They think that

we are so

stupid

Yes … the Ovaltinies are back – and happy days are here again.

With customary gung-ho juvenile delight, Worst Street is trailing the third of its totally pointless “Ask the Cabinet" sessions … and is making them even less relevant

The last of the meetings – which were once trailed as likely to be staged quarterly – was in January. It’s time to wind the calendar up, we think!

But unlike previous sessions, this coming Monday night’s dog-hanging is about to get "a whole lot more personal." 

Once upon a time, the one-time less than magnificent seven sat uncomfortably about while badly aimed cameras filmed the nape of their necks or the pillar behind which they were trying to hide. Their often inaudible questions and answers were webcast so that people watching agog on their home computers could soak it up ‘live’ with a summary reported on the Worst Street website.

The cabinet is now down to six members – and of those, only five are turning up on Monday.

In the past, Worst Street preferred written questions submitted in advance to “give portfolio holders an opportunity to present the most comprehensive answers, by having all pertinent information available.”

Now: “Instead of an open public question-and-answer session, residents will be able to get up close and personal with influential executive members and quiz them in a much more private environment.
“There will be no cameras, no microphones and no webcast – just opportunities to chat one-to-one with councillors at a much more personal level.”

Residents can turn up without giving advance warning of their questions – which is great news for victims of the council bar on those they deem “vexatious.”

Whilst Worst Street sees this as pioneering, we view it as lip service to openness and transparency which keeps public criticism out of the public domain.
So-called council “leader” Pete ‘Nipper’ Bedford calls the approach “more like a regular councillor surgery” – without apparently realising that they are seldom staged any more.

“I am hoping this will encourage more to attend. We want to see an interest in what we do, and perhaps what we don't do, and welcome questions on any subject pertinent to the work of the borough council. I think this willingness to change and adapt shows we are transparent and open and prepared to give answers to what may be some quite tricky questioning.”

Having viewed these sessions in the past, we were struck by the lack of quality shown by cabinet members.

Whilst they can’t all be the brightest candles in the box, many are incapable of decent articulation and it is not hard to question their overall intelligence.

Nonetheless, these six people run the council – forget the idea that the remaining 24 even bother much to take part.

Monday night’s absentee is Boston’s Chancellor of the Exchequer Aaron, Councillor Spencer – but ‘Nipper’ is ready to provide what might have been his answers.

Having seen them both in action we feel that nothing would have been gained by Councillor Spencer’s attendance.

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