Opinion

The Mayor of Boston in Lincolnshire was recently called to step down from his role following allegations over potentially offensive comments he made on his private Facebook page. Many readers have since questioned how something posted privately could be used against someone in public office. So we asked PR and Marketing firm and social media experts Shooting Star, based in Lincoln, for their thoughts.

2017 has been for me a year of contrasts, with the media narrative that we are all doomed because of Brexit, making me reach for the off button compared to the hugely impressive scale of development that was on show when I led a trade mission to Hunan in October.

Parliament sits late this year, and increasingly most nights, finally rising for recess on the Thursday before Christmas.

It is always surprising, when you look back over 12 months, to see how much has happened. We quickly move on to deal with the next important matter and past victories can quickly fade from the memory.

The last snippet of ticker tape had barely fluttered to the floor following England’s second World Cup success in a year than the nay-saying began.

A few weeks ago I mentioned my concern that the additional money Boston residents have to pay to the Town Area Committee via their council tax was being used by the council for events that were not truly ‘town resident-only’ based.

Have you seen a seal? They really are one of our most engaging animals, with their big brown eyes and sometimes almost human mannerisms.

With the NHS turning the grand age of 69 last week, it seems only right we should give a (slightly belated) nod to its birthday.

Nobody can pretend that the election produced the result the Conservatives wanted – but now more than ever we need a united government that focuses solely on the task of getting Brexit done.

Today (Friday) is exactly one year since the European Union Referendum. To mark the occasion, The Standard asked Boston and Skegness MP Matt Warman to give his thoughts on Brexit and it’s progress since June 23, 2016 when the country voted to leave the Union.

Although it is only a month since my last column, it has certainly proved to be a very eventful one.

A couple of years ago there was a national poll to discover which bird was felt by the public to best represent the UK. Maybe no real surprise, the robin won, but did you see which bird came second? It was the barn owl.

Summer is just about poking its nose through the door and venturing out into the sunshine. After teasing us with mid-twenties temperatures back at the start of April, summer has been slow in coming. After an arid month, last week saw parts of Lincolnshire as the wettest place in the country. Hardly the weather to inspire the summer kitchen.

A lot of employers acknowledge the work employees do and want to reimburse them for their time in order to maintain a good working relationship. However, there are many misconceptions amongst employers when it comes to Income Tax and National Insurance on expenses and benefits provided to employees.

Do you ever get the feeling the county council is doing its best to ruin Boston completely? Funnily enough, at the height of the recent election, and no doubt hoping the new ‘rules’ wouldn’t be noticed in all the excitement(!), it was announced there were to be simpler rules for parking in the Market Place.

Following last weekend’s cyber attack on health services, which affected systems across United Lincolnshire Hospital’s Trust, the chief executive Jan Sobieraj has written a letter of thanks.

We are four weeks into a seemingly never ending General Election campaign, one which is only creating excitement among avid players of political bingo.

I felt mixed emotions when Prince Harry recently spoke out about seeking help to deal with the grief and trauma of losing his mother as a child, 20 years after her death.

Well, the people have voted; or have they? The county council elections have given the ‘blues’ more or less a complete mandate to do whatever they like in the county and with Bostonians taking to the polls in their hordes (about 30%) it seems that despite getting very little service from Lincoln, no one really cares.