Full council

I was recently asked whether I had tuned in to the webcast of last Thursday’s full council meeting. I have to say that I didn’t as at the time as I was in a team romping to victory in the pub quiz at the Castle (“The Shedheads” in honour of next season’s Rugby Premiership champions Gloucester!) but in any event it seems rather pointless enduring the whole thing now that I don’t have to when to review it after the event gives the option of fast forwarding! I have since had a look although would not pretend to have watched the whole thing and certainly lost interest when the camera seemed fixed on Cllr Moyies. Initial reactions were that the Tory team made an effective switch to opposition and teamed up well particularly on flood defences with some promising stuff from Cllrs Courtenay, Flewitt, Lamb, Garston, Salter and Holland in particular. I hope that we will see increasing input from some of the others who now have a great opportunity to concentrate on a couple of policy areas and make a name for themselves. It is amusing seeing the new cabinet members defending the official line which a few months ago they would have been criticising and it did remind me of a “Yes Minister” sketch at times. I thought Cllr Ann Jones coped well with some tricky questions but Cllr Terry needs to work on his technique. Answering questions as a portfolio holder in full council is not as easy as some members make it look and he gave the impression of still not having a grasp of his portfolio and rather resenting the audacity of opposition members questioning his position. Still early days so we will see how things develop.