Inevitably, my absence from blogging has meant I have missed the opportunity to comment on various things. I'm going to start with politics, get it out the way (I'm trying to find a way to categorise my posts by the way, so that people interested only in theology say, or politics, have an easy way to find posts on these topics - any help on how to do that on blogspot would be greatly appreciated).
Before I begin I would like to express my personal sympathy with each of the people involved in the events I'm going to be commenting on. I do not pretend that it has not been a difficult time for them and their families, and they have my sympathy as far as their personal life goes. But the purpose of this post is to comment on the honesty of MPs, our public servants: men and women who have put themselves up to enter public life.
What we have witnessed over the last few months has been a lot of lying and deliberate deception, in a ghastly attempt to cover up unsavoury behaviour. Over the last few weeks, I have even entertained the thought that the Liberal Democrats may be intending to deliberately self-destruct. I would like to comment briefly on each stage of their sorry story.
Thursday 5th January: Charles Kennedy admits that, despite stating the opposite on multiple occasions previously, he has been dealing with a drink problem over the last 18 months. Clearly, concern is the primary emotion felt for a man in such a position, but this is quickly followed by concern that he deliberately lied to the public on this issue, in particular in the run up to the general election.
Further concern is expressed when it is learnt that he only admitted to his problem because ITN had discovered proof of his problem and told him they were going to run the story in the news that evening, whether he admitted to it or not. He calls for a leadership election in which he will stand: an election for all party members (he knew that had he followed the usual pattern of a parliamentary election he would not have stood a chance).
Saturday 7th January: Charles Kennedy resigns immediately as leader owing to lack of support from parliamentary colleauges. Twenty-five MPs had delivered him a petition calling for his resignation the previous day, including one front-bench MP who threatened to leave his post in the shadow cabinet. An honourable decision.
The leadership contest is then initiated, with Menzies Campbell, Mark Oaten, then Simon Hughes and Chris Huhne putting their names forward. Oaten withdraws his candidacy after lack of support.
Saturday 21st January: Two weeks after Kennedy's resignation, Mark Oaten resigns as Home Affairs Spokesman for his party and apologises publicly for an affair with a male prostitute. Once again, you feel for the man and his family as well as wondering how it is that he allowed himself to get in this state.
When scratching beneath the surface however, more concerns arise. It is quickly revealed that the only reason this was publicly acknowledged was once again because the media had found out and were asking him what he thought to their evidence of this affair. Not a conscience decision then? More concerns are expressed when people realised that as Home Affairs Spokesman, it had been his responsibility to deal with lawmaking on prostitution, and to make comments about it. Given the nature of his admission, by now it is fully understandable that he has resigned from this position.
His constituents menawhile are bewildered as to why he did not resign his seat in the Commons over this. He was, after all, elected as the "family man", an image he has actively encouraged by invited the cameras into his home, giving millions of us the opportunity to watch him make his children breakfast. Surely this means he has misled them too? More than this, he has broken a marriage vow, a legal status which is taken before God and the state. A vow very legally similar to the oath MPs take upon entering the House of Commons. If he so freely threw away his legal commitment to his wife, how much should we worry that he will do the same in the House of Commons? Oaten remains out of the country trying to "save his marriage".
Then last week, another LibDem lie was uncovered: Simon Hughes has in the past had relationships with men as well as women. Another lie uncovered, and again only revealed because he was found out.
As you can probably tell, what angers me is all the lying. I may not see eye to eye with alchoholics, adulterers or homosexuals but I have nothing against them. In fact my instinct would be to love them and try to help them. I don't find them hateful. What I do find offensive is a flimsy handling of the truth. Something which clearly doesn't bother Liberal Democrats as it enrages me. A recent poll showed LibDems scoring a measly 13% in the polls. Projected across the country in a general election, this translates to just 2 seats in the House of Commons. At the moment they have 62. Clearly I am not the only one with these concerns.
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