TWO of Liverpool’s most senior politicians WILL be investigated by politics watchdogs.
The Standards Board for England was called in last month to examine whether city leader Warren Bradley and his predecessor Mike Storey broke strict council rules.
Today the watchdogs confirmed they will conduct a full investigation of the two politicians.
The men were reported to the Board earlier this month by Labour opposition leader Joe Anderson.
It followed allegations by former Mathew Street festival manager Lee Forde that they held a secret meeting with him after the publication of a council report into the fiasco.
Accusations included Cllr Bradley asking Mr Forde if he “had any information on Jason Harborow”, the Culture Company’s chief executive.
The investigation will see if they have breached two parts of the councillors’ code of conduct.
They are:
Bringing office or authority into disrepute.
Compromising the impartiality of those who work for or on behalf of the authority.
Cllrs Bradley and Storey today both said they had not received official Standards Board confirmation of the inquiry.
Cllr Bradley said: “I have done nothing criminal and I do not believe I have breached the code of conduct.”
Cllr Storey said: “If it is a crime to meet a friend, then I plead guilty. But equally, should not other councillors who met with Lee Forde also be reported to the Standards Board?”
Cllr Anderson said: “This is another sorry episode for the Liberal Democrats, who are clearly compromising the city’s reputation.”
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