It was like the "good" old days as I approached Liverpool Town Hall last week. A good humoured bunch of picketing firemen were being eyed by apprehensive security staff. In the council chamber, firemen packed the public seats while their spokesman gave a rousing explanation of their cause to the assembled councillors. My sense of deja vu was reinforced as I glanced at the local paper to see that Tony Mulhearn, former Militant President of the Liverpool District Labour Party was launching a new party.

It conjured up memories of those heady days in the mid 1980s when the Militant Deputy Leader of the Council Derek Hatton addressed striking workers packed into Castle Street outside the Town Hall and council meetings were effectively Militant rallies.

Let me make my position on Liverpool clear. I love the city, its people and admire the robust politics practised by its councillors. It has a waterfront that cramped Manchester would die for, and the forest of cranes is testimony to the mighty regeneration underway.

Liverpool's progress can also be measured by the improvement in its educational standards. Last month's exam results show a 5.6% improvement in pass rates. Education is important, because you can physically regenerate a city, but to attract people, the schools have to be good. Potential incomers ask two questions; where can I park my car and what are the schools like?

So given all that why am I raking up Liverpool's past?

It’s because the city is heading towards a once in a lifetime chance to showcase itself to the world with the Capital of Culture 'O8. But watching progress towards that is like observing a trapeze artists on the high wire, and some have already fallen off. The council leader Mike Storey, the political architect of the new city, and Sir David Henshaw his Chief Executive have gone following a well publicised spat. More recently the man in the middle of all this, media chief Matt Finnigan, has resigned claiming he has been stitched up.

Then there was the short tenure of the Culture Company's Artistic Director Robyn Archer. In my opinion the appointment was doomed from the start when she was unable to take up the job two years ago. Even if Sir Paul McCartney had applied, and said he couldn’t start for two years...that would have been a deal breaker for me.

Having said all that, many of the trapeze artists are still up there on the wire and 08 can still be a thrilling spectacle. Liverpool has some of the most talented and creative people in the world. Culture is embedded in the city; it was the crucial factor that won over the judges.		  
     

 
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