It’s a ‘No’ to Norbury

Empty political gestures are no substitute for deeply held beliefs.  

Considering how gleefully the local press reported that the first attempt by the Birkenhead Constituency Labour Party to elect a successor to Frank Field ended in an embarrassing lock out  at Birkenhead Town Hall you’d have thought they’d be happy to report that Mick Whitley eventually got the gig. But no – they’ve got stories to tell about how Frankenfield is saving Birkenhead from the ravages of a corrupt political regime (take your pick as to whether that’s a Labour controlled council or a Tory controlled government). Whilst we’re on the subject of Field’s alleged saving of the increasingly depressing House of Fraser store in Birkenhead can someone explain his preference for Mike Ashley over Sir Philip Green? Answers on a postcard. Mark your entries with the word ‘HYPOCRISY’…

However if you think Whitley has it bad trying to gain some leverage with the local press spare a thought for the runner up in the parliamentary candidacy race. Poor Cllr Tony Norbury – who received 116 votes compared to Whitley’s 224 – is having a torrid time of late. Not that we’re particularly sympathetic. Norbury always seemed to be spectacularly naive as to how local politics works. At the end of the day he just didn’t have the right connections  – be that with the press ,unions or self-serving politicians . Moreover can we just say that political posturing with placards is no substitute for a deeply held belief in tackling racism, especially within the local Labour leadership (i.e. Cllr George Davies).

Apparently Norbury’s week got even worse as not only is he not off to Westminster – can you imagine? – he’s also off the local panel list and therefore cannot run as a councillor in May 2020!

They say bad luck comes in threes so we can only hope and pray that his Buxton bolthole wasn’t flooded during the recent Biblical downpour!…

Whitley Beats Witless To Become Birkenhead’s Labour Parliamentary Candidate

Frank Field’s worst nightmare

We called it correctly (again) as Mick Whitley has beat allcomers including Cllr Tony Norbury  to become Birkenhead’s Labour candidate at the next General Election.

With friends in high places and support of powerful unions Whitley was a shoo-in.

Although the Whitley v Field battle to win the hearts,minds and votes of Birkonians started yesterday with Frankenfield’s little spoiler (more on that later) we guarantee that this one will run and run…

Paper Trail : The search for Frank Field’s successor continues…

We’ve been asked do we have any news on the much delayed process to find the successor to Frank Field as the local Labour Party parliamentary candidate for Birkenhead.

As we revealed in our exclusive in February the last attempt, whether cock up or conspiracy, ended in farce.  Now over 4 months later things don’t appear to be any closer to a resolution. A local political insider tells us :

So while Labour pay lip service to the environment with their “climate emergency bills” they don’t appear to practise what they preach for others, how out of character.

So while the cabinet lead calls for paperless meetings at the council the party is ignoring this call for its own meetings.  The ongoing selection to replace Frank Field, being run by a cabal controlled by Cllr Tony Norbury, has ruled that no submissions or documents from candidates can be distributed electronically – ie email – they must be on printed paper.  This will mean literally thousands of sheets being printed for all the candidates.  Seems that caring for the environment comes second to a good old fashioned Labour Party stitch up. 

 

Not so much paperless as clueless! Not so much paper trail as trial by paper!

Let’s just hope somebody has confiscated Norbury’s red crayons and put a spell check on his PC – after all we’re sure after his eloquent tweeting exploits the Birkenhead CLP after wouldn’t want to be ‘depraved’ (sic) of his submission to be the next Labour candidate for the Birkenhead ‘Constituancy’ (sic)… 

The ‘Right’ Kind of Labour Politician

Following on from yesterday’s Selection Committee non-event at Birkenhead Constituency Labour Party (CLP) we’ve been musing on the cock up or conspiracy aspects of the debacle.

Now , we’re not usually prone to reaching for a tin foil hat especially when Her Ladyship tells us that they’re ‘so last season’ but there were some worrying signs prior to the meeting that the political establishment both nationally and locally were gearing up for a spoiler.

Needless to say Frank Field ally The Daily Mail (aka Fail) , an ever willing receptacle for his self serving rhetoric, was ready with a less than complimentary article on Wirral Labour councillor Tony Norbury and leading candidate to succeed Frankenfield as the next Labour Parliamentary candidate…the day before the Selection Committee was due to meet. Well, what a coincidence! However and as you read on here yesterday in our EXCLUSIVE : And the new Parliamentary Labour candidate for Birkenhead is… post things didn’t quite go to plan…or did they (for some interested parties at least)?

The Daily Mail article titled Labour hopeful lining up to take on veteran MP Frank Field ‘is a hard-left bully with links to group that dismissed claims of anti-Semitism against party’ details how Cllr Norbury had been disciplined by the Labour Party for bullying and revisited issues of alleged anti-semitism which we’d previously reported here

Needless to say local Tories and Frank Field fans were on hand to add fuel to the fire with former Tory Council leader Cllr Jeff ‘Yellow’ Green retweeting a link to the  Daily Mail article with a typically cryptic and cowardly comment: ‘Well,well,well..’. 

Well,well, well indeed! So tell us Cllr Green do you consider Cllr Norbury to be a worse prospect than Cllr Steve ‘Foulkesy’ Foulkes ? You know the one who considers you ‘kindred’? You know the one who organised a failed smear campaign against you and lied about it in an investigation and then there had to be another investigation because he’d lied during the first one and then continued to lie again in the second one? Or is ‘Foulkesy’ the ‘right’ kind of Labour politician who you can sit alongside on the  Board of Magenta Living , trousering the cheque and pretending to ‘play nice’.

As you can see from further tweets this week in support of Labour councillor Chris Meaden fellow Tory councillors Ian Lewis and Chris Blakeley follow the same path when it comes to Labour politicians . There’s a right sort and a wrong sort .

Now don’t get us wrong we’re not taking sides here as nobody’s hands seem to be clean in this political shitshow and as you know we have pored over philosophical treatises ,mulled over manifestoes and read the political rhetoric and concluded :

However to be frank (and not Frank) we’re  beginning to not care if the so called ‘hard-left’ returnees and entryists are hammer and sickle wielding wild-eyed Trots. Anything, ANYTHING that shakes up the moribund puppetshow that passes for political debate on Wirral where it’s all back to the Mayor’s parlour for a handshake , a sly wink and a slap on the back for a part perfectly played in a political pantomime is OK with us…

 

EXCLUSIVE : And the new Parliamentary Labour candidate for Birkenhead is…

As you will know from this report : EXCLUSIVE : The runners and riders in the race to be the next MP for Birkenhead we’ve been breathless with anticipation to find out who Birkenhead Constituency Labour Party (CLP) would choose to succeed Frank Field as their candidate for the next General Election .

This is the report from our man on the inside holding his head in his hands wondering whether it’s a cock up or a conspiracy…

The Selection Committee election didn’t go ahead tonight, it started off
badly with the Town Hall being locked securely causing meeting to be
transferred to The Welcome Centre on Argyle Street at the last minute. 
Sadly the candidate’s statements were also locked in the Town Hall,
after initially being told the vote was going ahead without any real
knowledge of the candidate’s viewpoints, the meeting chose to take over
and it was agreed that the election will be held at a later date, as
soon as possible.

An offer of allowing each candidate to speak for two minutes was on the
table but not only was it unclear whether all the candidates were
present but also it wasn’t deemed fair that this should be sprung on
them especially with such a small time slot.

It was also suggested that the statements should emailed out, reading 16
candidate’s statements of 250 words each in the meeting (potentially
4000 words) was not considered conducive to finding the five most suitable.

Various other points were raised including one candidate’s application
appearing to be waived through despite it not being correctly received by
the deadline.

The Chairman had a hard job which wasn’t helped by the dictatorial NEC
member that was present who despite being there to ensure due process,
seemed to want to throw the rulebook away and make up his own rules on
the fly (I’m sure he will see it differently). Democracy won the day.

EXCLUSIVE : The runners and riders in the race to be the next MP for Birkenhead

Red silks all the way in a two horse race?

16th February 2019 could be the most the most significant date in Birkenhead’s  political history in the last 40 years. Birkenhead Constituency Labour Party (CLP) have started the process of finding a replacement for Frank Field – the man who has been the town’s MP since 1979 – and this Saturday will see a special meeting take place where a Selection Committee will vote on who will be the parliamentary candidate at the next General Election.

So let’s have a look at who is in the running for £77k (plus expenses) prize that comes with being first past the post:

Whilst we understand that Frank Field is a non-runner following his withdrawal of the Labour whip and can no longer be considered a candidate we just hope that someone has checked the rule book when it comes to running for selection-  just in case there’s a Steward’s Enquiry when the result is announced. We say this as a journalist at New Statesman recently wrote this :

Therefore assuming that Field is out of the race who are jockeying for position to be riding high as the Labour candidate in one of the safest seats in the UK ?

Well first off in stall 1 and running in the ‘Maomentum ‘ colours is Tony ‘Tight Fit’ Norbury, local councillor for Prenton and scion of the so-called Wirral ‘hard left’. He has a favourite’s chance due to his ‘comrade’ John Maher and that latter’s control of the Birkenhead CLP and consequently the make up of the  Selection Committee.  Under these circumstances Norbury would appear to be the front runner…

However in stall 2 running Norbury close will be Mick Whitley in the Unite colours . We recently introduced you to him here and reported

Mr Whitley, formerly a long-standing convener at the Vauxhall car plant in nearby Ellesmere Port, was born in the area and is the former north-west regional secretary of the Unite union.

He has gained the support of Momentum, which holds a powerful presence in north-west England, while left-wing MPs such as John McDonnell, Rebecca Long-Bailey and Dan Carden have voiced their support.

The local branches of Unite, FBU, RMT, BFAWU and Aslef have also formally endorsed Mr Whitley’s candidacy.

Thus far ,despite living in Wirral (but not in Birkenhead?), Whitley has, up until now, not had a local political (or media) profile. However now that Unite’s Regional Political Officer,Alison Spencer Scragg, is running his campaign (and pulling the reins) Whitley has taken a sudden interest in turning up at food banks,demos and picket lines and making sure he’s seen to be doing so on his Twitter account which was only set up in November 2018…

Jez ‘n’ Mick

Finally, in stall 3 we have the token filly in the race. Theresa ‘I’m not Tony or Mick’  Griffin is running in the colours of  the EU flag/Unison/GMB. The clock is ticking on MEP Griffin as she looks like being out of a job by the end of next month unless Brexit is halted or delayed. Fresh from her defeat in the selection in Walton in 2017 we predict Theresa will again aim to be the token woman on the shortlist and hope that following her defeat she may make it third time lucky and actually win in Liverpool Riverside when their trigger ballot happens and current Labour incumbent Louise Ellman is ousted.  Consequently Griffin’s half-hearted attempt to become the next MP for Birkenhead has thus far amounted to nothing more than taking a sudden interest in Birkenhead’s flyovers :

Thus a Labour insider sums up the current selection process situation for us as follows :

There will also be several local also rans who will no doubt throw their caps into the ring but in truth the members of Birkenhead CLP will have a choice between Tony Norbury or Mick Whitley, which will be akin to them being asked if they would like to be stabbed or burned to death.  Ah thank God for a new and kinder politics……

 

Field of War – Let the Political Battle for Birkenhead Commence!

After the phoney war that was Frank Field flouncing out of the local Labour Party and resigning the whip it would seem that hostilities have begun in earnest in what was dubbed the ‘Battle for Birkenhead’ in the local media , as if the town was the personal fiefdom of the sitting MP!

We state this after receiving a leaked email sent out by Momentum which anticipates that Labour’s National Executive Committee (NEC) will instruct the Birkenhead Constituency Labour Party (CLP) to begin to select a new Prospective Parliamentary Candidate

It is further anticipated that there will be a large volume of applications and Momentum are requesting that anyone who wants to receive their support ‘must subscribe to the aims and values of the organisation as well as, and most importantly, support the leadership of Jeremy Corbyn.’

This ,presumably, rules out Frank Field as he has done everything he can to undermine the Labour leader since he mischievously nominated him for leader ‘to encourage debate within the Labour Party’. This has since become a classic case of be careful what you wish for !

Of course being a wily politician and a peerless media manipulator we anticipate that Field will be in the bunker and gathering the old guard in a last ditch attempt to stave off what seems an inevitable defeat on the political battleground of Birkenhead.

2019 is already shaping up to be a momentous year for local politics.

In the new year, we anticipate that Labour’s NEC will instruct Birkenhead CLP to begin procedures to select a new Prospective Parliamentary Candidate, following the resignation of Frank Field from the Labour Party. In the past few weeks, Momentum has called hundreds of members and supporters and many of you have participated in our survey consultation in Birkenhead. Thank you to those who spoke to us during this process. It was important to hear your hopes and aspirations for a Labour candidate in Birkenhead. Your views matter and will be fed into our process going forward whether you are active in Momentum and Labour or not. If we did not manage to speak to you during our consultation feel free to email us on the contact details provided below. We have endeavoured to have the most open and involved process possible and have tried to involve every Momentum member and supporter in Birkenhead. As is the case with seats like Birkenhead, it is expected that there will be a large volume of applications. If you are thinking about standing yourself or know somebody that is, and you/they wish to receive the support of Momentum through this process, you can apply by responding to this email. You do not have to be a member of Momentum to apply but you must subscribe to the aims and values of the organisation as well as, and most importantly, support the leadership of Jeremy Corbyn. How to Apply for Momentum’s Support Please email damian.bailey@peoplesmomentum.com to request an application form be sent. Fill in the application form and return todamian.bailey@peoplesmomentum.com by midnight on Sunday 6th January. If you have a problem with applying by the deadline owing to personal circumstances and/or have a problem filling in the application or any special requirements, please do not hesitate to get in touch. What Happens Next? Momentum’s democratically elected governing body, the National Coordinating Group has convened a panel of NCG members. These NCG representatives are elected by thousands of Momentum members to represent you. In addition, members from the Wirral and Birkenhead will be represented on the panel. It will be the panel’s task to review applications and interview prospective candidates. The process to endorse a candidate will begin soon after the applications close. At this point, applications will be reviewed, and interviews will take place soon after with those candidates. Prospective candidates will need to be available for interview at a date arranged by the panel in conjunction with the prospective candidates. If you are interested, we hope to hear from you very soon. Indeed, if you have any questions do not hesitate to get in touch. In Unity, Momentum http://momentum.nationbuilder.com/ Momentum is funded entirely by membership fees and donations from thousands of supporters across the UK.

Fieldwatch 2 – The Clash of the Messiahs

 

Frank Field suffers lens envy at the Labour Party Conference

The Labour Party conference held in Liverpool last week cast a Corbyn-shaped shadow over the River Mersey and the neighbouring constituency of Birkenhead and particularly over its former Labour MP Frank Field.It must have been so upsetting for Frankenfield to witness the local front pages singing songs of praise – but not for him.

However, once again give him his due,  Field did his very best to rain on the parade of the Labour Party faithful who came in adoration of their new messiah, Jezza, but it was very much a case of scattered showers in less exposed places than the usual high profile media deluge.

On the eve of the conference Field had a story published in The  Sunday Times titled ‘The Politics of Faith’ where he wrote :

Writing about the link between my faith and my political activity is among the hardest challenges I have ever been given. I can describe my political activity with ease. Exploring the link between my politics and my faith is where I face a quandary. My questioners often think that these are two separate issues that can be consciously joined together at specific times and on particular issues.

It would appear that, indeed , it must have been one Field’s hardest challenges as he fails spectacularly in explaining how he aligns his political activity with his faith. Though, to be honest, if you can make out what the hell he’s going on about you’re a better man than I, Bungdit Din. It starts off reading like the usual ‘holy man in a wicked world’ schtick that Field has been pedalling for years before degenerating into a messianic mess :

Linked to a sacramental view of the world has been a biblical basis for my utopian politics. The leitmotif running through the Old and into the New Testament is the concept of the Kingdom in this world. The historical Jesus heralds a Kingdom at hand, one that is being sought and built, and a Kingdom that is to be completed at the end of time.

My revolutionary politics are about that commandment to seek and, by seeking, to help to build the Kingdom. However, this has always been a collective effort. We are pilgrims, not Napoleons.

Read full story here

Huh? We couldn’t tell if he was talking about less than popular local litter snitches Kingdom Security , as let’s face it they share something in common – preying on the poor and vulnerable for profit and political point scoring.  However there were a couple of insights we found interesting though  :

I was brought up as a Christian at St Nicholas’, an Anglican church in Chiswick, West London. It had a restrained Catholic worship, but a strong distaste of any excess of church millinery. It also lacked, as I was later to learn from my reading, a sense of a Church Militant (Christians on Earth struggling against sin). It did teach me the Catholic faith.

So Field clearly had a distaste for ‘Militants’ of any kind from an early age and it also helps explain his affinity with the local Labour Catholic mafia that he has helped sustain in power despite their many and varied ‘sins’ over the years.

More God-bothering was to follow in an article in Christian Today – which is a first appearance by that hallowed publication on these pages.

The Church Commissioners, who handle investments for the Church of England, have pulled out of talks around buying the loan book of payday lender Wonga.

Wonga, which specialised in high-cost short-term loans, collapsed last month following a surge in compensation claims and former Labour MP Frank Field suggested the Church should consider involvement in a buyout to ensure its loans do not pass to another high-cost lender.

Read full story  here

Now we confess (something Field’s cronies like to avoid doing) that we’re not as familiar with The Bible as St Frank but we always thought that Jesus ousted the moneylenders from the temple rather than trying to buy them out!

This was a story that was also picked up by ITV . The accompanying article on their website included an artfully crafted photograph of  Field looking as though he has the weight of the world on his shoulders as if it was he himself who had a massive debt to pay off.  But then Field knows that poverty and hardship is always best experienced vicariously and as the basis for a tear-jerking anecdote.

Woe is me…my favourite gingham shirt hasn’t been ironed.

Next stop was the anti-Corbyn Guardian and a call for an enquiry into the gig economy (hopefully something that Field will be forced to experience first hand for a change)

“The inquiry will, I hope, shine a bright light on the extent to which justice is being evaded in the gig economy,” said Field, who resigned the Labour whip late August. “We will be looking to suggest any immediate changes that are required, both to the law itself as well as its enforcement, to ensure no company is able to evade justice.”  Read full story here

Which is a typically hypocritical Fieldian sentiment  – relentlessly calling for individuals and organisations to be held to account and yet doing everything in his power to ensure that those who slavishly support him evade justice.

Field also tried to geg in and take some credit for the Birkenhead’s House of Fraser Store SAVED headline in the Liverpool Echo  . The decision to keep the store open was made by ‘Sports Direct’ boss Mike Ashley . We doubt very much whether Field writing a letter to Ashley six weeks ago made a blind bit of  difference as clearly the decision was based on renegotiating rents with the landlord. What remains to be seen is how long ‘House of Fraser’ store continues to stay open – it’s not exactly Beattie’s is it? Indeed ‘House of Fraser’ is to ‘Beatties’ what Frank Field is to local politics –  a shadow of its former self and something of a spent force.

…and the omnipresent Field media presence doesn’t end there with only today Wirral Globe belatedly covering the EXCLUSIVE : A Clean Sweep for the New Momentum Broom in Birkenhead CLP story under the extraordinary headline Corbyn supporters ‘gain complete control’ of Frank Field’s former Birkenhead Labour Party  which we think pinpoints exactly some of the misconceptions that led to a vote of no confidence in Field by the Birkenhead Constituency Party (CLP) in the first place . It is NOT Field’s ‘Birkenhead Labour Party’ and nor is he automatically entitled to treat Birkenhead as his personal,political  fiefdom…

 

 

 

 

 

EXCLUSIVE : A Clean Sweep for the New Momentum Broom in Birkenhead CLP

… but all is not as rosy as it may seem. For a start it would seem that former Wirral councillor Louise Reecejones (LRJ) – No. 6 in the above picture –  is back in a position of power and influence as Birkenhead Constituency Labour Party (CLP) ‘ Diversity Officer’ . Yes, the same LRJ who was as you can read here was removed as Secretary of Disability Labour earlier this year as Labour Party members had deemed her position had become ‘untenable and unworkable’.

However we leave the expert analysis to a Labour Party insider who attended the Birkenhead CLP Annual General Meeting (AGM) on Friday 28 September . Whilst we’ve always maintained that the only way that the local Labour Party could rehabilitate itself locally ,having been brought so low by a corrupt cabal , was by its own members holding them to account. The jury is out on whether these latest developments are the way forward. As you can see it’s a view that is shared by ‘Red Eye’ our eyewitness at the Birkenhead CLP AGM :

So, it was a clean sweep for the Left with the old guard well and truly swept aside.
Predictably there was much self-congratulation going around on the Left. Some of it deserved but perhaps satisfaction rather than congratulations was more appropriate.

There is no question that Corbyn has caused there to be a dramatic increase in
membership in Birkenhead; it has more than doubled. But this has not translated to increased attendance at meetings – to be fair not an uncommon feature across
England and Wales.

Friday’s success was claimed by John Maher, Birkenhead CLP Secretary, the self-styled leader of the purge, as a masterclass in organisation.

The real reason for Friday night’s success was not down to some Left-wing uprising but down to a dramatic collapse in the old guard/opposition to the Left when compared to the previous year. Last year the ‘old guard’ attracted 80-100 votes compared to around 70 for the Left. But on Friday whilst the Left’s vote was broadly unchanged from the previous year the old-guard’s vote fell to around 40 or so.

No doubt the direction of the Labour Party nationally has heartened local socialists.The truth is that the Wirral ‘old guard’ are in disarray. Disheartened Blairites, the old guard councillor club and St Frank Field fan club are waving the white flag. For them accountability is an ugly word and they would rather remain at arm’s length from the accountability that party activists are beginning to demand.

So, it seems we are at last beginning to a new broom sweeping through Labour locally. Perhaps that is no bad thing as there is surely many decent and earnest people are amongst them. But there are some warnings signs too and grumbles are beginning to emerge.

As reported recently in the national Press, John Maher, self-styled leader of the group has a somewhat chequered history of party allegiance and embrace of democracy. As  Wirral Leaks  reported in 2016 here Maher has his own way of doing things and isn’t best pleased if you disagree with him. The prize at stake in Birkenhead is of course the Parliamentary Candidature. The NEC has given the go ahead for Birkenhead to proceed with an open selection.

John Maher has made no secret that Cllr Tony Norbury is his man for the job. Cllr Norbury has been quick to defend Maher when accusations of bullying and intimidation have been made by old guard councillors in the national Press. They seem to be a formidable tag team. So, is it a forgone conclusion that Cllr Norbury will become the MP? Will anyone have the temerity to challenge the anointing of Norbury? Will the resurgent Left in Birkenhead have a democratic choice of socialist candidates or will they do as Maher tells them? The prize is indeed great. Let’s hope they choose wisely and from a wide field of worthy candidates

Red Eye

Frank Field – ‘ The Truth Will Out’…

First of all – thanks to our stand ins who I’m sure you’ll agree did a sterling job in our absence. A few editorial points and one-liners from us and they got the house – or Leaky Towers – style down to a tee. Thankfully some of the more contentious and controversial matters have been left for our return. This included a tip-off to check out a particular post from June 2018 on Frank Field’s Westminster blog which ,if you wish,you can find on his website…

Out of respect for the dead we won’t provide a link to the post especially as it names someone who’s anonymity had been carefully preserved for the best part of a decade. Field’s strange tribute seems to us to be less a eulogy and more a rewriting of history. We reproduce the post omitting the initial naming of the deceased and adding the bold type :

…the power that he put into trying to ensure that the truth that underpinned the case for the group that I call ‘the whistle-blowers’ should be made known.

There is this small group of whistle-blowers who were concerned over the Colas highways contract in Wirral. Wrongdoings were alleged by the whistle-blowers and their case resulted in a clutch of cheating officers leaving the council. Cleverly drawn contracts and powerful legal representation resulted in Wirral having to pay compensation monies to these individuals over the contract – tens of thousands of pounds or more that each of them have had to walk the plank.

What an injustice that Wirral ratepayers had to pay these sums by law to people whose position was untenable in the council once the whistle-blowers had completed their work.

Contrast that with the treatment of the whistle-blowers. These were the agents by which less than proper doing was unmasked. The package of compensation for them, of their careers being blighted, and one of their names being published “by accident” on the council website, was around £5,000.

The injustice to these noble citizens has still to be countered. X died before that day arrived but that day assuredly will come as truth is on their side.

It often takes so long in this country which I love to get this elemental truth established. The inquiry, for example, to establish full the truth about BHS goes on and on, and Parliament won’t give up until it has that truth.

Likewise in the Wirral. Now diminished by X’’s death, the whistle-blowers will go on and on, with my support, until truth is established.

The next stage in establishing that truth will come, I guess, with the publication of the Nick Warren report. The whistle-blowers agreed with the council that this stunning lawyer should carry out an inquiry into their case. The report will be made public, I’m sure, as a freedom of information claim has been lodged.

Slowly but surely the truth will out. The citizens of Wirral owe the whistle-blowers, including X, such a debt for shifting officers that were found wanting in respect of the public good.

We really don’t know where to start with this one. But perhaps we’ll concentrate on the tortuous language and why Field feels the need to use the word ‘truth’ 8 times (count’em). It’s as if he’s trying to convince himself of his version of the ‘truth’.

Furthermore the reference to the publication of the Nick Warren report as a means of establishing ‘truth’ is both puzzling and intriguing . Is this the same report that Wirral Council have kept secret for nearly 3 years and is the subject on ongoing legal proceedings which have lasted 2 years? You’d think that Field and the ‘stunning lawyer’ behind the report would have the power,influence and legal knowledge to have the report published before now wouldn’t you? How does Field know that the Warren Report will be made public? Does he know something that we don’t or is he interfering with ongoing legal proceedings ? What’s more can Field tell us who lodged the ‘freedom of information claim’? So many questions and all of them seemingly so far,far away from the truth.

Wouldn’t it be ironic, when we understand Field’s broken arm was a result of tripping over a pavement stone in Hamilton Square ,that it could be the guys from highways who might be responsible for his ultimate downfall.

However on reflection we don’t think that it will be these ‘noble citizens’ or even the Birkenhead CLP  that will be his undoing . It will be Frank Field’s own hubris.

The truth will out …