They could have an easier life. But they think it is the right thing to do

The Times’s Matt Chorley has written a good tribute to Jo Cox in his Red Box morning political briefing email. Here’s an extract.

“MPs are forever being told: “You just don’t get it, do you?” In fact most do get it. They get it because they hear about it every week in quiet halls and libraries like the one Jo left yesterday lunchtime before being so brutally struck down.

They get it because they listen in their constituency surgeries to the cries of help from those who have nowhere left to turn. They get it because every day they struggle against the national unfairnesses and local bureaucracies that we each encounter just fleetingly. They miss their own families’ lives being played out to attend never-ending meetings about other people’s.

It is one of the great quirks of British politics that from the prime minister down our elected politicians make themselves available to their constituents openly and warmly. We now know what a risk that can be. It has since emerged that Jo had faced months of abuse and police were poised to put extra security in place. Other MPs are fearful for their safety. One of the foundations of our democracy will inevitably be chipped away.

It’s true that some MPs could earn more money elsewhere. They could all have an easier life. But they put up with it all because they think it is the right thing to do, because they want to change the world”.

Tratto da theguardian.com