...

My last post concerned my Freedom of Information request to find out what questions Tony Parrish (pictured, ed) asked and the council's answers.
The council refused to comply with my request.
I then decided - in the interests of open government - to write to the current Leader of the Council, Councillor Warren Bradley and the former leader of the Council, Councillor Mike Storey to ascertain if they could shed any further light on these matters.
This is my letter of the 19th of January....(to be continued)

Dear Councillor,
Please find below a response I have received from the city council to my Freedom of Information request.
I had asked what questions Tony Parrish had asked the council and what the council's response had been.
As you will see from the reply, the council has been unable to respond with the information I requested.
In my view, there are three potential explanations for this:
1) The council's record-keeping systems and processes are so chaotic and disorganised that they simply do not know.
2) They are trying to frustrate my enquiry because it will produce information which will only embarrass them further by revealing their consistent and repeated failure to obey the law on Freedom of Information. (Presumably they don't want the council to appear in court again.)
3) They are trying to intimidate Mr Parrish with their 'ongoing investigation.'
(It is also a convenient excuse for refusing to impart such information, isn't it?)
I doubt whether 3) will work.
However both you gentlemen should be aware of an apparent "ongoing investigation".
Who authorised this?
What is its justification?
How much has it cost?
Who does it involve?
What is its purpose?
When did it begin?
When will it be concluded?
I am sure that you may wish to put these and a number of other questions to the current chief executive.
I should be interested in the answers.
As a council taxpayer, this seems to me yet more evidence of the unacceptable activities of an officer class within the city council, who are both out of control and unaccountable, as well as lacking in judgement and common sense.
It also raises yet again the intriguing question of who is actually running the city council - democratically elected politicians, or unaccountable civil servants?
I suspect the answer is fairly clear.
I can only presume that at the end of the day any "investigation" being conducted by the city council may eventually lead to councillors also being interviewed, leading to the possibility of further action.
I imagine there will be many people who will be willing to provide additional information.
Perhaps you yourselves will be able to shed further light on all these matters in order to assist Mr Hilton in his enquiries.
In the meantime, I would like answers to my questions about Mr Parrish's questions - and the council's response.
Perhaps you can use whatever influence you may have to try and resolve this matter?

regards,

AKelly