28 March 2025
Bedford Ian has been looking at recent goings on across Bedford Borough and has told us what he thinks of it all.
Royden’s robots
Concerns about digital and media literacy at Borough Hall continue to grow.
While some councillors appear to have zero media literacy skills (and probably still think ‘fake news’ just means stories they don’t like), another now seems to be acting like someone’s mum sharing an email from that Nigerian prince with all that cash.
At the Environment and Sustainable Communities Overview and Scrutiny Committee on 20 March, cllr Nicola Gribble (Independent, Renhold and Ravensden) was forced to defend the relationship between the council and local bus operators.
Read: Council says bus operator issues are “complete rubbish”
You see, cllr Royden (Lib Dem, Brickhill) had said he heard that relationships with Grant Palmer and Stagecoach were struggling because… wait for it… he asked AI and that’s what AI told him.
“I actually entered into AI what’s going on here and AI was quite up front about it. There’s the controversies that are going on, so it’s out there on the internet,” he said.
While we don’t know which AI tool cllr Royden used, we thought we’d ask ChatGPT what it thought about an elected official using AI to make a case in an argument.
‘AI – especially general tools like ChatGPT – can sound confident even when they’re wrong. Using them to confirm or deny facts in a public forum gives them undue authority. If unchecked, this risks spreading misinformation or oversimplifying complex issues,’ it said.
ChatGPT even managed to paint an honest picture for those who believe what it tells them. ‘In a council setting, where decisions affect thousands of residents, citing AI as a neutral arbiter can come across as careless…,’ it said.
Communication with transport operators or council officers was reportedly available but tragically overlooked in favour of a quick chat with a robot known mostly for writing poems about cats and dodgy cover letters
We have since heard that ChatGPT’s learning algorithms have convinced it to now consider running as a local councillor, having already shown promise in handling blame, repeating vague assurances, and avoiding eye contact in meetings.
Finance fiasco?
Just this morning, we learnt that outside help is needed to tell the Mayor and his executive if they’re doing all they can to protect Bedford Borough’s finances.
Read: Mayor brings in former council crisis chief to help Bedford Borough face funding challenges
Now, to be fair to the Mayor, there’s nothing wrong with getting an expert to come in to do a review and advise upon what’s going well and what needs to be done better. The private sector does it all the time.
And, if you’re going to get anyone to come in and be thorough and honest about how you might be messing up council finances, Theresa Grant OBE is the right person to call.
But, it’s also fair to say it’s got people worried.
Lib Dem cllr Michael Headley (Putnoe), shadow portfolio holder for finance (not a real title, but it’s sort of what he is), has already taken to social media to express his concerns.
‘We have been warning for a long time that the Mayor has lost control of the council finances. Now he has had to bring in a “former council crisis chief” to help. Someone who dealt with crisis hit Northamptonshire – which was bankrupt and ultimately abolished,’ he wrote.
So, is Grant the first horse[wo]man of Bedford’s political apocalypse, or is this just a sensible move to prevent an issue before it becomes one?
After all, in the media release announcing her involvement, the mayor said he “will be writing to the Government, urging them to increase support for Bedford Council and its residents”.
I guess we’ll have to see what support that will be. More money or taking over?
Testosterone triggered
It wasn’t exactly a surprise that an opinion piece from one of our editors was going to attract moans from some people (they usually do), but the irony of who was moaning the most this time won’t be lost on anyone (and will hardly be a surprise either).
Writing about the Netflix TV show Adolescence (watch it if you haven’t already) and former England football manager Sir Gareth Southgate’s Richard Dimbleby Lecture (listen to it if you haven’t already), Paul Hutchinson argued the point that men need to step up to support boys.
Read: Southgate is right, and it’s up to men to help our boys reject the Manosphere
His argument is, in agreement with Southgate and as highlighted by Adolescence, that if responsible men don’t listen to the concerns of young boys and support them as positive role models, then those sinister characters in the manosphere will fill the void.
Boy, did some people miss the point.
One ‘geezer-bloke’ who was triggered by it all ranted that this was ‘demonizing masculinity’ and ‘guilt tripping’ boys. They even went so far as to claim it was an attack on ‘white boys’ – which says it all.
Despite claiming they had ‘read the full piece, every word’, it’s clear they didn’t or, at the very least, they didn’t take it all in. This is a shame, as it’s middle-aged men (whatever their skin colour) who are needed to help with this growing and concerning issue the most.
Maybe if these ‘geezers’ didn’t see everything as an attack on them all the time, I’m sure the response would have been different.
As social media creator, Danny Price said: “It was inevitable that the ‘not all men’ lot would eventually rebrand to the ‘not white men’ lot.”.
Comedian Elliot Steel took this a step further, commenting, “If you watch Adolescence and screamed that it has been made as propaganda against white people, you are so indoctrinated in the culture war you cannot be saved”.
Let’s hope he’s wrong.
Bedford backchannels
It seems it’s not just the Trump administration inviting journalists into their group chats. A text to one of our editors this week invited them to join a school’s confidential governor messaging group chat on Signal.
We’re sure they were joking. If not, I’ll let you know if any juicy gossip turns up.
In the meantime, I look forward to being invited to these ‘secret’ Bedford signal chat groups that may or may not exist.
- Mayoral plotting – Where local political parties drop emojis in response to planning decisions and try to predict when the Mayor will appear for another photo opp.
- River Festival revamp – A chaotic blend of council officers, local traders, and musicians arguing over whether Jet Boots Bob has ‘still got it’.
- We Are Bedford (but secret) – A spin-off of the public group, where the admins discuss whether banning ‘air fryer chat’ was too harsh.
- Wixams conspiracy theorists – Passionate debates over whether Wixams is actually in Bedford Borough or a simulation created by Central Beds.
- Real Bedford Ultra Ultras – For the fans so hardcore, even Rob Sinclair isn’t allowed in.
See you soon, Bedford Ian.
PS: If you see anything Bedford Ian might find amusing, let us know at news@BedfordIndependent.co.uk.
