FIREMAN Bradley faces a public 'trial' after being found guilty of repeated breaches of the councillors' Code of Conduct.Ethical watchdogs at the Standards Board are recommending that the Fireman is hauled in front of the Adjudication Panel for England which will then consider what action to take over the breaches.
The move is the most serious step the Standards Board can take and means that Bradley
will have to appear in front of a public tribunal to answer the allegations.He faces being suspended for up to a year or being disqualified from office for up to five years!
The same fate also awaits his partner in crime, the Storeyteller, who unaccountably appears to be going around Liverpoool telling anyone who will listen how he will escape censure.
This indicates that he has either had rather too much to drink at a Culture Company freebie, or that men in white coats are about to cart him off to the funny farm.
If Bradley is walking the plank to oblivion, the Storeyteller has already gone off the deep end and is now drowning, not waving.
The Fireman meanwhile is desperately trying to get his act together and is currently seeking legal advice from top barristers about what to do next, since kicking former Lord Mayor and barrister Paul Clark into touch after repeated poor advice.
However, anything can still happen. (Well this is Liverpool, you know, ed)Many Lib Dems are already muttering darkly about Bradley on the specific grounds that he should resign as Leader and fight for his political life from the backbenches.
They know that if Leader Bradley appears in front of a court of law, the people of Liverpool will take an exceedingly dim view of both the Fireman and his party.
Not even Degsy dragged Liverpool so deep into the gutter.
So there are already audible Lib Dem discussions going on about Flo Clueless stepping into the breach.
Quite who will hand the Fireman the poisoned fire hose is a moot point however. Sir Trevor? Paul Clein? Kevin Firth? There are a growing number who would willingly volunteer.
You will read nothing about this, of course, in the Oldham Echo which, because they were scooped to a story by the Daily Post, then petulantly decided that they wouldn't run anything at all about the Standards Board.
They much prefer to pretend that the Leader of Liverpool city council has not been under investigation for a year, that he has not been handed a damning report which recommends a court appearance for him and that he does not face being banned from office.
They would rather tell you about the latest drugs heist instead or the imposter Pete Price's 'going nowhere' campaign against a harmless blogger, who is, obviously, the real Pete Price.
Sadly, the Oldham Echo's new 'political correspondent' got the bums rush from the Fireman when approached for a sympathetic "My personal agony and why is everyone picking on me and my family?" interview with the hapless and hopeless Fireman.
Meanwhile there are many wronged people with justifiable scores to settle against both Bradley and Storey who are waiting patiently and expectantly on the sidelines for the Standards Board to finally publish its report....
To say nothing of the Fireman's close colleague, Councillor Hurst appearing in court too. But then that's another story...
