If a party of Independents is the answer ... what is the question?

Remember our rabies alert after a letter in a local paper from the acting chairman of the Boston and Skegness Conservative Association, Colin Davie? ("Telling it how it isn't!" - Monday 19th January)
After a rant which blamed the government and the Bypass Independents for every disaster since the Great Flood, he offered us salvation in just ten words - "only Conservatives offer a vision for Boston in the future."
Now Mr Davie is taken to task by fellow Lincolnshire County Councillor Chris Brewis, who slags off the Tories mightily and lauds the "real change" that Boston was "fortunate" enough to enjoy when it elected the BBI.
Mr Brewis is the deputy leader of something called Lincolnshire Independents - a new party created on 18th July last year.
In a mission statement Lincolnshire Independents (let's call them LI for short) say:
"Independents are interested in what their electorate is seeking and that forms their manifesto. Their first loyalty is to the people they represent, regardless of party politics."We believe that all local councillors should be independent with local voters our only masters and local improvements our aim.Independents cooperate* (sic) with good decision-making but have no time for the party whip and block voting, which is effective in "gagging" your local representatives who have party allegiances and resulted in some very well known very poor decisions in this county.
"Independents tend to bring a cleaner ethos, concentrating on issues and voting for what they believe is right for our communities."
For those not in the know, the treasurer of LI is none other than our own council leader Richard "Papa Dick" Austin, who - apparently not content with founding one party - is now involved with yet another.
Does this mean that the BBI will (or will not) be fielding candidates for the Boston seats on the county council that come up for grabs on Thursday 4 June? We seem to recall there was some suggestion that it might not bother if the County Council promised a by-pass. Or will a separate tranche of independents present themselves to the electorate for consideration?
Councillor Austin is a man of few words at the best of times, and to date, his contribution to his space in the LI website comprises two test messages posted in the wee small hours of the morning quite some time ago... in one case apparently almost two and a half years ago! You can view it by clicking here .
Having read the LI manifesto, we find its claims have already been contradicted by a number of actions already taken by the BBI - which include "gagging" some local representatives and also ignoring the wishes of the people they claim to represent.
Party allegiances may have their faults, but at least politics provides a common bond which helps members sing from the same hymnbook - unlike the BBI, most of whose members are not politicians (whatever they may think) and who have probably spent more time bickering than decision-making.
Once again, the forthcoming local elections look as though they might become interesting.

*cooperate - in our book, this is the charge made by a craftsman to manufacture a barrel!

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