Leader demands free speech - just as long as it is his!

Throughout history, the road to free speech has been littered with obstacles.
But who would have thought that in these enlightened days, none other than the leader of Boston borough council, Peter Bedford, would still be flying that obstructionist flag??
He sparked something of a war of words last Thursday with a spate of e-mails to Boston Eye after our blog of week a ago today headed Psst! - don't let on, but the Home Office has been and gone ...
If you missed it, you can read it by clicking here 
Just as popular myth has it that Prince Charles has a member of staff for every occasion, so Czar Peter does not dirty his hands by putting his fingers to the keyboard to e-mail the likes of Boston Eye.
Instead he delegated the task to his Communications Manager, Mr Andrew Malkin, who has the unenviable duty of relaying the leader's message along with the appropriate instructions.
Thus it was that this e-mail found its way into our inbox at 12-46 last Thursday …

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To say that we were surprised would be an understatement – particularly as more than one councillor had told us that the news of the Home Office visit reached them via Boston Eye.
In light of that – and some of Councillor Bedford’s other comments, we felt that a robust reply was called for …

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Clearly Councillor Bedford has no comprehension of just how rude it is to address deeply personal attacks via a third party – or perhaps he does.
Whatever the answer, he failed to respect our request – again leaving the task to poor Mr Malkin.

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We took the view that by this time,  Councillor Bedford had let the genie out of the bottle;  and that the inherent unfairness of demanding the right to attack - but  to expect his victim to sit idly by as a spectator whilst being accused of all kinds of unprofessional conduct,  was too much to demand ... and we told him so.

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The e-mail response above was posted to Councillor Bedford on Friday morning – since when nothing has been received by way of reply.
So Boston Eye reader, it’s for you to decide.
In almost half a century as a writer, this is only the second time that the editor of Boston Eye has been accused of inaccuracy or misinformation - let alone had allegations of possible criminality made against him.
Amazingly, both occasions have occurred within four months, and each time,  the complainant has been the Leader of the Council, Peter Bedford - which we feel says far more about the accuser than the accused.
Apart from last week’s episode, the other was the Case of the Hallaton Helmet  – which you can read by clicking here.
Of course, Councillor Bedford is correct when he says that mistakes should be rectified.
Regrettably, it is impossible to turn the clock back to  Thursday 5th May,  and  the local elections when voters made the greatest mistake of all - which saw an ill-prepared Tory party seize power.
But the leadership, of course,  is entirely another matter - and an area where correction can still be made.

You can write to us at boston.eye@googlemail.com   Your e-mails will be treated in confidence and published anonymously if requested.
Our former blog is archived at: http://bostoneyelincolnshire.blogspot.com