On Friday the Lancashire Evening Post reported on the embarrassment felt by the Mayor of South Ribble at not having official robes.
It seems that five years ago it was none other than the great sage Prince Philip who, while on a visit to Preston, laid the foundation of this embarrassment by asking the then Mayor of South Ribble David Pownall "Why are you not wearing robes? Are you a pauper?"
Of course, as a commenter on the story at the LEP website suggested, the Mayor could have "proudly told the Prince that the council prefers to spend its money on actual services for ordinary people."
Given the notoriously gaffe-prone Prince Philip's other pearls of wisdom some of which are listed in the LEP article it is difficult to understand why the Conservatives have paid such heed to his words. Perhaps this kind of advisor is a sign of things to come.
More Prince Philip quotations can be seen here. A particular favourite must be this one:
"Everybody was saying we must have more leisure. Now they are complaining they are unemployed." -Prince Philip during the 1981 recession.
Nice one Phil! That was pretty much as sympathetic as the Conservative government at the time.
As it is the Diamond Wedding Anniversary of the Queen and her husband this week Ma'am really must be congratulated for 60 years!
However, on a more serious note, the spending priorities of the Conservatives at South Ribble are becoming all too apparent.
A £35,000 pledge just before the local elections for the Farington waste site Judicial Review which was unlikely to succeed, money for fancy new robes but a pittance for Home-Start who serve the disadvantaged in the local community.
That is something to be embarrassed about.
Find your Neighbourhood Police team 
