It's one rule for Labour, another rule for the rest of us
Fourteen current and former Labour politicians used a backdoor channel to squash £1000's worth of parking tickets.
In October 2021 the Liberal Democrats blew the whistle on Labour's scheme, when it was thought that 18 tickets had been canceled for Labour councillors, senior officers, and their families and friends.
Now we discover that 51 tickets have been canceled for 14 councillors - all of them Labour at the time, although some have since left to create their own party.
The councillors involved claimed it was "custom and practice" to get parking tickets written off when carrying out official duties.
"Anyone who tries to get round laws and regulations is not a fit person to stand for the Council and Labour should look again at the eight councillors named in the FOI who are standing as Labour councillors to see whether they should stand at the May elections," said Lib Dem leader Richard Kemp.
"Liverpool taxpayers will be rightly angry that Labour councillors believe the rules don't apply to them."
Cover up
For 16 months, Liverpool City Council have claimed that you do not have the right to know the identity of these Labour councillors. Only now have they finally been forced to reveal this information to the Liverpool Echo. The council has also refused Lib Dem calls for disciplinary action against the councillors involved.
After rumors that Labour lawyers had been working behind the scenes to block Freedom of Information request, Liberal Democrats have demanded to see all correspondence between the Labour Party and the council on this issue.
"The current Labour mayor promised a new culture of transparency when she was elected. In fact she seems to be only a little better than her predecessor, Joe Anderson," said Richard Kemp.
Don't just take our word for it. You can read the full story here https://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/news/liverpool-news/14-liverpool-politicians-named-council-26177597 and see the identity of the councillors here https://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/news/liverpool-news/14-liverpool-politicians-named-council-26177597