Small revelation from weekend negotiations on Liverpool council budget
I know the Red half of Merseyside is tonight obsessed with the comings and goings of Andy Carroll and Fernando Torres, but here is a lighthearted tale from budget negotiations of a whole different order going on at the city council...
While Chelsea prepare to splash somewhere around £45m for Torres, the city council has to save double that figure (£91m) and 1,500 people will lose their job as a result.
Anyway, it is really is pleasantly surprising to see all the parties on Liverpool council working together to help solve the city's cash crisis.
Such is the intensity of work required that the key budget negotiators gathered in the council chief executive's office in Municipal Buildings on Sunday to continue discussions.
At lunch time soon-to-be chief executive Ged Fitzgerald was dispatched to buy sandwiches.
Soon-to-be Lord Storey tells me that much to his astonishment he couldn't find a bin to put food packaging in.
Acting chief executive David McElhinney has banned bins, Cllr Storey was told.
Staff are now expected to shred paper or take rubbish home with them, therefore reducing the amount of time it takes to clean.
"His office is spotless," said a somewhat shocked Cllr Storey.
"So did you put you wrappers in his top drawer?" I asked.
"Maybe I will next time. I took it home with me. My bag stank."
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David Bartlett
City editor of the Post and Echo covering politics, regeneration, and urban affairs.
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I wonder if Andy Carroll would be prepared to donate some of his salary to help the City Council's budget? His contract is for five and a half years, so an annual donation would outlast the life of the current government. (Dream on...)