General Discussion

Lies, damned lies and the Mayor of Dawlish, the Reverend Doctor Tom Bush


You might, said Carlyle, prove anything with figures. This is a notion to which Dr Bush clearly subscribes. Whether he has proved anything, or simply revealed a cavalier disregard for the truth, is another matter.
On March 14, Dr Bush was quoted in the Dawlish Gazette – in an article that clearly emanated from the Manor House __ to the effect that the council had spent nearly £3,000 “pandering to the needs” of one individual. What, precisely, did Dr Bush –- a man of the cloth – mean by this? Did he mean that the council had set up a municipal brothel and had provided a free pass to the individual concerned? Or had the council merely arranged for a lady with a whip to visit him at home? Whatever he meant, Dr Bush’s remarks clearly had more in common with Hilaire Belloc’s poem about Matilda –-
a young lady told such dreadful lies,
it made one gasp and stretch one’s eyes
than with the truth.

It was, in fact, a statistical flight of fancy, playing with figures that can be found in the council’s accounts. The boring old facts are that, far from supporting Miss Whiplash, the £3,000 refers to fees levied by the Audit Commission for conducting a four-month enquiry into the council’s spending on CCTV. The Commission was not very happy about what it uncovered – or failed to uncover because of the sloppy manner in which the council had gone about spending £80,000 of taxpayers money on CCTV. Moreover, despite Dr Bush’s assertion that the council had done nothing illegal, the Commission made it clear that electors can challenge the expenditure on the grounds that it might be illegal.
Voters who feel that the council may be trying to throw sand in there eyes –- perish the thought! – should lodge an objection to the accounts with the District Auditor. Then we shall see how Miss Whiplash deals with the Reverend Doctor Tom Bush.

We all know that Bush (mayor)has lied many times in the local paper, but he seems to get away with every time, but as they say 'what goes around comes around' soon I hope

With so many people looking at Miss Whiplash, Some are suprised that there have been no negative comments. Could that be a pointer?

The Daily Mail reports (March 26) that "experts have called for a halt to the spread of CCTV cameras".
Trust Dawlish to jump on the bandwagon just when the wheels are falling off.
Cautionary note to all who read this.
You will note that all the cameras are placed in positions of maximum veiwing of the traffic.
DON'T EVER BREAK THE LAW WHEN IT COMES TO MOTORING OFFENCES. The motorist is a "cash cow", and this council will empty your pockets faster that a deer can make love.

You got it Ben Hur its a pity everybody else is alseep

hey jam buster if you dont like the way the council is run you know what you can do no not join the councill bugger off back abroad do you actually have a job cos you seem to spend a lot of time on here moaning about the council

You seem to spend a lot of time on it yourself IDIOT and by the way what is the following supposed to mean "you can do no not join" makes as much sense as your pathetic comments.