A few days ago we learned that the Boston Daily Beano is to change to “a new, fresh format, easier to read and with more online content.”  Given that is already online, we are not quite sure what that means. It will also change to a weakly instead of daily edition after its “summer break.”

A break of almost a month underlines how unimportant the thing is – and is a clear indication of what a flop this feeble attempt at promoting Worst Street has been.

It’s journeyed from monthly, to daily, and now to weakly. During these years is has been often packed with stories totally irrelevant to Boston Borough Council – but no matter, they fill the space, don’t they – even to the extent that the tsunami of coverage for the recent Boston Central Park sand pit event was mistakenly believed to be the work of the council by one local “newspaper” … when it wasn’t.

We think that a good idea during the Beano’s break would be a full appraisal of whether or not it is worth bringing back – and if the powers that b’ain’t were to put their hands on where their hearts ought to be, we think we will have read the final edition.

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We hope in the case of the bulletin, the phrase “easier to read” is not a substitute for “dumbing down even further.”

We say this because a recent contribution from Worst Street could well have been produced as a new issue in the Roger Hargreaves series, and entitled “Mr and Mrs Councillor.”

Beneath the banner “How exactly does the council work?” – and avoiding the obvious answer of “not very well”  – Worst Street offers this piece of infantile fatuity.

“Boston Borough Council runs along the same lines as Government. At the head of Government is the Prime Minister.

At the head of the council is the leader, Councillor Peter Bedford.

“Coincidentally they are both Conservatives because, in the same way that the Government is Conservative controlled because it has a majority of elected Conservative MPs, the council has a majority of elected Conservative councillors.

“Supporting the PM is the Cabinet, and the council has a Cabinet too. At Government level these are elected MPs who have been made ministers with special responsibilities, such as education, health, defence. The equivalent at borough council level are (sic) members of the Cabinet. This is (sic) sometimes called "the executive board" and members are known as executive members or portfolio holders …

And the last laugh appears at the end of the piece, and tells us … “The borough council's make up is 13 Conservatives, 12 from UKIP, two Labour, two Independents and one Unaligned making 30 in total.

This shows that the Conservatives do not have an overall majority at the borough council, which makes for some interesting debate.”

Oh no it doesn’t!

The hatred of UKIP led so-called Independents and even Labour to vote with the Tories regardless which means that of  “interesting debate” there is none.

To mark this latest nonsensical guff from Worst Street we propose a special edition in the popular “Dummies” guide series …

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The nonsense continues on the same theme beneath the heading “Top-level summit: Enhancing Boston's image.”

We were told: “Key leaders from across Boston have met to discuss plans to strengthen the community and address negative perceptions of the town.

The meeting was called jointly by Police and Crime Commissioner Marc Jones (not pictured here because he’s pictured everywhere else) and Boston MP Matt Warman. Others attending included “senior officials from Lincolnshire Police, Boston Borough Council, Citizen's Advice Bureau and Lincolnshire County Council.”

The bottom line in all this was that most of the problems we believe beset Boston are merely “perceptions” – i.e. figments of our collective imagination.

Aside from the insults contained in this suggestion – that we are too dense to recognise reality – we question the description of a so-called top-level summit of key leaders.

Last time we looked these “key leaders” were elected public servants (apart from members of the CAB) – although perhaps after his elevation to Boston’s answer to Prime Minister “Daisy” May,  so-called “leader” Pete ‘Nipper’ Bedford may have developed misplaced delusions of grandeur ... if he hasn’t already!

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Sadly for Lincolnshire Police, the “summit” was followed by the news that the force was the most underrated the country – with just 58.3% of people telling the latest official crime survey that the force was doing a good or excellent job.

This put Lincolnshire Police's approval rating at 35th out of 43 forces.

But don’t worry – it’s all in your mind!

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The other day, we mentioned the way that cash-strapped Worst Street was wasting money here there and everywhere …

A few items we have noticed since include spending on “entertainment” for the recent Vintage a-Fayre of £460 and £570 to bring a purportedly "free” cycling event to Boston Market Place.

“Fayre’s” such as the Vintage A – which sells old clothes at silly and sometimes smelly prices – are commercial activities … so why do we fund their “entertainment” which presumably means providing buckshee food and drinks.

The “Get Cycling Roadshow!” was again an event that we felt should be self-funding – but it cost taxpayers £570 to bring to town.

Finally, there was a charge of £405 for “cornfields annual mixture” – presumably for Boston in Bloom’s volunteers to spread willy-nilly alongside the John Adams Way bridge. We always thought that our local bloomers did their own thing – without the taxpayers footing the bill.

Fairly soon, the market tall holders will–  quite reasonably, we think –  be asking why they should pay to mount what Worst Street claims as one of Boston’s biggest tourist attractions.

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At long last, the future is looking slightly brighter and so we have decided to resume the occasional blog. Thanks for still checking in and keeping the readership count high – we’ll carry on publishing as and when – so please keep up your good work.

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