Friday, February 09, 2007

ON SECOND THOUGHTS...WE DO HAVE SOMETHING TO SAY ABOUT THE AXING OF THE SUMMER POPS


SMILING ASSASSIN STRIKES AGAIN

Two media matters have come to our attention about the city council's decision to scrap the Summer Pops:

Media Matter No 1)
At 3pm yesterday, two hours before the city council officially announced it was axing the Summer Pops, a press release fluttered onto the desk of news outlets in the city.
The press release sensationally broke the exclusive news to stunned journalists that the Summer Pops would not be taking place this year.
Who was this well-informed media missive from you may well ask? (good question, ed.)
Step forward Chas Cole, millionaire boss of CMP Entertainment and one-time marathon runner.
Chas 'show me the money' Cole, you will recall, is the man who has so far cost the city council more than £3million of council taxpayers money to subsidise the Pops.
Yes it was Chas, dear reader, who managed to break this exclusive story first.
But who tipped him off?
As CMP were just one of three private companies who were all bidding for the Pops, Chas should have had no inside and exclusive track on the news of the council's decision.
The finger points at Phil Halsall, aka the smiling assassin, and the father of young Liam (whose band 'Abe' appeared as support to Status Quo at the Summer Pops in 2005 and then promptly disappeared back into obscurity, you will remember, ed).
The highly paid Executive Director Halsall, (you will be well aware of this too, ed) is the man who is single-handedly responsible for the city's finances, which this year have ended up in a £50million cuts crisis.
And Halsall it was, of course, who signed the cheques for the last six years to pay his mate Chas for the Summer Pops.
Media Matter No2)
James Barton of Cream was appearing today on Radio Merseyside to talk about the Pops and ways in which Cream might still work with the city council to save the event this year.
But before he arrived an email suddenly appeared at the Radio Merseyside news desk.
And this media missive, marked NOT FOR PUBLICATION systematically, and highly selectively, rubbished Cream's tender proposal.
It revealed all kinds of highly confidential details about the Cream tender in a highly selective, prejudiced and partial manner.
Radio Merseyside was given permission to use part of this email as unattributable 'background' information.
(This means they could use the information in their report, but not say where it came from, ed)
Who was this media missive from? you may ask (another good question, ed)
Step forward the city council's newscentre.
For, astonishingly, the email was sent by an un-named press officer.
But who put the press officer up to it?
(As we know, they don't do things without being instructed to do so, ed)
And why did the council issue this wholly irregular email which, as well as being inaccurate, also broke all council rules of commercial confidentiality.
Just who authorised this flagrant breach of all council rules and procedures? (a terrifically good question, ed)
The finger points at the smiling assassin, Mr Phil Halsall, again. (Also now known as 'the weasel' as in Pop goes, geddit? ed)
Of course it could also have been some other council employee. Perhaps Dr McElhinney then?

An observer writes: Both these incidents reveal just how fundamentally corrupt the city council now is. Highly placed officials can give the inside track to their mates and then abuse their positions as public servants to try and damage their mates' business rival. It is utterly disgusting, cynical and shows the contempt they now have for democracy and public accountability. But will anyone do anything about it? Certainly not Colin 'Cover Up'.

17 comments:

Anonymous said...

And Bradley is going to let them get away with it. They should suspend Halsall now and have a proper investigation before he can bully his way out of it and threaten his unwilling accomplices in the press office, like the nasty little weasel he is.

Anonymous said...

unbelievable how that little wretch is still hanging on like the leach he is

Tony Thanks for bringing this to our attention as always

Anonymous said...

No doubt this will be presented as yet another neutral story in next week's media analysis!

Anonymous said...

Can't we offer a reward to some public spirited beeb hack who leaks the email to you?

Anonymous said...

like the new name for halsall. he really is a little weasel

Tori Blare said...

According to the Daily Post report, Chas Cole was the one who would have won the tender as his bid was the better one of the 3!
Could this be Warren and mates getting their own back?
Could this be their way of ensuring that Chas Cole does not get the contract again? To cancel the whole kit and cabudal rather than let him have the deal again?
Good idea to use the budget crisis as an excuse and Bradley telling us all on the news that he had a choice to cut social care or housing, or not fund the summer pops?
He thinks the electorate are stupid, they will and are cutting social care and housing and much more besides.
This is purely an effort to take their ball home so Chas can't play.
He will turn up asking for money else where and the council will not be able to stop him.
More's the pity.

Anonymous said...

No.
Why was Chas cole's bid the best of the three?
Because the daily post say so?
who told them that?
Chas or phil?
Or both?
After the three bidders did their presentations, the view of the ordinary members was that creams was the best.
of course this did not go down so well with the officers (eh phil?) who have spent the six weeks since trying to stop the pops going to cream. they knew that chas would not get it unless bradley wanted to commit political hare kari, so they have been doing everything to make sure no one gets it this year.
so it is the officers (eh phil?)who have told the members that no one should get it because of the budget crisis. and warren, stupidly, has as ever, given in to the officers. because he cannot beat them or stand up to them.
the strategy is clear....they will axe it this year and then chas will come riding back to the rescue next year in the new arena, (it is is open then) when all the fuss has died down about Halsall and Abe and status quo and son Liam and marathon running and the 08 place and all the rest of it. clever eh?

Anonymous said...

This disgraceful incident just demonstrates that they are endemically corrupt now - they can't help themselves any longer. They are doing it naturally, because they have gotten away with it in the past. Bradley and Cover Up bear responsibility for allowing it all to happen.

Anonymous said...

Just another regular day in Toytown

Anonymous said...

Ha ha ho ho Ha ha ho ho Ha ha ho ho Ha ha ho ho Ha ha ho ho Ha ha ho ho Ha ha ho ho Ha ha ho ho Ha ha ho ho Ha ha ho ho Ha ha ho ho Ha ha ho ho Ha ha ho ho Ha ha ho ho Ha ha ho ho Ha ha ho hoHa ha ho ho Ha ha ho ho Ha ha ho ho Ha ha ho ho Ha ha ho ho Ha ha ho ho Ha ha ho ho Ha ha ho ho

Anonymous said...

what's pitiful to me is that the new arena is being held up as the great white hope for liverpool's culture, when it will just about compare with the concert facilitiues available in grimsby or hull. premier european city my arse

Anonymous said...

hilton will just pretend nothing has happened and hope that it all blows over. dynamic leadership on display...

Anonymous said...

Now then, now then, goodness gracious me, guys and gals. Not owwwnly Top of the Pops, but now the Summa pops, you see. Gone! Oh! Oeeh, oeeh, oohh! When I was running the marathon with Chas and Dave, who appeared with me many times you see, both of them more rabbit than Sainsbury's.
I asked them to try and get Sho-waddy-waddy, for this years event,top billing! but no they had other ideas, Sonny and Cher tribute band singing " I got you a gig, Abe" Now I have been in this business menny-menny years ladies and gentlemen and I have been round the block. You cannot have a tribute band as top of the bill. So my suggestion was, Pinky and Perky to be brought on as top of the bill but apparrently they had done a runner to France when they heard that The Scaffold may be on stage. So if you are reading this boys, the scaffold in question is the one with Roger McGough, the limerick writer, although I thought he was from Liverpool, Martin Boermann..no, that's not right,no, John Gorman, who invented the bucket of water, and the brother of Lonnie Donnegan, Mike MeCamera. Just imagine the crowds singing along at the end of the Pops to Thank you very much for the Aintree Iron. Oh yes! you see.
Thankyou very much for the sunken pier head thank you very much thank you very very very much.
Thank you very much for the traffic chaos,
the line 1 tram scheme,
The Iconic fourth grace,
the massive pension,
the office shower,
the Status Quo gig,
The Kensington One Stop,
The free car parking,
the half price child fares,
The robbing Archer.........thank you very very very much!

Actually it's quite a long song, maybe that's why they pulled the plug.

Never mind there's always next year...and the Phil Harmonica Orchestra are free to perform outside of the new met centre. Just a few coppers and a bottle of Thunderbird is all that would cost.

Anonymous said...

Too many wheels within wheels and the naked abuse of insider information suggests that CORRUPTION is not too strong a word to use.

Anonymous said...

Where will plinky plonk play this year, now, if the pops is cancelled?

OH WHOA WHOA AND THRICE WHOA

Anonymous said...

Wot no Abe

Anonymous said...

I could Play something in a field!!!
Giz A JOB???!!!!

How the council use Ripa to spy on you....


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