Esther McVey

I’m delighted to say that FFFJ keeps going from strength to strength and today they launched OLLY ‘Our Lost Love Years’ to help youngsters coping with bereavement.

Group founder Jean Taylor, whose daughter Chantel, 27, was brutally murdered in 2004, said she hoped the group will become a voice for children in murder victims’ families.

“When a mum, dad, or sibling is killed, the family who are left behind often struggle to cope and the children are traumatised.

“They do not understand why it happened and often become angry young people, feeling neglected by their parents who might be struggling to carry on with their normal routine.”

Jean, of Greasby said: “My daughter Chantel left three children and they did not want to talk about losing their mum. They tried to carry on as normal.

“They did not want to talk to me because they knew it would upset me.

“It was also hard to carry on doing normal tasks like the shopping and taking the children out.”

Jean is now hoping OLLY will offer support services aimed at children.

She also wants it to help fund a caravan in Wales where children could go with their family to have a break.

She said: “We currently have around 40 children in FFFJ and some of them will offer friendship to new children joining the group.

“We also want to offer counselling to children and a place for them to escape, whether that is a room in our new centre, an activity day or a break in the caravan.”

FFFJ opened a new drop-in centre in Liverpool’s Seymour Street in July last year, offering advice and support to victims families.

Jean will now take the new idea around the city’s schools in the hope children will design or suggest a character as a figurehead for OLLY.

The group also plans to sell as many ribbon badges as possible to try and raise £20,000 to start OLLY and buy a caravan.

Jean added: “The idea was welcomed by the head of victim support for the country and other government bodies.

“We now just need the money and support to make it happen.”

Since Jean’s daughter Chantel was murdered then dismembered by killer Stephen Wynne six years ago, she has become a prominent campaigner for victims’ families.

In October last year, she joined other high-profile families at the Conservative party conference to call for justice for victims of murder.

Anyone wanting to donate or any businesses who might be able to donate or sponsor OLLY can call Jean on 0774 014 9899.

The FFFJ centre is open from 10am to 4pm Monday to Friday, at 19 Seymour Terrace, Liverpool.

Yesterday I recorded a radio show to be broadcast this Sunday on City Talk 105.9FM at 7-8am and repeated 8pm -9pm.  The  discussion topic was;  ’What would a Conservative Government do for business on Merseyside and Cheshire?’.  I accepted the invitation along with David Wade Smith ex Chair of the Liverpool Chamber of Commerce and MD of LivSmart and Dougal Paver MD of Paver Smith PR. The programme was hosted by Frank McKenna MD of the business group Downtown Liverpool and  I’m happy to say there was plenty of banter and consensus, especially  on the significant input of Michael Heseltine to the city and its future development when he was the Conservative Minister for Merseyside. Michael is still very much a friend of the city and continues to visit and support the city and city region.

Now getting a unanimous thumbs up from the panel were these Conservative policies:

• Conservatives will reverse Labour’s planned increase in small company corporation tax, from 22p back to 20p, as well as simplifying the tax system, reducing compliance costs especially for small businesses
• Conservatives will create a one in-one out requirement where any new regulation must include cuts in old laws which, together, produce a net 5% reduction in the total regulatory burden.
• Will abolish tax on jobs created by new businesses in the first two years of a Conservative Government. Any new business started in the first two years of a Conservative Government will pay no employer national insurance on the first ten employees it hires during its first year.
• Will reform the government procurement budget to help small and medium sized businesses win more work. Conservatives will produce a single pre-qualification process for government contracts worth less than £50,000. Will scrap the rule for companies to provide three years of fully audited accounts before being able to bid. Finally, will publish all government contracts worth over £10,000 online.

Just some of the new Conservative policies to support business.  If you’d like to hear the full programme then tune in this Sunday morning to City Talk 105.9FM at 7-8am and repeated 8pm -9pm.

Hot on the heals of reading the Healey biography I picked up and read  ‘White Heat’ - Dominic Sandbrook’s  sensational socio -political-cultural epic about the 60’s starting with the Wilson Labour government of 1964. Harold began the count at the Adelphi Hotel in Liverpool returning to London the next day to discover Labour had won the election by the closest of results.

Set against this back drop of  a Labour win was the emerging 60’s pop culture, a thirst for modern technology and most of all a desire for a new modern  classless Britain. The almost space age fashion of Mary Quant and interior designs of Conran as well as the art of;  Blake,  Hockney, Riley & Hamilton, the photography of ; Duffy, Donavan and Bailey, the science of ; Watson and Cricks and music of the; Beatles, Stones, Who and Kinks. Opportunities and ideas seemed limitless.  However, the political backdrop accompanying all of this boundless artistic and cultural creativity was less than vibrant as the political scene slumped from one disastre to another : sterling crisis, Vietnam & Wilson’s closeness to Johnson with accompanying ’private’ deals, Rhodesia, strikes, internal political strife and more sterling crisis.

The fun of the book certainly comes from the world of music & snatched interviews from everyday life – with selected interviews from the Beatles, the Stones and the Kinks as well as their fans.  Not forgetting snipits of cruel political humour from Private Eye and Gerald Scarfe.  An absolutely sensational book.

Wishing you a Happy New Year

And may it be a good one for us all.

I had to laugh. I met up with Tony Hadley and the whole of the Spandau Ballet gang the other week. They were performing at the O2 Arena as part of their come back tour. I see Tony regulalry but I hadn’t seen John Keeble for a couple of years and the rest for some time longer. We had all met over 20 years ago. A life time ago. I’d been working on TV and radio and we’d become friends so I joined them in LA as they were recording one of their albums. John had a beautiful baby girl. We’d all play by the pool of a day and hang out together of a night – all very ‘rock and roll’. At the time I wondered what the kids of rock stars would become. How riotous would their world be and how rebellious would they turn out to be. So I have to say I laughed out loud when speaking with John to find out his daughter was sensibly at University studying…. you’ll never guess what … politics and she wasn’t the only one Gary’s son was studying politics too.  So how do you rebel against rebels …. you conform! It just goes to show Politics is the rock and roll  for the 21 century.