Tag Archives: liverpool city council

Carl Cashman

The two child cap is just the beginning

By Carl Cashman | Fri 2nd August 2024 - 2:09 pm

Without fail at every council meeting, well, at every opportunity they can, my local Labour Party will bring up the Coalition.

They wheel out the same line, each and every time. For them it’s entirely the Lib Dems fault that austerity happened, even more than that each of our members bear a personal burden for cuts made. But they will gladly sidestep the impact of Labour Mayor Joe Anderson – whose legacy is alleged corruption, poor governance, wasted millions and Tory commissioners we’ve just gotten shot off.

Now let me get this out of the way – I’m not an apologist for the coalition, it got some things right, but it got a lot of things wrong. The most lasting damage is that the coalition broke the trust that voters had in the Liberal Democrats, and we’ve lost our status as the non-establishment party, the Greens are mopping up that vote in many of the urban cities in England. We must work on that as a priority.

At my last council meeting, we moved my group’s motion on scrapping the two-child benefit cap.  I was on the end of a condescending lecture from the Deputy Leader about “political choice”, she was referencing the coalition. But I fired back on this because, let’s be honest, now that the Labour Party are in Government they are going to learn a lot about “political choices”.

What was their first political choice? To keep the two-child benefit cap, a decision that Newham Labour Councillor Joshua Garfield celebrated as “Country before Party”. The most bizarre thing is that the King’s speech isn’t a binding commitment anyway – the Conservatives have demonstrated that multiple times – it’s simply an indication of a government’s aims for that coming parliament.

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NewsHound

Lib Dems are not just for the leafy suburbs – Carl Cashman

By NewsHound | Wed 7th June 2023 - 7:30 am

Recently Liverpool Lib Dem Councillors elected Carl Cashman as their group leader to replace Richard Kemp who stood down after the May elections.

The Liverpool Echo recently did a profile of the 31 year old mortgage broker who has said that he wants the Lib Dems to appeal to the whole city, not just the suburbs:

“I want to dispel this idea that if you are from a council estate or a poorer background then it is the Labour Party that you naturally identify with. The Lib Dems aren’t just here for the leafy suburbs, we are here for the whole

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Richard Kemp

Labour takes control of Liverpool from Labour!!

By Richard Kemp | Fri 19th August 2022 - 7:08 pm

Liverpool’s Labour Councillors have effectively been stripped of control of the Council after the Government has appointed a new Strategic Futures Advisory Panel to work alongside the Commissioners to run our City and plan for its future.

The new partnership will see the elected mayor of the Liverpool City Region, Steve Rotheram, the former Labour Leader of Leeds, Baroness Blake, and Sir Howard Bernstein who worked for years as the Chief Executive to Sir Richard Lees in Manchester effectively set the future direction of the City whilst the Commissioners will effectively run the City.

Effectively this means that national Labour have been appointed to take over the vital discussions on the future of the City whilst Liverpool Labour have effectively been frozen out of any major decisions on running the City by the appointment of a 5th Commissioner for Finance.

So as a Lib Dem who does believe in democracy what do you think I am doing about this? With great regret I am supporting it all the way!

I am doing so because this was inevitable given the depths to which our City have been dragged by Joe Anderson’s Labour Party and the obvious inability of Joanne Anderson’s Labour Party to put things right.

The Council has until 2nd September to respond to the proposals which should be done on an all-Party basis. I have already emailed the Mayor and other Group Leaders to suggest we need to have an urgent meeting of Group Leaders to try and unite behind a common response to the Government’s opinion. What we need to avoid is the sort of cat fight between various factions of the Labour Party and those that left them that occur too regularly within the Council.

For my part I will recommend that the Liberal Democrats accept the situation and work positively with both the Commissioners and Strategic Futures Group to try and map out a way forward in the short and medium term. As democrats we regret that these steps are necessary. As pragmatic politicians who love our City, we recognise that in the short term these steps are inevitable.

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Richard Kemp

From EU Capital of Culture to UK Capital of Corruption

By Richard Kemp | Mon 2nd August 2021 - 5:28 pm

If I tried to write a fictional story about what has happened in Liverpool, it would be condemned as being impossible and a huge exaggeration. For years we have tried to break into the system but were stonewalled by both politicians and officers who either held information close to their chest or blatantly lied.

16 arrests have been made by the Police of people in or around the Council including the former Elected Mayor, Joe Anderson. Now an inspection team led by an independent former Council Chief Executive, Max Caller, has officially exposed the grotesque practices of Liverpool Council over the past decade.

We continually warned about land transactions, tendering and other areas where there was a clear lack of due process. We continually warned about the lack of proper governance and the failure of the scrutiny process of the Cabinet and Officers. The Caller Report, produced in March vindicated our continued and continuing objections to bad practice and malpractice within the Council.

There can be no doubt where the blame lies for the damage that has been done to Liverpool’s reputation. Liverpool Council still has a Labour Mayor with a cabinet of seven members, all Labour. Liverpool Labour have controlled the Council since 2010 and still have seventy of the eighty Councillors despite us making three gains in May.

No other Council in living memory has seen sixteen arrests and a senior officer being summarily dismissed. Caller and his team found that

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Pat Moloney

Opinion: Liverpool City Region cabinet

By Pat Moloney | Mon 19th August 2013 - 2:44 pm

In February 2012, Labour controlled Liverpool City Council voted to have an elected mayor without seeking the views of the residents of Liverpool via a referendum. In May 2012, a Labour Mayor was elected.

Now there is a proposal for the six local authorities in the Liverpool City Region (Liverpool, Knowsley, Sefton, St. Helens, Wirral and Halton) to establish a combined city region cabinet to promote economic development, transport and employment and skills in the Liverpool City Region.

Whilst it is welcome for local authorities to co-operate, the mechanism of this proposal is hugely undemocratic and has completely bypassed locally elected councillors.

The …

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Stephen Tall

In other news… Kemp4Liverpool, Duwayne4London, Tod4Winchester, Salmond4Inquiry, and more…

By Stephen Tall | Mon 9th April 2012 - 6:10 pm

Here’s a round-up of stories we haven’t had time to cover on the site this past few days…

Liverpool elected mayor candidates announced (BBC News)

Twelve candidates have been nominated to stand as Liverpool’s first directly elected mayor. Nominations closed at midday and voters will go to the polls on 3 May. Among the 12 are four members of Liverpool City Council, including Labour leader Joe Anderson and Liberal Democrat Richard Kemp.

Duwayne Brooks announced as Lib Dem deputy mayor (BBC News)

A friend of murdered teenager Stephen Lawrence has been named as a deputy to Liberal Democrat Brian Paddick if

…

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Stephen Tall

In other news… Vince upsets Tories, Liverpool to choose mayor, Radcliffe hexes Clegg, and Hughes settles with Murdoch

By Stephen Tall | Sun 12th February 2012 - 5:27 pm

Here’s a round-up of stories we haven’t had time to cover on the site this past week…

  • Cable sticks by Les Ebdon as his choice of ‘university tsar’ – the Lib Dem business secretary is opening up a rift in the Coalition:

    Business Secretary Vince Cable is standing by his candidate to head the university fair access watchdog, despite a rejection by MPs. Les Ebdon had been put forward by ministers as their preference for director of the Office for Fair Access. But MPs on a select committee have voted to try to block the appointment. However ministers are not backing

    • …

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    Paula Keaveney

    Liverpool’s listening exercise and the Green Agenda

    By Paula Keaveney | Tue 25th October 2011 - 10:25 am

    Liverpool Liberal Democrats have just kicked off the next stage in our work toward regaining power in Liverpool.

    We don’t run the council, in fact we are some way off running the council. But we know that the ruling Labour administration has no real vision, and as part of our way back towards running the City we wanted to develop and articulate one.

    So we have published a document and started a “listening exercise”. Headlines include our aspirations for Liverpool to be the Green Capital of Europe and for us to take real advantage of the opportunities in the Localism Bill. You can find the …

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    Mark Pack

    In other news…

    By Mark Pack | Wed 19th October 2011 - 11:31 pm

    On the NHS:

    Liberal Democrats may win a key concession on the controversial Health and Social Bill before the legislation is passed, PoliticsHome has learned.

    Sources have indicated that the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats, including key rebel Baroness Williams, have struck a deal which would allow Lib Dem peers currently opposed to the legislation to secure changes to the role of the Health Secretary. They are currently concerned that the Bill will mean the Secretary of State is not responsible for ensuring that patients across the country receive the same services and standards of care.

    PoliticsHome understands that the responsibility of the Health

    …

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    Mark Pack

    Labour councillors ordered: don’t speak to journalists

    By Mark Pack | Wed 14th September 2011 - 7:55 am

    Odd news from Liverpool, where Labour council leader Joe Anderson has taken such exception to local media coverage of a leaked document relating to the council’s controversial interim Chief Executive appointment that he,

    Has ordered all Labour councillors and council officials, including the press office, not to talk to either newspaper. (Liverpool Echo)

    A curious twist is that the leaked document was legal advice from Cherie Blair, which the council claims was subsequently contradicted by further advice given to it by … Cherie Blair. To add to the confusion, local newspapers have pointed out that when they contacted the council about …

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    Paula Keaveney

    Paula Keaveney writes: The Leading of Liverpool

    By Paula Keaveney | Mon 16th May 2011 - 1:09 pm

    As I write I have just finished my first week as the new Leader of the Liberal Democrats on Liverpool City Council.

    And what a week it’s been.

    As the first female leader of a major party on the City Council (that’s first ever) I had more than my fair share of attention. I have discovered the joys of the 6 am media call and suddenly being the person everyone wants to talk to.

    And the enormity of the challenges ahead has been quickly sinking in.

    Here in Liverpool we have a mountain to climb.

    Like many …

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    Mark Pack

    Liverpool Lib Dem leader stands down after electoral fraud allegations

    By Mark Pack | Mon 18th April 2011 - 1:23 pm

    Warren Bradley, leader of the Liberal Democrat group in Liverpool, has stood down as leader today after allegations about forgery on election paperwork for this May’s council elections.

    As the Liverpool Echo reports,

    His leadership was plunged into crisis after revelations today that he had witnessed an election nomination for his teenage son Daniel for the forthcoming local elections.

    The candidate himself must also sign the form but the teenager has said he did not want to stand and that his own signature on the form is “a fake”.

    The revelation leaves Cllr Bradley, 44, facing questions as to who he witnessed signing

    …

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    Stephen Tall

    Lib Dem councillor faces investigation over Facebook photo storm

    By Stephen Tall | Fri 11th June 2010 - 10:45 am

    The Liverpool Daily Post reports on the latest incident of a councillor landing themselves in hot water as a result of a posting on social networking site Facebook. Lib Dem councillor Sharon Green is alleged to have posted a photo of disabled people “with text comparing them with the city’s Labour group”:

    Cllr Sharon Green, who represents St Michael’s ward, will face an inquiry despite city Liberal Democrat leader Cllr Warren Bradley deciding against launching a probe.

    The national Lib-Dems have now intervened and asked their regional standards chiefs to get to the bottom of the affair, which caused widespread outrage

    …

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    Stephen Tall

    The cost of pavement politics

    By Stephen Tall | Tue 25th August 2009 - 5:40 pm

    What’s cost the taxpayer £82m over the last five years? Answer: compensation claims against county councils and unitary authorities by members of the public who have tripped on pavements. The figures from 90 local authorities were obtained by the Lib Dems under Freedom of Information requests; there are still 10,000 claims unsettled.

    Here’s what the Lib Dems’ shadow transport secretary Norman Baker had to say:

    With council and household budgets under more pressure than ever, the last thing the local taxpayer needs is to be paying massive compensation claims for injuries caused by dangerous pavements. This is money that could have been spent on improving pavements and preventing these problems in the first place.

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