As
a busy Methodist Presbyter it isn’t often that I have the opportunity of
viewing Prime Minister’s Question Time live.
I usually catch the highlights on the BBC evening news. Yesterday though, for reasons I won’t go into
here, I was able to see it live and was, frankly, disgusted! (Not “disgusted of
Tonbridge Wells” of course – quite the opposite)
It
wasn’t the usual animal like behavior of MPs on both sides of the House of
Commons that disgusted me; although I do continuously wonder what is actually
gained by them hooting like a crowd of immature chimpanzees: no, it was a very
few words from our Prime Minister, David Cameron.
Seemingly
unable to properly respond to the points opposition leader Jeremy Corbyn was
making about the NHS, Mr. Cameron responded by jibing that his mother would
tell Mr. Corbyn to, “put on a proper suit, do up your tie and sing the national
anthem.”
Yesterday,
in response to that jibe, I tweeted, “Very elitist, childish and pointless dig
from Cameron at PMQs about what Corbyn is wearing. Could our PM please consider growing up.”
On
reflection I would stand by that tweet today!
That
the statement was elitist is beyond question.
In making the quip I suspect Cameron went beyond his carefully prepared
brief, putting a big dent in the public image that he has seemingly tried to
create that, although he went to Eaton and was a member of the Bullingdon Club,
he has left all that behind him and is a “man of the people”. His remark exposed the truth. He clearly considers himself to be superior
to those who do not wear “a proper suit”, whatever that might be. As a Christian, who firmly believes that all
are created equally by God and loved equally by God, I find such elitist
attitudes, such apparent contempt for those whom the Prime Minister does not
appear to believe are as good as himself, deeply offensive.
That
the quip was puerile is beyond question.
I know that humour is part of the cut and thrust of PMQs; that is it
essentially a game of one-upmanship and point scoring not designed to actually achieve
anything other than massaging a few political egos: but when being challenged
about the NHS, the Junior doctors industrial action etc, is it too much to hope
that our Prime Minister would take things seriously rather than behaving like a
seven year old in the school playground, or, to make a contemporary media
reference, like an adult talking about Haribo sweets in a child’s voice? The NHS is not “the happy world of Haribo”
and neither is the House of Commons.
I
think that, perhaps, Mr. Cameron needs reminding of Paul’ words in 1
Corinthians 13: “When I became a man I put the ways of childhood behind me.”
That
the quip was pointless is self-evident in that it achieved nothing other
than a cheap laugh and the revealing of what I consider to be a nasty streak in
our Prime Minister.
I
will leave the final word, though, to one of David Cameron’s heroes, Margaret
Thatcher, who once said, “If they attack you personally it means they have not
a single political argument left.”
Yesterday,
Mr. Cameron lost his political argument!
