Recent years have seen major anniversaries in Britain’s wartime history commemorated.

In 2014 we marked the centenary of the start of the First World war and a century after it ended hundreds turned out at Boston’s War Memorial last year.

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This year saw the 80^th anniversary of the outbreak of the Second World War in 1939, and 6^th June marked 75 years since D-Day.

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As last year showed – the ending of war attracts perhaps the greatest attention….  and 2020 will see the 75^th anniversary of VE Day.

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The event that marked the end of the war in Europe has been deemed so significant that the government has moved the date of next year’s May bank holiday from Monday 4^th to Friday 8^th May.

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Further underlining this importance is the fact that the date of the May bank holiday has only been moved once before since it was created in 1978 – and the first time was in 1995 to mark the 50th anniversary of VE Day.

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Commemorative events planned  take place over the three-day weekend across the country include: the Nation’s Toast, where over 20,000 pubs will encourage patrons to raise a glass to the heroes of World War II; bagpipers playing the traditional Battle’s O’er at the top of the four highest peaks in the UK; bells in churches and cathedrals across the country joining forces in a special Ringing Out for Peace, and – it goes almost without saying – local street parties and celebrations.

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Defence Secretary Penny Mordaunt has said: “As we’ve seen with the D-Day commemorations, the British people truly appreciate the sacrifice made by those who fought for our freedom throughout the Second World War. 

“Moving next year’s Bank Holiday will give us the opportunity to come together to remember and honour those who gave so much to secure our freedom and liberty.”

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Bruno Peek, Pageant Master of VE Day 75 said: “This amazing event taking place on 8^th- 10^th May 2020 provides the perfect opportunity for the United Kingdom to come together to celebrate and commemorate the 75^th anniversary of the end of the war in Europe. It will involve local communities, youth and voluntary organisations, faith groups and individuals paying tribute to the millions who sacrificed so much to secure the freedom we all enjoy today.”

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Sir Andrew Gregory, head of SSAFA, the Armed Forces charity, said: “It is our duty to keep the events of the past alive in collective memory, including future generations – this is how we ensure that such a conflict never happens again. It is our hope that the nation takes a moment to reflect on the significance of this date, as a milestone that changed the course of history for the whole world.”

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We think that you will have got the message by now – but when Boston Borough Council recently published its list of events for 2020, people rightly assumed that VE Day would feature in a major way.

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Not so.

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Events planned for next year’s budget total around £60,000, and include all the usual here-we-go-again suspects – the outdoor cinema, the 1940s event, the beach event, the beer festival ... you can set your clock by them … though in these times of increasing austerity around £12,000 seems to have been set aide to resurrect the Party in the Park and £18,000 for a Boston Show.

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The conspicuous absence of anything to mark VE Day was noted by local political agitator Darron Abbott, who wrote on the Boston the people UK Facebook page “It appears the date has slipped their (Boston Borough Council’s) minds and they have no plans for any celebrations.

“Would there be an appetite for a celebration organised by the community? If so would you volunteer to help?

“What kind of event would you like to see?”

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The response was enthusiastic – and included an offer of £500 to print souvenir mugs to give to local children, and volunteer help if something were organised.

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Then came a reprimand from Kristina Willoughby – Worst Street’s Town Centre Services Manager.

“I can assure [you] it has not been forgotten,” she declared.

“However it is the same week as Boston May Fair so we are low on resources due to staffing this and of course [it] closes off much of town.

“More than happy to advise and guide volunteers wanting to put something on, but given the amount of national celebrations you would need to move pretty quick to secure equipment, traders, any infrastructure etc.

I have applied for a fly past over the Fair on that day as a mark of respect but we have not found out yet if we have been successful.”

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Well, that’s all right then.

Well. No, it isn’t.

What is it about the May Fair that demands so much from Boston Borough Council?

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The Showmen’s Guild of Great Britain are responsible for the fairground, and last year Boston Borough Council paid a private company based in Spalding more than £16,000 to provide stewarding and security in the absence of the police.

So, what does that leave?

As far as we can think, mostly a bit of overnight litter collection – such as that which is done routinely for two days every week to tidy up after the market.

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So, if VE Day “has not been forgotten” then it is clear from that answer that Worst Street simply could not be bothered to make that bit of extra effort to give it the recognition that it so clearly deserves.

And to rub salt into the wound comes the suggestion that any event needs to be organised PDQ to avoid missing out.

A fly past?

We see them up the ying-yang in this part of the world when the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight flies over Boston on a regular basis as it travels the country to events.

And a fly over during May Fair?

Most likely to pass unnoticed over all the noise of the rides and the crowds.

Better not to have bothered at all than to try to fob us off with such a lame and lazy excuse.

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An event of significantly less importance is the first 100 days in office of Worst Street leader Aaron Spencer, which falls due about now.

It’s become something of a political tradition to look back on these three-month periods to see what sort of mark a new leader has made – and in the case of Councillor Spencer, it won’t take too long.

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All that we can call to mind is the PE21 “regeneration” project, of which much has been said, except: how much it will cost, where is the money coming from and when might it  happen?

Our feeling is that it could end up so far in the future that it will look something like this …

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The problem with big ideas like these is that they never seem to come to fruition.

Councillor Spencer’s cunning plan to tart up West Street in what has to be a multi-million pound scheme came exactly ten years after a similar £100 million plan to turn the area into something called Merchants Quay – an idea that fell flat on its face when the developers went bust.

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This latest idea doesn’t even have a proper developer or an “anchor store” to make it viable – which reminded us: whatever happened to approval almost 18 months ago of  plans for a new “shopping village” that would create 100 new jobs with the building of 14 new shops and 15 apartments on the current NCP car park area between Wide Bargate and Red Lion Street?

Probably they went the same way as the Fenside Marina, which was going to create hundreds of jobs and really put Boston “on the map.”

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The only other thing we can remember Councillor Spencer for to date is his arbitrary decision to open the council’s toilets 24 hours a day for three months to provide a more conventional temptation for those who use the streets to do their physiological business.

That idea lasted a month (and yes, we did raise a warning flag, Councillor Spencer) during which we saw vandalism running into thousands of pounds which has now forced the overnight closure of the toilets in the park once again, although those in Lincoln Lane and Wide Bargate will remain open until the end of the trial.

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What surprised us about this was that there has been no shortage of calls for the gates of Central Park to be locked again at night after the penny-pinching decision to leave them open to save what in the overall scheme of things is a footling amount.

Despite this, the council has clung to the view that leaving the park open to all and sundry is not a source of anti-social activity – although perhaps Councillor Spencer might now be prepared to reconsider.

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Somehow, we think this unlikely – as Mr Spencer and his regulatory portfolio holder Paul Skinner have been reported as trying to silence social media critics of street drinking and public urination by tarring them with the “racist” brush.

It’s reported that they “hit out” at social media contributors who “frighten people from coming into the town” by posting pictures to try to shame the perpetrators.

The report quoted Mr Spencer as saying: “At the moment everyone takes a picture which they put on social media and it perpetuates a problem because the same person could post a picture from six-months ago today, and anyone can go and pose a picture and claim it as one thing and not the other.”

“Those [Facebook] pages are actually quite racist. People who comment on those pages are really negative and quite harmful and anti-this-that-and-the-other.”

He reportedly said that social media groups were “dangerous, because you get an echo chamber of people who think one thing to be reality which is perpetuated by someone in public office and it can actually cause civil unrest, it could cause major issues.”

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So – even though the activities complained of are happening and are often photographed contemporaneously and genuinely – we are told that they should be ignored because it would frighten people away.

Aside from the fact that there is no evidence that this occurs, we wonder what other big ideas Messrs Spencer and Skinner might have up their sleeves …

Removal of ‘beware of the dog’ signs; an end to flying flags warning of dangerous bathing conditions, and the removal of all signs warning ‘danger, minefield’ might all feature on their list.

Joking aside – just because we have a high migrant population in Boston does not mean that the Facebook finger is necessarily being pointed at them in cases of anti-social behaviour.

To make the distasteful leap that describes people with valid concerns who want Boston to become a better place as racist as a means of trying to gag them is really quite deplorable.
Perhaps the council's S&S would share their thinking how how the equation they have created adds up ...
Concerned voter sees street drinking/urination/defecation + puts it on Facebook to shame offenders/authorities who do nothing to stop it = (possibly lying) Racist and starts riots.

The council’s preferred alternative is that we report all incidents direct to them to deal with.

Given that they want this sort of thing swept under the carpet to create a false impression of the town for outsiders, we are sure that this would happen.

Like the Ministry of Truth in Orwell’s 1984 they are seeking to control the image of the town into something that they would like it to be rather than what it really is.

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Of course, one feature of Councillor Spencer’s reign that sticks out head and shoulders above the rest is – Councillor Spencer’s head and shoulders.

At a guess, we would say that his picture has appeared on our web pages more than any of the past few leaders combined.

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He has his own website which effervesces with news of how busy he is, and capturing his words and thoughts for us all to see and admire.

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He has also undergone an interesting makeover  …

… morphing from the young cabinet member who earned approbation for not wearing a tie to meetings, through a brief eccentric look to a three-piece ensemble that wouldn’t be out of place in a TV drama series.

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It should therefore have come as no surprise to learn that council Spencer employs a “PR manager” who by an interesting co-incidence is also marketing manager for Smartmove Boston, the lettings and hotel empire run by Worst Street’s portfolio holder for tourism, arts, culture and heritage, Alistair Arundell.

Mr Arundell also has his own website – and we now realise that having a shared mouthpiece goes someway to explaining why the pages read so similarly.

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Mr Arundell is a well-to-do local businessman with major interests in the town, so we can see why he might need a marketing manager.

By why a local district and county councillor needs front-of-the-house PR is harder to fathom.

We are particularly exercised by this as apart from “occasional band gigs” Councillor Spencer’s declared income appears to come solely from his allowances as a councillor.

Between Lincolnshire County Council and Boston District council, we calculate them to be more than £30,000 a year.

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Its’s bad enough having to pay this sort of money to our “servants” in the first place – let alone to discover that we are also funding their egos.

And aren’t websites such as this little more than a political campaigning platform?

If so, should they really be funded by the public purse?

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Last week we quoted comments reportedly by Boston mayor Anton Dani which included calls for more power, a longer term in office and the reinstatement of a chauffeur driven mayoral limo.

Whilst serving councillors snoozed idly on, a former member – Carol Taylor, who represented Witham ward between 2011 and 2015 – was appalled.

She e-mailed Boston Eye to say: “I am astounded by the huge ego displayed by the current Mayor, Councillor Anton Dani.

 “Doesn't he realise that he is representing the people already, and that the office of Mayor is ceremonial?

“He talks of revolutionising and introducing four years of term of office ... unbelievable! This is not the USA where the president has a four-year term; now that's high office.

“This poor councillor is clearly mixed up with what he believes and what he puts in writing,

“Many councillors do things using their own money but they also get a decent allowance – as well as the Mayor getting extra.

“He says the Mayor role is a seven day job. So is any other councillor’s as they can be contacted at any time.

“Regarding wanting more power, the mayor role is not for him because he reduced his own power by becoming mayor and not being able to vote for the needs and concerns of his constituents.

“I do think he is doing really well though, getting himself out and about without a chauffeur – and on a final positive note …

“… Just think, the Mayor of Boston is a ceremonial office and therefore apolitical and our wonderful sovereign lady is a constitutional Queen and therefore apolitical as well! 
“Surely that's high office enough – having so much in common with HM Queen Elizabeth.

Boston deserves a Mayor who not only says he is proud to be in office but shows it. He has some wonderful mayors to follow, Richard Leggott, Mary Wright, Colin Brotherton, Brian Rush, Paul Goodale and Paul Kenny to name but a few.

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Our award for unintentional humour goes to Worst Street deputy leader Councillor Nigel Welton, who reportedly commented during the recent full council meeting that “there was such goodwill between the various groups Boston could show Parliament a thing or two.”

This of course was the meeting that voted to line the mayoral pockets with a few thousand more in allowances whilst ripping off the people who need their garden waste taking away by hiking the charge by 50% from £30 to £45.

In our view this is not “goodwill” between the various groups …

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... it is evidence of a spineless opposition that prefers to bend the knee to the ruling group rather than stand up as the “independents” that most of them claim to be (though many are closet Tories) and fight for the interests of the people who elected them, which they promised to do when they wanted to get elected.

In fact, the whole sorry affair summoned a picture to mind …

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