Recently in Wirral news Category

THERE appears to be some confusion about the tunnel tolls for some of the candidates answering readers' question in this week's Wirral News.

Asked "what are your views on tunnel tolls", Labour and the Liberal Democrats seem to be particularly confused - while pretty much every other candidate is opposed to them.

Let's start with the most senior politician up for election: Angela Eagle (Lab) in Wallasey. She, like others is glad the tolls were frozen this year, and goes on to warn voters against being taken in by easy, what might be characterised as perhaps potentially vote-grabbing solutions.

The Government has published its long-awaited review into library provision.

The report and responses to consultation are available here - not surprisingly, Wirral gets a few mentions...

The campaign to "bring the Royal Iris home" from where it is currently berthed - and looking very sad - on the Thames is continuing apace.

The Facebook group Bring the Royal Iris Back Home is growing impressively, and an online petition is also attracting support.

Below is a video, thanks to photographer Dave Wood, showing the boat in its present condition.

Labour has confirmed Phil Davies - deputy leader of the Labour group on Wirral Council - has been selected as the candidate for Wirral West.

Here's the press release:

I have tonight been told Labour has selected deputy leader of the party's council group Cllr Phil Davies, to stand as their candidate in Wirral West.

So far we're awaiting confirmation from Labour regional office but Cllr Davies' selection will probably not surprise many - even though last week he couldn't "confirm or deny" if he was standing.

Anyway, the Labour candidate will be standing against the Conservatives' Esther McVey, who has stood twice in the constituency, Lib Dem Peter Reisdorf, Phil Griffiths from UKIP, and independent David Kirwan - and as the last (so far) to declare, will have some work to do following the decision by the incumbent Stephen Hesford to step down at the next election.

Stuart Kelly, the Lib Dem challenger to Labour's Frank Field in Birkenhead, has stepped in to the row over education in the town in defence of the council.

Mr Field had accused the local authority - led by a coalition of his party and the Lib Dems, and with a Labour councillor as cabinet member for education - of failing local children.

However, he had specifically targeted the council's chief executive and education director, and accused chief council officers of incompetence.

Mr Kelly has now stepped in to support the council, after successfully helping press the authority to re-think its plans to close Ridgeway High and force an academy on many people who said they did not want one.

WIRRAL West - what can you say? Stephen Hesford announced - out of the blue - that he wouldn't be standing at the next election and the local party was faced with quickly finding a new candidate.

But it seems to have been a slow old process... Mr Hesford stepped down in January and it is not expected that the result of the postal ballot following this Saturday's hustings will be announced until March 17 - next Wedneday, St Patrick's day, no less.

That leaves less than two months to the day everyone currently expects the election to be held for the candidate to campaign... which leads us on to the next question - who will it be?

WIRRAL Council is proposing to refuse an indoor cricket site in Bromborough that is expected to create jobs and help put the borough on the map for sports.

The scenario bears a striking resemblance to the planning department recommendation to refuse an indoor football centre last year.

On that occasion the councillors on the committee overturned the recommendation - a decision which was later endorsed by Government Office Northwest.

Again, planners have decided that "The proposal is unacceptable by reason of the proposed use within an industrial area, there is insufficient evidence to warrant overriding the current policies."

NO names have yet surfaced locally for a Labour candidate in Wirral West.

It appears increasingly likely that Labour NEC's subcommittee will provide a list of five or six candidates for the local constituency party to choose from.

But so far - according to former Wirral West CLP chairman Brian Kenny - no one locally has come forward. He said: "Within the constituency if people were interested I would have thought they would have put their names forward by now."

Liberal Democrat Jamie Saddler has been selected to try to win the Wirral South seat, currently held by Labour's Ben Chapman. He has a fight on his hands, despite Mr Chapman stepping down, with Labour's Alison McGovern and the Conservative Jeff Clarke.

He has written a guest blog for Hamilton Squared...

FIRST £10,000 OF INCOME SHOULD BE TAX FREE

Not many people enjoy paying tax.

Seeing it deducted at the bottom of your payslip is pretty depressing, especially if you are wrestling with self-assessment tax forms before the deadline!

But tax is also the price we pay for living in a civilised society. Local schools, care for the elderly, doctors at Arrowe Park or Clatterbridge, police officers - these services all cost a lot of money.