We are not a-moosed!

In his latest rant to the local papers, Boston Bypass Independent Councillor Ramonde Newell is trumpeting the news that the BBI has now been accepted by the Independent Network as an endorsed group, which in turn now has the power to endorse independent candidates locally, both into the BBI, and into the Independent Network.
“Recruitment of independents, in the true democratic sense of the word, has already begun,” he waffles, before lapsing into his customary rant about how marvellous the BBI is and how corrupt every other political party has become. You know the one we mean.
So what is the Independent Network?
It’s a non-profit organisation that provides support to candidates who are “not members of political parties.” Its supporters and endorsed candidates are asked to agree to the Bell Principles - a code of conduct for elected representatives formulated by Martin Bell OBE, and which includes among its aims:-
A: Abiding wholeheartedly by the spirit and letter of the Seven Principles of Public Life set out by Lord Nolan in 1995: selflessness, integrity, objectivity, accountability, openness, honesty and leadership.
B: Being free from the control of any political party, pressure group or whip.
C: Making decisions transparently and openly at every stage of the political process, enabling people to see how decisions are made and the evidence on which they are based.
D: Listening, and consulting our communities constantly and innovatively.
E: Treating political opponents with courtesy and respect, challenging them when we believe they are wrong, and agreeing with them when we believe they are right.
F: Resisting abuses of power and patronage and promote democracy at every level.
We don’t need to spell out chapter and verse of the number of occasions these praiseworthy aims have been abused by the BBI – anyone with a memory will have no trouble recalling countless occasions when these objectives above have not been met by the BBI.
We just have to remind ourselves that the BBI is a political party; that it ignores transparency in favour of an approach that takes decisions in secret and uses the cabinet structure to ride roughshod over both its own non-cabinet members and the combined opposition parties. And we have lost count of the number of times we have heard of the rude, arrogant and ignorant treatment of non BBI members by the leadership.
Things have come to a pretty pass when in the same week that Councillor Newell’s letter is published, there is another from Better Boston Group Councillor Anne Dorrian accusing the BBI of breaching the council’s constitution at full council meetings by using their block vote to stymie calls for a suspension of standing orders - thus preventing proper debate and discussion.
As no-one from the BBI has leaped forward to denounce Councillor Dorrian’s allegations, we assume that they accept them.
This makes Councillor Newell’s latest letter even more impudent than usual, and we hope that someone within the opposition groups take the opportunity to alert the Independent Network to the BBI’s pre-existing breaches of its code, and seek to get them thrown out as soon as possible.

You can write to us at boston.eye@googlemail.com  Your e-mails will be treated in confidence and published anonymously if requested.