Can Hackett ‘Hack It’ ?

We make no apologies for the inevitable headline as we proudly present, ladies and  gentleman of Wirral, your new ‘leader’.

Cllr Pat Hackett of the New Brighton ward has been duly chosen to drink from the poisoned chalice passed on by former ‘leader’ of Wirral Council, Cllr Phil ‘ Power Boy Pip Davies and following today’s vote by the local Labour Group is now their new head honcho.

Of course this will come as no surprise to Wirral Leaks readers who, inevitably ,were given the heads up that this on the cards by one of our sources in our Into the Void post  when they told us :

And not to be left out (geddit) the “left” have decide to rally round Cllr Pat ( why talk for five minutes when you drone on for an hour) Hackett as their chosen “seat warmer” as interim Leader , in anticipation of the return of Yvonne ( voice of the people) Nolan.   They need somebody malleable, controllable and compliant until their contingent has the necessary numbers, after another round of deselections into the 2020 elections, to inflict their particular brand of middle class ‘socialism’ ( sorry I mean create the workers paradise that Wirral residents have been dreaming of) on our borough…

We don’t envy him , do you?  Fancy having to reconcile a party riven by division and a new Wirral Council set up where you have no overall control ! Good luck with that ,Pat!…

 

Into the Void

The contest to be the next Labour Group leader on Wirral Council and fill the blank void of nothingness soon to be left by current Wirral Council ‘leader’  Cllr Phil ‘Power Boy Pip’ Davies is proving to be such a fast moving story that our tip off that Cllr Paul Stuart was in line for the top job has already passed its sell by date. Sources tell us :

Don’t know where you got the Cllr Stuart for Leader story but that’s already old news.  Cllr Stuart does not want the post, so has withdrawn.

The new name in the frame to “help the Party heal”, and “lay out Labours vision for Wirral” ( or put another way the person willing to take £50k + in return for allowing the sorry collection currently running things to keep their allowances) is dog shit supremo Cllr Anita Leech.  Despite only having been in cabinet for five minutes Leech is the best that the current cabal can come up with. On the bright side there are still two weeks to go before the meeting to decide the next leader, so who knows maybe by then they might even select Tony ( pick me) Norbury, now that would be a sign of complete desperation!!!

And not to be left out (geddit) the “left” have decide to rally round Cllr Pat ( why talk for five minutes when you drone on for an hour) Hackett as their chosen “seat warmer” as interim Leader , in anticipation of the return of Yvonne ( voice of the people) Nolan.   They need somebody malleable, controllable and compliant until their contingent has the necessary numbers, after another round of deselections into the 2020 elections, to inflict their particular brand of middle class ‘socialism’ ( sorry I mean create the workers paradise that Wirral residents have been dreaming of) on our borough.  Pat is totally in the thrall of Paul Davies, and his muse Kathy Miller, who run, I mean organise for the benefit of the huddled masses, New Brighton Labour Party and was so grateful to escape the blood letting that saw 3 Labour Cllrs deselected that he has proven he has what it takes to be the the puppet they need…

As ever we’ll be reporting on developments as they happen and the way things are going almost anything will and can happen!…

The Local Election Circus Comes To Wirral

The names in the frames have been announced  for the local elections to be held on Thursday May 2 2019 . So we bring you the Wirral Leaks cut out and keep guide to where we think  the keenest contests will take place and which candidates to watch.

The first match up that caught our eye was the political celebrity death match to be held in the Rock Ferry ward where  ‘Independent’ Cllr Chris Meaden goes head to head with the official Labour candidate and former local Labour Group leader Yvonne Nolan.

Credit where it’s due at least Cllr Meaden is throwing herself into the ring and is prepared to put herself to an electoral test unlike Councillors Mike Sullivan, Moira McLaughlin and Bill Davies who also fly under the flag of ‘Independent’. It will be interesting to see whether the Rock Ferry electorate vote for ‘personality’ over ‘politics’. Although with Rock Ferry regularly having the lowest voter turn out in the local elections we suspect that the winner of this particular political battle will be the one who best galvanises the local electorate from their political apathy. Good luck with that one.

Elsewhere judging by the resources that the local Labour group are throwing at the Birkenhead & Tranmere and Prenton wards, and the results last time round, it would seem they are anticipating a strong challenge from Green Party candidates Steve Hayes and Chris Cooke respectively.  The former is contesting current Wirral Council leader Cllr Phil ‘Power Boy Pip’ Davies’ ward now that the cowardly lion has bailed out of facing a public vote . The latter is up against Labour Wirral Council Cabinet member for being permanently excited, Cllr Angie Davies, who has been touted as a potential Labour Group leader (no laughing at the back) so this will be a particularly interesting ward to keep an eye on.

Another anticipated closely fought political battle involving someone else who has been spoken of as a future Labour Group leader will be taking place in the Pensby & Thingwall ward where Cllr Phill ‘Two L and Back’ Brightmore faces Conservative candidate Mike Collins , who we know is a particular favourite of ex Wirral Council control room staff. When Collins stood last time in this ward the final count was very close. So who will take the spoils this time round? The political heavyweight or the actual heavyweight? People of Pensby & Thingwall you decide!

Astonishingly we find that Cllr Steve ‘Foulkesy’ Foulkes  is actually allowed to stand in the Claughton ward. It is an appalling indictment of the state of Wirral politics and the standard of its politicians. And then again look at his ‘proposer’,  fellow Claughton councillor George Davies. Of course, Davies , as Frank Field’s electoral agent is used to doing the dirty work when it comes to such matters.  Below is a picture from the local elections last time around and what the lucky people of Claughton can look forward to suddenly appearing on the doorstep over the next few weeks – but then knowing what the people of Claughton know about Foulkesy’s antics over the years they get what they deserve

And finally… if the name of the UKIP candidate for the Wallasey ward is to be believed it would appear that Santa Claus is coming to town in time for the local elections but then it must be said we don’t believe in any of them…

 

 

Pip’s Poisoned Chalice : Who will follow the ‘Leader’ ?

Well, it all seems to be a bit of a death wish  – or should that be witch hunt – situation  with the local Labour Party at the moment isn’t it? The local Tory group must be loving it as it follows their time honoured tradition of identifying the problems of others without having to find solutions of their own .

However the big question, not to mention the big challenge for the person who gets passed this particular poisoned chalice , is who will be the next ‘leader’ of the  local Labour Group at Wirral Council when – thank the Lord – Cllr Phil ‘Power Boy Pip’ Davies,   pops off to pastures new.

We suppose the big question between suspensions, deselections and ‘retirements’ is whether there will be anyone left to choose from? By rights the obvious choice at the moment would be Cllr George Davies,  especially now that his co-Deputy Leader  Cllr Bernie ‘The Bruiser’ Nooney has been rumbled by her local Constituency Labour Party .  But surely even the local Labour Party wouldn’t opt  for a racist liar as their leader?  But then again didn’t they once have Cllr Steve ‘Foulkesy’ Foulkes as their head honcho so we suppose anything is possible!

Historically,  the selection process and outcome was fairly straightforward. Birkenhead MP Frank Field just made his preference known and it was a done deal. The only criteria would be that the Labour leader at Wallasey Town Hall would bend to Frankenfield’s will. Both Foulksey and Pip fitted the bill perfectly.

Now currently local party members actually get to vote and are apparently being very careful not to upset the  Labour whip who is under the control of the current ruling cabal in case they lose their right to vote in the leadership contest. Well that was Cllr Tony ‘Tight Fit’ Norbury’s feeble excuse as to why he voted for continuing with the Hoylake Golf Resort proposal although he didn’t agree with doing so !

We don’t know whether Cllr Norbury is in the running to be Labour ‘leader’ as we know he wants the ‘top job’ as Labour’s next Parliamentary candidate for Birkenhead. We suppose he’s hedging his bets waiting the result of the Birkenhead Constituency Labour Party selection, which as we know had to be rearranged following the last debacle which we covered in this EXCLUSIVE : And the new Parliamentary Labour candidate for Birkenhead is…

What we do know that current Councillors Chris Meaden, Moira McLaughlin and  Mike Sullivan are out of the running as they’re now ‘Independent’ councillors. ‘Independent’ of what we ask ourselves? ‘Reality’ judging by the comments emanating from the ‘Three Stooges’ . “Be careful what you wish for. Our little group could hold the balance of power come May.” Cllr Sullivan is quoted as saying this week. Yes, Mike whatever you say but then we know you’re prone to a bit of the hyperbolics which nevertheless are always good for a laugh. As you can see below Cllrs McLaughlin / Meaden are already on the local campaign trail but then, as today’s Kingdom Security announcement confirms ,everything a local councillor does at the moment is all about electioneering . ‘ A Concerned Resident’ sends us this letter with the attached comment  :

Hi. This letter is currently being delivered to residents of Rock Ferry, signed by our two ‘independent’ councillors who “think it would be helpful to let people know” what they are up to. Looks like blatant electioneering to me, using taxpayers money to publicise themselves. 

Regards, A Concerned Resident

 

So who does this leave us with in the Labour Group leadership race? Any suggestions? Now that Cllr Jo Bird has been nobbled (for now anyway)  our ante-post tips would be Cllr Phill ‘Two L and Back’ Brightmore and  Cllr Janette ‘Milly Tant’ Williamson (Gawd ‘elp us) but then again there is former leader Yvonne Nolan waiting in the wings hoping to get elected in Rock Ferry . However the way things are going at the moment we advise ‘doing a Norbury’ and hedge your bets ’til the local election results are in and see what we’re, er, left with…

Cllr Chris Meaden : Not so much a declaration of independence as an exercise in pointlessness

We were alerted to the fact that Cllr Chris Meaden had changed the party status on the Wirral Council website and that she now classed herself as ‘Independent’.  This struck us as somewhat ironic as Cllr Meaden aways struck us as one of those councillors who did as they were told by the local Labour Party elite and was quite content to be swept along on Rock Ferry councillor Moira McLaughlin’s coat-tails as it was an easy ride. We were once again minded to recall that old joke  Q:   What’s the difference between a supermarket trolley and Cllr Chris Meaden ?  A:  A Supermarket trolley has a mind of its own.

The belated declaration of ‘independence’  was all very reminiscent of an adolescent flouncing off  Facebook when no-one is paying them any attention and hoping for a few ‘U OK Huns ?’

Despite the Liverpool Echo headline  Yet ANOTHER top Labour politician quits party -blaming ‘hard-left’ takeover  our initial reaction to such a political hasbeen was CBA.   However reading the local media coverage it is clear that Meaden  has taken her acting out her adolescent angst to another level and be seen a-bitchin’ and a-snipin’ and a-moanin’ all over the local papers (the story in the Wirral Globe written by the same ‘Local Democracy Reporter’ Tom Houghton is a barely disguised re-write ) . As washing your dirty linen in public goes, the soon to be ex- councillor Meaden seems to have dug out the skiddy undies from the bottom of the washing basket , talking of ‘verbal attacks’ , ‘public attacks’ and ‘double standards’ . Much of her bitterness is directed towards Yvonne Nolan , her successor as Labour Party candidate for the Rock Ferry ward.

I believe over the coming months more information about Ms Nolan`s past involvement with politics will emerge and I don’t believe she is fit to serve the people of Rock Ferry. With her term coming to an end this spring, Cllr Meaden was ousted at a selection meeting back in October. But she said some of those present had “never attended” a branch meeting, while others had “never so much as delivered a leaflet’.That makes me believe that the meeting was packed with the aim of removing me and replacing me with Yvonne Nolan and the intention is to bring her in to lead the group.

Now we can’t comment at this stage whether Nolan is fit to serve the people of Rock Ferry but we do know that there are a few current Labour councillors who are DEFINITELY unfit for public office but has Cllr Meaden ever publicly voiced her concerns about them?  No, she hasn’t ! – and it suggests to us that the Rock Ferry selection committee made the right decision in getting rid of someone who was quite happy to follow the orders of a PROVEN dishonest,bullying and controlling Labour cabal whilst it suited her which makes her  declaration of independence nothing more than an exercise in pointlessness.

 

 

 

The Nolan Principles 2 : Money and Power

 

Expect to see and hear more from Ms Nolan in 2019 

Strictly – and relatively (!) – speaking we should have done this story straight after our Cannon Fodder post as it concerns Cllr Kate ‘Copycat’ Cannon’s mother Yvonne Nolan. However such has been the extent and significance of this week’s leakage we’ve had to delay until now.  Let’s call it a case of ‘leakus interruptus’ . The same applies to the much anticipated  glittering ‘Leaky Awards 2018’  where such has been the response to nominations and suggestions that we’ve had to put them on hold until we can fully do them justice.

But back to Ms Nolan who, as you can see below, has attracted a lot of attention for someone who is not yet a Wirral councillor  – although she has been, no doubt will be again come May and indeed, come what may .

Is ‘Matron’ McLaughlin the next Labour resignation?

Breaking : Rock Ferry CLP meeting – Meaden out, Nolan in…

The Nolan Principles

Exit Stage Left

Enter Stage Right

The Twelve Days of Christmas : Day Eight – New Year Review

Most , if not all, of the attention and uncomradely comment has come from Cllr Moira ‘Matron’ McLaughlin who has taken umbrage that Nolan is on ‘her patch’ (geographically  and politically) ever since the latter ousted Cllr Chris ‘Yus, Milady’ Meaden as an elected member candidate for the Rock Ferry ward.

Now anyone who rubs ‘Matron’ up the wrong way is OK with us , so we thought we’d do a bit of digging as to what Councillor -in -waiting Nolan was up to before she rocked up in Rock Ferry.

We uncovered this Freedom of information request made to Manchester City Council which is most informative in many respects as we understand the ‘named individual’ involved is Ms Nolan herself.

 

We understand that the cool half a million + for three years work was paid to one of the prospective Wirral councillor’s companies – which is very ‘tax efficient’ of Nolan isn’t it? Nice work if you can get it and you can certainly get it in the Socialist Republic of MCR where there are 96 Labour councillors (count ’em) and er,that’s it!

Now we’ve got no problem with people earning a wedge (or in this case a very,very big wedge) as long as it comes with the requisite understanding that whenever we hear councillors (rightly) complaining about local government cuts and the emaciated state of council finances that it comes with the acknowledgment that somehow from somewhere there’s always money for council consultants and there’s always consultants ready to swoop upon the council cadaver and pick it clean.

This situation is ,of course a recurring Wirral Leaks cri de coeur and something which we have previously set out in Consultant Insults and Consultant Insults – Continued

Quite how Nolan squares any future ‘hard left’ rhetoric with the information above when she sweeps to power in May will be interesting to observe as will her thoughts on her Labour colleagues record on safeguarding vulnerable adults over the recent past and Rock Ferry Cllr Matron McLaughlin’s appalling track record in particular.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cannon Fodder

There’s a curious email doing the rounds that inevitably found its way to us. It concerns Cllr Kate Cannon who was elected as the Labour councillor in Pensby and Thingwall following the fall from grace of her former Labour colleague Louise Reecejones . I’m sure we don’t need to recount to Wirral Leaks readers the LRJ rap sheet – but what about her successor?

It is interesting to note that information about Cannon is only coming to light now only after she was elected in May 2018  so we have to question the motivation for this particular leak with local elections (not involving Cannon) coming up. Whatever the motivation it’s all blog fodder for us – so let’s go:

First of all we are told that Cllr Cannon “set up a Ltd company to provide services as a ‘consulting nurse’ to solicitors…”

https://beta.companieshouse.gov.uk/company/10308000/officers

https://uk.linkedin.com/in/kate-m-cannon-423b8335

Kate.M Cannon – Medico legal Consultant – K.M.Cannon Consultancy Ltd | LinkedIn View Kate.M Cannon’s profile on LinkedIn, the world’s largest professional community. Kate.M has 2 jobs listed on their profile. See the complete profile on LinkedIn and discover Kate.M’S connections and jobs at similar companies. uk.linkedin.com

So what you might say is so concerning about that ? Well ,the answer provided is as follows :

“What is worrying is that Cllr Cannon was “struck off” by the National Council of Midwives for “academic malpractice’, “dishonesty’ and “attitudinal problems”.

It is actually the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) and its report can be read HERE

Now as is our wont we thought we’d check out the detail of the Conduct and Competency Committee hearing held at the Old Bailey in April 2014 which Cllr Cannon did not attend and which led to the following sanctions

The charges against Cllr Cannon who was employed as a trainee Advanced Midwifery Practitioner by the Wirral University Teaching Hospital Trust (WUTH) and studying on the Advanced Midwifery Practitioner Course at the University of Chester were that :

1. Falsely represented that the following written academic modules were all your own work when that was not the case:
   1. Clinical decision making; and/or
   2. Fetal blood sampling; and/or
   3. Post anaesthetic recovery skills
2. Failed to notify the Trust that you were being investigated for academic malpractice by the University of Chester.
3. Your actions as set out at charge 1 and/or 2 were dishonest.

So it would appear that ‘Copycat Kate’ had plagiarised colleagues work and, when found out, at first denied it , then continued to lie about her misconduct :

 

Whilst the author of the email who disclosed this information makes the valid point that “It would seem that Cllr Cannon has a history of lying that lead the (NMC) to strike her off, but that is fine with the Labour Party for her to be a Cllr…” we consider that there is the  more significant wider issue of public interest to be considered. As we know the local Labour Party is riddled with world class liars (yes, we’re talking about  Cllrs Davies , G & P and Cllr Foulkes in particular) who make Copycat Kate seem like a rank amateur. So it should come as no surprise that the local Labour Party endorsed Cllr Cannon as a election candidate. However the NMC considered that there was a risk that she may act dishonestly in the future :

Isn’t it ironic that we introduced Cllr Kate ‘Copycat’ Cannon’s controversial mother Yvonne Nolan to our readers with a post titled The Nolan Principles

Doubly ironic as our many readers – but seemingly very few councillors – will know that  ‘The Seven Principles of Public Life’ are:

1.  Selflessness
2.  Integrity
3.  Objectivity
4.  Accountability
5.  Openness
6.  Honesty
7.  Leadership

In the light of The Nolan Principles and the judgment of the NMC we have to ask ourselves whether Cllr Cannon is fit to hold public office, especially when we are not aware of any appeal being made against the NMC sanction and when it includes making decisions that impact on her former employers at WUTH ? …

The Twelve Days of Christmas : Day Eight – New Year Review

So here we are in 2019 – who’d a thunk we’d all make it ? Not after last night’s festivities anyway. Foie gras, Sauternes and marrons glaces nearly did for us. It’s all very reminiscent of the times we say we say ” never again” when it comes to writing these pithy posts. Then we have a lie down in a darkened room and like the moth’s great imperfection we’re back flying close to the flame.

However this is the time of the year we do our annual Wirral Leaks review and check out the stats and the stories that have most grabbed your attention.  Overall this has been a momentous year for our blog – which from the emails we receive we are seemingly hated/ loved and reviled/revered in equal measure – and we wouldn’t have it any other way! Firstly in May we said Thanks A Million! to all our loyal readers (even those who keep in touch with us from their holiday villas in Portugal) as we reached a million hits and then a month later we were proud to announce that we had become a Blog of a Thousand Posts ,proving once and for all what a rich source of material our dysfunctional local public institutions –  and particularly Wirral Council – are.

However for all of you statisticians,trainspotters or those who might possibly be on the autistic spectrum we bring you some lists, stats and our thoughts on the stories we published last year.

First off we have our top 10 stories of 2018 :

Quite a nice spread of the usual suspects . From the Green Belt to Children’s Services to Kingdom Security to Parking Fines to Wirral Chamber of Commerce to Frank Field and various assorted sociopaths . Interestingly however by far and away the most viewed post in 2018 was Wirralgate 4×4 which was originally posted in September 2017. Whilst  it has been enduringly popular ever since, interest peaked during the Frank Field politically symbolic hissyfit signifying nothing which precipitated his removal of the Labour whip. Could it be that the two stories are not unrelated but the national and local press , who Field courts and fetes like a courtesan on heat , are resolutely determined not to make the connection. Fortunately in the name of public interest and public accountability we can and we will be joining the dots in 2019…

As you can see from the map our reach is increasingly far and wide. We’d particularly like to welcome the new readers from the Falkland Islands,Cayman Islands, Papua New Guinea,Montserrat and Sint Maarten who joined us in 2018. But as you can see we continue to have a cult* following in Portugal. It always amuses us when we run a story, such as we have done this week, when we mention former Wirral Council alumni and we notice the malignant narcissists are tuning in from their holiday bolthole in the Algarve (paid for with public money).

*  not a typo

Finally before we go we’d like remind you to send your nominations for the Leaky Awards 2018 to us via wirralleaks@gmail.com and thank a politically active and astute reader who has sent us some amusing nominations which indicate to us they’re a close follower of our blog – although probably not from Portugal…

Most fabulous flounce off / most colossal contempt for constituents: Frank Field resigning from Labour but failing to stand down as MP

Get of Jail free card: Leader of Council for going to “spend more time with his family”

The Gotcha award: Martin Liptrot for forging resignation letters and “helping Police with their enquiries”

The Bitters: Independent  Cllr Moira McLaughlin for her resignation speech

Biggest social media meltdown: Cllr Ron “Ruined” Abbey after democratically not being selected as the  candidate for Leasowe

Most mentioned member of public: Not Yet a Cllr Yvonne Nolan

 

 

 

 

 

Enter Stage Right

One thing that we failed to mention in our Exit Stage Left story concerned with Cllr Moira ‘Matron’ McLaughlin’s bitter and twisted ‘personal statement’ at Monday’s full Council meeting was her mention of the threat of  the ideological driven ‘hard left’ and those who have ‘no ideology but will do the bidding’ . Like that’s never happened before! For far too long Labour councillors have been willing to back all kinds of abuses of power as long as they got an easy ride and the only ideology at play was pure self interest.

However Matron may want to do some research as to whether the ‘lefties’ are quite as ideologically pure and driven as she makes out.Also at Monday’s meeting Bromborough Labour councillors Jo Bird and Joe Walsh vote in favour of building a housing estate with a golf course attached on  Wirral’s Green Belt. Perhaps they think it’s for social housing and communal sporting facilities and not luxury homes and an exclusive private golf course?

Another example of Matron applying the blinkers when it came to having a pop at former Labour council leader Yvonne Nolan and her being ‘parachuted in’ to safe Labour ward was when it came to up and coming Labour councillor Liz Grey. As you can see from correspondence we’ve received below there is currently a ‘wrong’ and a ‘right’ sort of socialist. Which is which is becoming increasingly hard to tell!

Hi

So as Frank Field prepares to embark on his new career as an ‘Educator’ with his new Free School for Birkenhead perhaps he has a position in mind for the rapidly rising star on Labour’s benches at Wirral Council

Elizabeth Grey ( Liz to the comrades) managed to convince the good members of Bidston St James to select her despite being another emigre . They also don’t seem to have a problem her being the Head of Religious Education at the prestigious (and private fee paying) Birkenhead School.

Comrade Grey obviously doesn’t see any problem with private education and would no doubt be an asset to Mr Field’s new school.Either way it’s reassuring that despite announcing his ‘retirement’ Phil Davies is still scrabbling around gettting as many of his place men (or women) into position as possible to try and force his Golf Course, Growth Company and privatisation of the NHS through before he leaves the people of Wirral to clean up his shitty mess…

Exit Stage Left

As the above Green Party leaflet doing the rounds shows  opposition parties are delighting in the fact that the local Labour Party continues to enact a form of political autophagous. What is surprising is that some members of the Labour old guard are so under threat from their own members that they appear to be colluding with the opposition in ensuring maximum damage is inflicted upon their own body politic.

Consequently we couldn’t let Monday’s full Wirral Council meeting go without commenting on the dramatic scenes of Cllr Moira ‘Matron’ McLaughlin being allowed to open proceedings with a ‘short statement’ comprising a triple whammy of slagging off what she considers to be ‘the wrong sort’ of members of the Labour Party , rewriting history and that old stand-by, feigning victimhood.

Thanks to the John Brace film productions you can watch the ‘playing to the gallery’ unfold below from the 8 minute mark:

Apparently the local Labour Party no longer has the values that she ‘holds dear’ – which, based on her appalling track record, from our point of view, can only be a good thing! Whilst ‘Matron’ still graciously approves of a small number of local Labour members there can be no doubt that they will be the same members usually referred to on here as a ‘cabal’. Understandably the ‘cabal’ resent the challenge to their long held power base from what the Rock Ferry councillor describes as an ‘organised takeover by the hard left’ and Matron is now apparently their appointed spokesperson.

Needless to say there was the usual (unsubstantiated) allegations of ‘bullying,harassment and vilification’ by local Labour party members which  Matron claimed had been raised at local,regional and national level and been ‘ignored and tolerated’ and therefore  ‘condoned’…or perhaps there just wasn’t any substance to them. Just sayin’ ! She actually identified herself and others such as recently deselected Cllr Chris Meaden and Clllr Ron Abbey as ‘victims’ – no,really! Victims of what ? Democratic party processes?  We’re just surprised at this point she didn’t reach for a hanky and dab away the crocodile tears for full dramatic effect.

Remember this is coming from the councillor who  ignored,tolerated and condoned appalling PROVEN and EVIDENCED bullying and harassment when she oversaw an utterly toxic and dysfunctional culture within the Department of Adult Social Services (DASS). Matron preferring to be  comfortably numb – then and now – to the ‘unpleasant’ reality of what was happening within DASS courtesy of her corrupt Cheshire chums.

And on she went in full Hattie Jacques in Carry On Matron mode complaining about Cllr Chris Meaden’s replacement who she pointedly refused to name but in a far from comradely manner described her previous tenure as the leader of Wirral Council as being ‘chaos’.

Yvonne Nolan (for it is she) was described as being ‘parachuted in’ and of having no knowledge of the area or any interest in Rock Ferry. ‘It’s disgraceful’ Matron harrumphed as though she’d caught Sid James having a crafty fag under the bedsheets. Once again the hypocrisy was staggering as Matron went all ‘Cassandra’ on us and  predicted  that Nolan would be an ‘absentee councillor’. Er,hang on a minute can somebody tell us how far Wirral Council ‘leader’ Cllr Phil ‘Power Boy Pip’ Davies’ home is from his safe Birkenhead ward? Just askin’!

Apparently it was the Mayor’s discretion to allow Matron to chew the scenery , sorry make a personal statement. The current Tory Mayor Cllr Geoffrey Watt didn’t afford Labour councillor Tony Norbury the opportunity to reply. But then he wouldn’t would he? This was stage management at it’s most cynical. It was an absolute pass the sickbag moment as the Tory benches rose in unison to give Matron a standing ovation. It was interesting to note that not all Labour councillors stood up to applaud. Ever the chancer former leader of the council  Cllr Steve ‘Foulkesy’ Foulkes can be seen nervously twitching in his seat but resolutely stayed put, obviously not wanting to upset his new found allies on the ‘hard left’ who keep him in a position of power and influence.

Watching this sickening scene was an insight into how politics on Wirral has long been nothing more than a pantomime with the main political parties playing their parts. All trying to upstage each other by pretending to be outraged and shocked and appalled before nipping into the Mayor’s parlour for a little snifter and a pat on the back. No wonder when a challenge to the status quo (and allowances and expenses) arrives it is met with catcalls from the supporting cast and luvvie speeches of support from opposition party leaders . It would seem that for long standing politicians at Wirral Council , familiarity breeds content…