In an article in The Spectator on July 11th the philosopher David Selbourne (author of “The Principle of Duty”) wrote that the present Parliamentary crisis is only one symptom of a larger corruption of public and civic institutions.  He argued that the greed of Parliamentarians is merely one manifestation of the subordination of civic virtues where the private pursuit of self-interest, where having is more important than doing.  Selbourne went on “the banker’s unwarranted bonuses and inflated pensions, and the Parliamentarians’ indulgencies and thefts from the public purse, are indistinguishable.”  Hard, harsh words.

Selbourne opened his article by referring to Captain Thomas Pride who, on the 6th December 1648 was so infuriated by the corruption of Parliament that he stood at the door of the House of Commons, empounded 140 MPs, took away the mace, locked the door of the Chamber, and kept the key himself.  The ultimate direct action.  As in Cromwell’s day, so today, the country cannot afford to lose its public regard for the true authority of Parliament.

Impressed by Selbourne’s article I wrote on the 11th September.

Sir; Four years before Captain Thomas Pride seized the initiative (“Political Swine Flu” 11th July) and prevented 140 MPs from taking their seats in the House of Commons, another self-starting Puritan, John Milton, wrote a short essay “Of Education” for that European man-of-letters Master Samuel Hartlib.  “I call a complete and generous education,” wrote Milton, “that which fits a man to perform justly, skilfully and magnanimously, all the offices, public and private, of peace and war.”

If Parliamentarians had remembered that the essence of “a complete and generous education” was justice, skilfulness and magnanimity, then English society, and the authority of Parliament, would never have been thrown into its present moral confusion.  Having fallen into such confusion England can only recover when it creates an education system that fits future generations to perform with integrity and humility as much in their private lives, as in their public activities.

So far neither my letter, nor any other responses to the article “Political Swine Flu” have been published.  Maybe they will, but the issue goes far beyond a Spectator article, and of course will not disappear.  Parliamentarians have much to reflect upon as they embark on their 10-week Summer Recess, but they are not the only ones who have to reflect on their loss of authority as they relax in their favourite summer resort – the Church, the Judiciary, BBC, the Civil Service, school teachers and university staff, and even the Monarchy itself.

In terms of the Ten Actions that have been listed in the Briefing Paper the Initiative has prepared for Parliamentarians on the design faults at the heart of English education the final one states: “Parliament has to remind itself that for a democracy to be fully functional, the State cannot simply be defined in terms of a government that makes and administers the laws within which individuals are then left free to do their own thing… education is not just about individuals, is about how those individuals pull together for the common good… for the laws to be respected the people have to trust the lawmakers with doing for others what they would expect to have done for themselves – authority based on their personal example.”

This article is tagged: briefing paper, Education, john milton, politics.