The Party’s Over : Is Frank Field Killing The Thing He Loves?

We hate to renege on a promise but we thought we’d comment first on the reasons why Birkenhead MP Frank Field claims he has resigned the Labour Whip (although not the Labour Party) before we embark on uncovering why we really think he’s resorted to such desperate diversionary tactics.

But first let us thank our readers for the press extracts above and consider some facts surrounding this week’s grandstanding media onslaught. As we know facts are something that Field has a history of  ignoring , preferring instead opinions (particularly his own). The issues that led to his resigning the Labour Whip and, more importantly for Frank , wall to wall mainstream media coverage are set out in his resignation letter and expanded on in an ‘exclusive’ interview with the ever compliant and servile Liverpool Echo where apparently Field ‘opens his heart’. We don’t really need to do the punchline do we?

We’d now like to highlight  four salient points that may have been making the national headlines but have been somewhat lacking  in local knowledge.

ANTI-SEMITISM 

It would seem we’re not the only ones sitting here in utter bemusement wondering why Field the so-called ‘outspoken maverick’ all of sudden voices his public concern about anti-semitism in the Labour Party . We won’t dignify his declarations of concern with the term bandwagon-jumping. We prefer the words offensive, manipulative and exploitative . We’ll leave the last word on the matter to newly elected Labour councillor Jo ‘Lady in Red’ Bird who posted today on New Ferry & Bromborough Labour Party Facebook page :

Cllr Jo Bird is frankly fed up

I am a newly elected Labour councillor who is Jewish, in a ward bordering Birkenhead. Frank Field MP chose to use antisemitism as his excuse to resign from the Labour whip. I am frankly fed up of anti-Jewish racism being used as a political weapon to attack Labour Since Jeremy Corbyn was elected leader a few years ago, my Jewish lived experience is a ‘broad church’ Labour Party showing solidarity and support to the many as well as the Jews. More than 100 members from all wings of Wirral Labour Party worked together to elect me, in our successful local by-election this month. We spoke with over 2,100 residents and I heard no-one raise the issue of antisemitism. Unlike Frank Field, my constituents’ highest priority is ending cruel Conservative government cuts to services we all rely on. The New Ferry part of my ward was devastated by a huge explosion in March last year and the government’s response is shockingly pathetic.

ANTI- RACISM

Field is really pushing his luck with claims that the Labour Party should be ‘a champion against racism’ when we strongly assert that he knows HIS OWN ELECTORAL AGENT CLLR GEORGE DAVIES HAS BEEN ACCUSED OF BEING RACIST. It is widely known that Davies has in the past used a racist slur ( “bloody useless Chink” ) during a recorded telephone conversation which was concerned with offering to settle a non-existent legal claim to someone to help organise a smear campaign against the then leader of the local Conservative group.  A later post will identify those who have either heard the recording, have a copy of the recording or know of the recording  and who have chose to collude with racism and criminality for personal and/or professional gain  – we guarantee it will certainly help clear up a few local mysteries.

And do we have to mention Cllr Davies’ old chum and former Labour leader of Wirral Council Cllr Steve Foulkes and his ex-Mayoress missus and their alleged shameful behaviour last year in Sorrento? Read here : Sorrento Shame : Holidaymakers claim they faced ‘racist abuse’

Was Frank himself ‘a champion against racism’ then?

BULLYING/INTIMIDATION/’NASTINESS’

Perhaps the most disturbing aspect of Field’s ramblings is the claims of bullying ,intimidation and what he calls with typical prissiness , ‘nastiness’.

As anyone who has dared to challenge the local Labour Party elite will testify that bullying and intimidation and abuse of power has been their modus operandi for as long as anyone can remember . Where was Field’s condemnation of ‘the corrosive culture’ of the Labour run administration as it was described in one of a number of damning reports concerning Wirral Council?

Perhaps the most disturbing and shameless  reference that Field has made is about former Wirral Council Labour councillor Louise Reecejones (LRJ)  . Wirral Leaks first reported concerns about LRJ’s conduct in 2015 – see Suspension Suspense and we have continued to do so,often exclusively ,to the extent that we are referenced in Wirral Council investigation reports. Again where was Field’s public condemnation of LRJ when as a Labour councillor she was found to have repeatedly breached Wirral Council’s Code of Conduct . Moreover did Field ever comment on the case of former Labour councillor Jim Crabtree convicted of making malicious calls to LRJ threatening to kill her and making specific reference to the murder that had occurred the very same day of Labour MP Jo Cox? If Field ever wanted a PROVEN case of criminal ‘nastiness’ this is it – Crabby – Guilty as Charged – but again not a peep from Field.

Now suddenly Field finds he has something to say about LRJ to fit with his current utterly contrived narrative and accuses LRJ of contributing to the death of former Wirral councillor Walter Smith. Although we have known about the allegations against Walter Smith and have made passing reference on our blog, out of respect for the dead and considering we’d never heard a bad word about him, we have refrained from publishing anything on the matter. Obviously Field has no such qualms about making serious accusations involving the death of a Labour colleague as a means  to substantiate his claims of bullying and intimidation within the local Labour Party.

The hypocrisy is staggering when you consider that Field has been the protector and benefactor of PROVEN liars, bullies and racists within the local Labour Party for many years. Could it be that Field has only suddenly become concerned about the matter of LRJ because it is she who chairs the Bidston & St James Labour group which initiated the removal of the whip by the Birkenhead Constituency Labour Party ?

Meanwhile Field is now making noises about standing as an Independent Labour candidate at the next General Election and sounding out the local electorate in the expectation that his adoring constituents will vote in their droves for the Pope of Poverty . We believe this is not a noble,principled stance but the Machiavellian manoeuvring of an egotistical, sanctimonious hypocrite. Didn’t we once say it would be his own hubris that would be his downfall ? Frank Field – ‘ The Truth Will Out’…

 

 

 

 

Spot the ‘BULLIES and parasites’

Before we proceed any further we need to reassure our readers that of  course we will be making a considered response to the momentous news that Frank Field has resigned the Labour Whip and detailing what we think are the REAL REASONS for the sudden (if not unexpected) announcement. For now just take it from us that the timing is particularly significant and the reasons given in Field’s melodramatic media appearances are entirely bogus.

Having said all that we don’t know whether you’ve noticed but , sickening as it is, we’re really enjoying the seemingly endless flow of sleaze emanating from Wirral’s political classes and particularly the ruling administration in Wallasey Town Hall…and so it would seem are our readers, for as  you can see above, one of them has sent in a copy of today’s front page of the Liverpool Echo.

It is yet another example of the ongoing smear campaign ‘organised’ by local Labour politicians that has misfired spectacularly. We contend that if you were to walk past the latest edition of the Liverpool Echo , which considering the trash therein we would suggest is the only sensible option, you would be forgiven for thinking that the BULLIES (did somebody leave the Caps Lock on? ) and parasites referred to were Cllr Michael Sullivan and Wirral Council ‘leader’ Cllr Phil ‘Power Boy Pip’ Davies – and who’s to say you’d be wrong?

The Cllr Michael Sullivan ‘resignation’ is increasingly beginning to look like a dry run for today’s media onslaught from Frank Field  – bar the anti-semitism rhetoric and the Martin Liptrot -penned (?) inflammatory language which seems to have  resulted in Liptrot breaking the ‘PR Golden Rule’ of never becoming the story.

The question central to both Sullivan and Field is whether they can legitimately operate as independents – especially Sullivan. He was elected to the Pensby & Thingwall ward on a Labour (meal) ticket . Surely he owes it to people of that ward to stand down so that a bye-election can take place . It won’t happen – and the reason it won’t happen is that Labour very nearly lost the seat in the same ward at the last local elections and after this week’s events there is every likelihood that they would lose! – under these circumstances we would question as to what right Sullivan has to call anyone a ‘parasite’!

The Labour Smear Campaigners

Is Labour Uncut an anagram? Just askin’

The plot (and boy do we mean plot) thickens with the local Labour political in-fighting playing itself across Wirral and (thankfully) social media.

The latest sinister twist involves allegations that the Cllr Michael Sullivan resignation letter which first appeared on the Labour-lite website Labour Uncut which we informed you about yesterday was possibly authored by none other than Labour Party campaigner and star of CCTV  Martin Liptrot aka Liptrotsky . Liptrot is now, of course , nicely ensconced  in a well-paid Wirral Council non-job courtesy of his West Kirby neighbour , Wirral Council ‘leader’ Cllr Phil ‘Power Boy Pip’ Davies.

However a very revealing post on The Skwawkbox website appears to evidence that the Sullivan resignation letter smearing Labour Party members as ‘parasites’ and ‘worms’ was not only authored by Liptrot but approved by Pip. Even more revealing are the attempts by The Skwawkbox to contact  Sullivan, Liptrot and Davies for an explanation of how this appeared in the properties of the Word document :

 

Read the full story here : EXCL: ‘AUTHOR’ OF COUNCILLOR’S ‘PARASITE’ RESIGNATION LETTER IS PR ALLY OF LABOUR COUNCIL LEADER

Of course Labour politicians and their collaborators are no strangers to smear campaigns. But at least their most notorious (failed) smear campaign was against Tory councillor Jeff Green. However it would now appear they’ve turned on their own in a grisly act of political autophagous.

The clearly amenable Labour Uncut website seems to be the perfect receptacle for the smear stories having coincidentally published a story the day before featuring Labour  ‘legend’ – no laughing at the back – Sheila Murphy, who was given the platform to launch an unsubstantiated attack on Wirral Labour Party members. We ask ourselves whether this could be the same Sheila Murphy who was in charge of Yvette Cooper’s (failed) bid to become Labour leader and if so might this explain part of her animosity towards local Corbynistas? What’s more ,when you realise that there is no doubt Liptrot and Murphy will know each other well from various Labour campaign trails you can appreciate how (with the help from a Labour centrist website) this particular campaign could’ve been orchestrated. Read more:  Labours past is killing its future

If Liptrot is found to be the author of the ‘The Sullivan Letter’ ( place your bets now as to whether Sullivan rescinds his resignation) surely this is a disciplinary matter. Remember this was the man who was warned about his political activities whilst occupying a politically restricted post in 2016 . A leaked email from the then Wirral Council head of law Surjit Tour read :

This matter has been discussed with the individual concerned and he has been reminded of the need to to observe the regulations  associated with occupying a politically restricted post

Read fully story here :  Red Carpeted

How many more times can Liptrot bring Wirral Council into disrepute? It would appear that if you’re of the right political persuasion and well connected you can do what the hell you like – and as their  smear campaigns demonstrate that’s exactly what the Wirral Labour ‘old guard’ are desperate to preserve at any cost.

Flippin eck!! – The Faux Outrage of Phony Tories

Not so much closed any more, now 'ajar'…

— Ian Lewis (@ianlewis675) August 27, 2018

The above Tweets are concerned with an article published on the Labour Uncut website which is titled  Screaming,bullying,laziness and voting for the opposition : Welcome to Wirral Labour Party

If you read the link above you will understand why the pair are so animated as the post involves an interview with  “veteran Labour official and northern legend, Sheila Murphy”

Below are some highlights that Ms Murphy alleges to have encountered whilst campaigning for the Labour Party on Wirral

“I accept the left has have taken over. We’re a democratic party and I accept all that. I just think our electoral chances, both locally and nationally are at risk because of their behaviour,” she says.

What she means, it turns out, is a combination of bullying, extreme levels of micro-control and indolence from the hard left in her local party on the Wirral where she now lives, after retiring as the party’s former ‘super’ director covering the three northern regions…

…she wants to speak out after facing bullying herself by some of the new members. “We have a new hard core whose behaviour is nasty, vicious, and controlling,” she says. “It’s a return to the factionalism of the 1980s. And we all know how that worked out.”

One recent incident saw a local male councillor scream in Murphy’s face demanding to know who had “given her permission” to be out door knocking. One of the women activists Murphy was with was so distraught she had to be driven home.

She reports this kind of aggravation and centralising control is now commonplace, but her major gripe concerns the behaviour of the hard left during the last local elections. Murphy was asked by the leader of the council and the local candidate to lead the campaign in a target ward as they tried to oust a Green councillor.

They lost, narrowly, by 72 votes. “We managed to speak to 4,000 people during the campaign and it was clear that some of our new members were actually voting Green,” she says. “I just couldn’t believe it.”

“We were knocking on these people’s doors and they were openly telling us they were voting Green instead of Labour and even had Green posters in their window.  I reported them to the Local Campaign Forum and was told: ‘It’s their choice’.” For good measure, the local branch even posted on their Facebook page that the Greens were not the problem – their Labour council was.

Banned from attending the branch by officers to offer a de-brief on the campaign, she had her efforts dismissed as “crap” by the local chair. Undaunted, she organised a “thank you” letter to voters. This act of defiance saw the chair post another message on Facebook, warning local people that the group out campaigning, which included the leader of the council (in his own ward), were not representing the Labour party.

“Honestly, looking back I wonder why I bothered!” she says with a wry smile. “But this is my party and I’m not being put off by bullies. Especially when they’re not prepared to do the work that keeps the party alive. Incidentally, no campaigning has been done in this ward for three months since I stopped organising, but the Greens are out in force determined to win the second seat at the next elections in May.”

Her criticisms about the toxic culture in parts of her local party are specific…

Painting a picture of Momentum on the Wirral as an undisciplined militia rather than a professional army, Murphy reports the left returning to bad habits. “Branches, CLPs the LCF have gone back to tabling motions – mostly against their own council.”

There’s also a fear of widespread deselections as the process to choose council candidates begins. “Hard working councillors are telling me that their mental health is suffering as a result of the pressures from local party members. It’s one of the reasons I have decided to speak out. I know I’ll be vilified for having done so,” she says.

“It’s just so frustrating. We’re not discussing the key issues or standing up for real people,” she complains. “Housing and Universal Credit don’t get a look in when we can pass resolutions against the newly established NHS birthing unit, or demand the whip is removed from Frank Field, or oppose the proposal to build a golf resort – anything that attacks the Labour Council.”

The fate of local MPs inevitably comes up in the conversation, with reported moves to deselect Field, who represents nearby Birkenhead. “If they move against Frank and he stands as an independent they are seriously underestimating how loyal the voters are to him personally and many in the party think he will walk it and take members with him.”

So now you can understand as to why Green and Lewis have an opportunity to indulge in what Labour Councillor Matthew ‘Matty Patty’ Patrick  once memorably described as ‘faux outrage’. We’ll be eternally grateful to Matty Patty for that prissy putdown if nothing else. It may surprise you that we’re not sticking the boot in – but what galls us about all this is that the behaviours described are not the preserve of new members and should come as no surprise to either our readers or Tory councillors. We contend that the behaviours of the Labour ‘old guard’  which we have chronicled for years on this blog far exceed anything that Ms Murphy details. This presumably includes the unnamed councillor who it is alleged screamed in Murphy’s face who is clearly not a new Labour Party member . Unfortunately as far as we’re concerned Green and Lewis have colluded with these behaviours from the Labour ‘old guard’, the former passively the latter actively.  Whilst Lewis is currently concentrating on describing the poor viewing figures for Wirral Council’s webcasts and comparing them to Crossroads and Love Island – real lowest common denominator stuff –  not so much low hanging fruit as political windfall at the bottom of the barrel. Meanwhile might we suggest that what is alleged to go on behind closed doors has in fact been hidden in plain sight.

We are not expecting Lewis to kick at the door that is ajar , even when the local Labour Party’s woes have been further highlighted this evening by another  Labour Uncut  story headlined Wirral councillor quits party blaming hard left ‘parasites’ . The councillor involved being Michael Sullivan . All we ask is that Lewis , Green et al spare us the faux outrage – it worked for the Tories a few years back when they managed to gain control of Wirral Council with the aid of the Lib Dems in the aftermath of  a series of  shock horror reports which highlighted the toxic and dysfunctional nature of Wirral Council.Once in power under the leadership of Green they clearly didn’t know what to do with it and inevitably the power was handed back to a small group of Labour politicians who had previously abused this power and have been allowed to continue to do so. Tut-tutting at new Labour party members who challenge the ‘old guard’ is political cowardice  – you may not like their politics or the way they go about things but please remember some of the people they are challenging are simply unfit for public office and they are doing what opposition councillors have simply failed to do for years and that is hold Wirral Council’s ruling administration to account…

The Revolutionary Spirit

OK it might be a bit of hyperbole on our part but do you sense the revolutionary spirit pervading the air ?  We suppose we need to clarify what we mean by that. We don’t mean storming the barricades and sitting at a guillotine with your knitting  – after all this is sleepy,complacent Wirral where political apathy has ,until recently, been the order of the day . However never before have we experienced such a willingness of local people to challenge the powers that be – whether it be litter enforcement fines,parking charges, NHS cuts ,threats to the Green Belt and the latest campaign by Wallasey Hands Off Our Fire Station (WHOOFS) which led to Merseyside Fire and Rescue Authority postponing closure proposals allowing the Fire Brigades Union and WHOOFS more time to campaign – and we say good luck to them!

We admit that we’re pushing it by claiming that Jo Bird being elected as Bromborough councillor to replace teen sensation Warren Ward with a 14% reduction in majority is also a sign of disaffection and mistrust of local politicians as it could equally be the aforementioned political apathy (as a 22.7% voter turnout is absolutely woeful) . However it does give us the opportunity to publish the Wirral Globe picture announcing the election result which looks like a still from a low budget remake of the political mind-control conspiracy thriller ‘The Manchurian Candidate’  which has been renamed ‘The Wirralian Candidate’.

Here we see, centre of picture,  Jo ‘Lady in Red’ Bird herself, overdressed and overdoing it with the red (yes,yes we get it! – you’re a ‘passionate’ Labour supporter!) Then to the right we have a sighting of that rare bird ,Wirral CEO Eric ‘Feeble’ Robinson, lurking in the background trousering yet another substantial cheque for his onerous Returning Officer role ( i.e reading out the election results). Why do we get this strange urge to photoshop a little moustache on his face? Her Ladyship observed that he reminds her of an historical figure who also headed up an evil regime that thrived on fear and propaganda. Who could she possibly mean? Having said that, after viewing the still from CCTV footage we published last week, we think it’s fair to say Stressed Eric is still far down the pecking order when it comes to representing  ‘The Ugly Face of Wirral Council’ . However the most bizarre aspect of this shot is the Lib Dem (?) on the left and the candidate’s jumper which appears to have the subliminal message ‘KILL’ subtly stitched on it – which if you ask us is taking the ‘revolutionary spirit’ a tad too far!

However the feature photo (and the photo below ) is what we believe to be conclusive evidence of the mood that is sweeping the peninsula and shows former leader/mayor/political opportunist Cllr Steve ‘Foulkesy’ Foulkes demonstrating on social media his deep understanding of the revolutionary spirit by dressing up as a sans-culottes French revolutionary and brandishing a bottle of gin.

Foulkesy is 40% proof positive of the revolutionary spirit…

LRJ : The Return of Her Royal Highness of Hardfacedness

You may remember our disappointment at the announcement on social media by local Labour Party luminary Louise Reecejones (LRJ) that she was ‘retiring’ from politics. LRJ was such prolific source of gobsmacking stories that we felt momentarily bereft – although we did note that she did say in her valedictory Facebook post :

I’ve not gone anywhere and will be back stronger than ever, just without the noose…

Full story here : LRJ: An Unofficial Announcement

So imagine our delight when we saw that familiar name at the head of the recent letter calling for the removal of the whip from Birkenhead MP Frank Field  and finding that LRJ was the Chair ,yes! – the Chair of the Bidston and St James Constituency Labour Party (CLP). Read here :  Exclusive : Will Frank Field have the Labour Whip withdrawn?

We can only speculate that the only other candidate during her election was an actual chair – one with four legs and a backrest.  But what a metaphorical smack in the face that must have been for ex-Bidston & St James ward member, ex- Wirral elected member – we use the term ‘member’ advisedly-  and convicted criminal – Jim ‘Crabby’ Crabtree. All we will say is someone is doing a fine job keeping Jimbo away from the telephone and the late night light refreshments.

Nevertheless LRJ’s comeback has not been without its setbacks as can be witnessed by this month’s Disability Labour AGM motion :

Oh dear !  it would appear LRJ’s little local difficulty involving sanctions and suspensions and wrist slapping  from the Labour Party slipped her mind. Last thing we knew she was suing all and sundry at Wirral Council for bringing her good name into disrepute (no laughing at the back). The question we’d like to ask is : How on earth did LRJ get to be Secretary of Disability Labour in the first place?

We just continue to be appalled at the calibre of  politicians in general and local politicians in particular. Such developments reinforces our belief that there is but one attribute that is required to achieve high office. You only have to peruse the rap sheet of some of the serial liars who pass themselves off as our local politicians – it would seem you don’t need to be intelligent,ethical,moral or honest  – you just need to be HARDFACED.

We all know that humans are the only species that blushes (or indeed needs to) but those marble busts in the Lady Lever Art Gallery would crimson up before any of the shower than run the show on Wirral.

Nevertheless we have to confess to the guilty pleasure of witnessing Her Royal Highness of Hardfacedness (LRJ) taking on the Czar of Chutzpah ( Frank Field). We know it’s a bit of a mismatch but nevertheless it has all the potential to get very messy . Indeed we look forward to chronicling the fan-assisted flight of the excrement…

 

Another Wirral CoC Up!

The Power Boy Pip and Princess Paula Show 

The good people of Wirral have certainly come up trumps this week (insert own joke here ).We’ve just opened our email, checked out a few things and pressed the publish button.

It would seem the urge to leak is almost becoming something of a biological imperative for surviving the ways of Wirral Council and its parasitic offshoots.Talking of which news arrives of Wirral Council’s municipal mini-me – namely the Wirral Chamber of Commerce. According to our corroborating sources it would seem Wirral CoC(!) is but a scaled down (but more upmarket) replica of our dearly beloved council – the nepotism,the bullying,the dubious contracting arrangements etc;etc;

As emotions are running high we’ll forgive the flagrant use of emojis in the following messages!

You not only want to look into who the Chamber of Horrors are employing but the fact that around 30 staff have left there in the last year! Some made redundant ‘whilst’ they employed others to do the same job!

Yet do you know there are no longer any Town Hosts (maybe a part time one lurking!) and therefore no one taking a wage from the business rates levy ….. sooooo what are they doing with the money?! Also Tourism gone back to the council? Marketing Manager forced to resign? More investigation and light shedding on this! People need to know!

And another one :

Re your article about WCoC… A number of council staff who had been working for the council for several years, but paid by WBC, were actually TUPE’d across to WCoC last summer (with an additional 1 for good luck), in a 2 year 1 million pound contract (paid monthly if you check WBC expenditure tables)… Of the 7 staff TUPE’d one was made redundant by Chamber, 4 left, 1 is on maternity leave…. Only 1 remains at the chamber…one of the areas this contract was to cover was tourism… Apparently that’s been returned in house… You should check if the contract is still live or cancelled… But would Princess Paula walk away from half a million pounds? If still live presumably the million pound contract is paying existing staff or new staff… Council staff only have a home for life at the Chamber if their face fits. Ask Heather Heaton… Her arrival was much vaunted but I suspect her departure (allegedly not voluntary) will be less so. Or ask Mark Barrow… With his wife in a council role he has apparently taken redundancy. So that’s 4 redundancies in past 5 months, in amongst a recruitment programme of young ‘uns…. Let’s not mention the other 30 odd staff who have left voluntarily (or been forced out) in the past year….

You do realise, I’m sure, that The Lauries still has charitable status? It just made me wonder if they were fraudulently getting out of paying business rates…. It may be that a lot of the tenants would be exempt under the new rules, with the exemption thresholds, but suspect WCoC themselves wouldn’t be

It’s horrendous the way they are going through public money and also their treatment of staff. They need to be held to account.

These comments prompted the following exchange between Wirral Leaks and our source :

But who’s going to hold them to account ? Blogs can only do so much and we only scratch the surface – we need people to speak up. We’ve had a couple from WCoC come to us and then back out -knowing that behind the pretty frocks Princess Paula wields significant power. Frightening.

I know. Everyone has got so used to just doing as they’re told. I know a couple of people who have left the chamber and as you say… They left full of intent to let people know what was going on. Then decided a quiet life is easier. The stories I’ve heard have been terrible, of them bullying people who no longer fit the mould. We (people in general) need to stand up and be counted… 

 

EXCLUSIVE : Red Faces Over Red Bridge

In Wirral Council’s belated haste to get contractors to get the long-delayed red bridge connecting Wallasey and Birkenhead back in action it would seem that there’s been a bit of a mishap. As these exclusive pictures taken by a Wirral Leaks reader reveal the thing is now bloody stuck!

 

 

 

Train Rage

Wirral Leaks readers will know that we like to do our bit for the community and highlight anti-social behaviour – particularly of Wirral Council councillors and officers.

With this in mind we thought we’d share the above picture issued by Merseyside Police

Police issue CCTV after assault on train platform

Apparently officers would now like to speak to the man above as they believe he may have information which could help with the investigation involving two men who were punched several times at Liverpool Central Station.

Anyone with information should call British Transport Police  on 0800 40 50 40 or text 61016 with reference number 337-16.08.18.

Alternatively, information can be passed Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.

We think that the picture would be strangely familiar to our readers. We may need to go  to Specsavers but could this possibly be Martin Liptrot who heads up Wirral Council’s Wirral Well Hard ,sorry, Wirral Well Made? If so we think Merseyside Police should be told!

Defend Our NHS News Update

Our friends at Defend Our NHS (DONHS) have been very prolific this week. Here are their 3 latest missives in chronological order . Number 3 is of particular interest to Wirralian NHS defenders:

1

Dear friends of the NHS

There is so much to tell you! Many developments are affecting our health service – most making the crisis worse – and it is difficult to know where to start.

1. But first, can I introduce myself? DONHS held its AGM last month, the constitution was approved, and a new ‘executive team’ were elected. I am the chair this year and am looking forward to the challenge; the full list of team members is below*. Rest assured that DONHS will continue to operate as a democratic collective organisation.
2. Our aims were agreed at the AGM. They are:
3. To campaign to maintain or reinstate the National Health Service as a universal comprehensive service,publicly owned, publicly funded and publicly accountable, free at the point of need and funded from general taxation.
4. To campaign for this aim particularly in Wirral, Merseyside.
5. To do this in collaboration with other similar campaigns locally and nationally.
6. To educate and inform to this end.
7. TheAGM and a social event were held on the 70^th birthday of the NHS. They followed a wonderful ‘picnic in the park’ in New Brighton when hundreds of people, young and old, spent a happy sunny day together, listened to lovely music, and shared a giant birthday cake. First in the queue for a slice were people born in 1948.
8. Following the introduction of new data protection arrangements we emailed everyone on our list and asked people to positively subscribe to our aims and agree to remain in our database. You are one of 312 (at the time of writing) who chose to do so.All email communications will continue to be as ‘blind’ copies. There are also more than 2900 Facebook ‘friends’.
9. That has been the good news. The remainder is rather bleak: nationally – and here in Wirral where most of our supporters live. Unbelievably Wirral Council, despite having resolved less than two years ago, to oppose the ‘STP’ and ‘accountable care’ system is now operating jointly with Wirral CCG to implement both. The names have been changed as part of the whole process of stealth and obfuscation. But ‘integrated care’ and ’place-based care’ still amount to the same: slash, trash and privatise.
10. We are doing two things locally to oppose this betrayal and blatant ‘official’ disintegration of the NHS. In October there will be a crucial meeting of the Council/CCG Joint Strategic Commissioning Board. We will be there to make our views very clear. Please join us. (Unbelievably they locked us out of a recent Cheshire & Merseyside STP Board meeting so we picketed outside.) And please come to our next public meeting also in October when we will hear much more about this – and continue to discuss the local crisis in general practice.Details will be on Facebook and circulated nearer the time.
11. Did you know about what was happening in Wirral? Unless you are expert in mining the various web sites you would have no idea about what they were doing to OUR health service. There has been no meaningful public engagement or consultation. We try to inform councillors and will continue to do so but too many have been compliant with their ‘leadership’.
12. Talking of consultation… NHSE and the Secretary of State have been challenged legally about aspects of their changes and have finally got round to involving the public. The announcement of a consultation was sneaked out on the day that Parliament and the courts closed for the summer. Make your voice heard. How?https://www.events.england.nhs.uk/search/30/Icps and https://www.engage.england.nhs.uk/consultation/proposed-contracting-arrangements-for-icps/ And watch out for further communications from us and other campaigns.
13. How to keep up with the changes and how to fight back? Here are just some of the excellent sources of information and ideas:
14. https://www.facebook.com/groups/defendournhs/
15. http://999callfornhs.org.uk/999-blog/4583982961/tags/Integrated%20Care%20Systems
16. https://calderdaleandkirklees999callforthenhs.wordpress.com/tag/calderdale-integrated-care-system/
17. https://www.healthcampaignstogether.com/
18. https://keepournhspublic.com/

Thank you.

Best wishes

Frank McEntaggart, Chair, Defend Our NHS

* Executive team 2018/19:

.    Chair: Frank McEntaggart

• Secretary: Kevin Donovan
• Treasurer: Joe Kelly
• External relations officer: Judith Varley
• Research and policy officer: Celia Kelly
• Media officer: vacancy
• Members: Derek Timmins, Tim Watson, Gordon Keegan, Sue Keegan

2

Dear friends of the NHS

Apologies for another email so soon but this from 999 Call for the NHS deserves our support AND action.

Please help with this very important spanner we need to throw in the works.

NHS England is hoping that the consultation silly season will go un-noticed. We’ve noticed – and we want campaigners around the country to band together in fighting back.

Friends in Yorkshire at CK999 have responded to a consultation on the first SEVENTEEN treatments to be de-funded as of April 2019. No coincidence that these are all “elective care” treatments and will be readily available as fee-paying treatments…

(These are in addition to the cuts in Wirral about which we raised the alarm two years ago.)

Please visit this link CK99917 Treatments NHSE plan to cut

The link takes you to more information and you can read the CK999 response which has been prepared with the help of NHS staff.

If you agree with the responses given you can use them as a template for your own response to this travesty of a consultation.

Please encourage others in your network, family and friends to do the same.

Then we need letters to papers, radio shows, and posts on social media.

We will also be producing responses for the other current NHS England secret consultations.

Thank you. We really appreciate it.

Best wishes on behalf of DONHS

https://calderdaleandkirklees999callforthenhs.wordpress.com/2018/08/10/nhs-england-can-stuff-its-plan-to-cut-17-vital-treatments/

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Dear friends of the NHS

Yes, a third email this week but we just had to share some VERY good news BUT also alert you to developments in the disturbing ‘integrated care’ saga affecting Wirral and many other places besides.

1. This is the good news. PLEASE share it widely.

You will remember that we have been supporting two attempts to secure judicial reviews of the ongoing damage being done to our NHS.

We have been disappointed at rebuffs in the courts, including on seven distinct legal grounds in one case brought by our friends 999 Call for the NHS.

BUT this week the Court of Appeal has granted permission to appeal on ALL SEVEN GROUNDS, with capped costs. This is despite NHS England’s dismissive claim to the Court of Appeal that there was no merit in any of the seven grounds for the appeal.

The immediate impact of this ruling is that NHS England’s consultation on the Accountable Care Organisation contract (rebranded as the Integrated Care Provider contract) is taking place about a contract that may not even be lawful.

Court of Appeal grants NHS campaign group permission to appeal against NHS England’s new Integrated Care Provider contract

2. This brings us to the second issue.

Wirral Council and the local clinical commissioning group are steaming ahead with their integrated care plans when their fundamental basis may not be lawful.

There has been no meaningful public engagement or consultation about any of this yet they proceed. It could all go horribly wrong – and NHS staff and patients will be the victims of the mess.

That’s why we’ll be at their ‘joint commissioning’ meeting on TUESDAY at 2.00pm in BIRKENHEAD Town Hall.

Yet again this item appears at the bottom of their agenda: “That, under section 100 (A) (4) of the Local Government Act 1972, the public be excluded from the meeting during consideration of the following items of business on the grounds that they involve the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined by the relevant paragraphs of Part 1 of Schedule 12A (as amended) to that Act. The Public Interest test has been applied and favours exclusion.”

Please try to be there.

Best wishes on behalf of Defend Our NHS

PS We have begun a crowd-funding appeal to raise money for our campaign. See this link.