BUSINESS people are invited to sign up for a lecture to be given by former BBC director general Lord Birt.

Merseyside-born Lord Birt will talk on the theme of why government is ineffective.

He will deliver his talk at the University of Liverpool next Thursday.

The lecture is the third in the University of Liverpool Management School’s Burning Issues series, sponsored by Weightmans and The Liverpool Post. The series looks at the issues that will shape the future business environment.

Lord Birt was director-general of the BBC from 1992 to 2000. He then joined the House of Lords. He was strategy adviser to former Prime Minister Tony Blair from 2000-2005. He is currently chairman of PayPal Europe and an independent director of Eutelsat.

Future lectures in the series include one to be given by Will Hutton, executive vice- chair of The Work Foundation, on Monday, April 16.

Lord Birt’s lecture will be held in the Leggate Theatre in the Victoria Gallery and Museum at 5.30pm, followed by a reception. To book free tickets, call 0151 794 2650 or go to www.liv.ac.uk/events/burning-issues