Dear Editor,
On Thursday afternoon, myself and fellow Councillors received an ‘open letter’ from the current leader of B&NES Council, Cllr Kevin Guy. In it, he attacked the Prime Minister of the UK for his diabolical actions during lockdown and bullishly questioned Cllr Vic Pritchard, Leader of B&NES Conservative Group, on his own views regarding the revelations.
Despite agreeing with a lot of what Kevin had to say on the matter, as I think most residents would, I did argue via email that bending the rules to suit oneself must have resonated with him somewhat, which in turn made me draw parallels between both Kevin and our Prime Minister. Afterall, these are two men who deposed female leaders of far greater credibility and honesty than what either of them have displayed during their leaderships. To describe the open letter as the pot calling the kettle black, might just be the understatement of the century. Especially when you consider how awash Twitter is with accusations regarding the former Telford and Wrekin Councillor, some of which came up during a meeting of Full Council when he was first installed.
I really struggle to see how these so-called ‘leaders’ can stand on their respective pedestals and preach to us mere mortals, despite their very clear and unfortunate misgivings. I believe we now have a leader of our local authority who knows as much about Bath and North East Somerset as Boris knows about telling the truth. However, as Boris diminishes ever further into the gardens of Number 10, swallowing any pride he has left with a fresh G&T, it would seem we have a Council leader looking for his next promotion, but greed will imprison us all eventually…just ask Boris!
This latest episode of playground politics (shout out to the BBC Radio Somerset listeners reading this) between the Lib Dem’s and Tory’s reminds me of my Year 9 English class at Somervale School, and what Angus said of Macbeth in Act 5, Scene 2:
His secret murders sticking on his hands;
Now minutely revolts upbraid his faith-breach;
Those he commands move only in command,
Nothing in love. Now does he feel his title
Hang loose about him, like a giant’s robe
Upon a dwarfish thief.
Like Macbeth, neither Kevin or Boris are leaders because they are respected or admired by residents, they are simply diminished examples of what a leader should be, and as always, we all deserve far better than that.
Regards,
Grant Johnson
B&NES Labour Councillor for the ward of Paulton
B&NES Labour Group Chair
