Nonsenses Working Overtime

Inconsistent, contradictory and patronising. No, it's not Swindon Borough Council's new mission statement, but it's apparent application of the guidelines regarding the mourning period for The Queen.

Just two days before, the XTC convention booked well in advance at the Steam Museum was cancelled by SBC due to it's inappropriateness in light of the death of The Queen. The organisers then scrambled for alternative venues. 

However, the previous weekend, less than a day and a half after the death announcement, the Swindon Railway Festival, which regularly attracts thousands of people and likely brings in a chunk of the annual Steam revenue, went ahead as advertised. 

So what made the Festival less objectionable in the mourning period than the Convention? It would look to be the poor interpretation of the guidelines by SBC. In their press statement they mention the playing of live and recorded music and other events with the same being cancelled. But the guidelines only mention these events being reconsidered on the day of the funeral itself, if music is featured. 

The outcome of all this is a contradictory and inconsistent impression being given of those who govern Swindon. The input of councillors and officers to the decisions on which events went ahead and those that didn't remains to be determined, most likely it was a combination of both that led to this fudge. 

Did the Council receive an avalanche of complaints about the inappropriateness of the Festival going ahead? Doubtful. Did the commercial revenue expected from one large event going ahead and one smaller one not figure in their decision-making? Who knows.

Swindon needs councillors and officers in charge who make decisions rooted in equal parts common sense and consistency. Clearly neither were present when they got into a spin reading a simple gov.uk page that they still interpreted inconsistently. 

The Mayors of Simpleton, clearly.