The Nifty 250: news of the day in so many words

Coalition cut-backs...
The financial axe looks set to fall on Liverpool’s special grants fund, meaning an estimated £30m loss to the city.

It is estimated there will be a 10% cut to the £282m of special grant funding the council was due to receive this year.

That money helps pay for a catalogue of projects, including the multi-million pound Housing Market Renewal Initiative and Build Schools for the Future.

Liverpool’s Labour administration say they cannot predict exactly how much they will lose.

20’s plenty...
Liverpool may soon see 20mph speed limits on all its residential roads.

The first meeting of the new council last week voted to support a motion put forward by Green councilor John Coyne.

The council will first research the evidence, and then finalise the decision accordingly- They don’t want to rush into anything.

Taxi for Rafa...
Rafael Benitez has left Anfield ‘by mutual consent’.

The club and Benitez’s agents have been in talks since Wednesday with the board finally deciding that the Spaniard’s six year reign was over.

In a statement posted on Liverpool’s website, Rafa said: “I am very proud to say that I was your manager. Thank you so much once more and always remember: you’ll never walk alone”

An estimated £6m severance package should sweeten the deal, but Rafa is technically entitled to £16m to compensate for the remaining four years of his contract. Gillett and Hicks must have good negotiators, probably ‘The best a man can get’.