Tears of felicity welled in my eyes as I watched Peter Hain give his robust and eloquent refutation to the vindictive charges of sleaze that have distracted him over the last few days. Thank goodness that’s over, I thought to myself. Now perhaps we can let the man get on with adding yet more political triumphs to his already formidable list of achievements: a free and just South Africa, a peaceful and prosperous Northern Ireland, a fair and generous pension system. Sadly, professional snipers like David Cameron were soon popping up to complain that Peter’s statement was incomplete and that questions remained unanswered. It suddenly struck me that Cameron is playing an extremely dangerous game here: if we get into the situation where politicians have to explain every nuisance and disclose every fact then aren’t we finally conceding that the bond of trust between the people and their rulers has been irrevocably severed? In a healthy democracy we wouldn’t expect our statesmen to feel obliged to justify every action – their basic assurance that nothing was amiss would be enough. I think Peter appreciates this: had he been too punctilious in defending himself he would have looked like some guttersnipe pleading his case from the dock, not a gifted and respected minister whose behaviour is beyond rebuke. That deep, almost mystical, sense of veneration we the people feel towards those who lead us is something that should be cherished and preserved. And all the time good men like Peter Hain are in office, it just might be.
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