NOT since Iain Macleod died, within weeks of becoming Chancellor in 1970, has a government lost a key finance minister so quickly.

Laws had to go. He broke the rules, but the resignation also speaks volumes for the pressure homophobia stills puts on gay and lesbian people trying to contribute to our public life.

Laws had taken to the central task of slashing public spending with relish. Many high-priority schemes on Merseyside, from the Royal Infirmary to the Second Mersey Crossing, had come under his stern gaze.

Liverpool Lib-Dems remain uneasy about their association with the Tories in a coalition government about to cut badly-needed redevelopment schemes in our area. They looked a demoralised bunch at last Tuesday’s council meeting which confirmed the new Labour administration in office.

It was a memorable event for who was there and who wasn’t. The outgoing Chief Executive, Colin Hilton, was notable by his absence. When I inquired of a Town Hall source why this was, I was told he was “doing a spot of gardening”.

But Steve Rotheram was there. The new Walton MP had managed to attend the State Opening of Parliament before dashing north for our own bit of pomp and ceremony as Hazel Williams was installed as Lord Mayor.

It was a proud moment for the small Liberal Party, and Hazel had the chamber in stitches when she paid tribute to her leader Steve Radford who is gay. “Had our personal lives been different, we might be celebrating our pearl wedding anniversary,” she quipped.