Sticks and stones II ... After last week's blog on the rumpus over Councillor David Owens's description of BBI members as "buffoons," we received an e-mail from Councillor Martin Clarkson, whose reaction to the jibe was to invite Councillor Owens outside for "a chat" - which we interpreted as being a precursor to something possibly more aggressive. "Dear Editor," he writes, "I come from a different cultural background to you. I can see how 'chat outside' can be misconstrued to meaning a violent confrontation. However, that was not my intention at all. I felt I needed to put my thought processes across on a one-on-one outside, instead of across a council chamber. That to me would have been sensible in light of all the contention being displayed by various parties at the time. Regards, Councillor Martin Clarkson" That's cleared that up, then - although we are baffled by the reference to "cultural background," which we take it is an assumption that we are from the pond life end of the spectrum.
A salt and battery ... An entry on its website last week trumpeted: "Boston Borough Council’s emergency planning procedures swung smoothly into place when a suspect package was discovered at Boston Docks." The council’s community safety team turned the Assembly Rooms into an evacuation centre for residents of Scott House disabled living centre, Skirbeck Road, Rose Place, Alfred Street, Charles Street, Muster Roll Lane, Drakard Lane and parts of Daisy Dale. The council said the "real-life incident" was a test for its emergency procedures and proved them up to the job. The "suspect package" turned out to be nothing more lethal than a battery, and, given the high security at the port, we wonder how much effort was made to determine its nature before the council went gung ho. We were reminded of the time last year when the town centre was closed after a "suspicious object" in a phone box turned out to be nothing more sinister than a BT automatic deodoriser. It's good to be prepared, but we can't help feel that the need for the exercise possibly drove events more than the likelihood of a real emergency.
Celling us short ... Three prisoners - one of them a triple lifer with a conviction for rape and 134 other previous convictions - stroll out the doors of the North Sea Holiday Camp - laughingly referred to as an open prison. How open can you get? Time and again we read about prisoners walking out of this place, yet no one seems much bothered at preventing it from happening again. Even worse, in the case of two of the prisoners who absconded last week, the Ministry of Justice refused to reveal the offences for which they were sentenced. This is disgraceful, and should be challenged. Boston plays host to many prisoners from North Sea Camp who work in the town as part of their rehabilitation, and so we deserve to be warned when a possibly dangerous escapee is in our midst. We think it's time for a chat with the prison service and a request to offer a better standard of security.
Returned to sender ... It seems we were not alone in our criticism of a recent letter in the local papers from Councillor Ramonde Newell, chortling about the "achievements" of the BBI to date. Our take on the letter was that it was "less of a paean of praise to the achievements of the BBI, but rather more of a limp apology for taking so long to achieve so little." Councillor Newell's single letter drew two replies - one asking where he got his rose tinted specs from, and the other pointing out that various watchdogs have given the council very bad reports on many fronts, and asking "to be honest, are you as good as you make out?" Doubtless, Councillor Newell will be tempted to respond, but we would caution against it. His attempt to treat the electors as fools is rebounding. These letters are from ordinary people who refuse to have the wool pulled over their eyes. And let's not forget for everyone who expresses an opinion in a letter to the editor, there are probably hundreds of other who feel the same but can't be bothered to write. If the BBI cannot do the job, it should keep its head down, and hope as few people as possible notice rather than dabble unsuccessfully in the black art of spin.
Post not haste ... Talking of this sort of thing, we paid a visit to the letters to the editor section of the Boston Standard website the other day, and were surprised to find no entries later than last autumn. How about an update so that the letters page is more of a current chamber of debate and less of a tour of the Dead Sea scrolls?
Let's hear it then ... It's now two weeks since Lib Dem wannabe Mike Sheridan-Shinn announced that he had identified the writer(s) of Boston Eye, and offered a reward to anyone who could guess. He challenged us to "out" ourselves - or he would. We'll, we're not going to Mike, so we think it's time to put up or shut up, before you make yourself look a bit silly. Incidentally, if correctly identified, we will cease blogging immediately - so there's a challenge!
You can write to us at boston.eye@googlemail.com Your e-mails will be treated in confidence and published anonymously if requested.
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