As often happens with visiting ships there was an exchange of plaques between the Cunard, me representing the City of Liverpool, the new operator of the Cruise Terminal and Peel Ports. It was graced as ever by Liverpool’s Lady Mayoress.
Well, I have just about recovered from yesterday. I left home at 09.00 and got home at 23.30 having spent all day doing things relating to the Cunard Naming Ceremony. It was huge day for Liverpool, and I hope that someone is working out the amount of air time Liverpool has got on the local, regional, national, and international stages.
I went to three events during the day. Firstly, I went to a traditional exchange of plaques with the Cunard’s on duty captain. I presented a plaque on behalf of the city and the owners of the new terminal operation and Peel Ports did the same. The plaque I received will be exhibited at the Town Hall as will an engraved crystal vase. Just so that everyone understands any gifts that I get given as Lord Mayor are kept by the Council unless they are food, flowers or other perishable items or are small mementos.
I then went on a walk around the Queen Anne and quite an impressive structure it is. There is a wide range of diverse types of restaurants, bars and leisure areas. The place I really didn’t like was the fully equipped Gymnasium. Mind you I have never been known to like gyms!! Whilst going to and from the ship I had plenty of time to chat to people coming on and off. There were people on board from as far away as Australi and India and as nearby as Runcorn and Crosby.
The next visit was to do a little hobnobbing and contact renewal at the Malmaison Hotel before we went down for the official naming. It was marvellous to see the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic and the Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts performing and then the RLPO played with the incomparable voice of Andrea Bocelli. Traditionally, ‘godparents’ are part of the event. In this the godparents were the people and City of Liverpool. We watched breathlessly as a methuselah of champagne was smashed on board the Vessel and breathed a sigh of relief because it would be bad luck for the ship if it had not broken.
Then in the evening I was privileged to have dinner with a variety of people from Cunard and the City to talk, the Liver Buildings, about the events of the diary and why the Cunard Line had decided to do the naming in Liverpool rather than, as normal, in the place that the ship is built. There can be no doubt that Cunard really do feel that Liverpool is Cunard’s Spiritual home, and you could sense that throughout the day and as the great ship eased back to the area outside the Cunard Buildings to sit under a huge firework display before leaving us for Cork. It will return in a few weeks, and we can expect to see it reasonably often on the Mersey.
I must admit that I drove my minders mad yesterday. So many people wanted to talk to the Loird Mayor, which just happens to be me at present. I broke more than a reasonable number of cameras and phones yesterday as people took selfies or Robert, my long-suffering attendant, volunteered to take group photos. Of course, all the photos that will be retained will be the ones that my Lady Mayoress, Erica is in.
The people really loved the event. I have not seen the official numbers for the event, but my guess is that more than 150,000 people will have come although they were not all there at the same time. “Well done,” was the conclusion of the day and there can be no doubt that there was a real boost for the local shops, bars, and hotels.
But it is the long-term effect that will be important. Future investment of all sorts in our city depends on us being able to talk up our people, buildings, services, organisations, and location. People will have seen us for the first time and decide to come back for a longer session with their family. Business people the world over will have seen the images, the competence and efficiency of Cunard and the City’s culture team and will begin to think much more of where they might invest in the creation of jobs and wealth for our people.
We know that this works because it has been working ever since we first applied for and were then awarded the status of European Capital of Culture 2008. That event truly began the process of reshaping Liverpool after the terrible years of Thatcher when were typified by the ‘Boys from the Black Stuff reputation. This builds on the great Eurovision event last year and so many more successful activities which have featured on the opportunities of Liverpool. Yes, Liverpool has far too many people living in poverty and poor housing, but we can only deal with those problems if we ruthlessly present the positives of what we all know to be a wonderful city.
In a lesser way on Thursday and Sunday we will be doing it again. We are the only city in the North that will commemorate the D Day landings which were only possible because of the vital role played by Liverpool and its convoys in and out. Once again, we will show that we can stage big events well and show off our wonderful city at least on a national scale.
I was enormously proud to be part of events yesterday and am always proud to have made the decision 50 years ago to come to my Mother’s home city and make my life here. Some people were born here but my Erica chose to live here when both of us could have lived somewhere else. Liverpool is a wonderful place, and we must work together to take on then nay-sayers of the South who would prefer to write us off. In Liverpool we never walk alone!
But what does Richard Kemp think? 