They’re all the same – aren’t they?

I’ve been thinking about my old friend Newton Clough. Newton was a one off, a lively and interested man who always greeted me with ‘Nowthen. What do you know?’, an expression which threw me initially before I worked out that an appropriate answer was ‘This and that’. I got to know him when I expressed an interest in politics spurred on by a mock election at school. My father sent me to see Newton, a family friend, and we remained close until he died several years later.

Newton was a smoker, as most men were when I grew up, and always seemed to have about 2 inches of ash still on the cigarette he had on the go. His wife was prone to chasing him around with the ash tray. He was a leading light in the local Liberal party, an old fashioned, Jo Grimond style, Liberal, a long-term councillor on Baildon UDC who loved getting out and talking to people. When canvassing he would get invited into numerous houses and stop and chat until one of his fellow workers found him and dragged him away – ‘Have you seen Newton?’ was a common question in these occasions, and people tended to know exactly who was being referred to. A man who was loved and respected, and who had the rare honour of a road, Newton Way, being named after him. A one off – which is what brought him to mind.

These memories were triggered by hearing, again and again, people moan that all politicians are ‘the same’, all out for themselves. That wasn’t true of Newton, and it’s not true of many of today’s politicians – at local or national level. There are, of course, enough culprits in the public eye not to need to name them but I’ve known a lot of politicians and most of them have been motivated by the public good, not lining their pockets. In this I include politicians I completely disagree with – I can think they’re deeply mistaken without impugning their integrity. There is a danger in seeing any mistake or misstep by a politician as evidence of venality. They should be held to account, but the odd slip does not make them criminal. They are not all tarred with the same brush.

All this may seem obvious but the reason it is on my mind is that it does not appear obvious to many people. There are self-servers in every walk of life, people with no moral compass, people who cannot be trusted. They are not the majority – and they are not the majority among our politicians. The reason this has been exercising me is the danger it poses to our democracy. This is in the discouragement of people with something to offer – taking up a public role knowing the abuse you might face is enough to put many people off and we’re the losers. It is also in the fact that the increased cynicism and distrust play into the hands of the populists who somehow get away with arguing that everyone else is corrupt and they are different – and it would be a complete disaster if they ever got into power.

What would Newton make of all this? He’d say that people aren’t reading ‘the Good Book’ for one thing, although what on earth he’d make of the activities of ‘Good Book’ reading voters in the United States I dread to think. His point, though, translated into today’s reality would be that people need a moral compass. He’d also urge thoughtful consideration and respect for opponents – before setting out in detail all the things that need addressing. He would demonstrate that they’re not ‘all the same’ and that’s a lesson we all need to hear.

All the same


Easiest thing in the world 
criticising 
no effort required 
just open your mouth and moan
no need to differentiate 
between individuals
the failings of their tribe 
they’re well known

but when one of your close circle
is caught out too
don’t object when the finger also
points at you
because this is the bed you made
the one you have to lie on
they’re all the same is what they’ll say
no sinner stands alone









Image courtesy of Jo Sau https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/