A Spiritual Perspective on Corruption in Parliament

Brief headline news in the UK yesterday was the jailing of a British MP for false accounting.

It is very rare indeed (until now, with more cases pending) for elected politicians in my country to be tried and imprisoned, and the case is interesting for a number of reasons. Not only does it further demonstrate that all men and women have their human strengths and frailties, whatever their status, but the public reaction has shown how important it is, to the electorate, for the person who represents them to behave with integrity as far as they possibly can.

A respected political historian said last night that the venality and corruption which has been exposed through this case is not a one-off, but that for the last ten years there has been a growing attitude among a number of politicians, MPs and peers, of greed and acquisitiveness which had not existed before. I was struck by this statement, for ten years ago marked the climax of the cycle of self-centred materialism, a cycle which is starting to unravel with the relentless and inevitable exposure of secrets and lies and flaws of people in positions of leadership and power and celebrity.

It may be we are approaching the time when our leaders are chosen for their innate wisdom and good example - you could say their spirituality - rather than political expediency and having the right “label” and face. While many, I hope, are well-intentioned in their desire to serve their country, the closed world of Westminster (and centres of government in many other countries also) based on old traditions and processes and party requirements and image separates them from the real world and can distort their values. It must change, it will change, for further, greater exposure is yet to come.