Hunts Cross Christmas tree

The Great Hitsearch Bakeoff

Autumn afternoon at the rugby

Real ale, committed local teams, players playing for pride and love of their clubs. Who could ask for more. For the record Waterloo lost narrowly to Sandal and it was probably a fair result but 'loo were definitely worth their losing bonus point having battled hard throughout.

Stuck on the side of the motorway earlier wondering why Ford equip cars with tyre irons made of plasticine.

Tyre iron just rounded and scraped itself into uselessness as I tried to change the wheel for the crappy 50mph space-saver wheel

50 Llamas Day

50 Llamas Day (días de cincuenta llamas) is soon to be upon us, anyone know what it is?

I was there when Hibbo scored

Top shirt

Derby day, Waterloo vs Birkenhead Park. Mens XVs then the Ladies XVs. Two great clubs

So far Waterloo on top, more as I have it

The Mersey looking decidedly Turner-esque from the Tate

Went to the Turner, Monet & Twombley exhibition at Tate Liverpool...brilliant collection. Definitely go to see it if you can

Just found this on my phone. Hibbert scored and we rioted

Brilliant to be there and get on the pitch when a great Evertonian finally scored, it wasn't some ropey penalty he got either. We got the free kick and the Gwladys sang his name as he slowly marched up to take it. The celebration when it hit the net were fabulous and then everyone just scrambled to get on the pitch. It had to happen.

Oops something landed in Liverpool

Liverpool Biennial?

Greek style columns unearthed on Camp Hill, Woolton, Liverpool?

Anyone know anything about this? We happened upon a newly uncovered site whilst walking back from The Victoria. Does this mean we've been walking past these antiquities for years and never knowing they were there in the overgrown undergrowth?

Season tickets have arrived, season tickets have arrived, season tickets have arrived...

Another year following Everton, always great when they drop through the letterbox...ask me again in November whether it's such a joyous event.

Still, today....whilst the hardcore blues are in Dundee and most of my season ticket friends are in France doing voluntary work in Lourdes with Liverpool Hospitalite I am sitting back in Hunts Cross with a smile on my face.

Another "Sky on Fire" sunset over Liverpool

Well you can never have too many

Time to take down our German Euro 2012 wallchart

Got this in Maximilians near Koblenz on a recent stag do. My wife has filled it out in German to keep in with the theme.

Great tournament overall and you have to say the best team won, the pity is that perhaps it didn't get the final it deserved because A: Italy going down to 10 men and B: The 2nd best team in the tournament, Germany, failing to turn up for the semi-final.

For England, given the awful preparation, getting out of the group as leaders represents a success but to fall to a penalty shoot-out yet again grates on your nerves.

Went for a wonder round the re-opened Garden Festival park.

Remember going there 30 years ago...nice to wonder round all these years later. Still a work in progress but very nicely restored with the pagodas making up the centrepiece.

Koblenz (with the Rhine and Moselle)

Definitely a great place to go to, haven't been to Germany nearly enough but spent a weekend there watching footy, drinking and sightseeing.

The Times Royal map of Great Britain

Loving The Times today

Royal Snakes and Ladders

And Corgis! Warming up for the Diamond Jubilee with The Times

I do love Irthlingborough

One of the funniest placenames ever

Looking through old maps and plotting the history of Hunts Cross, Garston & Woolton

Have looking through map versions going back to 1840 to find out the history of south Liverpool...in particular Hunts Cross and the area we live in. There seems to have been a place called Honey Hall and Rose Farm where we live now although I have never seen any trace of it when I walk round nowadays.

If a map OS map says it's a rough track then get ready to scramble

Spent hours stumbling through the gorgeous wonderful Scottish countryside, sad to see that the last round of storms have devastated the forests there, at times it was like witnessing the aftermath of the Tungushka Event, so many pines toppled from the roots, many of them across our intended path.

My Father and other working class heroes

One of the best sports books I've ever read, a hymn by Gary Imlach to his father Stewart Imlach who played with distinction in an era when the rewards were scant and the game tough

Brilliant atmosphere at the Sea Odyssey

Loving the Liverpool Sea Odyssey

Awesome things happening in Liverpool right now

Having a quick one in The Champion of Oxford St

Our favourite London boozer...always try to have in there whenever we are down.

Yesterday was dead loss in terms of sport but logistically a compkete success...Lime St was hugely busy but really well organised, got interviewed by Sky Sports then shuffled onto the 7:53 train to Euston, zipped along the Metropolitan Line and nipped into a cafe for a cheeky pizza and beer. Met up with some of the folk we go the game with and headed Wembley. Less said about the rest of the afternoon the better. Suffice to say it's long way to go to not turn up

Everton Pubs for the Wembley Semi-Final

The list of the Evertonian pubs for Wembley are as follows :

The Green Man
Dagmar Avenue
Wembley
 
Greyhound
324 Harrow Road
Wembley
 
JJ Moons
397 High Road
Wembley
 
Thirsty Eddie's
412 High Road
Wembley
 
Innisfree Freehouse
30 - 32 Harrow Road
Wembley

FA Cup Semi-final tickets. Check!

Phew, felt like a long wait for these but to finally have them in my hand is a relief....just got to get down there now!

Lime St is going to be a bit messy at 7am but hopefully it will all sort itself out.

We're on the march with Moysey's army

Great to see Everton get a quiet, dull, uneventful win against Sunderland today. Was fearful that Sunderland would try to kick us off the park but nothing of the sort happened...instead we had a fairly flat affair. At 0-0 going into the second half it was fairly dull but somehow we managed to score four goal in the second half (two of them pretty much identical) and run out easy winners. Great way to send the boys off down to Wembley

Hibbert Scores, we riot!

If Tony Hibbert scores the winner at Wembley our estimates show that this would be the destruction radius :



London, you have been warned.

Wembley Seating Plan for the West Stand

This might be useful for blues trying to work out where their FA Cup Semi Final seats are in the Everton end (West Stand) :

The blocks correspond with the areas either side of the aisles as far as I can tell

You can assess your view and the official Wembley website too, this will do nicely for us Wembley Stadium Block 132

Tell me Ma, me Ma...I don't want no tea, no tea.

This is exactly the same title I posted with in 2009. Hope this semi-final lives up to the last one because that was basically a perfect day. Spent a lot of time this morning looking at this :

 

 

However the system is spot on, once in you just pick your seats...allocate them to your friends and family (In this case Anne and my mates Mary & Paul) and you are done. I then had to wait a further 25 minutes because I promised another friend I’d complete his (and his 5 mates) ticket order too.

 

Done now though.

 

ALL CLEAR OPERATION WEMBLEY EXERCISE, ALL CLEAR OPERATION WEMBLEY EXERCISE.

FA Cup Semi Final Kick-Off Times

Hopefully the kick-off times for the Merseyside FA Cup Semi final at Wembley will be in keeping with the precedent set over the past 4 years and be at a sensible time. Rumours abound that the Met will insist that the Everton V Liverpool semi final on Saturday the 14th kick off at 12:45.

This would make it incredibly tricky for reds and blues to get down there and one broken down train or car crash on the M6 could mean a half empty ground. The fact that it's a derby shouldn't make any difference. In previous years United V City was at 5pm in 2011, Arsenal V Chelsea in 2009 was at 17:15 so realistically it shouldn't be any different for Evertonians and Liverpudlians.

I know these matches present a tricky problem for the police but it shouldn't be one rule for us and one rule for the rest...hopefully I am blogging un-necessarily and it'll be a nice afternoon kick-off.

Sea Odyssey Giant Spectacular in Liverpool

Just viewing details of the latest event hitting the streets of Liverpool this year. Following in the footsteps of the La Machine giant spider which was brilliant they've recycled the giant girl from the Sultan's Elephant spectacular in London and are having her go on a tour of the city in commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Titanic sinking...should be good if the previous events are anything to go by

What's that coming over the hill? Is it the Scousers? Is it the Scousers?

I have to admit I'd genuinely thought our chance to get to Wembley had gone with the original tie but Everton we immense last night. So rare for us to just put a tie to bed in such a dominant maner.

Felt really sorry for David Vaughan but even 2-0 didn't reflect the way the game unfolded :

Hugely proud of the team and the 6000 people who made their way up to back the lads.

So now Wembley against our lovable neighbours...within minutes of the final whistle Everton have said that all season ticket holders are guaranteed a ticket so that is pretty good. Means we can book transport etc and get everything sorted for another Wembley trip. I know people say the days of the friendly derby are over but this could be a fantastic day for the city of Liverpool. Let's hope so.

Cruddas asks foreign businessmen for 250k for access to Cameron

Well that couldn't look any more damning could it. Disgusting is the word for it. The Conservative party treasurer (not some rogue underling or eager young loose cannon fundraiser) telling foreign businessmen, who aren't legally allowed to donate to uk political parties remember, to pay 250k for shady private dinners with David Cameron at 10 Downing Street. Vile, vile, vile party.

Think back to all those snidey jibes about Labour being in the pocket of the unions....well there you have it, the Conservatives are in the pocket of whichever shady businessman has the cash to buy favour.

Let's be clear union donations to the Labour party are from ordinary workers who each opt-in to paying a small donation. Never let the Tories forget this, it's there in black and white on the pages of the Sunday Times. Corruption and cash for access.

Off leafleting and am attired properly

Loving the Labour campaigning in Liverpool

The football season enters the home stretch

Interesting the see the opening salvos in the mind games between Man Utd and Man City...have to say first blood to United with Alex Ferguson easily dismissing Patrick Viera's comments about Paul Scholes' return being "desperation". Coming in the wake of Carlos Tevez being welcomed back like the prodigal son it was pretty much a "hoisted by your own petard" moment for City.

Cheap shots were thrown back the other way by Rio Ferdinand by saying that you see loads more City shirts around Manchester since they've had their new owners. City fans will be particularly sensitive to that as they've always seen themdelves as the hometown club with United as the fashionable glory-hunters accesory (much the way Evertonians try to paint liverpool).

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/mobile/football/17488481

For Everton our season hinges on that cup replay against Sunderland...you suspect our chance has gone now after the annoyance of the original tie (two penalties waved away, hitting the woodwork, wonder saves from their keeper and a ref buying everything Sunderland did). If we do get through a tie against liverpool on the Hillsboro anniversary will be the superb event for the city.

Pray for Muamba

Interesting piece about the spontaneous outpouring of support for Fabrice Muamba and how it manifested itself as prayer

Prayer is natural for footballers

It seems the family are Christians and so regardless of the reasons and what people think of prayer and belief in general it seems to have been spot on. Listened to a very interesting In Our Time podcast on prayer a few weeks ago and they discussed how humans seem to be hard-wired to look to the Divine. I will link to it when I get a chance.

Regardless of all that the signs for Fabrice have been more positive than we could have ever hoped for when we were watching/listening to the events unfolding at Whitehart Lane. Hope he makes a full recovery and my prayers are with him and his family.

At Goodison Park to see an old friend, follow follow follow

Everton is the team to follow...and there's noboday better than Mikel Arteta, he's the best little Spaniard we know

Funny letter from the taxman. Inland Revenue gets sarcastic

This has been doing the rounds for a while but I thought I'd blog it if only just to have it on file.

  
Dear Mr  Xxxxxxx,

I am writing to you to express our thanks for your more than prompt reply to our latest communication, and also to answer some of the points you raise.  I will address them, as ever, in order.

Firstly, I must take issue with your description of our last as a "begging letter."  It  might perhaps more properly be referred to as a "tax demand."  This is how we at the Inland Revenue have always, for reasons of accuracy, traditionally referred to such documents.

Secondly, your frustration at our adding to the "endless stream of crapulent whining and panhandling vomited daily through the letterbox on to the doormat" has been noted.  However, whilst I have naturally not seen the other letters to which you refer, I would cautiously suggest that their being from "pauper councils, Lombardy pirate banking houses and pissant gas-mongerers" might indicate that your decision to "file them next to the toilet in case of emergencies" is at best a little ill-advised.  In common with my own organisation, it is unlikely that the senders of these letters do see you as a "lackwit bumpkin" or, come to that, a "sodding charity."  More likely they see you as a citizen of Great Britain, with a responsibility to contribute to the upkeep of the nation as a whole.

Which brings me to my next point.  Whilst there may be some spirit of truth in your assertion that the taxes you pay "go to shore up the canker-blighted, toppling folly that is the Public Services," a moment's rudimentary calculation ought to disabuse you of the notion that the government in any way expects you to "stump up for the whole damned party" yourself.  The estimates you provide for the Chancellor's disbursement of the funds levied by taxation, whilst colourful, are, in fairness, a little off the mark.  Less than you seem to imagine is spent on "junkets for Bunterish lickspittles" and "dancing whores" whilst far more than you have accounted for is allocated to, for example, "that box-ticking facade of a university system."

A couple of technical points arising from direct queries:

1. The reason we don't simply write "Muggins" on the envelope has to do with the vagaries of the postal system;

2. You can rest assured that "sucking the very marrow of those with nothing else to give" has never been considered as a practice because even if the Personal Allowance didn't render it irrelevant, the sheer medical logistics involved would make it financially unviable.

I trust this has helped.  In the meantime, whilst I would not in any way wish to influence your decision one way or the other, I ought to point out that even if you did choose to "give the whole foul jamboree up and go and live in India," you would still owe us the money.

Please send it to us by Friday.

Yours sincerely, 


X X Xxx
Customer Relations 
Inland Revenue  

Thoroughly depressing derby

Really thought Everton had a chance there tonight, can see why Moyes played the formation and team he did but really that is an opportunity lost. The Cup is one thing but you should never short-change a derby...it sends out a message to the other lot and leaves you there for the taking.

Depressed....hope it pays off on Saturday but I have to say all I can see tonight doing is stealing our momentum. Ah well, we'll see

Jupiter and Venus very close

Have been loving looking at these too shining together in the night sky recently....reckon if the moon has set and you lived somewhere very dark you could get a shadow from them they are that bright

Rebekah Brooks arrested along with her husband Charlie

The blogosphere is having a field day with Charlie Brooks column in the Telegraph today ahead of the Cheltenham Festival "The happiest moment of my year is about three hours before the first race at Cheltenham on Tuesday" says Charlie...unlucky Sir. He was arrested along with Rebekah Brooks as part of the corruption enquiry lead by Lord Leveson

The BBC have put together this useful chart of all the players in this sordid mess.

Media Corruption map

Nice to see David Cameron linked so prominently in there, thick as theives with Brooks and Coulson...terrible, terrible judgement or an arrogance that he can appoint/associate with whoever he like (Emma Harrison anyone?)

Football schadenfraude: "Jelly and ice cream when Rangers die"

Have to say an apology at the start of this one to any Rangers fans reading, not a piss take more just a saluting of the bonkers inventivness of the Celtic fans schadenfraude over the Rangers administration.

"We're having a party when Rangers die"

onto "Jelly and ice cream when Rangers die" and "pass the parcel when Rangers die" and then "Doing the conga when Rangers die" (presume "Musical statues when Rangers die" is there somewhere) then we have the slightly crazy "Doing the Huddle when Rangers die" and the truly bonkers "Passing wee Andy when Rangers die" and "Lateral movement when Rangers die".


We're doing the huddle when Rangers die


Lateral Movement when Rangers die


Pass the Parcel when Rangers die


We're doing the Conga when Rangers die


The Huns are going bust

Lansley refuses to publish the NHS reform Risk Register report.

This really is sinking to a new low in this whole sorry debacle. Now Andrew Lansley is refusing to comply with a court order to release the NHS Reform risk register report. If the bill is nothing to worry about and will benefit the service overall then why not comply with the Freedom of Information request and let us all see it. Pathetic the way he's handled this whole thing.

If he continues to blithely ignore the warnings of virtually every single person involved inthe National Health Service whilst trying to bury reports on his reform bill surely his position is untennable and his bill a write-off. It's actually getting pitiful now.

NHS risk register: Ministers lose Freedom of Information appeal

Ministers have been ordered to publish a risk assessment of the NHS shake-up under Freedom of Information laws.

The Department of Health had appealed against an FOI ruling that the transition risk register, requested by Labour MP John Healey, be published.

But it lost, despite civil servants' warnings that to publish confidential advice could have a "chilling effect".

Mr Healey said the ruling gave "strong legal support to a full and open debate" about NHS plans for England.

"The judgement backs the public's right to know about the risks the government is taking with its NHS plans," he said - accusing the government of having "dragged out" the process for 15 months.

Well done to Andy Burnham and John Healey for fighting tooth and nail on our behalf. Further shame on Quisling Clegg for his pathetic crocodile tears and posturing...you can't public voice concerns about a bill you've voted through parliament at every opportunity.

Yet another Liverpool sunset pic

Sorry if these are getting dull but I don't ever seem to tire of things like sunsets, sunrises, night skies etc.

Get home and rushed upstairs and caught this just as it faded....even as I type this it's gone

Andrew Lansley runs away from a protester

Not often I post a Daily Mail link but it seems to not being reported on the BBC

Lansley runs away from a protester



What on earth is this rotten bill still doing in parliament, it should be killed off right away. The entire country wants it scrapped. What's particularly galling is the likes of Clegg writing letters about how he doesn't like it....after voting for it at every opportunity.

Liverpool bids farewell to HMS Liverpool

Popped down to the pier head to see HMS Liverpool on it's final visit to it's home city. Heck of a lot of people were doing the same. Nice to see

Good win for Waterloo at the rugby today

Nice afternoon at Blundellsands today watching Waterloo rugby Club get a bonus point win against Altrincham Kersal. Pity Everton couldn't beat QPR to really make our day

We are Evertonians...

Got this through this morning, season tickets have gone up a bit but am pretty pleased to see that kids pay the equivelant of £5 a game and it's around £10 for under 17s.

We are Evertonians, we go the game, that's what we do

The BBC World Service is 80 today

If it's ever been your lifeline back to home you'll know what a wonderful thing the BBC World Service is. I remember how it was our link back to the football when I went travelling.

It was sitting on top of a roof in Jodphur in India that we heard Wayne Rooney's first goal for Everton against Arsenal. Happy memories of being huddled round that little shortwave radio waiting for the news or the football coverage to start each week.

Angela Merkel gets beer poured on here but takes it in her stride

Have to say Angela Merkel handles this accidental soaking brilliantly :

Clumsy waiter pours beer over German Chancellor Angela Merkel

A sardonic shrug and raising a glass is probably the coolest way possible to deal with that sort of thing. Prost!

Richard Dawkins gets hoisted by his own petard

It is a good'n this



Poor Christopher Hitchens must be spinning in his grave.

Looking down on the city

Loving the view from The Panoramic restaurant.

Rangers go into administration

It really is staggering that the Scottish champions have gone bust. I suppose Celtic can argue that if they had lived beyond their means in the way Rangers had then they might have won more of those titles instead of their arch rivals.

It shows how ridiculous the whole business of football is and how an implosion could be just round the corner.

It also shows how totally uncompetitive the SPL is given that even with the 10 point penalty Rangers are still 9 points clear of 3rd place.

Should I go for mayor of Liverpool

Ha ha, worst idea ever surely....me being mayor I mean, the banning of liverpool fc (or at least making them change their name) on day one might upset a few people for starters.

All in all I think the idea of a mayor of Liverpool is a pretty pointless endeavour. Add in a devolution of power plus 130 million pound extra for the city and it's pretty much a no brainer.

I wish whoever does decide to run for mayor luck, it'll be a pretty much thankless task in a country who's population seems to have collectively adopted an "iconoclast uber alles" personality.

Where for art thou Everton

Why are Everton simply brilliant against City and Chelsea but so lacking cohesion and belief against Wigan and Bolton?

It really is weird...we've been a joy to watch in these big, big wins recently...everything you love about Moyes' Everton.

And finally, finally

What an abject object lesson in how not to handle a mess....liverpool fc have been a disaster area for weeks. Dalglish's obstinate refusal to acknowledge any wrong by his player has plunge that club deeper and deeper into ignominy.

It finally come to a head on Saturday when a player who'd previously been racially abused by Suarez tried to put in all behind them by offering a handshake and still Suarez tried to play the wounded, wronged party and refused.

Dalglish rallied to defend Suarez yet again and even up until Sunday the likes of Aldridge were still trying to refuse to acknowledge any blame on the part of the liverpool player. Only when negative press began to surface in the New York Times did Fenway Group step and and force apologies.

At last.

Stevie P, oh Stevie P. Oh Stevie P Oh Stevie P

Can't tell you proud I am of Everton today. A supposed top 4 side and we took them to the cleaners. Denis, who we all know is a limited footballer, caused MAYHEM against their weird, lopsided 3-5-2 formation with Cole as a left winger and Luis as a left half.

Everton by comparison knew what they were about from the off, set the tempo and got in amongst them at every turn........the only question remains were the f*ck has that Everton been pre-Christmas....we look so accomplished at the moment. The confidence running throughout the side is like a short in the arm to players like Denis and Donovan. A joy to behold. Went to the game with my Dad today. Pints before in the Black Horse before and after.....days don't get better

Campaigning in South Liverpool

No-one can ever accuse Liverpool Labour of only turning up in May when we want people to vote for us. We've been traipsing the streets for months contacting residents and letting them know what we are about.

It's about making sure we are doing as much as possible to let people know the problems the city is facing and, more importantly, finding out the problems they facing. It's difficult but that's why we are Labour.

Tom Watson on the NHS and the Drop the Bill campaign

Got this mailshot for MP Tom Watson

Ed Miliband calls really early. Too early. These days I have to set my alarm for 6am in order to be fully awake before he starts chasing me.

Before Ed's calls, I listen to the depressing daily news on the Today programme. Unemployment sky rocketing, the economy flat-lining, more arrests at News International. By the time Ed rings I'm usually ready to explode.

The final straw came at 6.54am last Friday morning.

Interviewed on Today, Clare Gerada, the Chair of the Royal College of GPs, was asked about Lansley's Health Bill. I don't know Clare Gerada, but she was authoritative, calm, thorough, and therefore devastating in her analysis.

As the first coffee of the day was brewing, Clare patiently said the following words:

"I think the essence is this Bill is a burden. It makes no sense. It’s incoherent to anybody other than the lawyers. It won’t deal with the big issues that we have to deal with such as the aging population and dementia. It will result in a very expensive health service and it will also result in a health service that certainly will never match the health service that we have at the moment or at least had 12 months ago."

I couldn't stomach any more of this miserable truth about Cameron, Osborne and Lansley's Britain. I'm sick of starting every day like this. I re-tuned to Smooth Radio.

But re-tuning the radio isn't enough. What makes us Labour is that we don't just look away. We've got to stop them. We've got to stop this Bill. It really will wreck the NHS in a way that hasn't been fully understood. It's a fight that patients can't afford for us to lose.

Cameron is determined to force these measures through. To defeat him, we have to build a coalition against the Bill that has never been seen before.

Sign the Drop the Bill petition here

The 6 Nations catches fire

Have to say the game this afternoon between Ireland and Wales was an absolute classic. It was a joy to watch two brilliant teams go all out for the win

For the record I thought Wales deserved it but the brilliance of the win was tainted somewhat by a really nasty spear-tackle in the second half. I imagine the citing committee will be involved because there was real intent in that and could have done some serious damage.

This was balanced, almost, by a ridiculous decision not to give Wales a try in the first half despite the ball clearly going down and there being no demonstrable evidence that it had been held up.

Anyway classic encounters always have their talking points...both teams deserve immense credit for really getting 6 Nations going for us...a joy to watch

The 6 Nations is back

Icy Saturdays are meant to be enjoyed in nice warm houses with pints of lovely beer abd the telly on. Waterloo's home game was cancelled so that left us free to do just that. There are few more beautiful trophies in world sport than the Calcutta Cup, it was great to see a young, inexperienced side lift it although really Scotland were the better side.

A Grand old Team

As hinted at in last night's post it felt like a good night to be a blue from the word go.

City always seem to fall foul of Everton's superior workrate and commitment. Players like Aguero, Villa and Nasri have added real class to go along with the brawn but where is the steel that side will need to win a title? Playing in the African Cup of Nations you might suggest. You can admire their talent but Everton's team spirit counted for more.

Cahill was a warrior, Denis & Donovan gave everything, Heitinga and Hibbert were immense whilst Fellaini and Gibson battled all night. Moyes out-thought Mancini with the inspired decision to bring in Hibbert to help do a job on Dzeko......yeah all in all a great night to be a blue

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On the way to Goodison

On the train going to the match. Things might actually be looking up for the blues with new blood coming in to freshen up a squad in danger of going stale.

Odd to have games on transfer deadline day but hopefully all our business is done with a midfielder, a striker and a defender all signed up and possibly a big earner off the books (although I can't see Saha going to Spurs).

Nice to have something none-depressing to talk about for once. The win against Fulham seems to have given everyone a boostm

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Tory attitudes to contracts

It seems the Tories simply can't get involved with altering contracts...it would be utterly unthinkable for then to intervene in RBS boss Stephen Hester's bonus. This is definitely a tricky one but the bottom line is that that bank is just not performing.

The interesting point for me is that whilst the Conservatives hold contracts in the financial services sacred they just take it as a given they can totally rip-up the contracts of all those public sector workers and their pensions agreements

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Plant an Oak in the Diamond Jubilee Woods

Have to say I do like this idea, a great way to commemorate a national event

Digging deep for commemorative woods

Organisers of a project to create a series of new woods to commemorate the Queen's Diamond Jubilee hope to plant one million trees during February.

The Woodland Trust said next month marked the 60th anniversary of the Queen's accession to the throne.

Free tree-planting packs would be available for groups wanting to take part in the project, it added.

The centrepiece of the Trust's plans will be a Diamond Park - a 460-acre site containing 500,000 trees.

Find out more about it here : The Woodland Trust

You ain't no fool if you from Liverpool. Happy Birthday to the Greatest of all Time

Do love this pic :

Daily Post Article here

Happy 70th Birthday Muhammad Ali. Asalam Alakum Sir

Flashman Cameron calls Dennis Skinner a dinosaur

Oh look, Cameron gets asked a question which irks him and straight away resorts to nasty jibes and insults. It does seem to me that Cameron sees the House of Commons as a bothersome inconvenience distracting him from gala lunches and cosy meetings at Chequers.

Nice bottle of Sheppy's Tremlett's Bitter cider for after dinner

Do love Sheppy's cider....found it in Dobby's and Booth's recently. Hurrah!

Marc Clattenberg to ref an Everton game

I know we shouldn't condone fans pouring abuse onto officials and opposition players but I do hope Mark Clattenberg gets absolute dogs abuse when he referees Everton once again.

That derby was by far the worst display of officiating I've ever seen. Too bad to be laughed off, you looked at the decisions he was making and could only conclude he was biased or corrupt. It was simply not possible to come to the conclusions impartially. The FA obviously agree because it's been half a decde before they've let him loose on an Everton game.

If you see Match of the Day and wonder why Evertonians are giving him hell just look back through the highlights and realise just how justified it is.

Huge slab of Deli Fonseca game pie to eat tomorrow

Love shops like Deli Fonseca in Liverpool....brilliant delicatesan and restaurant run by friendly, enthusiastic people who love good food.

Why no Everton blog posts

You'll notice that the sports updates on here have been few and far between...haven't been making it to the match much recently for one reason or another and to be honest there's just nothing to inspire a post. The premiership in general is pretty dull and Everton are as uninspiring as they've been in ages.

Last night was a case in point, awful, awful game in awful, awful conditions...Everton just look so listless and disparate. They depserately need someone to provide that spark of inspiration. It was nice to see Tim Howard score only the 4th premier league goal by a goalkeeper...adding that to Scheichals for Villa at Goodison a while back than it means I've seen 50% of them.

Walking back enphasised how awful the conditions were, we could barely walk and then the trains were all over the place due to fallen trees etc so by the time we got in it was well past midnight.

I could ramble and rant about the problems in the Everton side but ultimately it's just too depressing at the moment.

Conservatives wanted to abandon Liverpool and the devil take the hindmost.

Of course up here we all new this already. The north of England was just an inconvenience to the Tories in the 80s. Think of that bit in the movie version of The Beach were the dying man is making too much noise so the other commune members just put him in another hut. Thatcherites will argue that the heavy industries prevelant in the north were outdated and innefficient and so needed to be removed like Christo's gangrenous leg but what was put in place by way of "post-operative care"? A Garden Festival? Really?

The documents released today show they thought about cutting their losses on the difficult places like Liverpool and put resources into regenerating areas that didn't need it so much but would show results more easily.

they record Geofrey Howe urging the government "not to over commit scarce resources to Liverpool. I fear that Merseyside is going to be much the hardest nut to crack,"

"We do not want to find ourselves concentrating all the limited cash that may have to be made available into Liverpool and having nothing left for possibly more promising areas such as the West Midlands or, even, the North East."

"It would be even more regrettable if some of the brighter ideas for renewing economic activity were to be sown only on relatively stony ground on the banks of the Mersey.

"I cannot help feeling that the option of managed decline is one which we should not forget altogether. We must not expend all our limited resources in trying to make water flow uphill."

I acknowledge that politicians do need to make tough decisions and discuss options but this confirms what we've always suspected...fundamentally and irrefutably the Conservatives will ALWAYS have the core attitude "The devil take the hindmost". This is in their DNA, it's why they get into politics. The welfare state is an anathema to them, they simply cannot understand the impact economic difficulties have on ordinary people. Think back to the "Get on your bike and look for work" quote...deep down they see being unemployed as a lifestyle choice and being poor as your inescapable station in life.

To them the working classes are just consumers and when times are hard you, like Christo in The Beach, are just an inconvenience and need to either shape up and look after yourself because, put simply, they don't see it as their job.

So there you go, that's the party Cameron and Osborne joined as teenagers...when traditionally you are at your most idealistic and want to go out and change the world...they chose that one.

The assault on universalism. Warnings of the conservatives and the welfare state

Brillaint article from the BMJ about the destruction and dismantling of the welfare state

Hope they done mind me re-producing it. Really superb stuff

Christmas is a time to count our blessings, reflecting how they came to be. For people living in England this reflection is more relevant than ever, as the coalition government paves the way for the demise of the welfare state. This statement will be seen by many as reckless scaremongering. The welfare state, not only in Britain but also throughout western Europe, has proved extremely resilient.1 How could any government bring about such a fundamental change?

To answer this question it is necessary to go back to the 1940s, when Sir William Beveridge called for a national fight against the five “giant evils” of want, disease, ignorance, squalor, and idleness.2 His call secured support from across the political spectrum. Although he sat in the House of Commons as a Liberal, his plans were implemented by a Labour government, and continued under successive Conservative ones.3 The reasons for such wide ranging support varied but, for many ordinary people, the fundamental role of the welfare state was to give them security should their world collapse around them.

There were good reasons to seek security. The British people had just emerged from a war that had shown that, regardless of how high they were on the social ladder, they could fall to the bottom in an instant. The death and destruction of war were not the only threats; a serious illness could blight a family’s prospects. People wanted to be sure that they would not be on their own if disaster struck, and they were prepared to ensure this through taxes and insurance contributions. They were, literally, “all in it together,” accepting rationing of food and fuel to guarantee that in the face of austerity, everyone had access to the essentials.

In the 1970s, the philosopher John Rawls developed this concept into what he called a “theory of justice.”4 He argued that a fair society was one designed as if from behind a “veil of ignorance,” meaning that class and social forces were removed from policy making. As he put it, behind the veil, “no one knows his place in society, his class position or social status, nor does anyone know his fortune in the distribution of natural assets and abilities, his intelligence, strength, and the like.” Rawls argued that in such circumstances decision makers would create a society that does not privilege one group over another, as no one can know where they will end up. This uncertainty about the future was a fair approximation of what many people had experienced during the war.

The postwar situation was quite different in the United States, for several reasons. The country emerged from the war with a powerful corporate sector, enriched by military spending, that could shape the political discourse in its own interests. In much of Europe, industry was devastated, and in Germany and the countries it had occupied, many major corporations were tainted by collaboration.5 6 However, a crucial and longstanding difference was the role of race in society. In America, the rich could never fall to the bottom of the ladder, because that position was already taken. African Americans faced persistent and widespread discrimination. There was no veil of ignorance. Europeans knew they could go to bed rich and wake up poor, but a rich (and, by extension, white) American could be confident that they would never wake up black.

The consequences are apparent at all levels of American society today. In household surveys, support for welfare among white Americans is influenced by the race of the poor people who live around them: if their neighbours are white they are more inclined to generosity than if their neighbours are African-American.7 Although inequality is diminishing across ethnic groups (just as it is has risen across classes),8 the legacy of racial division continues to undermine support for social welfare. In states with a high proportion of African Americans, welfare payments are much less generous9 (an illustration of the “inverse care law”).10

Thus, one concern in explaining this American exceptionalism11 is that welfare is not seen as insuring one’s family against catastrophe but rather as a payment to people with whom one has little shared identity. In this way, society becomes divided into “deserving” and “undeserving” groups of the poor.

A second difference is that Americans have been much more likely than Europeans to attribute poverty to laziness rather than misfortune (a form of victim blaming).12 If the rich wish to help the poor they are urged to use philanthropy, encouraged by the tax system and facilitated by a strong religious culture and distrust of the state. However, voluntary giving means that the donors can select the beneficiaries of their largesse, rather than leaving the choice to a democratic system. More than a third of social spending in the US comes from voluntary giving, whereas the comparable figure was less than one tenth in the pre-2004 European Union.13

A third factor is the relative absence of a countervailing discourse, reflecting the absence of a strong left wing or trade union voice. The entrenched dominance of the American two party system stymies the development of left wing political parties, while the geographical dispersion of population during the 19th century constrained the ability of a national trade union movement to organise.8 Industrialised countries with a greater fraction of workers in unions, one indicator of the power of the political left, invest more in social welfare

Understanding where the money comes from is only half the picture of the welfare system. The final main difference between the United States and Europe relates to what the wealthy get back from the state. This is much less in the US than in Europe. In every area the US is less generous; from education, to healthcare, to unemployment benefits. On average, the US invests about $3170 (£2031; €2370) per person less than would be expected if it were a member of the pre-2004 European Union, given its national income (authors’ calculations).14 In other words, the state is not there to help the rich and, in many respects, it is doing less than ever—for example, by disinvesting in public universities.14 15 Thus, the state does not offer a system of mutual security. Instead it provides a basic safety net, albeit an increasingly threadbare one. The advantage of the American system, if you are rich, is that you can pay much less in taxes. Indeed, the low tax/low welfare system is so skewed that a billionaire will pay a much smaller proportion of income in taxes than the poorest paid workers, so that effectively the poor are subsidising the rich.16

By contrast, in Scandinavia, taxes are high but, in return, the rich obtain a comprehensive package of high quality benefits either free or at minimal cost, including child care, healthcare, social care, and university education. There is a clear trade-off: you pay higher taxes but you get more back in return (as well as living in a more harmonious, safer society).17

So for those who wish to destroy the European model of welfare state, the structural weaknesses of social welfare in the United States offer an attractive model. First, create an identifiable group of undeserving poor. Second, create a system in which the rich see little benefit flowing back to them from their taxes. Third, diminish the role of trade unions, portraying them as pursuing the narrow interests of their members rather than, as is actually the case, recognising that high rates of trade union membership have historically benefited the general population.18 19 Finally, as Reagan did when cutting welfare in the 1980s,1 do so in a way that attracts as little attention as possible, putting in place policies whose implications are unclear and whose effects will only be seen in the future. All these strategies can be seen in the UK today.

The tabloid press, much of it owned by multi-millionaires, is at the forefront of the first approach. Each day they fill their pages with accounts of people “milking the system.” By constant repetition they create new forms of word association, constructing a cultural underclass. “Welfare” is invariably associated with “scroungers.”20 “Bogus” invariably describes “asylum seekers.”21 They accept that there is a group of deserving poor, whose situation has arisen from “genuine misfortune” (which seemingly excludes refugees caught up in wars), but when these groups appear in their pages it is because they have been let down by the state, which is devoting its efforts to the undeserving. And as a growing body of research shows, this continuous diet of hate does make a difference.22 23 24

Such vilification of the undeserving poor is not new. What is changing in the United Kingdom is the progressive exclusion of the middle classes from the welfare state through incremental erosion of universal benefits. The logic is appealing, but highly divisive: Why should the state pay for those who can afford to pay for themselves? Why should “ordinary working people” pay for “middle class benefits”? The economic crisis has given the government a once in a lifetime opportunity. As Naomi Klein has described in many different situations, those opposed to the welfare state never waste a good crisis.25 The deficit must be reduced, and so, one by one, benefits are removed and groups are pitted against each other, as the interests of the middle class in the welfare state wither away.

The first cut was to universal child benefit. This has been paid to all mothers, regardless of family income. It recognised the importance of children to society as a whole, not just to an individual family. It was also cheap, simple to administer, and free from anomalies. The government will now restrict child benefits to anyone in a family where one person is a higher rate tax payer. The problems were apparent from the start. A family with four children and two wage earners, each earning just below the higher rate tax threshold, would earn a total of up to £84 950 per year, supplemented by child benefit of £3146. A similar sized family in which only one parent worked but earned just over the tax threshold, at £42 475, would get nothing. If that parent was a widower, they would lose a further £5077 Widowed Parent’s Allowance, which is linked to child benefit, resulting in an 18% drop in income. Only a saint would avoid asking why they pay their taxes at all in such circumstances.

The next thing to go was affordable university education. This was more difficult. The government first had to make the case that a university education was mainly a personal benefit, rather than a societal one. Graduates could expect higher incomes, on average, so they should pay for the privilege. The contribution they would make to society, as doctors, teachers, social workers, or in myriad other ways counted for nothing. The government argued that publicly funded education was unaffordable, yet the new system will be more expensive than what it replaced.26 But this is viewed as a price worth paying to remove a universal benefit. Moreover, students faced with years of personal debt know that some of their fees are being used to provide bursaries for poorer students. It is easy to see how, as they struggle to pay back their debt, this generation may also ask why they are paying taxes.

These recent assaults on universal programmes are just the start. Ministers have made it clear that they see railways, which since privatisation have required much greater public subsidies, as “rich man’s toy”.27 We are fed statistics showing that those who travel by train tend to earn above average income, so fares must rise above inflation. Of course, the reason (we are told) that the privatised railways are by far the most expensive in Europe is not because their shareholders are making excessive profits from what is in effect a state guaranteed monopoly but rather because of restrictive practices by trade unions, an argument that helps to erode support for them even further. Why should the ordinary commuter pay taxes to support this undeserving workforce as well as ever increasing fares?

The Mirrlees Review on the tax system, commissioned by the Institute for Fiscal Studies, has highlighted what it sees as an anomaly, whereby many of life’s necessities, such as food, as well as things that make life a bit more civilised, such as books, are free from value added tax. It argues that this universal policy should be redressed and, if it causes hardship, then the poor (although it admittedly does not preface this with “undeserving” but by now most readers will get the message) should receive subsidies to help them.28 Once again, the ordinary shopper will ask why they should be paying taxes.

The direction of travel should now be clear. More and more, the middle classes will ask why they are paying into a system that gives them little back. The idea that the state is an insurance system, from which they can benefit if they are in need, is steadily eroded. Even the word “insurance” will be taken out in chancellor George Osborne’s plans to merge national insurance with taxation. There will be ever greater reductions in the funding, and inevitably the quality, of those remaining services used by the middle classes, such as primary and secondary education and healthcare, persuading them that they would be better off seeking private options. Public services will become like public hospitals in the United States, a service for the poor. As Richard Titmuss famously said, a “service for the poor” inevitably becomes “a poor service,” as the vocal and politically active middle class abandon the system.29 The ground rules are already being laid in healthcare, as the health secretary has sought to weaken his responsibility for a comprehensive health system. At some stage in the future any vestigial safeguards could disappear and commissioning consortiums, by then funded from personalised budgets, would become, in effect, insurance companies, with all sorts of ways to limit whom they enrol and what they cover.

Who benefits from this progressive degradation of the welfare state? Obviously not the lower classes. But nor do the middle classes, as the new, complex, and individualised systems are more expensive than what existed previously, often of poorer quality, and invariably far more complicated. The real beneficiaries are the very rich, who no longer have to pay for services they never used anyway.

Will the British people allow the welfare state to be dismantled? Not yet. But the situation could easily change. The experience of the United States shows how easily people can be persuaded to vote against their own economic interests.24 By visualising the stark reality of the future that may lie ahead of us we may be forced to challenge our own complacency. In this way, we can only try to emulate the “spirit of Christmas yet to come” in Dickens’ Christmas Carol and hope that we will have the same happy result.30

Liverpool Football Club statement on Luis Suarez...and Rosa Parks

Liverpool Football Club have issued a statement about Luis Suarez

Liverpool Football Club and the Montgomery City Bus Company are is very surprised and disappointed with the decision of the Football Association commission to find Luis Suarez and James F. Blake guilty of the charges against them.

"We look forward to the publication of the commission's judgment. We will study the detailed reasons of the commission once they become available, but reserve our right to appeal or take any other course of action we feel appropriate with regards to this situation.

"We find it extraordinary that Luis and James can be found guilty on the word of Patrica Evra and Rosa Parks alone when no-one else on the Bus - including Parks's own colleagues and all the other passengers whilst a journey was underway.

"LFC and the bus company consider racism in any form to be unacceptable - without compromise. It is our strong held belief, having gone over the facts of the case, that James F. Blake did not commit any racist act. It is also our opinion that the accusation by this particular bus driver was not credible - certainly no more credible than his prior unfounded accusations.

"It is key to note that Rosa Parks himself in his written statement in this case said: "I don't think that James F. Blake is racist." The FA in their opening remarks accepted that James F. Blake was not racist.

"James himself is of a mixed race family background as his grandfather was probably Irish or something.

"He has driven buses with black passengers and mixed with their families whilst serving with the Army and was part of a bus company with a proud multi-cultural profile, many of whom became good friends.

"It seems incredible to us that a driver of mixed heritage should be accused and found guilty in the way he has based on the evidence presented. We do not recognise the way in which James F. Blake has been characterised.

"It appears to us that the FA were determined to bring charges against James F. Blake, even before interviewing him at the beginning of November. Nothing we have heard in the course of the hearing has changed our view that James F. Blake is innocent of the charges brought against him and we will provide James with whatever support he now needs to clear his name.

"We would also like to know when the FA intend to charge Rosa Parks with making abusive remarks to an opponent after he admitted himself in his evidence to insulting James F. Blake in Spanish in the most objectionable of terms. James, to his credit, actually told the FA he had not heard the insult."

New Banksy street art found in Rumford Street, Liverpool

Interesting to hear there's a new Banksy effort for us all to look at in Liverpool.

This one is in a car park in Rumford Street

Map / Directions to Rumford Street here


View Larger Map

So far so good

Thanking Saint Bernadette, Saint Benet, Saint Francis of Assisi, Saint Nicholas, Saint George, Saint Edward the Confessor, Saint Francis Xavier, Saint Sebastian, Saint John of God, Saint Peregrine, Saint Anthony, Saint Joseph, Saint Lucy, Our Lady of Lourdes and the Good Lord himself plus anyone else you care to mention tonight. Had a lot on my mind recently buts so far so good. Good bless the NHS

UK isolates itself from it's major trading partners

The tories have outdone themselves this time. Somehow they think they've vetoed a major treaty that's actually gone ahead anyway leaving us basically out in the cold.

Our neighbours have gone ahead and done everything without us so all Cameron has achieved is to drive a wedge between us and Europe for no other reason than to appease his own party's xenophobic Tea-Party element. The French and Germans won't forget his selfish obstinance and breathtaking arrogance in a hurry.

So half his coalition site aghast at the line he's taken, the Scot, Welsh and Northern Irish are livid given that they had no say in this stupid pointless stand and for what? Well the Daily Mail are happy and that's all that seems to matter to them.

In honour of today's public sector strikes. Altogether now...

Soyuz nerushimy respublik svobodnykh
Splotila naveki velikaya Rus'!
Da zdravstvuyet sozdanny volley narodov
Yediny, moguchy Sovetsky Soyuz!

Slav'sya, Otechestvo nashe svobodnoye,
Druzhby narodov nadyozhny oplot!
Partiya Lenina - sila narodnaya
Nas k torzhestvu kommunizma vedyot!

George Osborne's autumn statement "We balls it up"

It is quite depressing when it turns out the people in charge aren't cleverer and don't have any secret knowledge you aren't party to. For months it's been massively obvious that the Conservative's austerity policies are a millstone holding the economy back. It now turns out that there will be over 700 thousand public sector workers losing their jobs now and for what? Well it would seem for nothing..."It's hurting but it's not working".

So tomorrow if you see a picket line remember to beep and wave, they are just ordinary people looking after what is rightfully theirs. You won't be alone, there is broad public support for the strikes, a BBC survey revealed this.

Don't let the rich and privileged elite play divide and conquer with the ordinary people of this country.

My Tram Experience woman arrested

Get in! Great news (if true) that that vile racist in the my tram experience video has been arrested.

There are few things in life worse than a racist. Great to see that the masses have ganged up on that particular cretin.

I love it when the like of her and the EDL and the BNP get rejected. It's like the good people all standing up and saying "We aren't all petty bullies".

RIP Gary Speed

Such horrifying, tragic news today. So utterly sad to see someone so familiar and so bright & talented take their own lives. It's really knocked me for 6 today and I don't suppose I can write anything eloquent enough to do the tragedy justice....it was heart breaking listening to Robbie Savage choking up talking about him on 606 today but you have to say he did his mate proud.

This is one of the best pieces I have read about the the whole thing and says things better than I ever could:

http://www.whos-arsed.com/2011/11/gary-speed-rip/

WTF? Conservative students burn an effigy of Barak Obama

I know the Conservatives are a pretty paltry ever-dwindling bunch in Scotland but was this attempt to gain some cheap publicity or a way of finishing themselves off permanently?

Obama effigy burnt by St Andrews Conservative students

"An effigy of US President Barack Obama was burned over the weekend by members of the Conservative student association at St Andrews University.

The incident is understood to have taken place on Friday evening on the town's East Sands beach.

One of those who attended told the BBC that members of the association had "no input" and were "surprised" to discover Obama was on the bonfire.

The St Andrews Conservative Association apologised for any offence caused."

How utterly KKKish? What were they thinking. Apparently the same Conservative society has burned effigies of Gordon Brown and Nelson Mandela in the past and one of the chairman of the university's Labour society.

Suppose it'll go down a storm with all those Tea Party weirdos the right seem to look up to so much.

Everton return to winning ways

Thank God, I know that was a nightmarish run of games but it was so good to get 3 points under our belt again after so long

Has Martin Johnson really quit over 2 few drinks in Queenstown

It's difficult to have any faith in the RFU at the moment...they've been abominable over the last year and today Martin Johnson has quit as England manager deepening the crisis.

Basically as far as I can see if no-one had been there to photograph the England players in that Queenstown bar he'd still been in a job. The furore over that night out is amazing and the RFU's inability to control the agenda on it is pretty lame.

What did the players actually do on this "tour of shame"? Aside from Tindall doing something slightly silly they are guilty of posing for a few pictures as far as I can tell. The media have been whipping this up into a scandal ever since....this is the same media who were mortified when the England footy team exiled itself in a remote location in South Africa.

Both teams are probably guilty of not lifting a world cup they were never really had a hope of winning.

So 3 years of hard work for England down the drain, we came within a game of doing a Grand Slam last season and yet the media have focused on one night-out and made the manager's job untenable.

Theresa May minutes away from losing her job?

Have to say she's a very lucky woman after just delegated a huge problem of immigration security and queueing at airports. If the minutes of her meeting with Brodie Clark could prove he'd told her about the relaxation of finger print checks she'd be out wouldn't she? I mean all the other home secretaries were told, would she not have been?