Come back Barbara, all is forgiven

Has temporary council leader Simon Cook done it again? *

After the very public embarrassment of getting it totally wrong in his pronouncements about the Ashton Vale Town Green and the stadium project, our stand-in leader seems to be doing the same in the aftermath of the European Green Capital decisions.

The Post reported “ Mr Cook immediately announced that the council would back a repeat of this year's Big Green Week of environmental events, put together in support of the green capital bid, for 2013.

But the city will not enter the competition for the 2015 European award, which has already opened.”

Meanwhile, back in Bristol's Green Capital Partnership office, manager Darren Hall is starting a public discussion on going for the 2015 award – suggesting that “entering for 2015 might make the issues unavoidable – keeping them high on prospective decision makers agenda for some years to come” .

It does look like Clifton East councillor Simon Cook was, once again, simply taking his own kneejerk view of how he would like things to be, and, without sounding anyone else out, presenting it as an absolute truth to the media. That's a bad habit for anybody. In the leader of a major city, it's unforgivable.

*  (added 28/7/2012)
Sure enough, the council has now confirmed that Bristol WILL go for the 2015 bid.    So even while Cllr Cook was putting his name forward as a would-be mayoral candidate, he was jumping the gun and getting it completely wrong.  Again.