Alan Bongo

[The Ship & Mitre @Theshipandmitre]

We’ve got some exciting news!! On the 21st April we have an exclusive first pouring of @erdinger.uk Helles 🍻

We’re excited to be the first bar in Merseyside to have the first pour of this beer new to the UK.

Join us from 6pm on 21st for a free pint of Erdinger Helles*

[Alan Bongo @bongo_alan]

Al's marathon challenge https://t.co/7q6Ip8FCQd

[Eddie Gibbs @eddiegibbs]

🇩🇪 Behind the Curtain of #LFC's Wirtz Deal

The Wirtz deal feels less like a transfer and more like a slow burn epic. And I’ll say this now. I think it gets done this week!

I feel like I’ve barely been off the phone to German journalists for a fortnight. Every conversation ends in the same place. Both clubs want this, and the player is already halfway to Merseyside in his mind. The numbers are the sticking point, but we’re not talking chasms here. It is the usual scrap over add-ons and payment structures. The kind of details that feel like nothing until they are everything.

What Liverpool are doing is not hesitation. It is control. You do not roll over at this level, not even for a lad as good as Wirtz. And make no mistake, he is that good. The best out of Germany in a generation, some are saying. You pay what he is worth, but you do it on your terms. And that is exactly what is happening.

There is also the staging. Liverpool know this is not just about getting him through the door. It is about showing the world that he walked past City, Bayern and whoever else to get there. It is branding, yes, but it is also football. Big clubs sign big players with purpose. This is going to be loud.

So yes, the wait is dragging. But it is dragging for the right reasons. Every million saved now might be five saved in the next window. Every moment spent shaping the announcement is a message to the rest.

#Wirtz is coming. The club know it. He knows it. Leverkusen know it. It is just about getting it done with style. And style, as ever, takes a little time.

[Henry Winter @henrywinter]

All this stuff about Trent Alexander-Arnold walking alone, it’s ridiculous. Yes, hell hath no fury like a fan spurned but some perspective is needed. Don’t be angry that Trent leaves, be thankful for the time together, the memories shared, the trophies won, the road traveled together. Madrid. Wembley. All over. Don’t berate a renowned player with such venom that potential recruits are wary of coming to Liverpool. Don’t give rival fans the chance to slate your treatment of a player. However painful, be respectful. Be proud that a local kid your club nurtured has blossomed into one of the best footballers on the planet. Show Liverpool’s best traits. Support.

Fans stay, professionals move, it’s nothing new. Trent loves Liverpool personally but professionally he has to make career choices. He’s 26. He’s been offered the opportunity to play for the biggest club in the world in Real Madrid. He’s not joining a domestic rival. He’s going abroad, to an unbelievable stadium, city and club. He’s going to a place as obsessed with the European Cup as Liverpool, perhaps even more so.

He’s going to be playing with his mate Jude and with fabulous talent like Mbappe, Vinicius Jr. He’ll probably prefer playing with Vinicius Jr than against him. He’ll be seeing more of the ball and spraying even more of those famous passes around. Especially if Xabi Alonso comes in as coach. Trent has earned this chance.

Liverpool fans will be angry, frustrated, feeling let down. But Trent couldn’t have revealed his intentions before. He focused on the 20, on being ready to come on and score a sublime, very difficult and hugely important goal as the strike against Leicester City. He’s been respectful and today’s statement is full of respect. So wish him well, however tough that may be. He’s represented Liverpool well, the Scouser in the team. Now he will be the Scouser in the Real Madrid team. What an advertisement for Liverpool’s academy, for Liverpool as a club developing such gems of players and people. Remember how much he’s done for the community, food-banks, helping out those disadvantaged, giving another chance for those released by academies. He’s got a moral compass.

Liverpool’s history is about the celebration of players and also that some leave at their peak. Kevin Keegan did. Like Trent, went to Europe for a new challenge. Kenny Dalglish came in to Liverpool and the good times continued to roll. Promptly scored the winner in the European Cup final. Adios, Trent. Hello, Conor Bradley. No player is bigger than the club. And it’s not like Trent is leaving Liverpool in the lurch. They have a brilliant new manager, have just won the title, have a superb recruitment operation and will doubtless strengthen in the summer. 

Trent leaves with a clear conscience and a crammed medal cabinet. Premier League twice, Champions League, FA Cup, League Cup. Yes, he goes without Liverpool recouping a fee, and that’s an undeniable frustration. He’s run down his contract. But he never cost them a fee. Yes, he received expert coaching in the academy and been well-paid as a first-teamer. And he’s paid them back with 23 goals and 86 assists in 352 games. His legacy at Liverpool should be lauded. Trent shouldn’t be made to feel he now walks alone. Liverpool are bigger than that. #LFC

[Alan Bongo @bongo_alan]

Day 3. Aberdaron to Llanengan which is close to Hell's mouth. Boss Pale in the boozer anyhow.

[Alan Bongo @bongo_alan]

Day 2 completed. wonderful views of Bardsey across Turquoise seas. Perfect day #knackered

[Alan Bongo @bongo_alan]

Day 2. Porthor (aka Whistling Sands), to Aberdaron. Looking forward to the views of Bardsey Island 🦭

[Alan Bongo @bongo_alan]

Lynn Peninsula. The office for next few days ❤️

[Alan Bongo @bongo_alan]

First leg of Llyn Peninsula Welsh coast walk completed. Nefyn to Aberdaron. Time for a 🍺

[Alan Bongo @bongo_alan]

@BobsloanL @AnfieldEdition Agree just unfollowed the clowns 🤡 mate

[LB @LBLFC_]

@FabrizioRomano You've never recorded anything like this for a transfer before, but as soon as its a Liverpool player, you comb your hair and get ye big sweaty wig on camera. Move and get your big pie head off my screen.

[Alan Bongo @bongo_alan]

I'm selling tickets to 80s, 90s & 00s Silent Disco in Liverpool Cathedral on Twickets (face value or less) https://t.co/OmtGZJD2Mu #Twickets @SilentDiscoComp

[Alan Bongo @bongo_alan]

@Steven_Sinnott Agree with that mate. I normally respect Oliver but he bottled it last night. Same shite for both sides. Proper derby that, thought we'd nicked it but your lads kept fighting till the death so fair does a draw was a fair result and quite fitting really to end on 41 all overall!

[Alan Bongo @bongo_alan]

@DisleyAndy

[Louise Higgins @LouiseH82447390]

My lads lost his LFC scarf (purple) at the game last night. with all his badges on since he's been going 2018-19 (age 6) please share left on his seat upper keeny daglish stand row 4 seat 414...please please share he's gutted.@LFC @LivEchonews @LFCTV

[Alan Bongo @bongo_alan]

@seanrostron @bebfoodman Up the reds

[Alan Bongo @bongo_alan]

Some good comments, most negative dog shit, who controls this account, are you 12 ?

[Watch LFC @Watch_LFC]

Sepp van Den Berg’s absence today was because of load management.

Slot and his coaches felt that it was best to not play him as he has had a lot of minutes in pre-season.

Nice to see a holistic approach to minutes like this.

[Adam Brooks AKA EssexPR 🇬🇧 @EssexPR]

So, is @MayuranReform far right too?

Watch this and realise how lazy and wrong that term is for so many, including myself, being labelled with it.

This Government is cowardly

[Aleksandra Huk @HukAleksandra]

I voted Reform.

I keep seeing posts “EVERYONE WHO VOTED REFORM IS RACIST.”

I’m Polish, well, technically more Greek/Albanian than Polish. But I was born and raised in Poland.

I legally immigrated to the UK 13 years ago. I’ve always worked, sometimes multiple jobs at once. I’ve paid hundreds of thousands in taxes. I integrated into their society, learned the language, and ultimately gained British citizenship.

Over a year ago the government shut the four-star spa hotel, in the small village where I live to allocate it to “asylum seekers”. Ultimately many people lost their jobs.

I can’t go to the gym in the hotel anymore because it’s shut. My daughter can’t have swimming lessons there because the swimming pool is closed.

So-called asylum seekers don’t integrate into British culture or society. They don’t speak English. They occupy the parks and playgrounds. They are mostly young and fit men, women and children are the minority. Those young men stare at my body when walking past me. I don’t feel safe letting my daughter bike to school by herself anymore.

I don’t want my taxes to go towards illegal immigrants. I’d rather our roads be fixed, schools and hospitals have better funding. I’d rather the government look after their people first. That should be the priority of each and every government WORLDWIDE. If that makes me racist, so be it.

I don’t agree with the WEF. Whoever openly opposes their globalist agenda in my books, is a hero we need right now. If that makes me racist, so be it.

I don’t agree with gender ideology being taught at school. Children are impressionable, and their young minds can be easily manipulated, confused and swayed. There’s nothing sexual about school children, and sexual ideologies should be kept out of primary schools. If that makes me racist, so be it.

I don’t agree with the anti-meat, anti-dairy, anti-farming agendas. We need our farmers. If that makes me racist, so be it.

I don’t agree with de-banking, lockdowns, cancel culture and a cashless society. There’s a thin line between excessive government control and the erosion of our freedoms. If that makes me racist, so be it.

I wanted a pro-business and pro-entrepreneurship government. They create jobs and fuel our economy. If that makes me racist, so be it.

[Politics UK @PolitlcsUK]

🚨 NEW: The Reform UK manifesto in full

Immigration:

- Freeze non-essential Immigration

- Pick up illegal migrants out of boats and take them back to France

- Leave the European Convention on Human Rights

- Zero illegal immigrants to be resettled in the UK

- New Department of Immigration

- Secure Detention for all Illegal Migrants

- All asylum seekers that arrive illegally from safe countries will be processed rapidly, offshore if necessary

- Those entering from a safe country will also be barred from claiming asylum or citizenship

- No legal aid for non-citizens

- Immediate Deportation for Foreign Criminals

- Deport foreign nationals immediately after their prison sentence ends

- Withdraw citizenship from immigrants who commit crime with the exception of some misdemeanour offences

- Ban Student Dependents

- Introduce new visa rules for international students

- Only international students with essential skills can remain in the UK

- Close down fake courses and immigration schemes that abuse the rules

- Stop Health Tourism and Immediate Access to Benefits

- Impose a requirement of 5 years residency and employment to claim any benefits in the UK

- The National Insurance rate will be raised to 20% for foreign workers

- British citizens National Insurance rate would stay at 13.8%

Government spending:

- Bank of England Must Stop Paying Interest to Commercial Banks on QE Reserves

- Every department must slash wasteful spending and cut bureaucracy

- Cut Unnecessary Regulations

- Cut Foreign Aid by 50%

- Collect £ Billions in Unpaid Tax

Economy for people:

- Lift the Income Tax Start Point to £20,000 Per Year

- Lower fuel duty by 20p per litre for both residential and business users

- Scrap VAT on energy bills

- Scrap environmental levies

- Cut Residential Stamp Duty

- Cut Stamp Duty to 0% below £750k, 2% from £750k

- £1.5m and 4% over £1.5m

- Abolish the VAT Tourist Tax

- Abolish Inheritance Tax for all Estates Under £2m

Economy for businesses:

- Free Over 1.2 Million Small and Medium Sized Businesses from Corporation Tax

- Lift the minimum profit threshold to £100k

- Reduce the main Corporation Tax Rate from 25% to 20%, then to 15% from Year 3

- Abolish IR35 Rules to Support Sole Traders

- Lift the VAT Threshold to £150,000

- Free up small entrepreneurs from red tape

- Abolish Business Rates for high street based SMEs

- An Online Delivery Tax at 4% for large, multinational enterprises

- Cut entrepreneurs’ tax to 5%

- Reform the Planning System

- Fast-track new housing on brownfield sites and infrastructure projects

- Slash Red Tape to Boost Industry and Exports

- Scrap thousands of laws that hold back British business and damage productivity

- Reform the Tax System

NHS:

- End Doctor and Nurse Shortages

- All frontline NHS and social care staff to pay zero basic rate tax for 3 years

- End training caps for all UK medical students

- Write off student fees pro rata per year over 10 years of NHS service for all doctors, nurses and medical staff

- Use Independent Healthcare Capacity

- Tax Relief of 20% on all Private Healthcare and Insurance

- A New NHS Voucher Scheme

- NHS Patients will receive a voucher for private treatment if they can’t see a GP within 3 days, a consultant in 3 weeks or get an operation in 9 weeks

- Services will always be free at the point of use

- Improve Efficiency by cutting waste and unnecessary managers

- Operating theatres must be open on weekends

- Rotas must be planned further in advance

- Nail down better prices using economies of scale

- Review all NHS Private Finance Contracts for
significant savings potential

- Charge those who fail to attend medical appointments without notice

- Abolish the NHS Race and Health Observatory

- Offer tax incentives for new pharmacies and those who employ more staff

- Excess Deaths and Vaccine Harms Public Inquiry

Net Zero:

- Scrap Net Zero and Related Subsidies

- Scrap Annual £10 Billion of Renewable Energy Subsidies

- Start fast-track licences of North Sea gas and oil

- Grant shale gas licences on test sites for 2 years

- Enable major production when safety is proven, with local compensation schemes

- Cleaner Energy from New Technology

- Increase and incentivise ethical UK lithium mining for electric batteries, combined cycle gas turbines, clean synthetic fuel, tidal power and explore clean coal mining

Policing:

- Recruitment to increase UK per capita police numbers to 300 per 100k population

- 40,000 new front-line officers, over a 5-year parliament

- Commence Zero Tolerance Policing clampdown on all crime and antisocial behaviour

- Increase Stop and Search substantially

- Prison for violent crimes and possessing a knife

- Drug dealing and trafficking will get mandatory life imprisonment

- A new offence of Substantial Possession of Drugs will meet heavy fines

- New Police Leadership and Recruitment Regime

- Strong preference for ex-military officers and personnel

- Ensure a high standards of fitness and presentation for front line officers

- Sack Chief Constables that allow two-tier policing

- Use better technology and stop wasting time on paperwork

- Allow PCSOs to become police officers before the role is phased out

- Scrap all Diversity, Equality and Inclusion roles and regulations

- Overhaul the Independent Office of Police Conduct so that the police complaints system becomes more accountable and works for the law abiding public

- De-Politicise the College of Policing

- Prioritise crime prevention, discipline, public service and high standards of strength and fitness among trainees

- Replace degree-standard entry with an entrance exam

- Require officers to complete a 2-year probationary period

- Stricter entry requirements

Justice:

- Urgent Sentencing Review with Automatic Life Imprisonment for Violent Repeat Offenders

- Increase the Criminal Justice Budget from £10 billion to £12 billion

- Reopen local magistrates’ courts to clear the case backlog

- Change the Definition of Hate Crime

- Start Building of 10,000 New Detention Places

- Start expansion in capacity of state built and managed prisons

- Commission disused military bases if needed

- Reform the Child Maintenance Service

- Launch a special division of the Family Court for maintenance and default

- Stop Child Grooming Gangs

- Deport offenders holding dual citizenship

- Make child grooming an aggravating offence

- Improve safeguarding of victims and vulnerable

- No bail for grooming gang offenders

- Tackle Youth Crime

- Reopen High Intensity Training Camps for young offenders to teach basic education, teamwork and values

Education:

- A Patriotic Curriculum in Primary and Secondary Schools

- Ban Transgender Ideology in Primary and Secondary Schools

- Tax relief of 20% on all Independent Education

- Scrap Interest on Student Loans

- Cut Funding to Universities that Undermine Free Speech

- Permanent Exclusions for Violent and Disruptive Students

- Universities Must Provide 2-Year Undergraduate Courses

Benefits and welfare:

- Lift the Income Tax start point to £20,000 per year

- Motivate up to 2 million People Back to Work

- Enforce a 2-Strike Rule for Job Offers - job seekers must find employment within 4 months or accept a job after 2 offers, or lose their benefits

- Face to Face, Not Remote Assessments for Benefits

Brexit:

- Legislate to Scrap EU Regulations with Immediate Effect

- Abandon the Windsor Framework

- Independence for Britain’s Armed Forces

- Prepare for Renegotiations on the EU Trade and Cooperation Agreement

Defence:

- Increase Defence Spending to 2.5% of National GDP by year 3, then 3% within 6 years

- Introduce Urgent Pay Review

- Introduce new Armed Forces Justice Bill

- New, Dedicated Ministerial Department for Veterans

- Recruit 30,000 for the army

- Regenerate Britain’s Defence Manufacturing and Technology

- Reform Defence Procurement

- Free Education for Military Personnel

Housing:

- Review the Planning System

- Reform Social Housing - prioritise locals. Foreign nationals go to the back of the queue

- Scrap section 24 for Landlords

- Abolish the Renters’ (Reform) Bill

- Protection for Leaseholders

- Incentivise Use of New Construction Technology

Children and families:

- Support Marriage Through the Tax System

- When feasible, introduce a 25% transferable marriage tax allowance, exempting the first £25,000 of income for each spouse to encourage work and help those on benefits reenter the workforce

- Choice for Stay-at-Home Parents: Front-load Child Benefit for children aged 1-4 to give parents the option to stay home more

- Mandate Single Sex Spaces

- Promote Child Friendly App Restricted Smartphones by launching inquiry into social media

- Review the Online Safety Bill

Transport and infrastructure:

- Scrap HS2 and save £25 billion

- Stop the War on Drivers and legislate to ban ULEZ Clean Air Zones and Low Traffic Neighbourhoods

- Accelerate transport infrastructure on coastal regions, Wales, the North, and the Midlands

- Introduce a new model for national infrastructure: 50% public ownership, 50% UK pension funds; cap standing charges to help low users and pensioners

- Create a single government infrastructure funding stream by merging the National Infrastructure Commission and the Infrastructure Bank, scrapping Net Zero objectives, and simplifying the funding process

Farming:

- Increase the Farming Budget to £3 Billion

- Scrap Climate-Related Farming Subsidies

- Protect Country Sports

- Stop Supermarket Price Fixing

- Buy British: Aim for 70% food security by sourcing 75% of taxpayer-funded food from the UK, ensure clear labeling for consumers, and support smaller food processors and abattoirs with tax breaks and incentives

- Farming not Form Filling by cutting red tape

Pensions and Social Care:

- Commence Royal Commission of Inquiry into Social Care System

- Simplify social care through a single funding stream

- Stop the Offshore Taxpayer Rip Off

- End some larger care home providers are avoiding tax on hundreds of millions of profits

- Review Pension Provision

- End the Mineworkers Pension Scandal

Constitutional Reform:

- Leave the European Convention on Human Rights

- Commence reform of the Human Rights Act

- Commence Reform of the House of Lords & Civil Service

- Replace the House of Lords with a much smaller, more democratic second chamber

- Immediate end of political appointees

- Replace Civil Service leaders with successful professionals from the private sector

- Commence Reform of the Postal Voting System

- Stop postal voting except for the elderly, disabled or those who can’t leave their homes

- Proportional Representation Voting for the House of Commons

- A British Bill of Rights

Fisheries:

- Reform will ensure foreign fishermen possess a license to access the UK’s 200 nautical mile waters

- Expand the Royal Navy’s overseas patrol squadron

- Ban foreign supertrawlers in British waters and end the practice of electric pulse fishing within Britain’s 200 mile EEZ

- Rebuild the UK's fish processing

- Increase the UK's fishing fleet through tax incentives and vocational training

- Work with the North East Atlantic Fisheries Commission to implement a new management system that would guarantee sustainable stocks

Reclaiming Britain:

- Reaffirm British Sovereignty - reject World Economic Forum influence, oppose the WHO Pandemic Treaty and consider leaving the WHO without reforms, oppose Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC), and a cashless society

- Replace 2010 equalities act and scrap Diversity, Equality and Inclusion (DE&I) rules that have lowered standards and reduced economic productivity

- Propose a Comprehensive Free Speech Bill to legislate against left-wing bias, politically correct ideology, de-banking, cancel culture, left-wing hate mobs, and political bias in public institutions

- Stop the use of Sharia law in the UK

- Commence Reform of the BBC by addressing its institutional bias and inefficiencies

- Scrap the TV licence, considering it taxation without representation, and support freedom of choice in a world of on-demand TV

- Make St George’s and St David’s Day a Public Holiday

- Launch an Anti-Corruption Unit for Westminster to ensure that public officials face sanctions if they break the rules, including prison, with legal powers to investigate past and future scandals

[Dicky Sam @Davolaar]

An emotional Sami Hyypia after his last game for th Reds 2009.
Fantastic player was Sami.
464 games - 35 goals