Alan Roden: Do not despair - politics can still be a force for good

I fell into his trap: the Prime Minister wants to remind people of the charming buffoon they laughed along with during appearances on Have I Got News For You, or that time he rugby tackled someone during a football match.

The speech was, of course, utterly bereft of new policy ideas. ew Prime Ministers in recent history could have got away with it.

Tony Blair, one of the greatest political speakers of the modern era, would still pepper his conference speeches with voter-pleasing policy announcements.

Jeremy Corbyn, one of the worst political speakers of the modern era, announced a raft of new policies at his conference last week.

But not Mr Johnson. He just wants to make people laugh.

And yet there should be nothing to laugh about given the political crisis gripping our country.

We are, potentially, less than a month away from a no-deal Brexit that will lead to medicine shortages. he economy is on the brink of another recession, and society is increasingly polarised. rust in our political system, and our politicians, is at rock bottom.

The scenes in Westminster the day after the proroguing was cancelled were deeply distressing for those of us who spend our lives arguing that politics can truly be a force for good.

The toxic exchanges fuelled yet more threats to politicians, with Labour MP Jess Phillips tweeting a picture of a death threat she had received.

And even when the language is toned down, the level of debate between the two frontbenches has done little to enhance Parliament’s reputation.

It’s manna from heaven for the SNP, which never shies away from telling voters just how chaotic it is at Westminster.

But, amid the Brexit saga, there are moments when the mother of Parliaments can still rise above the chaos.

On the same day that Mr Johnson waffled away in Manchester, Labour MP Rosie Duffield spoke in the Commons chamber.

It was during the parliamentary process for a Domestic Abuse Bill in England that will, for the first time, include economic control and manipulative non-physical abuse within definitions of domestic abuse.

“Domestic violence has many faces and the faces of those who survive it are varied too,” Ms Duffield said.

And then she delivered a harrowing account of her own personal experience.

“In a strange city his face changes in a way you are starting to know and dread. In a way that tells you, you need to stay calm, silent and very careful.

“You read a city guide… mentally packing a day full of fun. But he seems to have another agenda.

“He doesn’t want you to leave the room. He’s paid a lot of money and you need to pay him your full attention. You are expected to do as you are told. You know for certain what that means, so you do exactly what you are told.”

It moved MPs to tears.

Harriet Harman spoke for everyone on the green benches when she said: “What she said just now will save lives. We are incredibly proud of her.”

It was one of the most moving contributions ever heard in Parliament.

And it wouldn’t even have been heard if the Prime Minister had got away with his prorogation of Parliament.

It was a stark reminder why Parliament can be a force for good. Not when Boris Johnson is showing off his Latin skills or pretending not to understand modern technology, but when we are reminded that our politicians are human beings like the rest of us.

Who feel pain like the rest of us.

However, because they have chosen a career of public service, they are in a position to transform society.

Just as politicians north of the Border did on Thursday evening when they voted to make it a criminal offence for parents to smack their children.

Not everyone will agree with that decision.

But Scottish Greens MSP John Finnie deserves nothing but respect for persisting with his case and building a majority for the transformational change, while the emotion was clear on LibDem MSP Alex Cole-Hamilton’s face as he addressed the chamber.

Parliaments are often at their best when exploring such emotive issues.

In Westminster, Labour MP Stella Creasy has delivered a series of passionate speeches arguing for the decriminalisation of abortion in Northern Ireland.

But it has also triggered a sickening campaign against her in Walthamstow. The way that MPs from all sides condemned that behaviour this week sent out a strong message to those seeking to silence her.

There have been many powerful moments in Holyrood too – Ruth Davidson’s support for equal marriage; Kezia Dugdale reading out the testimony of a woman who had been raped; Margo MacDonald fighting to secure the legal right to assisted suicide.

They are, inevitably, few and far between, with parties swiftly reverting to point-scoring.

Holyrood can get down in the gutter as much as the Commons can, as witnessed this week just a day before the smacking ban debate when Labour and the SNP clashed on the future of ScotRail. Both were absolutely determined to accuse the other of siding with the Tories.

As Green co-leader Patrick Harvie wrote on Twitter: “The chamber was filled with both sides pointing "Aha!! You and the Tories, you and the Tories!!". It's silly, shallow, and all too common.”

Not that the Greens – like any party - are strangers to a bit of posturing when the time is right, of course.

The weeks ahead are going to be volatile and unpredictable.

It would be foolish to predict what will happen in terms of Britain’s future in the EU, but the political rhetoric will remain divisive and coarse as the clock ticks on.

And then we will be heading towards a General Election, when the political arguments spill out from the Commons to communities across the UK.

The Jo Cox Foundation, set up in memory of the murdered MP, has been working to develop a Standard of Conduct to help protect election candidates.

I hope all political parties not only sign up to it, but remember it each and every day of the election campaign.

As Catherine Anderson, chief executive of The Jo Cox Foundation, said this week, ‘the tone of political discourse has demonstrated how urgently we need to return to the values of compassion, respect and kindness that Jo so believed in’.

Politicians must remember that their words are powerful, and they must use them thoughtfully. People are listening like never before.