Friday 27 December 2013

Here to see one another through...

I attended a dinner with the magnificent Sandy Strang performing the role of guest speaker. I have to say he had me laughing for 20 minutes solid, before a subtle change of tact to celebrate some of the more philanthropic endeavours of the club. One quote in particular has resonated with me ever since. I'd like to believe it's a suitable mantra for how I have always seen things anyway, but had never managed to put into words - perhaps I'd never even thought about putting it into words. But here it is:
"We're here to see one another through, not see through one another"
I like it as a sentiment, but the other thing about it is that it seems to be anathema to Tory attitudes. Try to imagine Ian Duncan Smith or any of the other cabinet toffs using it as a guiding principle. No matter how hard I try I just can't see it chiming with them. No matter how hard they might try to convince us otherwise, by their actions, it's just not their way of seeing things. It crystallises for me the significant difference between this (and every other) Tory government (foisted upon us) and the kind of people I'd like to see running the show.