MPs

Rev dear Rev: I was shocked and appalled at the recent murder in cold blood of a sedentary MP who was innocuously sitting there answering questions in his political Surgery at a local methodist church - is there any reason for this kind of senseless killing spree?

Sir Dave - No, St Dave. Location, location - speculation, speculation. Next year who knows, about MPs after all, since they are all political men and savvy women, but some of them suddenly now have a jolly good chance at canonisation and this MP Sir Dave, excuse me St Dave, has made it to the dignity of the altars sooner than others, just by being canonised in his own blood, canonised as a worthy and brave Christian martyr who went to his Politikon Surgery each week faithfully and dutifully, whilst yet knowing the enormous risks to brave conservative MPs, risks to them because of their unpopular but principled viewpoints - gargantua. Here is a holy man who contended with his devils and won. Speaking of which though, we cannot speak of a canonisation process though even in the moderne trendy Bergoglioesque church catholique, unless there has been an intervention of the advocatus diaboli, the devil’s advocate, now known by another trendier title but still doing the same job - anticipating the mass media before they get their claws into some saint or other. Martyrdom though is different - heroic virtue nice to have but not necessary as such for the canonical process, though conservative MPs might evince much of these in the future. So what might the devil’s advocate say? Well - here is a taste of his style:

Holy and pious custom forbids us responding to this Question to be Answered, this Quaesitum Respondendum with too much like enthusiasm or maybe even with an unusual indecent haste, and also maybe too of posing too many questions of this case involving an MP for the conservatives killed by a Somalian by origin and involving some terrorist dimension, except to say that when I was discussing this intractable and complicated case with a consultor at a cafe recently near the Blue Mountain of Jamaica fame, it was blithely and fairly innocently asked - "By the way, forgive me for asking as a concerned christian woman, but why was an MP sitting in a church doing political things, since in ancient history in Britain, it has long been asserted by popular culture, that politics and religion patently do not mix." Harsh but true. Good question. In the cold light of a Red Dawn, the People united are all asking good questions.

Historia docet and history teaches us many things but one of them is social prudence. Britain has long since tried to separate politics from religion ever since those unhappy years when it became the source of so much civil unrest chiefly due to the reformers from Germany making it up into a political discourse. The British solution was simple - no politics, no religion, especially in pubs. Strange then that the MP in question as a Britischer Brexiteer was incognisant of that ancient protective custom. It might have saved his life that day. In these days of international and national terrorism, it is sometimes salutary not be findable if one is a political MP. "Tell that fox" were the words of the king-messiah of the Israelites when he was appraised of the interest of Herod the Tetrarch in his mission.

Now granted the pale and wand MP in question was conspicuous for his gallant defence of Brexit, as a pro-life MP also of the unborn, his defence of animal rights, his objection to fox hunting, his support for the young housewives of the nation and so on, so it is a deep tragedy for the conservatives that they have lost a stalwart MP in this way. A tragedy for the grande old party. Sobering times if one is a conservative. A situation in the field, not helped by ribald young women on the other side like Angela calling conservatives "scum", a bit of bad behaviour for which she was rapped over the knuckles in Parliament by the Speaker but which fell short of a proper reprimand, due to the civil unrest that she might have caused by such savage and unforgiving perjorations. Emotive language, emotive times. Now seen in the cold light of a Red Dawn for many conservative MPs. Red Dawn, bears watching on Netflix if one has that option on a bunch of universal credit.

Somalia is a country ravaged and governed in large part by local warlords, and so bad was the American Army's experience of that sad and unhappy war-torn country especially in Mogadishu that they commissioned a movie about the experience called Black Hawk Down - harrowing viewing if one is an American or an Allied alliance member as we all are on this side of the Tamar. The experience on the receiving end on the ground is a mixed one, largely criss-crossed in the crosshairs by RPGs and Kalashnikovs. Religiously it is governed by a ruling mixed bag of various religions, moslem elites too, so these effectively run the country, plus a few elements of African animism too thrown in for good measure. A maelstrom. Out of maelstroms come many things if one is a Scandinavian country in the field, but one of them is concerned social outrage, and this seems to have been one of those - difficult times. RIP Sir Dave, RIP St Dave.