Welcome to the “mini kingdom” of Liverpool with its own embassies in London and Brussels, run by a new political coalition to protect the city region in the volatile post-Brexit era.
Will it mean official scouse passports, border posts on the Runcorn Bridge and the East Lancs Road?
A Liverpool flag and anthem; maybe even a Bank of Liverpool to produce local currency, as it did in the past.
Will the Beatles and the two Premiership football teams be nationalised and income tax set locally at Liverpool Town Hall, the new seat of government.
At least some of this has a grain of truth. Liverpool's Lib Dem leader Richard Kemp set the wheels in motion today by announcing that Liberal Democrats from across the city region have agreed to work together with the Labour Party - in the short-term - to deal with immediate consequences of the EU referendum vote and the threat to up to £1 billion of projects and investments on Merseyside.
He wants a Liverpool Embassey to be set up Brussels and senior civil servants with knowledge of trade and diplomacy to run the city region.
Last Thursday, 58 percent of Liverpool voters opted to remain as part of the EU. Sefton and Wirral also backed remain, with Knowsley, St Helens and Halton voting to go.
Cllr Kemp says the city region needs to be much more ambitious in the medium and long term and called the problems the city now faces "immense".
He has also suggested upgrading the Liverpool office in London to a City Region Embassy, developing a long-term strategy for the region using business leaders and academics linked to clear political objectives and bringing in non-Labour politicians to act as advisory members of the Liverpool City Region Board.
Cllr Kemp, who heads a four-“strong” Lib Dem group on the city council said, “The problems are immense. Just 18 months ago we started a five-year programme of investment in infrastructure, training and employment initiatives with the support of the EU.
“That amount across the City Region amounted to some £270 million. But it is not just that amount that is affected. The money was part of a cocktail of funding from council resources, central government and the private sector.
“We need to understand urgently which schemes will be affected. In theory we have two years before we leave the EU. But will we be allowed to continue to spend until that time? Will we have our programmes stopped not in retaliation but because we could not complete them within the timeframe set for the final departure.”
Some of these programmes are funded by loans from the European Investment Bank which might not now be prepared to invest at all in what will shortly become a non-member state.
The EIB has already agreed to fund the new trains earmarked for the Merseyrail network. Urgent talks suggest no matter what happens that funding will remain in place.
Added Cllr Kemp: “Uncertainty is never good for trade and investment. There will be a huge slowdown in certain types of schemes in the area even if they do eventually pick up again. This could mean that up to £1 billion of work in the city region is stalled or will be scrapped. This money will not be replaced by the Westminster Government.”
Liverpool and Merseyside was handed around £2bn from the EU under its Objective One strategy to help poorer regions of the community. Supporters say such funding was critical in kick starting the renaissance of Liverpool city region.
But the current civil wars in Westminster engulfing both Labour and Conservatives threaten major initiatives for Liverpool and the North West, such as the Northern Powerhouse and the HS2 rail link, as well as HS3 across to the east coast.
Powered by Wakelet
