No ... it's true ... we all can have our say about immigration ...

Is it the first real meeting, or isn’t it?
Today sees a gathering of members of the Task and Finish Group entitled Social Impact of Population Change on Boston - which to  the riff raff like us means the group that is considering the pressures on Boston caused by immigration.
By all accounts a meeting last month set out the framework, and involved members of the Boston Protest March Group presenting issues that they wanted addressing.
The session was said to have gone well, despite being a bit fiery at times .
After that meeting, we asked Boston Borough Council for a comment, together with details of the group’s membership.
But as often seems to be the case, we received no reply.
We now know, though, that the Chairman is Labour Group leader Councillor Paul Kenny, and that  his deputy, Paul Gleeson is Vice-Chairman. Other members are former BBI leader Richard Austin, English Democrat councillor Elliott Fountain, Tory portfolio holder for community development Mike Gilbert, Independent Richard Leggott, and Conservatives Paul Mould, Gurdip Samra and Judith Skinner.
It’s a broad-based group, and for once the pudding is not over-egged with Tories, so it will be entertaining to see what they come up with over the next six months or so – but we predict that “fiery” will not be the word to describe the atmosphere at some future debates.
Tonight’s meeting will see the police giving evidence and answering questions.
Next month,  there will be meetings on the 4th involving employers, and the 26th which will address education and schools.
Councillor Kenny has said that  an implementation stage  will follow in late April/May, with recommendations aimed at creating harmony" being monitored closely until  the  2015 elections.
It’s fair to say that at the moment, the general impression is that this group is some sort of club  - whose members attend by invitation only.
Certainly, regular readers of the protest marchers’ Facebook page are given the feeling that their members alone submit ideas and comment.
But this is definitely not the case.
The agenda for tonight’s meeting says the public are welcome to attend and ask questions.
But they must be  submitted in advance “in accordance with the group's procedures.”
It is interesting to note that the rules for public questions have been drafted specifically for meetings of this particular Task and Finish Group.
Normally, the public will be allowed 20 minutes for questions … but they must be submitted in writing or by e-mail no later than 5 pm two clear working days before the day of the meeting – so if a meeting is on a Wednesday, the question must be received by 5 pm on the previous Friday, and if the meeting is on a Thursday, it must be received by 5 pm on the previous Monday.
Got that?
It means that lateness of notice precludes anything happening this evening.
No individual or organisation may submit more than one question at any one meeting – but one supplementary question is allowed.
We note with a wry smile that Clause 9 of the rules warns: “In the event of a general disturbance making orderly business impossible, the Chairman can stop the meeting for as long as he thinks necessary.
“If a member of the public interrupts proceedings, the Chairman will warn the person concerned. If they continue to interrupt, the Chairman will order their removal from the meeting room.”
It sounds as though the council is expecting fun and games ahead.
Hopefully they won’t occur at the special meeting  - to which our beloved leader Councillor Peter Bedford  ... now that he appears to have acknowledged that Boston has a problem ...  has invited council leaders and chief executives from all of the county's district councils to attend!

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