BONE HEAD HANGS ON (but only for a bit longer)

REPORTS of Drummond Bone-Head's demise from the Culture Company were premature, it seems.

He is packing in the university half-way through 2008, but staying on the CoC Board for the duration (worse luck, ed).

Apologies for our inadvertent error.

What this means now is that, rather than man overboard, we are now being left with a lame duck leader in charge of Culture (oh, that's all right then - phew, what a relief! ed)

MAN OVERBOARD! DID HE JUMP, OR WAS HE PUSHED?

Drummond Bone-Head has finally resigned as Chair of the Capital of Culture Board.

Did he jump to go to a highly paid university sinecure somewhere more salubrious, or was he pushed over the side by fireman Bradley?

Whatever the answer - and there is much informed speculation about both possibilities - one thing is clear.

His departure brings to an end two wasted years, during which time his Culture Company Board have done a resounding bugger all to make 2008 a success for Liverpool.

Instead they have constantly re-arranged the deck-chairs on the Titanic (and thrown public money around like it was confetti), while watching helplessly from the rails as the ruinously expensive ship slides slowly beneath the icy waters (he's getting quite poetic these days, isn't he? ed)

The Maserati-driving Bone Head has been singularly unimpressive. His dull and listless performances have, at times, even made the Harbarrowboy look as though he has got half a brain.


Indeed he is only just trailing behind Jase in the 'sack him' demands from blog afficionados.

Bone-Head's main claim to fame has been cosying up to professional Scouser Cilla Black at some posh do for the great and the good in Westminster. This was in fact, why Bone Head agreed to be Henshaw's placeman on the Culture Company Board - so some of the anticipated (but still missing, ed) glitter would be liberally sprinkled over his benevolent shoulders and he would pick up a gong in gratitude from Gordon Brown's New Years Honours list for 2008.

Alas, for him both the glitteratti and the gong have failed to materialise (like much else that has been promised for 2008, ed)

So another departure from the Culture Company - first Robbing was given the push and then there was a night of the long knives for the other useless placemen and women who were serving themselves. It is bound to raise even more questions and doubts about the 'plans' for 2008. (But you won't read any of this in the Echo, ed)

Bone-head has been an utter disaster in charge of the do-nothing Culture Board and is jumping ship before he is forced to carry the can for 2008.

Which means, someone (Roger Phillips? Phil Redmond? Colin Cover Up? Cilla? ed) will now have to step forward to shoulder the increasing burden.

Talk about a poisoned chalice...

Betting for the new Chair of the Board: That bloke from the Phil 6-1, Mike Storey 9-1, Roger Phillips 25-1, Sexy Rexy 50-1, Stan Boardman 9-4 on, Tony Blair 5-4 (well he's got nothing better to do now, ed), Cilla evens, Jimmy Tarbuck 250-1, Sir Diddy 500-1 (and he was lucky to get the one, ed)

POLICE QUIZ LIB DEM CHIEF WHIP OVER ELECTION 'DIRTY TRICKS'

POLICE have questioned a senior Lib Dem under caution over allegations that he was at the centre of local election 'dirty tricks.'
It's claimed that Lib Dem chief whip Councillor Steve Hurst was caught delivering a fake leaflet to voters in Belle Vale ward.
Hurst, a fireman, was caught in the act of posting a leaflet through letterboxes purporting to be from 'a real socialist party - TUSP', it is alleged.
When confronted by angry residents, there was a doorstep dust-up during which, it's claimed, Hurst assaulted a member of the public as he tried to escape.
It is also believed that one resident had used his mobile phone to photograph Hurst in the act of delivering the bogus leaflets.
In the fracas that followed, Hurst also dropped his filofax, containing his name and address details, before finally scarpering.
There may also be complaints that Hurst caused criminal damage to private property during the confrontation.
A string of official complaints about Hurst's actions have now been made to city council chief executive Colin 'Cover Up', Chief Constable Bernard Hogan-Howe and the Chief Fire Officer, Tony McGurk who has already promised to dismiss any staff guilty of intimidation.
Hurst's nasty leaflet was a clumsy and crude attempt to try and blacken the name of local Labour councillor Pauline Walton, whose husband is also a fireman.
The Lib Dems were clearly panicking that they could not win the seat and decided to step into the gutter.
The leaflet broke election law by carrying no imprint giving the name and address of the organisation which had printed and published it. (What has Cover Up done about that, then? ed)
It was obviously hoped that using the disgusting leaflet to spread lies about Councillor Walton and her husband would damage Labour's vote in the ward.
In the event, the voters of Belle Vale had the good sense instead to elect Labour candidate Janet Kent to join Councillor Walton.
But now Councillor Hurst, who as Lib Dem chief whip is responsible for internal group discipline (you couldn't make this stuff up, could you? ed) faces some serious questions.

Police interviewed Hurst under caution earlier this week and are expected to send a file to the Crown Prosecution Service to decide if he should be prosecuted.

Cover Up and Mr McGurk could also take action.

But we doubt whether the Leader of the Council, Councillor Warren Bradley, who is also a fireman and a close friend of Councillor Hurst, will condemn these election dirty tricks and suspend him. (Although he should, ed)

PUBLIC CALL FOR THE ROTTWEILLER MCELHINNEY TO BE PROSECUTED FOR THEFT

MORE than 200 people have now voted for the rottweiller McElhinney to be prosecuted for stealing millions from the people of Liverpool.
Another fifteen people would prefer it if he was put in the Town Hall stocks instead.
And only five (all blondes no doubt, ed) do not want him to be prosecuted at all.
We thought we would just draw your attention to this historic milestone and overwhelming expression of public concern.
We urge you to cast your vote too by clicking here Send McElhinney to jail
Dont forget the Sack Henshaw petition either which has so far collected 40 distinguished signatures from supporters of truth, justice and democracy!

FLO, FLO, QUICK-QUICK, FLO!

AN inquiry has been demanded into the conduct of Lib Dem Executive Member Flo Clucas over the future of the former Irish centre on Mount Pleasant.
See also City of the Dead for even more shocking details!

Councillor Clucas used her position on the council to promote a hair-brained scheme by Dance Liverpool, of which she is Chairman, to take over the derelict Wellington Rooms.

She repeatedly explored with council officials different ways to put pressure on the owner of the Grade 2* listed building which would force him to surrender his leasehold.

She was also behind a bid by the city council to issue a Compulsory Purchase Order on the building so that Dance Liverpool could then happily waltz in.

Amazingly, Clucas promised planning officials that the city council would fund the £50,000 cost of a public inquiry into the CPO (although it's not her money, ed)

When the problems of a lengthy CPO were pointed out, Clucas then argued it would be better for the city council to quickly buy the building for at least £200,000 - and then hand it over to her own organisation! (shurely some conflict of interest here? ed)

Her £200,000 bid came despite the District Valuer valuing the extremely dilapidated building at just £1, with an extra £3million to renovate it!

Clucas, who is a Director of Dance Liverpool, also had planning officials running around like headless chickens pursuing European money for her madcap one-woman scheme.

Clucas strongly urged officials to submit a bid for Euro money to allow the scheme to go-ahead. By complete co-incidence, she also Chairs the European Objective 1 Funding Committee which doles out huge amounts of public money. (what an incredibly strange co-incidence, ed)

There is no record that Clucas declared her interest as a Director of Dance Liverpool at the extraordinary meeting with the city council's Planning Service on 19th December last year.

Official notes of the meeting reveal that Clucas lobbied hard for the organisation, despite serious questions about whether Dance Liverpool had a credible Business Plan (they did not, ed) or whether they had a realistic timetable to convert the Wellington Rooms (ermmmm, it was all to be miraculously completed next year!, ed)

Cynical observers might conclude that wearing her Dance Liverpool hat, Councillor Clucas seems to have managed to bully weak council officials, including Planning chief Nigel Lee and Conservation chief Steve Corbett, into agreeing a series of action points from the meeting which would all benefit her own organisation.

Nothing could be further from the truth of course.

They might have agreed to everything she wanted, without her having to "lobby" them so persuasively at all. Such as

• prepare a CPO timetable and report for the Exec Board


• contact other council officers about bidding for Euro money


• try to get legal action taken against the current owner


• review the council's plans for the city centre to make sure the Dance Liverpool scheme fitted in


• even get an invite for Clucas to a 'Stop the Rot' meeting so she could promote Dance Liverpool's plan.

(We wonder if any other member of the public would be able to get the council's planners to do all this work for them? ed)Councillor Clucas has still not declared her interest in Dance Liverpool on the city council's Register of Member's Interests. We shall be returning to this story again..........

"Can I bring me mum along as well, please Sir Charles?" - begs Colin 'Cover Up'.

Colin 'Cover Up' needs his hand holding when he is allowed into the grown-up world to meet Royalty.

That can be the only explanation for the extraordinary and fabulous revelation in today's Daily Post that the £250,000 a year chief executive of the 19,500-employee city council, brought his mum along to last week's civic luncheon for Prince Charles.

The poor lad insisted that his mum should be put on the 30-strong guest list, which for some unaccountable reason omitted to include 'Sexy Rexy' Makin, Freeman of the City and distinguished solicitor of this parish.

But Colin's mum came along (and a perfectly nice lady she looks too, ed. But that's not the point.)

Along for lunch too came an un-named "guest" of £165,000-a-year Jason Harbarrowboy, chief executive of the Culture Company (Perhaps it was his cousin Ethel or Tommy, his best mate from school? ed).

Harbarrowboy even has the cheek to insist that "the Culture Company adhered to protocol and were asked by Clarence House to be selective on who could meet the Prince and have lunch with him at the St George’s Hall event."

So Charlie specifically expressed the long held desire to meet Cover Up's mum, did he?

Or was it Jason's rugger mate with whom he wanted to discuss the finer intricacies of Rugby League?

Don't make us laugh (well, not too much, ed)

Why didn't the city council give a seat at lunch instead to one of the care assistants whose wages they are trying to cut?

Or a classroom assistant? Or a street sweeper?

Just to recognise their contribution to the city, of course.

We are sure Charlie would have appreciated the gesture.

Perhaps someone should now ask Cover Up's mum and the Harbarrowboy's "guest" to repay the cost of their luncheon at St George's Hall - paid for by city council taxpayers, of course?

But this little insight into the secret ways of the great and good, apart from making the city council an even bigger laughing stock, also reveals a particular approach by the city council and the Culture Company, does it not?

Senior public servants like Hilton and the Harbarrowboy seem to find it perfectly acceptable to abuse their public position and public money to wangle favourable, extra special, treatment for their friends and nearest and dearest.

Where will the council stop next?

The Summer Pops? Liverpool Direct? The 08 Place?

Shurely not?

It's pathetic. And deeply embarrassing. But it's all too typical.