Sunday, May 20, 2018

Top Ten Things Overheard On Swindon's Buses Last Week ; 419

Click here for the original at this brilliant idea, here's our own version for Swindon's buses from last week.

10. It's a surge of a kind.

9. That's not a noise, that's a whimper.

8. It's a peak and I think no.

7. Charges are going to be brought you know.

6. A pasty that heats itself up, that's the future.

5. Malcom keeps his pants on even in the shower.

4. If I give him a packet of crisps he keeps quiet for the morning.

3. The prosecco went flat, but it tasted better.

2. That Sharon needs to be more subtle when it comes to her wedding hats.

And the number one overheard phrase on Swindon's buses from last week is...

1. The fact of the matter is, he doesn't believe in his children.

Overheard something we've missed? Then let us know.

Sunday, May 13, 2018

Top Ten Things Overheard On Swindon's Buses Last Week ; 418

Click here for the original at this brilliant idea, here's our own version for Swindon's buses from last week.

10. You totally ruined the mood with your choice of shoes.

9. It's his birthday, I swear he has two a year.

8. The garden rake has gone walks again, I shall have to speak to my mother.

7. This is the way the world is now, or at least at the moment.

6. In 1976 I lost the end of my middle finger, look.

5. My book would be all about my shameful attitude towards dark chocolate.

4. Hopefully he won't turn up to the wedding dressed in a Nazi outfit.

3. Never been good at figures, I think it stems from having a calculator on my phone.

2. If we all go to protest it'd terrify the living daylights out of them.

And the number one overheard phrase on Swindon's buses from last week is...

1. I don't want to be married to a supermodel, I want to be married to you.

Overheard something we've missed? Then let us know.

Sunday, May 06, 2018

Top Ten Things Overheard On Swindon's Buses Last Week ; 417

Click here for the original at this brilliant idea, here's our own version for Swindon's buses from last week.

10. He really went out of his way to be helpful.

9. Jess was lovely, but she put on her coat and things started to turn.

8. You can do my job and we'll see just how much you really know.

7. It's named after that latch we had in the kitchen.

6. There was nowhere to park, so we didn't bother going in.

5. There was a chicken curry but it tasted like cake.

4. It wasn't stolen, it was left behind and they never came back for it.

3. I popped in and everyone was in, so I stayed and we had a great old time.

2. Didn't he turn up at her leaving do bragging about his decking?

And the number one overheard phrase on Swindon's buses from last week is...

1. You can't get much lower than me.

Overheard something we've missed? Then let us know.

Friday, May 04, 2018

Swindon Election - Within a Hair's Breadth

Labour came within touching distance of taking control of Swindon Borough Council last night, but it was no cigar for the reds.

They did claim a significant piece of turf, taking another seat in the Eastcott ward, out of an area the Lib Dems often claim to be their Swindon home (that home now very small, a bedsit room in an Eastcott HMO probably).

But the yellow's did win in Wroughton & Wichelstowe from the Conservatives, showing that the retired, wealthy blue voters over the M4 can't always be relied upon.

So there is now a one seat Tory majority Swindon Borough Council. Full results here.

Labour will now be pinning their hopes on a by-election that they can gain a seat and the council by.

Any families or gardens out there that need to have more time spent with them?

Anyone?

Wednesday, May 02, 2018

Swindon Election : The Tory Legacy - The Monetisation of Swindon

If the Tories lose their majority on Swindon Borough Council tomorrow it'll mark the passing of an era that's a microcosm of Conservative national policy on one location.

Ultimately it'll mark the passing of the era that shifted from a full-service local authority to the tendering-out of much of it's function, then as the financial crisis started to bite the spinning-off of various remaining parts in an effort to make them profit-centres for SBC. Realising that was impossible for most parts and the cost of bringing them back in house and the final incarnation, an SBC cut back to beyond the bone, with vital bits missing, operating barely with minimal or no financial support and an entire absence of experience and knowledge from it's senior officers.

It saw a body of politicians so out of touch with it's own electorate (scared? Probably) that it imposed a new level of local bureaucracy (parish councils) to offload services and itemise the parish precept to them with explaining it away with "you're paying more because there's a parish now" despite the idiocy of many Borough councillors also now being Parish councillors at the same time.

The loss of economies of scale in contracting, purchasing and administration mean you are paying more and you are getting less, be in no doubt. This advert shows nearly £26,000 for a deputy parish clerk in one parish, plus they'll need an office, a PC, printer/photocopier, a website, I.T. support...

That's not even mentioning wringing cash out of Thamesdown Transport in the good years, then turning face and saying it was responsible when councillors chose to cut bus subsidy to lightly-used routes that could never be commercially run. Then of course selling it off in the end.

Then there's the £400,000 they gave to a businessman and we never saw again, the closure of Sure Start Centres, the axe swung in Dial-a-Ride's direction, the shock-doctrine threatened closure of all the town's libraries (except one), the Lydiard Park cock-up but the continued subsidy to Steam, the sacrifice of land around Coate Water, the roads to nowhere for a decade at Wichelstowe, the privatisation of Swindon Commercial Services (then that being reversed), the spinning-off of adult social care (SEQOL), the bizarre situation where they sponsored the town's half marathon, then it's return to council ownership, and on and on and on.

None of the above was inevitable, councillors get to choose what happens when they run a town, the choices may be limited in some situations, but they still exist.

Swindon has a choice tomorrow, we can choose to have a town with a council who's officers and politicians truly are the servants of the people. Or we can carry on like this.

The choice is ours.