John Hamilton a True Scholar and a Gentleman

Former council leader leaves £320,000 for city education

Mar 14 2007

Liverpool Daily Post

FORMER council leader John Hamilton bequeathed his life savings to Liverpool’s education system. Friends described the former teacher’s generous decision as typical of his passion for improving the quality of learning in the city. Mr Hamilton, who led Liverpool through the turbulent Militant era of the 1980s, died in December aged 84. Education was always his first love, and he demonstrated that dedication by leaving almost all his £320,000 estate to Liverpool University’s Centre for Lifelong Learning. The centre offers courses for skills training and employment advice to people aged 18 to 95, and professional develop- ment for university staff. Cllr Joe Anderson, leader of Liverpool’s Labour group, was a close friend of Mr Hamilton. He said: “His whole life was dedicated to education – it was his passion and what made him tick. “He felt that the cause of socialism could only be furthered if people bettered themselves through education. “His father instilled that virtue in him when he was very young. John always wanted to make sure the city’s future was secure, so this donation just sums him up.” Anne Merry, the university’s director of lifelong learning, said: “We’re extremely grateful for this generous gift.”

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JANE KENNEDY GET SUPPORT FROM TONY BLARE TO GIVE BOB PAISLEY A KNIGHTHOOD

ONCE AGAIN JANE KENNEDY LABOUR MP FOR WAVERTREE LIVERPOOL, SHOWS US SHE IS PROMOTING THE INTERESTS OF LIVERPOOL PEOPLE.

Jane has highlighted to the Prime Minister that an e-petition has been created by a Liverpool F.C. fan that asks for Bob Paisley to be Knighted.
Tony Blair has agreed he will read it with interest.

to add your name to the petition go to e-petitions http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/SirBobPaisley/



Jane Kennedy (Liverpool, Wavertree, Labour) Link to this | Hansard source

Staying with Europe, did my right hon. Friend have the opportunity to watch the outstanding display of football at Anfield stadium last night? Is it not about time that we marked the memory of the late and great Bob Paisley with an honour? Will my right hon. Friend read early-day motion 1038 signed by Members of the House—both red and blue?



Tony Blair (Prime Minister) Link to this | Hansard source

I look forward to reading that. I did watch the match last night. Congratulations to Liverpool, who did absolutely brilliantly. Congratulations also to Chelsea—we should congratulate the blues as well as the reds on this occasion. Let us hope that we have two other teams going through as well— [Interruption.] As my right hon. Friend the Home Secretary reminds me, there is also Celtic, and we wish it good luck, too.

LIVERPOOL LIBERAL DEMOCRATS HAVE CREATED A £29 MILLION DEFICIT IN THE CAPITAL OF CULTURE BUDGET ALREADY!

LAST WEEK WE WERE TOLD THE SUMMER POPS WOULD NOW GO AHEAD AGAIN IN SEFTON THOUGH, AND WOULD NOW ONLY COST US LIVERPOOL £50,000. NOW THE LIVERPOOL LIBERAL DEMOCRATS ARE COVERING UP A £29 MILLION SHORTFALL IN THE BUDGET FOR 2008!
WHAT HYPOCRITES!!

SEE BELOW

£29m saving needed to stop 2008 crisis

Mar 6 2007

by Catherine Jones, Liverpool Echo

Leader of Liverpool City Council, Cllr Warren Bradley

CITY leaders need to find £29m savings in three months to avoid a financial disaster in 2008.

The shortfall in council revenue, outlined in a “budget reconciliation” document given to the ECHO, includes more than £21m earmarked for Capital of Culture itself.

The culture figure is made up of £5.8m deferred from this year, £12m of additional spending already earmarked for 2008 celebrations, and a gap of almost £4m in expected revenue from sponsorship.

The ECHO revealed on Saturday how a detailed plan on ways to fund the shortfall was being drawn up and would be presented in June.

Today we can disclose the scale of deficit the council will have to address.

• The figures suggest £29.4m shortfall is after assumed efficiency savings and a council tax rise in 2008/9 of 3.7%.

• Council leader Warren Bradley today insisted the money would be found and Capital of Culture go ahead as planned.

But deputy opposition leader Paul Brant said: “Liberal Democrats have created a financial time bomb set to go off in 2008 with no explanation of how they are going to pay for Capital of Culture year.

“It could destroy the reputation of Liverpool as a city and prevent it getting the benefits we all hoped Capital of Culture could deliver. It’s financial madness what the council is doing.”

Cllr Bradley said he was fed up with “scaremongering” which he claimed did nothing but damage Liverpool’s image.

He said: “What a lot of rubbish. We’ve given an assurance we will deliver Capital of Culture and won’t go back on that .

“We will find the savings as we have year on year on year.

CUTS CUTS CUTS

“There’s nothing being hidden here. We will deliver our forward strategy in June which will deal with the £29.4m that we’ve got to find next year.”

• Cllr Bradley said the city was looking at brownfield sites which could generate lucrative revenue. One has been identified in Garston.

• Other potential ideas include borrowing a proportion of the money, to be repaid over several years.

• But Cllr Bradley said selling buildings and leasing them back was ruled out.

catherinejones@liverpoolecho.co.uk