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October 2025 | Phonebox Magazine 51See you next month!Dave%u2026 The Big Olney Food Festival (BOFF) 2025 is done and dusted %u2013 and what an outstanding success it was. Despite misgivings from a minority, Olney Town Council backed it to continue, and the whole thing went without a hitch.The only real issue? Parking. But that comes with success. It%u2019s worth remembering that while the Market Place looks like a car park, it isn%u2019t one. It%u2019s a town square that, when not in use, is allowed to be used for cars. By my reckoning it hosts market activity 67 days a year (weekly market, farmers%u2019 market, Dickens, BOFF, Pancake Day) and is a car park the other 298 days. Not a bad deal. That%u2019s the success story.And the Failure%u2026The failure of the month must be the current government. Fourteen months into their term %u2013 after promising openness and honesty %u2013 it has all but collapsed under the weight of scandal.The roll call of shame includes:%u2022%u2005 Lord Alli%u2019s freebies %u2013 clothes, spectacles, accommodation and a Downing Street knees-up for donors.%u2022%u2005 Mike Amesbury MP %u2013 caught punching a constituent on CCTV. Resigned. Reform took the seat%u2026 by six votes.%u2022%u2005 Rushanara Ali %u2013 Housing Minister who evicted tenants, then re-let at a higher rent while championing the Tenant Fees Act.%u2022%u2005 Andrew Gwynne %u2013 Health Minister who texted that he hoped a pensioner who opposed him would %u201cdie before the next election.%u201d%u2022%u2005 Paul Ovenden %u2013 resigned after sending vile sexual messages about fellow MP Diane Abbott.%u2022%u2005 Tulip Siddiq %u2013 Anti-corruption Minister. Resigned. Arrest warrant issued. For corruption. Delicious.And those are just the names you%u2019d struggle to recognise.The Big Beasts FallAngela Rayner, Deputy PM, was caught avoiding %u00a340,000 in stamp duty on a second home. Cue the teary TV appearance %u2013 but anyone can weep when they%u2019ve been caught.And then, the pi%u00e8ce de r%u00e9sistance: Peter Mandelson.%u2022%u2005 Sacked in 1998 for fi nancial skulduggery.%u2022%u2005 Resigned in 2001 for pushing passport applications for the rich.%u2022%u2005 Slipped back into government via a crafty peerage.%u2022%u2005 Spent time as an EU Commissioner (unelected, naturally).%u2022%u2005 And, in December 2024, appointed by Keir Starmer as Ambassador to the United States.He lasted 213 days before being politely told to %u2018leave the building%u2019 due to his well-known ties to Jeff rey Epstein. Everyone knew %u2013 apart from, apparently, the Prime Minister.Meanwhile, Labour in Power%u2026While this circus was running, Labour also:%u2022%u2005 Tried to cut winter fuel allowance for the elderly.%u2022%u2005 Panicked disabled people with threats to benefi ts.%u2022%u2005 Raised National Insurance, hurting small businesses.%u2022%u2005 Put VAT on private school fees without helping comprehensives, now taking extra pupils.%u2022%u2005 Floated inheritance tax hikes for farmers.%u2022%u2005 And are now eyeing tax on your main residence when you sell.Not quite what the electorate thought they were voting for.Who Next?The Tories are dead in the water. Labour may change leader after the May elections %u2013 but to who? David Lammy (Mastermind fans will enjoy that one)? Andy Burnham, if they can get him back into Parliament?Reform will scoop seats. Lib Dems will pick up a fair share, unless Sir Ed Davey decides to fi re himself out of a circus cannon. The Greens might manage a few, if voters can forget their leader once claimed he could enlarge breasts with hypnosis (does it work for willies, I hear you cry?). Even Corbyn%u2019s crew may nick one or two.Most likely? A hung parliament %u2013 all parties united only in keeping Nigel Farage out, while nothing much gets done. Which, frankly, could be the best possible outcome.Bring on May 2026, and let%u2019s see what odds the bookies are off ering.SEPTEMBER 2025:SUCCESS AND FAILURE!