New, radical ... but still celebrating May 2007

What a shame that BBI press officer Councillor Ray Newell has taken Boston Eye off his mailing list.
Otherwise we would have known that the party DOES plan to field candidates in the forthcoming County Council elections.
The announcement is made in the guise of a letter to the toadying Boston Standard rather than a press release, which we guess is one way to get it published.
It celebrates a "new, radical reforming group" that has pursued a programme of improvement and change and sorted out the mess left by previous administrations.
For a moment there, we thought that Councillor Newell had joined some of his former colleagues and defected to another new party, but we have to assume that his words really do refer to the BBI.
We've seen little in the way of reform ... apart from the way we select the Mayor.
Improvement ... well, buses grinding their way between the pedestrians in Strait Bargate is certainly better for people who can't be bothered to walk a few hundred yards.
Sorted ... er how about the PRSA debacle, and the mystery million pound loan?
Councillor Newell's paean for the BBI eventually descends into a party political rant that slags off the Tories on the County Council and the Police Authority.
We aren't quite sure how the Boston electorate "will have the chance to change this situation" at the county council elections, as even in the unlikely event that they won all seven local seats they would have little collective influence on the decisions being taken at the authority.
And if the BBI does win any seats, will they fall under the mantle of the newly formed Lincolnshire Independents (co-prop: Richard Austin?) and the new councillors therefore be the servant of two masters?
We imagine that the candidates will be selected from the existing ready-tamed band on the borough council.
It's all getting very confusing - as is the way our radical council works.
More and more frequently, we are seeing items on agenda left in abeyance, or being pushed forward to another date.
Could this be an example of the "smoke and mirrors" mentioned by another councillor a few days ago?
Meanwhile, the "radical" BBI remains firmly rooted in the past ... at least as far as its website is concerned.
The last entry was made on 12th May 2007, so there is clearly little interest in keeping electors up to date on the party's activities.
And the list of elected candidate includes the two who have resigned, the four who defected and formed the Better Boston group and a fifth who decided to become truly independent.
Something of a yearning for the good old days from a party that claims to be so progressive, it would appear.

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PS - if you're at tonight's council meeting, we'd love to know who gets nominated for mayor.