As I have sat by the pool in Spain contemplating Independent on line and my daily fix of the LGA press service I have been thinking of the similarities between Liverpool and Doncaster (by the way this was before the jug of Sangria!)
Back in 1988 when the Lib Dems took control of the City it was without a doubt the worst council in England. It was a mainstay of Private Eye; had the third worst service delivery; had a council tax 20% higher than the next council; was the butt of every comedians jokes (remember calm down, calm down?); looked on its glorious past rather than looked forward to a glorious future; had been led by indifferent politicians in the aftermath of Derek Hatton and company who preferred to whinge about the problems than solve them. On top of all that within weeks of taking control the then Labour Government decided that our education service was so bad that they wanted to take the service away from us.
