Giving the LI to independence

If an examination candidate was given a blank piece of paper and an hour to list the achievements of the Boston Bypass Independents, most observers of the local political scene would expect that when the paper was handed in it would still be … blank.
Not so, apparently.
A draft list apparently intended for inclusion in the December Newsletter of the Lincolnshire Independents – the County Council group led by Councillor Marianne Overton – goes on … and on … and on.
Admitting that the BBI’s rise to power “was the first time a newly formed party consisting of members with little or no district council experience took control” the writer at least has the decency to acknowledge that the party’s achievements have been made “in association with our partners.”
However, as the list expands, the claims become increasingly nebulous.
“There has been vigorous promotion for a bypass for Boston. Our dramatic election victory immediately achieved this. It has been promoted in several other ways including a parliamentary debate. In association with Lincolnshire County Council we have promoted traffic flow improvements through Boston on the existing main roads.”
It’s not exactly the bypass we were promised, and the subsequent booby prize of a “distributor road” now looks no more than pie in the sky due to government cuts.
Again, the claim of “more cycle tracks in the Borough” and the promise of more to come is little consolation to voters who elected the BBI on the single issue of a bypass for Boston.
As we said, the list is long, and claims credit for just about everything except the sunrise over Boston every morning.
But what we can’t understand is why the Boston Bypass Independents are hitching a lift on the Lincolnshire Independents wagon.
The group’s claim to individual independence was given the lie when one politician who recently parted company with them complained that the “independent” group had formed a shadow cabinet as the official opposition to the Conservative administration.
And the eerie association between the BBI and LI continues in the draft newsletter itself which in its lead item headed “Achievements” goes on to congratulate BBI leader Councillor Richard and his team “for the fantastic success turning round Boston Borough Council from a small unviable business to one of the most improved councils in England, with a clean bill of health at the recent inspection.”
Councillor Austin was, or course, briefly a member of the Lincolnshire Independents, which boasts only seven members and is a county council group - but his association ended when voters booted him off Lincolnshire County Council on 4th June.
So where does the BBI really stand?
Is it an independent party representing Boston, or an offshoot of a smaller county council group?
Despite the claims of independence and an absence of whipped votes, the evidence increasingly points to the contrary.

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