Here at CARE we long to see civility, decency and good debate in our politics. We believe that rigorous debate is a key part of a healthy politics and can help politics to be a great force for good. Sadly, though we often see plenty of examples of bad debate, incivility, and downright poor behaviour.
Each week we will bring you some of our favourite examples of civility, decency, and good debate in our politics, as well as some sad examples of the darker side of politics.
The Good
Perhaps we can be friendly after all…
Not technically part of the election campaign but on Wednesday (before all the election hullaballoo began), Parliament welcomed Craig Mackinlay MP back to Parliament after a life-threatening battle with Sepsis. In a rare display of Parliamentary unity, he received a standing ovation from colleagues on both sides of the House…
Armchair politics is easy…
The founder of Blue Beyond, a think tank aimed to engage young conservatives, reminded us all this week that it’s easy to be an armchair politician, but putting yourself forward and getting out on the campaign trail is a tough ask. Perhaps those in the armchairs owe those on the trail a little more respect…
Spare a thought for the staff…
People often forget that behind the 650 MPs are thousands of staffers who dedicate themselves to case work and the day-to-day tasks that make an MPs office tick including being the first people to see much of the abuse that lands in an MP’s inbox. When an election comes, they too face financial and job uncertainty…
The Bad
Playing the man, not the ball…
We welcome rigorous debates where ideas and claims are held to account. We are less fond of calling MPs “idiots” and “narcissists”…
There’s weak debate, and then there’s fake debate…
Rishi Sunak was accused of faking support after an event in Derbyshire in which two ‘normal people’ from the crowd turned out to be Conservative Party councillors. This doesn’t appear to be an example of public debate being done in good faith…
The Ugly
There’s marches, and then there’s hate marches…
Protesting has a legitimate place in democratic politics but some of the scenes emanating out of protests in Finchley this week were downright unpleasant and abusive.
Swearing, hatred, and abuse were all on display on the streets of North London. We do not condone this kind of behaviour in any form of protest and are not sharing the video for this reason – though you can find clips online should you wish.
What made us laugh…
Politics has its good moments and its bad moments but sometimes it’s just quite funny. Each week we will bring you some of our favourite highlights from the week.
Action Man or Accidental Partridge…
This week’s award goes to Steve Baker MP for this response…
