A Modern Plague

Image Source: Independent Liverpool

Written By: Scott Gunnion

Take a stroll up Lord Street in the city centre, and you'll be greeted with an all too familiar scene. Several homeless people scattered erratically on the landscape, inhabiting shop doorways, begging at the fringes.

Homelessness is a swelling epidemic that, in these economically challenging times, visibly plagues the streets of Liverpool, most notably the city centre where the number of people sleeping rough would appear to have multiplied substantially in recent times and, it would appear, continues to rise.

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Rotheram Rocks It

Image Source: Twitter

Written By: Scott Gunnion

So, true to what surely must have been almost universally-held expectations, Steve Rotheram has been elected Mayor of the Liverpool City Region. It was a decisive victory for a campaign that was never ever really in doubt.

And splat goes Anderson, diminished and dethroned. Egg on face in place of his usual morning fry-up. And though he never could seem to fit into those pinstriped parachutes he wore as suits, it was the local Labour electorate that decided he was ultimately too big for his boots.

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Wham! Bam! Yam!

Image Source: Twitter

Written By: Scott Gunnion

May, or Yam as I call her affectionately, must be confident.

Some polls have the Tories as much as 20% ahead, some on double the support of Labour.

She's braver than John Major or Gordon Brown were, both of whom - PMs without an electoral mandate - allowed the life of the Parliament to expire before they put themselves before the electorate. Both, for clarity, expected to lose, though only Brown did.

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Anderson's No Thai Bride - He's A Prize Pig

Image Source: Daily Mail

Written By: Scott Gunnion

It came as no surprise with the news that outgoing Mayor of Liverpool, Joe Anderson, had set his sights on the ultra-safe Commons seat of Liverpool Walton, the very seat currently - but only temporarily - being kept warm by Anderson's prevailing rival for the Liverpool Region Mayoralty, Steve Rotheram.

You could call it an official trade - one job for another.

If you ask me, Joe Anderson gets a bad rap.

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HIV - RIP?

Image Source: Glamour

Written By: Scott Gunnion

It must have been a slow news day when the front page of the Echo was reserved, albeit on a Sunday, to cover the matter of rising levels of HIV in Liverpool.

There can be no doubt that the rise in HIV infections across Merseyside, as alleged in the article, is acutely linked to the increased and ever-increasing popularity of online dating apps. This matter was covered and tackled in Sunday's Echo on the front page and on page 5.

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The imminent ascent of Rotheram

Image Source: Twitter

Written By: Scott Gunnion

To be frank, I am both surprised and slightly taken aback by the mock furore surrounding Steve Rotheram's latest campaign leaflet that takes aim at the Tories, as striking and glossy as it may be.

I've been left largely confused.

What did it say that hadn't already been said hundreds of times of before, and that is a conservative estimate?

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The Corbyn Conundrum

Image Source: Twitter

Written By: Scott Gunnion

The uber-left wing of the Labour Party is enjoying its moment in the sun. And it has much to celebrate. Jeremy Corbyn has been elected leader, not once but twice - and on the second occasion, with an increased share of the vote. He is the clear choice of party members and of a pious minority of Labour MPs.

Party members have twice had the opportunity to select the safe and reliable Andy Burnham, the more obvious and conventional candidate, and twice they have turned their noses up and said 'no thank you'. Even in 2010, they opted for Ed Miliband, the candidate deemed to be closest to the left of the party, against the favoured candidate David Miliband.

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