OTHER ISSUE 4 ARTICLES:

BOBBIES CORNER

THE UNREPORTED MURDERS

THE CRIMINALS THAT WON'T GET CAUGHT ON TV

AND THE GRAVY TRAIN KEEPS RUNNING

LOCAL ROUND UP

GLOBAL ROUND UP

THE GREED vs THE PEOPLE

WORD GETS AROUND, 'THERE'S A GRAVY TRAIN IN LIVERPOOL'
A recent survey conducted by the Daily Post (14 March, 2000) provides even more evidence of the diversion of Merseyside regeneration funds into the pockets of the wealthy. Issue 2 of People Not Profit reported that professionals were collecting fees on an unprecedented scale. The Post reports that public funds set aside to boost the local economy are being used to pay for 36 jobs for officials earning between £50,000 and £100,000. A further 100 jobs have been created for middle managers earning between £30,000 and £50,000. The total amount spent on the 'regeneration' bureaucracy is £10million. Topping the list of the fat cats is Charlie Parker, Director of Regeneration at Liverpool City Council who is regenerating his own bank account with a cool £110,000 of our money every year. Meanwhile, according to research by the Downing Street Social Exclusion Unit, Liverpool is rated lowest on the government's social deprivation index. More than half of all households in Liverpool and 45% of households in Merseyside are on benefits (City of Liverpool (1999) Poverty Digest, issue two). Perhaps if the huge amounts of regeneration money were taken off those professional moneygrubbers and spread around a bit more, we could begin to develop a genuine fight against poverty and we could develop a proper regeneration strategy not one that only produces glossy broachers and lines the pockets of the business elite. Meanwhile Liverpool Vision welcomed their new chief executive Jim Gill, to his £90,000 a year job. Gill replaces Layth Bunni who said only last month, he was committed to Liverpool and to 'making no little plans' and reducing the unemployment rate to 5.5%, Mr Bunni is now leaving, allegedly looking for another gravy train to jump aboard. Jim Gill his replacement is said to have plans to clone thousands of Jimmy 'The Scouser' Tarbucks, Ken 'Under the floorboards' Dodd and Stan 'Slum Landlord' Boardman and Our Cilla and offer them up for cheap labour to the outside world.