Liverpool: Did we mention it was where The Beatles came from?

UNESCO are, apparently, busily declaring some places to be "Cities of Music", for some reason, and Liverpool Council is happy to burn through cash bidding for the title:

Liverpool City Council leader Councillor Warren Bradley, who will chair of the UNESCO bid steering group, said: “Music is in Liverpool's blood and its influence has been truly global from the days of sea shanties and Merseybeat to classical and dance – it was a fundamental reason why we were European Capital of Culture.

“The city today has a phenomenal pool of talent and its exciting that now, more than ever, it has the venues, the studios, the promoters and the festivals to nurture new ideas and diverse artists who will carry on Liverpool's best musical traditions.

“To be a UNESCO city of music would be a massive boost to the city’s international cultural profile and give the city a focus, like in ‘08, to develop our music offer at all levels for the benefit of musicians and music lovers alike.’’

"Develop our music offer" - the very words have a lyrical quality to them, don't they? Admittedly, it's like a late-period Robbie Williams lyric, but a lyric nevertheless.

Not quite sure why, if the city is felt to be so synonymous with music, you'd need to spend money getting an outside body to say "yes, the city is synonymous with music", but having kind of failed to have turned their Capital Of Culutre year into any real lasting legacy, there's a sense of a city scrabbling round to do something, anything, next.

The Echo points out that UNESCO has already made Liverpool a World Heritage Centre. It does neglect to mention that less than two years after the title was bestowed, UNESCO had to make an emergency visit back to the city in response to council planning decisions for Mann Island, issuing a stern 'it's okay for now, but we're watching' report.

Coming the week after it turned out the £1.4million taken from the neighbourhood renewal fund to kit out a tourist information office for 2008 was wasted as it was built in the wrong place, the people of Liverpool must be thrilled at the prospect of burning through more cash on a pointless title.