Let’s give thanks to the people of Liverpool.

Not for The Beatles, Jimmy Tarbuck or Stevie Gerrard. And certainly not for Cilla Black. But for being the first city in Britain to abolish its bus lanes. The first city to stand up to the invidious forces of capitalism in this way. They’d had enough. The roads they’d paid for had been sliced in half with one half given over to profiteering, privately owned bus companies for their exclusive use. What’s more, a hefty fine awaited anyone who dared to stray into one. Congestion had become unbearable in the public lanes while the bus lanes lay scandalously empty. So let’s play Liverpool’s unofficial National Anthem in honour of their bold, egalitarian stance. Because now there will never be a bus lane ‘cross the Mersey.