We are dismayed but not surprised by the following press statement issued by Stop Hoylake Golf Resort Action Group /Defend Wirral’s Green and Open Spaces. We would suggest to them that they make a Code of Conduct complaint but we think a more useful course of action would be to publicly name and shame the councillor involved so that the people of Wirral know what kind of person is representing them…
BULLYING AND INTIMIDATION BY COUNCILLORS
Stop the Hoylake Golf Resort Action Group/Defend Wirrals Green and Open Spaces, have witnessed first hand, bullying,intimidation and Harassment from those leafleting for Labour Councillors on Wirral.
Recently there have been two incidents within the Thingwall and Pensby ward, where two of our members on separate occasions have been bullied and harassed, whilst leafleting for our campaign. We find this behaviour totally unacceptable to our campaign.
On the 9th March whilst out leafleting, one of our lady members was shouted at and verbally abused by a senior labour figure within Wirral Borough Council. On behalf of our member, I wrote to the person in question asking for a full apology, stating that, our members are instructed not to engage with any members of the labour group,or any other group who they may encounter whilst leafleting, this is a strict rule within our group.
The lady in question was walking on the opposite side of the road to the senior officer when shouting started from their side. This has left are member very uneasy and traumatised.
On behalf of our member I wrote to the council official for a full apology to which I received a unreserved apology, which we accepted, it was mentioned to the person concerned that, I would appreciate if your members did not engage with ours during leafleting, we all have a job to do and we should be able to do it without prejudice. The official agreed.
However, the following week on the 16th March, one of our members neighbours had a knock on the door from an elderly gentleman. the gentleman asked if the person he was speaking to would be voting labour in the forthcoming by-elections, to which he received a answer saying no, definitely not. The reasons where explained to the gentleman about building on our greenbelt, especially when at council meetings the labour councillor for the ward of Thingwall and Pensby, can be seen voting to build on greenbelt, on at least four different occasions, when, in his news letter to residents, he says he will protect every blade of grass on the greenbelt areas. After this conversation the elderly gentleman left.
However, approximately three minutes later there was a knock on the door again, this time it was the councillor himself. This time, the councillor was very abusive, with threating behaviour and abusive language. My members neighbour was preparing a childrens party at the time, so there where family members who must have heard the language from this councillor. It was a very upsetting experience and once again, is totally unacceptable to members of the public to have verbal abuse thrown at them from councillors who mislead their constituents. It is shocking.
I as chairperson for the fore-mentioned groups, wrote to the councillor for a full apology, I wrote on two separate occasions, he failed both times to even give the curtsey of a reply.
As the chairperson of the groups mentioned, I keep a rolling update of our petition signatures that we have to date. The figure is growing at a daily rate, it stands at 28,523 currently. The residents of Wirral are infuriated at the proposals to build on our greenbelt. Residents on our peninsula believe we are the forgotten shores, everywhere else seems to receive good coverage except Wirral.
Maybe our councillors realise this and therefore treat their constituents with the utmost contempt.
Finally, this case of intimidation and bullying must be addressed, if we are to encourage people to come out and vote at local elections. I will stress strongly, that the bullying was carried out, not by the momentum groups(whoever they are), but by acting councillors, yet these are the same people who accuse others of trying to ruin their party. The information that these councillors give out, is totally and utterly false. The bullying, intimidation and harassment comes from within the cabinet.
Your chance to lose the abusive councillors is on May 2nd
It didn’t take a Sherlock Holmes or even a Jessica Fletcher to work out who today’s mystery departee from Wirral Council was :
That’s a curious description on his Linked In page as Sherlock was responsible for ‘Asset Management’ and ‘Procurement’ at Wirral Council during which time he got to know a lot of contractors who were used by Wirral Council. Now that he is the lucky recipient of a nice early retirement package it would appear that there could be a lucrative hook up for Sherlock in his new role as,yes, you guessed it, a ‘consultant’. So, by the looks of it his Linked In page will need updating as his ‘retirement’ will be very brief.
Apparently he was asked today at his farewell bash at the Town Hall what were his plans for ‘retirement’ to which he replied :
“No, no still going to work… doing two days a week working for Mac Roofing as a consultant 2 days a week working for Metro as a consultant …”
Could this be the same Mac Roofing that Sherlock gave this glowing reference which can be found on their website? I think we should be told!
When we recounted all this to a well placed source at Wirral Council they told us :
These two are both contractors to the council, both wishing to improve their stake in the share of the cash cow council . Metro provide our cleaning services and would be nice if we could squeeze others out to accommodate the new consultant . If the council had any balls they would call in a conflict if interest and monitor the situation as X is not without his friends within and they strategically placed to give the contracts out… and will.
Make no mistake people are aware of your post but never openly discussed , I and thousands more hate the back hand dealings where corporate governance is non-existent and employees can invoice with phoney tax numbers and what makes it worse , we are all cowards and sit back and watch and in some cases officials knowing the truth don’t highlight it. Doing the right thing is not doing the right thing in Wirral Council.
And so farewell then to another controversial Wirral Council manager who will be ‘retiring’ . Again we must get round to leaking the full story before we go but in the mean time a council insider sends us the following message and invites us to do some detective work and guess the ex- Wirral Council manager heading to pastures new (aka the green, green grass of North Wales)
Well time is moving on and X is also, with a large payout , a nice income and with feet firmly placed on the sofa … or will they ? X is setting up his own cleaning company allegedly utilising the contractors and contacts within and without he has cuddled up to since taking the reins from sick note Dave ‘the rave’ Armstrong who’s time may also be catching up and running out. So how can a young man in his fifties retire early when others in their sixties are denied their applications? There are strict rules to follow, like the job is being made redundant. If ever the council need this role it’s now. Someone who has all the attributes to stop the waste , get a grip of contractors so real value for money can be achieved with professional procurement and standards .The job should not be lost but enhanced.It’s little more than a fudge , a con and David’s promise coming true. For the few not the many.
X’s job can not and should not be made redundant to justify early retirement and pay offs, it’s a critical role. But an Armstrong promise.Nice buffet at Birkenhead Town Hall and drinks at Hornblowers . Apt name.They are getting around it by upgrading people’s roles and paying them more to continue the same shit and take on X’s duties The jobs not redundant it’s made to look that way.
It is with quiet confidence and a little inside knowledge that X as the protector of the contractor with the worst reputation in the history of the council for both pricing and quality will also be moving on. There will be no tears and definitely no one to defend their indefensible corner. Moreover cheers and celebrations will be ringing in every head teachers ears. Let’s hope X retires and spends many hours with his golf club crew, but let us all keep an eye out for any back hand return utilising the old boys golf network and the councils cash cow machine of waste. Dithering no conflict Eric (Robinson) can see the heat you generate is not without merit and substance and there are signs that he is putting people in positions that are not as dithering .Let’s watch this space. Maybe light at the end of the tunnel with contractors that can really repair leaks…
This is a big week at Wirral Council. So many comings and goings we can hardly keep up. Unfortunately some high profile departures will mean that some Wirral Council senior managers will be leaving before we get the chance to publish what we believe to be the real reasons behind some of the sudden departures.
We understand that one who has already slipped out the back door is John Wood who was brought in to help with Children’s Services ‘improvement journey’ last July as the head of Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) at Wirral Council. Read more here : SEND for Help
What we do know is that there is an impending Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman report which won’t make pleasant reading for Wirral Council and particularly those in the SEND Department formerly headed by Wood. We anticipate that the Ombudsman will find that Wirral Council were at fault and recommend urgent actions following a serious complaint involving a child with special educational needs. From what we understand it is unclear whether Wirral Council staff have had any training in SEND law. The law is clear, as is the guidance to which the department must adhere. However it would appear that Wirral Council are simply making up their own rules as they go along – no change there then. Hence the Ombudsman ruling and need for ‘urgent actions’.
Moreover we also understand that John Wood was involved in leading an investigation that is being described to us – and with apparent justification – as a cover up by Wirral Council. The case involves an allegation of abuse at a special needs school.
Much,much more on both of these stories over the next few weeks.
All we will say for now is that whilst Wood may have found a way out but it would appear Children’s Services are not yet out of the woods when it comes to their ‘improvement journey’! …
The test dummy upon which the ICNIRP guidelines are based.
The latest in our debate generating series of posts brought to you by ‘Bright Spark’ :
Over the last two weeks we focused on the new LED lampposts and the unhealthy blue/white LED light and transmitters on top. These posts have hopefully got your attention and got you thinking about the prolific expansion of wireless technology in recent years and the impending ‘Internet of Things’ and the 5G testing in Liverpool and Birkenhead with the rest of the Wirral 5G enabled and ready to turn on. Whilst wireless technology is very convenient, it is very inconveniently unsafe, period.
There is no safe level of microwave radiation (Barry Trower).
Existing EMF (electromagnetic frequency) smog created by wireless technology (2G, 3G, 4G, 4G LTE, cell towers, wifi, smart meters, Bluetooth, cordless DECT phones, wireless sensors, baby monitors, Sky Q boxes, Echo, smartphones, tablets, laptops, smart TV’s, games consoles, all manner of smart tech and remote controlled devises, driver assisted cars etc.) and now 5G (which will lay the infrastructure to blanket every inch of the country and globe with millimetre waves c.100 times stronger than current levels for even faster download speeds, driverless cars, delivery drones, virtual reality, facial recognition, AI and other, as yet, inconceivable technologies) have already/are being rolled out in the Wirral, UK and across the world and positioned as safe, environmentally friendly and essential for every area of the economy.
When being sold the conveniences of wireless technology (instead of the more inconvenient and expensive hardwiring), or being sucked in by the lure of the promises of 5G to provide even faster download speeds and improve your life so you can download a video in 6 seconds instead of 7 minutes; have a driverless car, live in a virtual reality; sit on the couch whilst turning your lights and washing machine on and ordering your dinner to come by drone delivery; live in smart cities controlled by facial recognition and enjoy being connected to billions of other devises via the Internet of Things (IoT) and controlled by the cloud…you may want to look at the human and environmental health risks that have already occurred at current levels. In a future post we will focus on the exponential dangers of 5G which will use both existing microwave bands as well as new millimetre waves and utilises a different beam forming technology.
Is it worth your health and that of your children, grandchildren and the destruction of the environment to carry on accepting this as ‘progress’? We have all been complicit in inviting this technology into our homes and children’s lives and it is now down to each and every one of us now to reconsider our priorities. The issue with government and industry guidelines and PHE/ICNIRP guidelines is this:-
The International Commission on Non-Ionising Radiation Protection (ICNIRP) and the Advisory Group on Non-Ionising Radiation (AGNIR), which Public Health England (PHE), government departments and industry steadfastly quote, maintain that there is no ‘convincing evidence’ or that ‘it does not appear’ that exposure to radio frequencies below ‘guidelines’ poses any risk.
These PHE/ICNIRP guidelines have not been updated since 1998 before wireless technology had been prolifically rolled out and are based SOLELY on ‘thermal’ (i.e. heating effects) over a short (c. 6 minute) exposure on a fluid filled test dummy (see above). They are based on the out-dated belief that only acute thermal effects are hazardous and that non-ionising radiation does not have enough power to affect DNA as ionising (nuclear) radiation does. They steadfastly maintain that there is no issue whatsoever with non-ionising radiation except a potential heating effect at high enough power densities (e.g. your microwave oven heats you up but your wifi is miraculously safe at a lower power, both of which operate on 2.4 GHz spectrum).
These guidelines DO NOT take any of the following into account:-
The non-thermal effects of RF radiation. These effects take place at levels way below recommended guidelines. Any effects on actual cell biology, cell membranes, mitochondria and DNA etc. The effects of multiple frequency exposure The effects of ‘pulsed’ frequency exposure The cumulative effect of 24/7 exposure The addition of multiple RF emitting sources in one location The effects on wildlife, trees, plants, birds, bees, pollinators, bacteria and viruses etc. on their biology and navigation etc. The effects on infants, children, foetus and vulnerable groups
The International Commission of Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection (ICNIRP) exposure level is approx. 900 quadrillion times higher than natural background microwave radiation levels (0.000.000.000.010 µW/m²).
The current guidelines DO NOT PROVE that exposure to RF radiation is ‘safe’. They only state that there is no evidence to ‘suggest’ that it is not safe and are not considering the growing body of evidence and calls from scientists all around the world that demonstrate that it is most definitely not safe at levels way below these guidelines.
No ‘body’ is even measuring exposure levels or ‘combined’ exposure levels from cell towers, devises sold into homes and therefore combined in any location even against the glaringly inadequate guidelines. Big Telecoms and Big Wireless is rolling out unchecked and with impunity.
Damage from RF exposure is uninsurable. The Government, utility companies, big telecoms and smart tech industries may be turning a blind eye to the dangers of wireless radiation exposure but the insurance business has not. Lloyd’s of London sets the standard for the world and has a clause that excludes any compensation for claims: “directly or indirectly arising out of, resulting from or contributed to by electromagnetic fields, electro-magnetic radiation, electromagnetism, radio waves or noise.” Radio waves are explicitly included as they, specifically the microwave zone, are what enable wireless communications devices like cell phones, wi-fi, cordless phones etc. So RFs are invalidating insurance policies. http://stopsmartmeters.org.uk/lloyds-of-london-excludes-liability-coverage-for-harm-from-wireless-radiationrf-emf/
Whilst there are undoubtedly many benefits and conveniences of wireless technology, it is also clear that TRILLIONS OF £ & $ are at stake as well as geopolitical agendas that choose to ignore the dangers. The fact is there are thousands of research papers and calls from credible research scientists across the world that conclude that the current ‘safety standards’ are woefully inadequate and that the roll out of 5G will exacerbate the current issues exponentially. These are simply being ignored by industry/governments/councils and/or discredited by industry sponsored research.
A few examples that are being ignored:
On 31st May 2011, the World Health Organisation’s International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) categorised RF EMFs as a possible CARCINOGEN (Class 2b) – the same category as lead, DDT, chloroform & methylmercury. There are calls to upgrade this to a Group 1 (definitive) carcinogen.
Below is a recent commentary by Prof. Lennart Hardell on the findings of a $25mn US NTP study into cell phone signals. His conclusion is unequivocal:
Based on the IARC preamble to the monographs, RF radiation should be classified as Group 1: The agent is carcinogenic to humans. ’This category is used when there is sufficient evidence of carcinogenicity in humans. Exceptionally, an agent may be placed in this category when evidence of carcinogenicity in humans is less than sufficient but there is sufficient evidence of carcinogenicity in experimental animals and strong evidence in exposed humans that the agent acts through a relevant mechanism of carcinogenicity.’ (http://monographs.iarc.fr/ENG/Preamble/currentb6evalrationale0706.php)
Hardell’s work led to the category of 2B back in 2011, he now is calling for it to be upgraded to Class 1.
https://ehtrust.org/cancer-expert-declares-cell-phone-wireless-radiation-carcinogenic-humans/ On 6th May 2011, the Council of Europe issued a report titled “Potential dangers of EMFs and their effect on the environment” in which they called for an IMMEDIATE reduction in exposure to EMFs by children. The Council advocates a precautionary principle be applied to wireless emissions to prevent public health disaster akin to “tobacco, leaded petrol and asbestos”.
See the Bioinitiative Report 2012. This is informative and gives a clear statement of the problem and a lot references http://www.bioinitiative.org.
Martin Pall, PhD (Caltech, 1968) Professor Emeritus of Biochemistry and Basic Medical Sciences Washington State University. Below are some links to his extensive research and letter to California legislators:
Other references throughout this note contain many credible and peer reviewed studies of evidence of harm that are being ignore/dismissed in favour of government/industry objectives.
Health Effects of RF Radiation and Biological Mechanisms:-
Symptoms of RF (radiofrequency) radiation exposure are many and many of these conditions have increased exponentially in the last 10-20 years since the advent of wireless technology, cell towers, wifi and EMF exposure etc. One has to wonder why there is no other viable explanation that has been shown for these huge increases in conditions that co-inside with this timeline. Doctors are not recognising (or not allowed to recognise the connection).
Some of these health effects include:-
Sleep problems, fatigue, learning and concentration problems, stress, anxiety, depression, headaches, tinnitus, heart problems, palpitations, arrhythmias, cramps, nausea, nosebleeds, hormone disruption, fertility problems, ADHD, autism and neurological and sensory spectrum disorders, immune system disorders, respiratory problems, diabetes, skin rashes and flushes, dementia, alzheimers and cancer. These are known radiation sicknesses.
Basic biology is clear in that every cell and nerve in the body operates using minute electrical signals. There can be no doubt that these biological signals will be affected by exposure to unnatural and continuous high frequency microwave radiation at billions of cycles per second.
Wifi, for example, operates at 2.4 Ghz (2.4 billion cycles per second) and so too does your microwave oven! Although the power density is less, how does a microwave oven on a stick in your home suddenly become safe? In short, it does not. It might not heat you up by 2 degrees in 6 minutes but any logic would tell you this is not safe 24/7.
5G is set to use various higher military grade millimetre wave frequencies e.g. 60Ghz (60 billion cycles per second) and 125 Ghz (125 billion cycles per second) which have been auctioned off already at huge profit to governments all over the world. High-frequency 60GHz 5G has already been shown to interfere with the oxygen molecules we breathe amongst many other serious metabolic issues.
The actual biological mechanisms by which these illnesses manifest are many and complex and too many to note in details this paper but research includes:-
Changes in DNA and mitochondria, changes in cellular process, damage to voltage gated ion channels leading to electrical signal changes in the cell, changes in brain waves and neuron responses, oxidative stress, cell inflammation and damage to the blood/brain permeability.
Dr Martin Palls work, papers and lectures explain clearly the mechanisms of harm as well as how children, insects and trees are particularly affected. His predictions are dire and should urgently be heeded but are ignored by government and industry:
Contrary to ICNIRP, PHE and Government guidelines, it is quite evident that there is considerable scientific doubt of the safety of these EU, UK guidelines and standards.
Anecdotally, many people are becoming sick with many conditions noted above but with ‘unknown cause’ and for others, lives have become a misery with Electro Sensitivity. It is estimated that Elecro Sensitivity will increase from the current estimate of 3-10% to 50% in the coming years. Peoples health and the environment is being damaged whether they are ‘electrically sensitive’ and aware of it or not.
These connections are simply dismissed by government and NHS doctors. Living close to unavoidable sources and being forcibly exposed to RF radiation is a real misery for many people. Many people are acutely aware of the cause of their illness or discomfort, often living close to a cell tower or becoming sensitive after being exposed to Wifi all day in work, school or home or recently having a smart meter installed and others remain unaware of the cause getting medical treatments that will not help.
A recent article in the Lancet outlines concerns of harm from conception that has now occurred and increased rapidly in the past 20 years. Amongst other issues, it outlines evidence of the effects of exposure to wireless devices on the CNS, including altered neurodevelopment, increased risk of neurodegenerative diseases, behavioural disorders and structural and functional changes in the brain associated with ADHD-like behaviour in children.
At a time when environmental health scientists tackle serious global issues such as climate change and chemical toxicants in public health, it calls for an urgent need to address so-called electrosmog.
The current guidelines are simply irrelevant to continuous exposure:
Please refer to the Bioinitiative report and the Building Biology Levels precautionary guidelines for RF/Microwave exposure which take non thermal effects into account:
The conversion and the various measuring units are very complex and it is easy to understand how invested interests can persuade government and decision makers into believing inadequate safety measures.
In summary, however, by comparison, the EU standard being used to determine ‘safety’ is thousands of times higher than the levels shown to cause cellular damage and health issues and the precautionary levels advised by building biology guidelines. In nature, levels are almost undetectable which is a clear measure of the real level at which biology operates at a healthy level:-
EU Safety Standard: 1 mW/cm2 (= 61.4 V/m)
Nature: <0.00002 V/m
Building Biology No Concern: < 0.006 V/m Building Biology Slight Concern: 0.006-0.06 V/m Building Biology Severe Concern: 0.06-0.6 V/m Building Biology Extreme Concern: >0.6 V/m
To reiterate, the ‘EU/UK safety standards’ are thousands of times higher than biological safety standards and only measure SAR (thermal) effects performed on a fluid filled dummy. They do not take ANY account of non thermal effects, continuous exposure, pulsed frequency exposure, multiple frequency range exposure etc. to the actual biology of any creature large or small. No one is measuring the combined exposure effect in an average home e.g living next to a cell tower, 3 smart meters, wifi, plus neighbours smart meters and wifi, combined with the vast array of wireless devises. No one is measuring effects on wildlife, plant health and the decline of insects, pollinators and birds. Insect populations have plummeted dramatically in the last 10 years and this correlates with the introduction of 3 and 4G, smart meters and smart LED lamp posts.
There are simply thousands of peer reviewed studies linking RF radiation exposure to cancer and many of the illnesses above and yet these studies, along with the classification of the WHO are being ignored. The government/industry is rolling out ever increasing wireless infrastructure including masts for full UK 4GLTE coverage and is now laying the foundations for the 5G infrastructure and smart cities (including allowing existing masts to be upgraded to 5G, new 5G upgradable masts, LED lampposts with RF transmitters, and any number of street furniture such as manholes and telephone boxes as well as (the insane) space satellites planned to augment the coverage). Industry, with an eye on ‘the internet of things’ is selling every conceivable devise loaded with RF transmitters, that in most cases cannot be disabled, to the unsuspecting and technology enraptured public.
There is so much evidence of harm that is being ignored in favour of the industry/government interests. It is an extremely inconvenient truth that this technology is not safe and action must be taken to STOP THE ROLL OUT OF 5G and limit the use of existing wireless technology. Most of the public are unaware of the dangers as they are not being informed of these dangers by the mainstream media or may simply not believe that the government would knowingly allow this to happen (refer tobacco, diesel, asbestos, GMO’s, fracking, pesticides etc!). This is a global experiment without informed consent. RF radiation cannot be seen, heard or perceived. Those that are aware and/or sensitive are horrified at the complicity of the government and councils in allowing this crime against humanity.
It should be the duty of the council and the government to act in the best interests of the environment and the health of the public and this is currently not the case. The future liability for complicity in the irreversible harm to human health and the environment must surely rest with the council, government and government advisory bodies as well as industry with whom they work hand in hand. They need to immediately acknowledge the scientific evidence and amend the government policies proliferating the infrastructure roll out and industry sales of RF devices. Unfortunately, this does not look like it will happen any time soon and may already be too late for the health of many.
To make any changes millions of voices and careful individual purchasing changes are required. Do not assume someone else will take action.
The illumination of Birkenhead Town Hall tonight marks the first event of Wirral’s Borough of Culture year. We hope those who attended tripped the light fantastic. Meanwhile one of our readers has been in touch with kind comments on our own cultural credentials along with some interesting observations about Wirral’s appointment of ‘cultural ambassadors’ and their own experience of past approaches to local cultural events.
Dear Wirralleaks
Congratulations on the excellent work – please keep it going.
I understand that at the recent Wirral Borough of Culture launch event one of the ‘cultural ambassadors’ was none other than Stan Boardman. If this is an indication of what are civic leaders understand culture to mean, things are even worse than I thought.
I last saw Boardman dressed in a Nazi uniform at a half-time ‘entertainment’ slot at Prenton Park (this was a few years ago, and certainly not under the current regime of the Palioses, who are, in my opinion, doing a good job). He was goose-stepping up and down the pitch doing Heil Hitler salutes to the tune of his hit song about the Nazis bombing ‘our chippy’. Inconveniently, there were some German schoolchildren in the crowd, guests of the club. I wrote and complained, and received a response from Chairperson Lorraine Rogers who sympathised but said there was nothing that she could do.
There have been some worthwhile attempts to promote culture in Wirral, but with this level of philistine leadership they are going to struggle to take root.
I believe that Chris Boardman was also there, so maybe the organisers didn’t get beyond the letter B in the directory of local celebrities. Or maybe ‘Boardman’ was written in to the specification.
I am also reminded that for several years running the ‘Birkenhead Festival’ was a couple of bouncy castles and a disco behind the Crown pub on Conway Street. Lofty cultural aspirations indeed!
Well done on the mention in the current edition of Private Eye.
There’s are some interesting pictures and comments on Truth about New Brighton lifeboat station Facebook page concerning an incident that took place over the weekend where a lifeboat tractor ended up in the Mersey – again !
Wirral Leaks brought you news of the first time this happened in our Get in the Sea story which was an episode in a long running saga which started with the sacking of lifeboat volunteers at New Brighton lifeboat station.
This picture was taken during the rescue :
The following picture was taken and comment made after the rescue :
And I think we can all agree on this comment :
An interested party who tipped us off about developments had this to say :
Another lifeboat tractor written off… spent the night submerged …just watched it being towed away by huge heavy lifting machine. Inshore lifeboat out of commission can’t get back to New Brighton station.. spent night moored up elsewhere (Liverpool landing stage?)
When they sacked the New Brighton lifeboat crew…. they lost 300 years of experience. Wouldn’t it be nice to hear a comment from New Brighton Lifeboat Chairman Cllr Tony Jones? (Yes, he who helped to fuck over the old lifeboat crew in the first place)
… And then you lovely people send us stuff and we realise “Nah, it’s not just us, its all gone to shit out there and we are compelled to record the end of times and wonder how did it all get so messed up with the only things we have at our disposal – words and pictures…
Which brings us to this particular item. Which we’ll leave here for you to ponder on for a few moments :
There’s not much more we need to say other than no wonder our source titled their email to us :
The email read : Feeding Birkenhead no expense spared lol
Further information that was sent made us question as to whether our source was winding us up.
Wilfred Owen Choir are serenading and receiving goodie bags . Bet you the Cammell Laird bosses were there.
Along with the ‘Sold Out’ banner this was now getting simply beyond parody – but we’ll give it a go anyway :
Hello , everyone. My name is Si Coffant and I’ll be your host tonight at this glittering occasion. Firstly, I’d like to welcome all you ladies and gentleman and particularly the ‘Right Honourable Gentleman’ himself and star of the show, Mr Frank Field (applause). Tonight at ‘The Lauries’ we’re keeping it classy. After all , ‘Frank is in da house ‘ so it’ll be more House of Commons than House of Commoners . So, sorry they’ll be no ‘Agadoo’, bingo and throwing up behind the bins tonight (laughter). Instead ,ladies and gentlemen ,we’ve got the Wilfred Owen choir who are going to serenade you with some of ‘Our Wilf’s’ greatest hits – ‘Futility ‘, ‘Anthem for Doomed Youth’, and that catchy little number ‘Dulce Et Decorum Est’ (applause). So as you tuck into a nice bit of scran please feel free to join in with the choir as they sing about slaughter on the battlefields of Europe . Yes, it’s a bit like Brexit set to music! (laughter) . But seriously ladies and gentlemen – let’s not forget the real reason we’re here tonight. Yes,that’s right – tonight is about all of us who have personally benefitted from ‘Frank Field’s Forty Glorious Years’ as the MP for Birkenhead…Oh and charidee, let’s not forget to mention it’s all about charidee for the starving mites. So raise your glasses and be grateful for the fact that if you didn’t have Frank’s patronage you too could be destitute and cast aside on the mean streets of Birkenhead. Make mine a treble !!!
Our source put it more succinctly but no less sarcastically :
The Lauries is celebrating 40 years of the great Frank Field lol
His legacy – a starving community
For those with the stomach for it you can read more on the Frank Field’s Birkenhead Community News Facebook page which is promoted and published by Anna McLaughlin, who as we all know is the daughter of dedicated Frank Field fan Cllr Moira ‘Matron’ McLaughlin. Needless to say Matron was there along with fellow ‘Independent’ Cllr Chris Meaden.
As the poor loves don’t seem get out as much as they used to we wonder if the Wirral council taxpayers are still picking up Matron’s taxi fares or whether they were both chauffeur driven to Feeding Birkenhead’s Fundraising Dinner? After all it was in the name of charity and they did raise a mighty 3 grand…
Matron takes her place at the top table. She’s to the left of Field. But then again who isn’t?
It’s always best experiencing poverty vicariously. Preferably viewed through the window sipping a bit of fizz…
This week’s very minor political news is that Rock Ferry residents now find themselves without a Labour councillor as Cllr Bill Davies is the latest local politician to claim to be ‘Independent’ and yet paradoxically recite the same script of those councillors who’ve gone before him. “Hard left”,” I can’t continue to support something I nolongerbelieve in.” etc;etc;
No mention of mention of bullying/anti-semitism so far. But then we suspect that Billyboy wouldn’t understand what either meant. After all his main claim to fame for Wirral Leaks readers came when he somehow found himself chairing the Standards and Constitutional Committee and where we observed:
Now if your idea of fun is watching someone picking their teeth, gurning and looking generally befuddled for 40 minutes we recommend you keep your eye on Committee chair Cllr Bill Davies – “standards” don’t even come into it !
Her Ladyship turned her head away from the screen and cried despairingly : “Oh for goodness sake get that man a toothpick and some lessons in etiquette.What is it with local councillors called Davies ? – they appear to be social disgraces unacquainted with the social graces
So now with Cllr Phil ‘Power Boy Pip’ Davies taking the coward’s route out before either the Greens or the Reds forced him out and Cllr Bill Davies joining Cllrs McLaughlin, Meaden and Sullivan and their vainglorious ‘Independent’ venture Labour councillors called Davies are a threatened species. No wonder local Labour activists are throwing everything at the local election campaign to enable Labour Cabinet member Cllr Angie ‘Excited’ Davies to remain in the Prenton ward. This is a ward in which the Green Party made huge gains at the last local elections and will be hotly contested this time round (see above).
Somehow Angie is being touted as a future Labour leader (even by local Tories) which makes us want to use an expression using the following words : scraping, bottom and barrel.
The other Davies remaining in the Labour ranks is the infamous Cllr George Davies who by rights he should have been stripped of public office a long time ago. It’s a shame that when Cllr Bill Davies claimed that the Labour Party was not the party he joined and could no longer believe in was because of the corrupt antics of the likes of Cllr George Davies and Cllr Phil Davies . As we presume it’s not – Bill just looks like the latest of local Labour politicians who have benefitted from colluding with a corrupt cabal and are now unhappy with democratic processes which mean that they’re not getting their own way anymore… to which we can only say good riddance and for God’s sake get a decent pair of dentures.
A number of our readers have been in touch with pictures of the Wirral Globe wraparound ‘Advertisement Feature’ promoted by Cllr Ian Lewis on behalf of Wirral Conservative Group which has caused pre-Purdah murder.
We remember having a pop at the Wirral Labour Group for pulling a similar stunt last time the local elections came around. However this particular production really is something else. Real lowest common denominator stuff – right down there with their infamous ‘baseball bats’ leaflet which ruthlessly exploited the fallout from the damning ‘Independent Review’ of 2012 .
The problem we have is that whilst we acknowledge you’d have to be spectacularly dim to think that the wraparound contained genuine news stories and not exploitative electioneering on the part of the local Conservative Group the fact is a) it appears under the Wirral Globe masthead and b) there are an awful lot of spectacularly dim people out there .
The scaremongering cover star is hasbeen ‘Militant’ bogeyman Derek ‘Deggsy ‘ Hatton. The picture is so old it was taken when he still had a decent head of hair . Whilst this ‘hard left’ trope is not only used as means of highlighting the power struggle within the local Labour Party it also tacitly supports the established Labour cabal which have wreaked so much havoc in Wirral over recent years!
The inside features pro- Green Belt , anti-Kingdom Security votecatchers which hitch a ride on the work of local activists and campaigners . Elsewhere it’s a bit thin on the ground policy-wise. A less than detailed 6 point plan features such nebulous aims as ‘ Expose Council Waste’ and ‘Better Council Services’ . Perhaps if the local elections don’t go well as expected the author can take over the running of Wirral Leaks. The local Conservative Group don’t seem to have learned their lesson from exploiting the political fallout of the Independent Review . Once they unexpectedly got into power , their main policy initiative was a desperate Council Tax rebate – even that didn’t work and there wasn’t enough spectacularly dim people to keep Cllr Jeff Green in power as Leader of Wirral Council and the Conservatives were ousted at the next election.
Finally , we’d like to comment on the back page of the ‘Advertisement Feature’ which features the welcome demise of litter enforcement louts Kingdom Security. We can’t help feeling that there’s been a bit of ‘Leaksification’ when it comes to the hard-hitting picture. Well ,they do say that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery…
Wirralleaks 