Theresa May’s calling of a snap election next month has given us all the opportunity to take stock and think about how we feel about the direction of the UK for the next few years, and what we would like it to be. There will rightly be much discussion of the different policies and manifestos throughout the media, as well as around kitchen tables and over coffees throughout our four nations.
In the course of his reflections, Bishop John has made three resolutions, which we’ll be sharing this week. Here’s the first.
We know there’s going to be a General Election in June, how are you approaching that?
Well… all sorts of ways, but I’ve made three resolutions for myself. They’re not resolutions I expect anyone else to follow, but for me, I feel moved to do this because of my understanding of what I think God might want for the world.
The first resolution has to do with public discourse really. I’ve resolved to challenge untruth. We’ve heard a lot about ‘alternative truth’, and the idea that we live in a ‘post-truth’ world, which I think is a load of nonsense really. In the end, I would expect politicians to be committed to the truth, like anybody else, not only to hearing the truth, but to speaking the truth. So I shall be watchful on that front. I’m not going to stand for any more nonsense about alternative facts, and if politicians are going to make claims about money or anything else, then I’ll want to test them out.