With unfailing regularity, Worst Street continues to refine and embellish the book of How Not To Do It.  

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Regular readers will recall that our last edition reported on the call for yet another extraordinary meeting of the full council – set for Monday night – to declare a vote of no confidence in the Conservative leadership and to elect a new leader to replace Councillor Paul Skinner. 

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The proposer of this was himself a former leader and one-time Tory veteran, Councillor Peter Bedford, who spelt out his reasoning in an e-mail to Boston Eye. 

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“I am the proposer quite simply because of the mess that this administration have put us in. 

“I always have supported the idea of joined-up working with East Lindsey District Council and hopefully South Holland District Council as well. 

“But the whole manner of the way that this has been put together is a disaster; non-consultation with Phil Drury (the former Chief Executive) and senior staff members, and of course members. 

“People outside of cabinet have not seen the written agreement with ELDC so if there are any shocks in there then it falls squarely on the Leader and Deputy. 

“We need a complete change of style as the Tory Administration are very weak and inexperienced”. 

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 This is what is called an unambiguous response. 

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Last week we quoted from Lewis Carroll’s much-loved work Alice in Wonderland. 

And we do so again this week – with a line from the girl herself – which neatly sets the scene for tonight’s meeting. 

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 “Curiouser and curiouser”. 

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We understand that Councillor Bedford – after being so clear-cut about his reasoning – will tonight be withdrawing his proposal … which will surely see the status quo maintain and the Tories remain in charge. 

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The rule under which this motion was submitted calls for the signatures of at least five members – so this is obviously not a case of Councillor Bedford acting in some fit of pique. 

The seconder was Councillor Brian Rush, who told Boston Eye that he had “many other” concerns, but the main one was the “secretive” way in which the outgoing and incoming Chief Executive Officer were installed. 

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That leaves at least three other opposition councillors gripping their crayons to place their ‘X’ on the proposal … and perhaps more. 

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 So why the change of heart? 

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We can only speculate – but it seems certain that we can rule out the idea that the opposition suddenly either felt guilty at the idea of capsizing the Tory boat or, after months of roughing up Councillor Skinner, decided to it wasn’t worth the candle. 

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So, we are left with the almost inescapable conclusion that some sort of deal is in the offing. 

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It’s not exactly rocket science; there’s really no other explanation, and if that turns out to be the case, it makes all the words of protest ring hollow. 

Just over three weeks ago, every opposition councillor signed an open letter to voters making it clear that whilst they were not opposed to a strategic alliance between Boston and “another district council”, they would not support any alliance without first having “adequate time” to analyse the proposals in depth. 

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They attacked the “secrecy and haste” of the decision-making process, and concluded: “We are very concerned about the future of our Borough: your Borough. We are deeply worried about the preservation of Boston’s heritage, independence, and unique identity. “The question is, of course, “Who do you think runs your Borough now?” 

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Well, if the proposal before Monday’s meeting is withdrawn, the answer is: “The Conservative administration”. 

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What a climb-down by our so-called opposition – especially if we subsequently find out that the Tories have slipped the noose with their connivance. 

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We asked Councillor Bedford why he had called off the attack dogs, and received the reply: “No comment at this stage; just watch on Monday Night”. 

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And if you want to do that, Worst Street has a link for you to follow. 

Just click here …

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We also asked seconder Councillor Rush for a comment ... but received no reply.

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So why still go ahead with the meeting? 

We think that the answer must be in the rule book. 

The motion that was proposed for Monday night had to be delivered to the Chief Executive not later than seven working days before the date of the meeting. 

Whilst we don’t have precise dates for the machinery of all this, we think that having made the proposal, the opposition did whatever it did that caused the change of mind – but then found that this was within the deadline required and therefore the meeting had to remain on the agenda to be withdrawn on the night. 

This says much about the mindset of the “opposition” – and perhaps more about the rigidity that prevents the cancellation of a pointless meeting simply because “the rules say so”. 

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Meanwhile – enjoy Monday night’s meeting. 

And watch this space afterwards … we’ll be back with our account of events as soon as possible. 

 You can write to us at boston.eye@googlemail.com E– mails will be treated in confidence and published anonymously if requested. 

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 We are on Twitter – visit @eye_boston