I am a child of the 1980s. Sadly this means my memories of disco balls, blue mascara and backcombing are relatively limited.

However, there is one thing that continues to haunt me from this era.

No, it’s not pictures of me sporting a Frankie Says Relax t-shirt; it’s the tune to Dead or Alive's immortal track ‘You Spin Me Round’.

The psychedelic hit is the indisputable king of the ear worm, the song that refuses to budge out of your head until it has driven you mad – an incessant loop that drives you loopy.

After months of being free from all memories of Pete Burns’ pouty vocals, the tune muscled its way back into my mind this past week. And that was as I was discussing the setting of Brighton and Hove City Council's budget.

See, like the track in my head, it seems like this annual process is just going round and round and round without any real conclusion.

For the past three years, the ruling Green minority administration has defied Whitehall and recommended a council tax rise above the Government threshold.

For the past three years, the Conservatives in opposition have advocated a freeze in the rates. And also for the last three years, the third biggest party, Labour, have been somewhere in the middle.

On to 2015 – and guess what? The political waltz continues – with no one wanting to break out from the routine and do something different.

So everyone keeps on turning until the music stops – that being the Thursday evening in late February when senior council officers tell the politicians they must set a legal budget.

If they do not, then the portly Eric Pickles will come down to the seafront and decide on how the money will be spent himself.

This fearful threat of a belt-tightening Conservative rolling into town is normally enough to get our city’s politicians to come to some form of agreement.

However, there is a slight discord this time around.

On paper, the ruling Greens say they want a 5.9% council tax rise, claiming there’s no other way to keep funding vital services such as children’s centres.

However, in order to get the extra money, they will have to win approval through a city-wide referendum, which costs £750,000.

And the betting man in all of us would say when you ask people if they want to pay more for stuff, they tend to say no.

That’s why some members of the group realise that is not possible and are preparing themselves an amended proposal with a lower rate.

Then there’s the Conservatives – the second biggest party – which is divided by those who want to freeze and a small number who believe in withdrawing from budget talks all together to trigger a referendum.

Then there’s Labour, which advocates a 2% rise. But behind the scenes some have suggested that a referendum wouldn’t be the worst result.

It is a true Mexican standoff with guns pointing in all directions – with no one wanting to budge for fear of appearing weak just a few months away from the election. But what if we finally break from this Dead or Alive cycle of going round and round?

What if our politicians acted like true Mexicans and spiced things up a little bit?

After all, there’s no guarantee that an agreement will be reached when all 54 councillors sit down on February 26 with the sole aim of agreeing a budget.

I say if those people elected can’t make up their minds then surely it’s time to let the people decide. Let’s trigger a referendum. It can be held on the same day as the local and national elections.

And whichever way people vote, we can finally put an end to this turgid cycle which, quite frankly, even those who are taking part in are getting bored of.

Having a vote on a single issue north of the border showed that politics can be engaging, important, even sexy – and although images of Labour leader Ed Miliband eating a bacon sarnie have disproven the latter for some, democracy can matter.

And in a year when we have the most hotly anticipated election for a generation as well as a local election to determine our city’s future for the next decade, surely this is the time to have it.

No other city has been brave enough to take on the Government over the council tax cap they introduced Why shouldn’t it be Brighton and Hove?

If the city says yes, then extra funding will be secured to keep certain public services running for at least another year.

If the city says no, then no one can moan about the ‘Government cuts’ to X, Y and Z.

After all, someone, somewhere has to make a decision – otherwise the fallout will be brutal. It’s not quite a case of being Dead or Alive.

But the fear of being spun right round time and time again is that soon the important stuff goes out of focus. And I am a little sick of feeling like that.

 

• Planners go totally potty
Totally potty – that was the consensus from most after the placing of plant containers as make-shift traffic-calming measures in Brighton’s Viaduct Road.
The city council claimed it was to remind people that it was a residential street.
But surely they could have done that without blocking half a lane on the carriageway.
What’s worse is that they seem to be full of dead plants – so not only is it dangerous but it's also damned ugly.

 

• It’s wheelie patronising
Now, last week Labour’s pink mini bus aimed at wooing female voters received plenty of scorn from commentators.
Apparently the project led by deputy Labour leader Harriet Harman was patronising to the fairer sex. But did anyone expect anything less?