Bignjuicy

Did you know that the street named in the famous Beatles song, Penny Lane, was named after one James Penny? Did you know that James Penny, who died in 1799, was active in the slave trade until the American War of Independence and later took up the trade again when the war ended?  Furthermore, Penny spoke in defence of the slave trade to Parliament in 1788; he argued that abolition of the trade would destroy the economy of Liverpool;

“it would not only greatly affect the commercial interest, but also the landed property of the County of Lancaster and more particularly, the Town of Liverpool; whose fall, in that case, would be as rapid as its rise has been astonishing.”

Thankfully Penny was proved wrong, Liverpool survives still. A policy of changing the name of Liverpool streets associated with the slave trade deliberately excluded Penny Lane from the process. Like Penny, the city knows where its bread is buttered.

Just over 13 years ago today we jumped up and down with glee, drank champagne and looked forward to a future different to the grim past we’d endured for 18 years. Hateful politicians, indifferent to their grinding down of public life, their self-serving sleazy behaviour and their nasty mantra of telling you that they were screwing you for your own good – they were ejected in the biggest political landslide in generations. Some of this now sounds familiar to present voters. How things change. And how they stay the same. Having waited so long for my party to gain power, my sense today, as it seems unlikely they will keep it, is one of pride at what has been achieved with all the social advances that have been made. Shame, that all the good has been undermined by some stupid decisions borne of detachment from the political faith they promised to keep when they came to power. Hope, that the predictions of defeat may not come to pass and despair about what lies ahead if they do. That sunny May morning of 13 years ago seems a distant place now but I will never forget the feeling that something really really good had happened. Tomorrow morning doesn’t look like it’s going to be sunny or warm and the forecast is not looking too good for the next few years.

Electofacts

• Today is Tony Blair’s birthday.
• Number 10 Downing Street was number 5 until 1779.