Not quite Gettysburg ....

Much has been said elsewhere about Councillor (Major Retired or not, depending) Ramonde Newell's disastrous speech to Lincolnshire County Council, which came during a general debate on shared services.
Many of those who haven't seen it have been in touch to ask exactly what he said we have made a transcript which apapears below ... without comment, as for once, we are lost for words.
Councillor Newell:
The seven districts, er , of this county are in fact similar but they also have enormous differences, erm, you can see some of those differences in fact, erm, as Chris has mentioned, erm, that we're now known as the wet districts.
Now I'm not sure whether the wet actually refers to the North Sea or whether it refers to alcohol consumption, perhaps both actually when I come to think about it. The differences are really quite enormous, erm, Boston, and that is in fact who I represent in a district capacity, is of course the largest town in this authority
Largest town - not city - there is a bigger city but this is the largest town ....
(muttering from the floor)
(Councillor Newell is asked to repeat what he has just said ...)
Boston is the largest town in this authority
(Interruption ... I think you'll find Grantham is ...)
(Laughter)
If I may continue, Sir ...
Of course that would mean that we would have to add the 20,000, er, migrant workers that we have in Boston ...
(mutterings from the floor)
No I'm sure there are migrant workers in Boston, in Grantham as well, but the truth is that we don't actually know the correct figure. I know that the people of Boston when they are walking through it - and many of you will have walked through Boston - consider themselves not necessarily in a Lincolnshire town, but in something of a foreign town.
(mutterings from the floor)
The other difference that we have as far as Boston is concerned is in fact of course our infrastructure problems.
We have no bypass ...
(various mutterings from the floor of "neither do we.")
But of course if we look at Spalding, it has one - it's coming up to its second - I understand that Lincoln in fact has one or two and is pushing for a ring road, erm, we have the large town of (consults notes) er, what's it called now, Burgh Le Marsh ...
(laughter from the floor)
Er with its, er, ring road, so we have therefore these two quite enormous areas.
The third area which was mentioned as well is simply the North Sea.
The North Sea. If we don' t get a barrage to stop the North Sea then Boston will cease to exist.
And finally, education.
Boston College requires considerable infrastructure building - it is not getting it. Boston Grammar School - my grammar school - again is not getting the money it requires for its buildings - just some differences that we have between our seven districts ...

You can view the speech by following this link, then clicking on "Index Points," and scrolling down to 02:10:35

http://www.lincolnshire.public-i.tv/site/player/pl_compact.php?a=29745&t=0&m=wm&l=en_GB#the_data_area

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