MARGARET Thatcher’s “Big Bang” unshackling of the UK’s financial sector was hailed in many quarters as the way forward to a solid economy – but not all, it appears.

The Mersey Partnership chairman and the man who delivered the £1bn Liverpool One scheme, Rod Holmes, below, had his own reservations, going by his take on the funding to boost Liverpool’s GDP: “We got into the habit of relying on money coming from Europe and tax payers’ money, and the money we thought the City of London was making for us all.

“After Mrs Thatcher, we thought we understood what the City was getting up to. Now we can’t rely on any of that.”

So, then, that’s Mrs T told.

TO THE University of Liverpool, where former FA head honcho Prof Brian Barwick gave the first in a new series of “Burning Issues” lectures.

You'd have thought that Wembley in 2007, when England dismally lost to Croatia and failed to qualify for Euro 2008, was the most dangerous place Barwick had ever been. But University vice-chancellor Professor Sir Howard Newby, begged to differ.

“Brian,” he said, “you’re now standing in the most dangerous place you've been in your career – between an audience at the University of Liverpool and the promise of free drinks.”