The latest episode in the Liverpool Versus The Tories saga hit the news-stands today, with the news that Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt has implied that hooligans caused the Hillsborough disaster.
'Labour' on The Sun: Wrong on Hillsborough. Wrong on Labour
In amongst all the brou-haha about the Sun switching its mealy-mouthed allegiances to the Tories is one interesting little detail that was spotted over on Currybet.
It suggests that Labour and The Sun are already at war using Adwords as a battleground. The Google platform allows advertisers to buy up search keywords that will ensure a link to the advertiser’s site is displayed alongside search results.
Labour and The Sun have clearly been busy buying up ‘Labour’-related keywords, with the result that the first Adword entry is for the Labour Party under the title ‘You can’t trust The Sun’.
Underneath are the words ‘Wrong on Hillsborough. Wrong on Labour”.
Gordon Brown's visit to Liverpool and Ellesmere Port
As David Bartlett notes, Gordon Brown’s visits to Liverpool as PM haven’t always been the happiest of occasions.
Addressing the TUC today and telling them that public services will have to put up with some hefty spending cuts is unlikely to go down well either.
But Brown should use the opportunity to highlight some clear blue water between Labour and the Conservatives going into the general election next year.
Liverpool, the North West, Europe and the BNP
So, the BNP is sending an MEP to Brussels in the shape of leader Nick Griffin following last night’s election results.
It’s a small crumb of comfort that Liverpool returned a smaller percentage of votes for the hateful party than other boroughs, but only a small one.
It goes without saying that this is terrible news. The BNP are racists, whether they deny it or not, but it’s the awful stupidity I’ve witnessed from BNP supporters over the last few weeks that it is really galling.
I’m not sure whether they actually know it or not, but the popular recent claim by BNP apologists that Hitler was a socialist goes to show just how screwy they all are. Until you’ve been patronised by a thick racist you haven’t lived.
I guessed at the time this was some sledgehammer sleight of hand to deny the obvious links between Nazis and The British National Party, namely the bit about disliking people of different race, sexuality and religion.
Then again, I think the majority of them really are daft enough to peg Adolf as a New Labourite.
Lib Dem propaganda, BNP in Liverpool and negative campaigning
I’ve been pondering a deluge of election material that has been jamming the letterbox over the last few days.
I’ve not much interest in it per se, as I only ever vote tactically or negatively anyway and I’m not likely to make my mind up on the basis of a flyer that looks at first glance like a pizza menu.
But the stakes are high in the forthcoming European elections, with the prospect that Liverpool could elect a BNP MEP.
And I’ve been struck by how combative the tone of the election materials has been.
This is particularly true of the Lib Dems, who have (presumably intentionally) released a pamphlet made to resemble a free sheet that slates Labour.
The Lib Dems’ material seems to me to be the worst, slamming Merseyside Labour MPs for the failure of the fuel poverty bill, for having their heads in the trough over expenses and ‘stealing’ cash destined for Liverpool to ‘bail out bankers’.
Jack Jones death and Liverpool's latest political squabble
Two stories from Dale Street Blue caught my eye recently, the death of union legend Jack Jones at the grand old age of 96 and the resignation of Liverpool Labour’s ethics spokesperson Louise Baldock.
Jones was a giant of trade unionism and born in Liverpool long ago enough to be a walking talking record of most of the historic movement in the UK. Originally a docker, he rose through the ranks of the Transport and General Workers Union and became a spokesman for the TUC.
He fought in the Spanish Civil War – which is an experience so far from the vast majority of most people’s experience and imagination these days it almost sounds absurd.
He was principled and undoubtedly tough, giving both Labour and Conservative governments a hard time in the 70s. Agree with him or not, he represented an old-fashioned style of politics that doesn’t really exist any more.
It would be easy to draw parallels between the likes of Jones and Liverpool’s current politicians, seemingly locked in an endless bout of tit-for-tat power struggles and point-scoring, but I think that would miss the point.
I decry the behaviour of Liverpool’s politicians and wish they’d sort themselves out – the empire-building, personality cults and ego trips are all too obvious to everyone – but politics should always have an element of the knockabout and the passionate.
If every name called in the Jack Jones era of politics had resulted in a resignation, there wouldn’t be anyone left to run the tiniest and most obscure worker council, student body or pressure group, nevermind city, region or country.
Saying Gary Neville a good role model for Liverpool youngsters 'a mistake' admits Tory Shadow Home Secretary
It’s no wonder the Tories have been keeping their mouths shut over the last couple of years, when the likes of Conservative Shadow Home Secretary Chris Grayling can propose Manchester United and England defender Gary Neville as a good role model for Liverpool youngsters.
It’s such a mind-bogglingly strange thing to say, even before you factor in the fact that Neville plays for the most hated football in the country, and the fact that there is probably no-one more hated by Reds and people in Liverpool generally. Here’s why:
“I can’t stand Liverpool, I can’t stand Liverpool people, I can’t stand anything to do with them.”
Grayling went on to admit that he shouldn’t have said Gary Neville, he meant to say Ryan Giggs instead. Liverpool fans are unimpressed.
Merseyside Tories hate each other too
Almost as if to prove that Labour and the Lib Dems don’t have the monopoly on going for each others’ throats, the local party has found its members taking each other to court and being beastly to each other.
Basically Dick Calver, former chairman of Wirral West Conservative Association, is sued for libel by Bahram Noorani, a ‘Greasby-based Iranian Conservative’ for (allegedly) alleging that Noorani made a series of bizarre and threatening phonecalls to Calver and his family.
In turn Noorani accuses Calver of directing racial slurs at him. Eventually Noorani’s case is thrown out and the Judge labels Noorani ‘responsible’ for the calls, but not before a former Wirral councillor giving evidence on Noorani’s behalf is revealed to be due in court to plead guilty to ‘making indecent images’.
Liverpool: Now improving well
Liverpool CC has received two stars out of four from the Audit Commission for 2008, along with the judgment that as a council it is ‘improving well’. While this rating still leaves LCC in the bottom 20 per cent of the UK’s councils, it’s a distinct improvement on the slamming it received last year.
Bradley leaked email: I nearly walked
In time-honoured fashion – for Liverpool City Council anyway – the Bradley email was subsequently leaked, though it is not clear whether by friend or by foe. After the last two years Bradley probably doesn’t know which is which anyway.