That was the week that was

Well well, it has been a long time since I visted you - poor, neglected blog. Let's 'quack' on, anyway.

This most certainly won't be the only blog post on the past week in politics, but it seems like the best way of getting me back on the blog-train, if a little predictable.

What a fuss it's been. Firstly, I'm not convinced it has come out as it should have done. 'Chequebook journalism' at its worst. Easy to be wise after the event, but if it has come out (as planned) from parliament then the damage (and, admittedly, the shame) would have been less drawn out. This episode has put me off politics, but it's also put me off the Daily Telegraph. They aren't doing this out of public service, they are doing it to sell papers. Simple as that. And paying a questionably (il)legal fee in the process.

Most worryingly, however, is the damaging effect on the political process. It provides those apathetic voters with an easy excuse not to vote. The up-coming European Elections are now a real worry. The worrying trend of more extreme politcal forces taking strides into politics will no doubt be significantly accelerated as a result.

Beyond that, I simply have two observations.

Firstly, I was hugely relieved that Stephen Fry brought some much-need sanity to the debate. Even though he soon regretted how he had been portrayed.

And finally, how do we learn from this? Well, as with most things, there's already some good teaching on this subject. People just choose not to listen. The Good Book has its own contribution, as I was reminded when a timely message popped into my inbox this Friday. Interesting view about how the law can sometimes get in the way of working out what is right and wrong.