The best and worst of... Small market town... Big issues...
(And no that is not the real council's crest, this one even has 3 roast chickens on it)
The best and worst of... Small market town... Big issues...
(And no that is not the real council's crest, this one even has 3 roast chickens on it)
16th July 2024
Politics (Sorry! That damn word again) as we know is something that doesn’t have any place on a Town Council. Wait, before we begin, if any councillor would like to counter that by pointing out a list of all the agenda items in the past year that require a political viewpoint and perspective then please write in to:
Huff & Puff House,
I-Beg-To-Differ Street,
Ross-on-Wye
HR9 TUT
So, if political party politics don’t matter why is it that when votes happen, councillors of certain parties seem to stick together? It does happen. Of course it does, and not just in Ross (…umm, but it does seem to happen in Ross). Could political influence ever override independent thinking of what’s best for the town?
Of course we used to be able to see which councillors voted on what each time, because votes used to require eager hands to go up in the air - you know, a bit like in a classroom when the teacher says “who’d like the toilet before getting on the bus?”.
Sadly all that changed a while back here in Ross-on-Wye, when the Lib Dems (who have a majority) put forward a motion that when a vote is going to happen it can happen on iddy biddy secret bits of paper. Then immediately they voted that method in.
With this new method available on demand, surprise surprise when only minutes later in the very same meeting it stopped the public from being able to know who voted for which candidate when a new councillor was being chosen.
Now, It was ever so odd you know, but would you believe it a Lib Dem candidate got the position, and this despite a clearly much more experienced candidate standing who wasn’t a Lib Dem. Oh well, life goes on and it is only a Town Council after all.
Mr Whippy? “I thought I was going to be reading about ice cream”, is what you might be thinking…. but alas no ice cream…
There is no official Party Whip in a town council of course. (yes, broken record time, politics has no place in a town council), but let’s imagine for a moment there is one for a bit of fun!
Ooooooo…. who would be the Party Whip, the Mr Whippy that ensures that our often proclaimed “Lib Dem controlled council” with their majority count of councillors vote together? Or, is it pure coincidence they so often do seem to do it?
If there were one, would the real Mr Whippy please stand up, please stand up, please stand up?
So for a bit of fun, and in the style of the intro of 1970s kids cartoon favourite Hong Kong Fooey (watch here retro fans)
Who is this superhero?
Cllr Don Quixote, the window cleaner? No?
Cllr Raquel Stretchfeel™, the shop assistant? No?
Cllr Vladimir Putting, the hotel porter? No?
Cllr Kristian Ratbum? The mild-mannered retired gentleman? ….DAMN, the video cut off.
Oh come on, don’t you lot have TikTok videos to watch or bingo to go to anyway?
*All characters are fictitious, any resemblance to any persons living or dead, is coincidental, innit.
*Stretchfeel does sound like a trademark doesn’t it? Jeggins or something?
*Hong Kong Fooey is definitely real, a crime fighter featured in documentaries by Hanna-Barbera Productions.
*A non-dairy version of this article is available upon request