Don’t sit in judgement and gloat over errors

NOWADAYS I only follow politics in general – and Brexit in particular – compliments of the headlines, whether newspaper or television. Why should I concern myself with something I have absolutely no control over? If we have an election, then I will start paying attention at the back.

And talking of headlines, I rolled my eyes and smiled at Friday’s Western Mail front page, apropos First Minister Mark Drakeford’s insistence that Boris Johnson has lost all respect for truth. Where do these politicians live?

The annual Veracity Index of the level of trust we have in our professions has politicians rooted firmly in the basement (nurses at the top, incidentally). Out here in the real world, four out of every five of us would not trust a politician further than we could throw them. I presume the odd one out is a donkey voter, so addicted to political prejudices that he or she really would vote a donkey into office (well, there are lots of them there).

It is not so much we believe politicians are devoid of all ethics, morality and honesty – yes, 10% are, but that merely reflects the population at large – but we have no trust in their powers of judgement. If we trawl back through recent prime ministers, irrespective of parties, your shoulders sag at their errors of judgement that have cost, not so much lots of money, but many lives.

It seems the worst thing people can point at Boris Johnson is, as Mayor of London, buying a fleet of water cannons that turned out to be useless and had to be scrapped at a mega loss. I bet May, Cameron, Clegg, Brown, Blair, et al, would have gladly settled as their worst error of judgement seeing a few million quid go down the drain compliments of some rubbish water cannons.

So please, First Minister, even if you do claim to be a person of immaculate ethics, morality, honesty and judgement, please don’t sit in judgment and gloat over how imperfect your fellow politicians are compared to your good self. I really detest that trait in a person, especially so in a politician. Huw Beynon Llandeilo