Labour in 3rd place

Latest poll shows Labour in 3rd place on 22%, with the Lib Dems on 25%! The writing is clearly on the wall for them, no wonder my blogging nemesis no longer wants a General Election on the same day as the local elections.

Can older readers tell me when was the last time a party in government was in 3rd place in opinion polls?

And some pundits are even predicting Labour could come 4th in next week's European Elections.

Labour's sinking ship

It's been a bad week for Labour, and not just nationally.

In the space of a few days, two Labour councillors on Merseyside have had enough and torn up their membership cards.

Bootle's Paul Larkin quit the Labour party saying they have become deaf to the concerns of ordinary people. It is a double blow to Labour as Paul was agent to Crosby MP Claire Curtis-Thomas - who is not only expected to loose, but could even end up in third place at the next election! Councillor Larkin has now joined the Liberal Democrats, and I raise my paw in salute to him.

Meanwhile on the Wirral, Denis Knowles quit the party saying that he was ashamed of Labour.

In a letter to his constituents he spoke of his "everlasting shame" for voting with the Labour party, but now he has resigned, "I personally feel as though I have had a burden removed from my shoulders and can hold my head high."

Oh, and Wirral South's Ben Chapman, as featured on these pages last week, has been the latest to announce he will be standing down as a result of the expenses scandal.

Yes Labour's ship is definitely sinking.

Another lookalike

OK I hear you say, you have liked the Lib Dem lookalikes seen so far but how about some more famous names?

Well how about this one of the new Lord Mayor of Liverpool, sent in by another loyal reader. Although I doubt Alfa will speak to me again for publishing it. Still a blogging dog can't compromise his journalistic integrity for friendship can he?

Hale & Kelly

I know some of you love them and some of you hate them, but here is another lookalike, from a reader who noticed a resemblance between Woolton Councillor Malcolm Kelly and one half of the Hale & Pace double act.

Labour laugh at suicide victim

Heartless Labour councillors laughed hysterically when told that their election leaflets had driven someone to throw themselves in front of a train.

During a debate at last night's council meeting, councillors heard how a former city councillor who, having suffered a mental breakdown, committed a serious crime. The courts however did not sentence him as they recognised the crime was a result of his breakdown. That of course didn't stop Labour plastering the city with leaflets to humiliate him, even though he was no longer a councillor.

Apparently unable to live with the shame, he threw himself in front of a train at Otterspool - (At this point many Labour councillors burst out laughing!)

To be fair, some Labour councillors looked horrified at the heartless reaction from their colleagues.

Perhaps they need reminding how the Lib Dems refused to play on Clubmoor Labour Councillor Ben Williams charged and currently being retried for child porn offences.

Shameful BNP deal

It's become a familiar scene on Merseyside to see Labour and Tories unite to keep the Lib Dems out of power, but it seems that in some places they will go even further.

Last week Labour and the Tories tried to join up with the BNP in Burnley to force the Lib Dems out of power. The move failed because one decent Labour councillor refused to join them in bed with the BNP.

The make-up of Burnley Council is: Lib Dem: 22 (+1 vacancy) Labour: 11 Tory: 6 BNP: 4 So Labour and Tories would only have been able to form an administration with the support of the BNP!

I want it on the record that I don't think all Labour members are "bastards", and I'm sure that thousands of decent Labour members will feel thoroughly ashamed that this was done in their party's name.

My expenses revealed

Like everyone else I am outraged at the lavish and in some cases corrupt expense claims by our MPs.

So in the interest of transparency I have published my monthly expense claim below to show that I have nothing to hide.

To be honest I don't agree that I should be allowed to claim for some of these, but I am only claiming what I am entitled to (and everyone else is doing it).

Everyone that knows me will understand that I did not go into political blogging for the money, I am only claiming for necessary expenses to enable me to properly represent the K9 political community.

I have done nothing wrong and have nothing to be ashamed of. And no, I won't be paying any of it back (apart from the £21 claim for human food - which was a mistake).

I realise that some of you may think this extravagant, but all these are legitimate costs of running a second kennel in the city centre so that I can be at the heart of the political scene.

And to prove I am not living in luxury at your expense, I have included a picture of my second kennel which is, to be honest, a bit of a slum when compared with dogs in the private sector.


Can I also add my bark in support of those calling for an immediate General Election (although this is strictly a personal opinion as I haven't consulted anyone yet!)

Your faithful cannine representative
Dude
XXX
The blogging dog you can trust!

Eagle's flipping disgrace

The first Liverpool MP to be named and shamed in the Telegraph is Garston's Maria Eagle who, the Telegraph claims took flight with £1000's of our cash by "flipping" homes.

In 2005 the Eagle got a £7140 bathroom makeover, getting her bathroom fully tiled and fitted with a luxury thermo-shower - but the fees office only allowed her to claim £3,500. Meanwhile she also was claiming £240 a month towards her mortgage for her luxury apartment in Mossley Hill.

Just 4 months latter she "flipped" her second home to her London home, and started claiming £739 a month for that mortgage.

Even worse, she backed a Tory bill to keep MPs' expense claims secret.

In her defence the Eagle squawked that her bathroom was 35 years old and needed renewing - at £7,000! What planet is she on?

Lets see what her constituents have to say.

..........................UPDATE..............................

Now the story is in today's Echo.

Meanwhile Wirral South's Ben Chapman is insisting he won't repay the £15,000 he claimed from the taxpayer for mortgage interest he no longer paid. He insists he did nothing wrong and was merely claiming compensation for his for no longer having a mortgage! Arguing with the fees office he said, "by paying off capital I am forgoing interest and investment opportunities elsewhere."

Obviously he is forgetting he now has a valuable asset in London, part paid for and furnished at our expense - yet we should compensate him for the inconvenience of finding himself in this position.

Sergeant Bilko

Thanks to Mr Doberman for sending this one in.

You may remember a very poor attempt at a big screen remake of that 50's classic, Sergeant Bilko, with Steve Martin taking over the title role.

Perhaps they would have had more success with the Kirkdale Councillor and Phil Silvers lookalike - who by happy coincidence used to work in the Halewood motor-pool?

Trigger happy

Readers have said it is time for a few Lib Dem lookalikes.

You may not what your GP to be Trigger Happy, but the resemblance between the affable Doctor Chowings and the nation's favourite annoying mobile phone user is quite striking.

A brown bush?

Well this explains everything!


I'm surprised Private Eye haven't picked up on this one, right down to that winning smile.

Carry on again

Some of you have disputed the last lookalike of Cllr Brant, insisting that the would be (or won't be!) Honourable Member for Southport, is actually Carry On star and Smiths album pin up, Charles Hawtrey.

By popular demand

This is for all of you who have been demanding more pictures from our lookalike archives.

Those who question why Labour so often seem to get favourable coverage in the Daily Post might have now found the answer.

Have you ever seen these two in the same room?

Where is Jane Kennedy?

The Daily Post has today done a full page feature on how hard (or otherwise) Merseyside MPs work.

The article features lists and photos of all local MPs - except one!

Farming and Horse Minister - Wavertree MP Jane Kennedy is no-where to be seen.

Does she do nothing at all? Or is she so invisible in Liverpool that even the Daily Post managed to forget that she exits?

We're not sorry..We haven't a clue!

No disrespect to Speke or Garston, but I'm sure that, after an hour or two trotting around the area, any one of us could find ways to improve the area for local residents. And if you had £140,000 in your pocket, just imagine what a difference you could make?

Sadly, the same cannot be said for the three Labour Councillors for Speke and Garston who, having been awarded £140,000 from the council to spend on improving the lives of their constituents, appear to either not care or are clueless as to what their community needs.

Frustrated officials tried pestering them for ideas of how to spend the money, but got no answer.

They tried to arrange meetings with the councillors - they didn't turn up.

Council officers then tried coming up with ideas of their own, the Labour councillors rejected them.

I know that my blogging nemesis The Bulldog and I rarely see eye to eye, but I am sure she is thoughtfully ashamed to be associated with these supposed "Community Champions".