Rowland Taylor's Ghost: Greens and Has beens
By Guest
29th Apr 2022 | Opinion
I don't know about you, but I'm having a spot of bother with the Greens.
No, not a reflux reaction to under-cooked broccoli. Rather, the manner in which the Hadleigh branch of said political party is using supposedly neutral organisations to further its ambitions.
The Taylor family was almost giddy with indifference at recently receiving a copy of Green View, the party's newsheet. But then, on closer inspection, I noticed that not only does it extol the views and agitations of its various activists, it also carries articles about both the Hadleigh Environmental Action Team (HEAT) and St. Mary's School. I think there is a worrying blurring going on here.
I presume the Greens have sought and obtained the permission of the school's headteacher. Perhaps I'm wrong. If so, I'd suggest an apology is offered to him.
In terms of HEAT, the impression created from its inclusion is that it is actually a front organisation for the Greens, whilst I'd previously assumed was determinedly non-party political.
Older readers will recall the swivel-eyed Trots who infiltrated the Labour movement in various guises - to much chaos - in the 1980s.
Are the Greens up to similar shenanigans? I think we should be told.
And now onto the Has-beens.
"I have set my rainbow in the clouds, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and the earth." (Genesis 9:13) Portentous stuff, uh?
As everyone except, perhaps, the rising generation of young know-nothings who are no longer 'churched', will doubtless deduce, this passage from the Bible describes God's peace offering to Noah after His efforts at a little light genocide.
Rainbows have been in the local news quite a bit in recent days with the formation of a brand new Babergh cabinet fronted by a brand old leader. Yes, Generalissimo Ward is back - to where he started,
The once and present council leader has finally listened to the sage advice of yours truly.
In a previous column, I went all Lynton Crosby and suggested that he sort out the troublesome pols in his cabinet, in particular fellow Tories Queenie Dawson and Toad Barrett.
I also opined that a rainbow coalition might well be a necessity to bypass their bile.
Well, didn't Generalissimo do well? Admittedly he didn't discipline the disruptive duo as a proper, butch capo di tutti capi would do. Rather, he ran away.
I mean he tactically left them to be the disciplinarians in their own party, as he hoofed off with three councillors to re-form the Independent Conservative group. And in so doing he went all buddy-buddy with the Independents and the Lib Dem chappy who had just resigned from his initial cabinet and brought them a bottle of Tizer, gave each and everyone a peck on the cheek to say soz and offered them places on Ward World Mk II.
And he backtracked on his earlier refusal to play nicely with the Greens and gave them a place at the table, albeit one some way away from his own imperial throne.
Sadly, this game of musical chairs meant that Revd Editor Derek Davis, whom Generalissimo sacked at the request of his now worst enemies, Queenie and Toad, is still politically without portfolio or a proper political job commensurate with his abilities. Ho hum. At least this'll give Fr. Derek more time to grapple with my unruly subordinate clauses and perfect my use of prepositions.
But what are the wider implications of this charivari?
Firstly and ironically, we're probably in the final days of Generalissimo's rule. With elections only a year away and cut off from his Blues, even those who gave him the blues, it is unlikely that he'd be allowed to be - or would want to be - the grand fromage for another four years. He looks and sounds tired. He deserves a peaceful retirement.
Secondly, the rump Tory group will probably go into mean mother mode and oppose each and every initiative just for electoral brownie points. This'll be both fun and frustrating.
Thirdly, short-term car parking charges are back on the agenda. And I lay the blame firmly at the feet of Queenie.
Having achieved a brief hiatus in their imposition, a smart and savvy councillor would have tried to build support for their despatch into the proverbial long grass.
Not Queenie. Losing allies and friends even more quickly than Vlad the Bad, she managed to alienate councillors, officers and constituents through a combination of inaccurate public statements, misplaced grandiosity and promises to do things with 'her' budget (she didn't have one) and her unsympathetic treatment of Hadleigh folk, such as those behind the Fresh Start charity.
And now she is out of the cabinet and might well find herself out of her seat as well.
After all, according to her Facebook page, Queenie has 38 'friends' (not sure if that's a big or small number as I only use Faithbook), and that includes the likes of Bolter Ferguson, Footsie Grutchfield and Toad Barrett. With friends like that..........no wonder she's in such a pickle.
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