Liverpool, a rich cultural program for a poor city

The columnist David Ward draws our attention to Liverpool, this year's European capital of culture. "The culture year officially begins at 20.08 hours on January 11 with 'an epic aerial ballet of dancing cranes, containers and scissor lifts'. ... The 2008 programme bulges with other high-profile events, ranging from Sir Simon Rattle conducting the Berlin Philharmonic to Paul McCartney topping the bill at a concert ... . Major events have already happened. In December the Turner prize was announced at Tate Liverpool ... and the BBC staged its open-air Liverpool Nativity. More than 7,000 people turned up on a freezing night to watch the updated story and to sing All You Need Is Love. ... Some, particularly in the city's more deprived areas, will inevitably ask 'What's in this for me?' ... much remains to be done: unemployment, at 5.1 %, is way above the north-west average of 2.1 % and the city has one of the worst health records in the country."

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