Kevin Maguire must have been desperate to fill his New Statesman diary this week. He bemoans the fact that none of the party conferences this autumn are being held by the seaside. Er, shurely shome mishtake? The LibDems are holding their annual jamboree in Liverpool. Last time I looked, Liverpool had a port, which kind of hints that it's on the coast.
I wonder if Mr Maguire ever got a Geography 'O' Level. Most weeks when I read his column I wonder whether he got 'O' Level English either.
But we love him despite himself, don't we? :)
PS: Yeah, I do know it;s on the Mersey but that's more or less on the coast, innit? :)
Well, the 'Pool isn't exactly a holiday resort, and I suspect that Kevin "nothing's too good for the workers" Maguire is going to miss his creature comforts, such as sea and sand (or pebbles), ice cream and the rest.
ReplyDeleteAfter all, living in Mayfair, he doesn't often get to see the actual coast of Britain...
OK, it's pedantic, but Liverpool's on a river, not on the coast.
ReplyDeleteIt's only a short hop to the beach at Crosby though!
Strangely enough I had a similar discussion recently, although the topic then was about coastal Premier League clubs - that discussion ended with the conclusion that Blackpool will be the only Premier League club in a place with a beach. Liverpool is on the Mersey.....remember the old song 'Ferry 'cross the Mersey'? The Mersey is a river - so no, it's not on the coast. This is a historic day - it is the first, and may be the only, time I agree with Kevin Maguire.
ReplyDeleteNot exactly "seaside" though...
ReplyDeleteLiverpool will be a great place for a conference though.
Liverpool is on the coast but is not really at the seaside. This latter term infers a nice beach, ice creams and people in their bare feet. Maguire is correct.
ReplyDeleteThis type of carping, whiny nonsense is what ruins this blog. You know full what he means, that Liverpool is not a seaside town. No candy floss, kiss me quick hats, no pier, sticks of rock and all the rest of the tat that passes for the English seaside.
ReplyDeleteI was unaware that people went to Liverpool for a seaside holiday. Perhaps the dope is you ?
Stop splitting hairs and trying to score oh so "clever" totally unclever points over people with a different point of view to your own. It's tedious. Stick to proper analysis. You're much better at that.
And Birmingham has a network of canals. However, the presence of Coke tins in the filthy water bobbing up against green-slime concrete walls does not the seaside make.
ReplyDeleteFar be it from me to interpret the word of Maguire - call a theologian for that - but I suspect that what he was doing was mourning the demise of the traditional conference town. No more beach and promenade. The smell of fish and chips mingling with the ozone. No more rock or landladies evidently on the run from Simon Wiesenthal.
Now we are all forced to decamp yearly to these hideous "conference venues" where the decor and the furnishings and, God help us, the bloody breakfast buffets, make the whole ambience indistinguishable from a sales training day for plastic mouldings representatives. But since the content has gone that way already why should we be surprised?
Actually, Sunderland has a beach [little known fact].
ReplyDeleteI think Robert Green could have handled that better than you did Iain.
ReplyDeleteNo to be to Pedantic but a scant few million years ago Liverpool was on the coast, deposition by the Mersey has added some shoreline. You know if Global Warming, Cooling or Climate Change are correct this could reverse and whole mess be swept back into the sea.
ReplyDeleteNow what was the point??
Never mind all that stuff about Liverpool, is Maguire on this planet?
ReplyDeleteI met an old school chum recently, asked what he'd done with his life, told me for the last thirty years he'd been "in lighting". Very worthy.
ReplyDeleteWhilst Maguire and The Daily Mirror are in the opposite business, that of spreading darkness.There's no illumination to be had from him or his red rag.
Slow news day?
ReplyDeleteThose claiming that Liverpool is not on the sea but on the river should remember the Boundary Commssion Appeal where it was argued that the proposed Kirkdale/Wallasey constituency was not a cross-river constituency but a cross-estuary seat.
ReplyDeleteAlso have they never heard of Otterspool Promenade?
"But we love him despite himself, don't we? :)"
ReplyDeleteYou really should wear a hat when you go out in this hot weather, Iain - over-exposure to the hot sun is making you say the most obtuse things...
You can certainly see that Liverpudlians think they are by the sea from the city's coat of arms. It includes Neptune, a merman, and no fewer than three cormorants in various places, all holding bits of seaweed. In fact the Liver Birds are cormorants.
ReplyDeleteMr Dale,as somebody who used to live in the so called Greater Merseyside Council Reich whoever decide's to hold a conference there must be reponsible for your car aerial be broken off,wing mirrors torn off, and wheels and tyres stolen,even if you stay in a modest priced hotel your laundary will be stolen So challenge me you scouser gits either on this blog or on Iain's LBC'cs appearances afton advertised.
ReplyDeleteLiverpool is on the coast. Merseyside is on two coasts. its tidal.
ReplyDeleteMaguire is the pits anyway - sent him on a long walk off Wigan Pier.
Maybe one of the parties could hold its conference in Wigan. They've got a nice pier there.
ReplyDeletePart of it faces the Mersey estuary, part of it faces Liverpool Bay (sea).
ReplyDelete