Thought for the Week

Fr. David Pickett

Vicar at St Oswald's, Guiseley

WELL, what a difference a year makes. Last year it appeared that the Labour Party was going to implode from vicious in-fighting and discord within its ranks. Whilst this year the Conservatives appear to be struggling with any kind of party cohesion, seriously threatening their ability to win the next general election.

And other political parties do not seem to be fairing any better either, with the SNP struggling to maintain the lofty heights it enjoyed not more than two tears ago, the Liberal Democrats – although gaining some ground back at the last general election – still way behind in the popularity stakes, and UKiP appearing – on the face of it – to be spiralling into self-induced oblivion. That’s not to mention Plaid Cymru, the Greens, and many of the other small parties, who, with their own political ambitions, also appear to have their own problems.

So what is it about politics and politicians that many find so distasteful? Why do we give politicians such a hard time when they appear to do or say the wrong thing? And more importantly, why are we so unforgiving of our elected representatives?

Whether you were watching Jeremy Corbyn last year or Theresa May at the Conservative Party Conference this year, you couldn't fail – even slightly – to feel sorry for them as they had to endure a rough ride within the full glare of the media and electorate. You couldn't fail to want to – at least – shout at the television and radio and ask that they be given a break from seemingly unending attacks by journalists, commentators and fellow politicians.

How did we feel when Theresa May lost her voice last week whilst the set fell around her and that so-called comedian attempted to embarrass her with a P45 in front of the waiting media? How did we feel when we watched Jeremy Corbyn sit proudly on the front bench of the House of Commons last year with so many ‘plotters’ sitting directly behind him like a scene from Julius Caesar? Why would any one of us gain any sort of enjoyment from watching these fellow human beings suffer such pain and discomfort?

Whatever political party we lean towards we must remember that politicians are people like us. They make mistakes, just like us. They hurt when they are attacked, just like us. Being a politician doesn't mean that they are free to be targeted for abuse – even if we strongly disagree with their politics. It was American author Henry B Eyring who said: ‘We live in a world where finding fault in others seems to be the favourite blood sport. It has long been the basis of political campaign strategy. It is the theme of much television programming across the world. It sells newspapers. Whenever we meet anyone, our first, almost unconscious reaction may be to look for imperfections.’ And here lies the problem. We expect perfection from people when we are not perfect ourselves. We often fail to see the human politician through the political politician. We fail to see the woman, man, wife, husband, mother, father, sister, brother; we fail to see them as one of us – which is what they are.

We therefore must try to love them, at least to respect them for doing such a difficult job, remembering our actions in the words from the New Testament, of James 1:19 which say: ‘Know this, my beloved, let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger.’