Cameron and Blair offered ‘Punch and Judy’ workshop

-08/12/05

In the light of yesterd


Cameron and Blair offered ‘Punch and Judy’ workshop

-08/12/05

In the light of yesterdayís events in the House of Commons, a UK-based think-tank will be offering British Prime Minister Tony Blair, and newly-elected opposition leader David Cameron, a private workshop on ‘overcoming the politics of confrontation’.

A spokesperson for Ekklesia, which promotes non-violent conflict resolution, commented: ìJudging from the latest Prime Ministerís Questions, Tony and Dave (as they like to be called) need a bit of help if theyíre really going to keep their word by avoiding turning into another Punch and Judy show – and let’s face it, their party machines aren’t exactly geared up to avoiding showdown politics. So maybe we could lend a hand?î

Although such an offer is the kind of thing that sometimes sends Parliamentary aides scuttling for cover, Ekklesia says that there is a serious as well as good-humoured dimension to their intervention.

Mr Cameron, who has promised a new style of politics and a re-engagement of the Conservative Party with society, used his first House of Commons encounter with Mr Blair to establish a fresh approach by offering to back ìthe good bitsî of the Labour leaderís controversial education reforms.

But MPs on both sides showed little sign of retreating from their traditional barracking, Labour chief whip Hilary Armstrong was accused by the new Tory leader of ìshouting like a childî, Mr Blair admitted his tendency to finger-stab, and those on both sides of the House immediately circulated emails to their supporters denouncing each other when PMQs had ended.

Ekklesia, which is non-party based, wants to change politics from a grassroots perspective. It is allied to a conflict transformation programme called ‘Bridge Builders’, which seeks to transform the way that conflict is handled.

Ekklesiaís director, Jonathan Bartley, who is in the rare position of having worked with MPs from across the political parties, including a Prime Minister, said: ìIt looks as if the rhetoric of both leaders about a new approach to political debate has immediately descended into something else to squabble about. But it doesnít have to be like this.î

Ekklesia argues that popular cynicism about politics is based not just on its style but also its ëtop downí assumptions. A similar problem effects other spheres, like journalism and the churches.

As a think-tank specialising in religion and public life, Ekklesia promotes a critique of both institutional religion and institutional politics. But it also stresses that its approach is pluralist and it seeks open conversation across a spectrum of opinion.

Bartley continued: ìWe think there are resources from our tradition which can help make politics more open and engaging. Our approach is non-partisan, but we are certainly interested in getting politicians of all parties ñ not just the ëbig twoí ñ to look at how to pursue social justice, environmental sustainability and global poverty-elimination in the face of massive political and economic pressures, not least those of the ëparliamentary gameí.î

Ekklesia co-director Simon Barrow added: ìGiving up ëPunch and Judy politicsí doesnít mean giving up argument or creating false alliances. It means learning to handle inevitable disagreements in a new way. It also means involving different civic perspectives ñ the huge number of teachers and parents who will be worried rather than reassured by a ëconsensusí deal on education, for example.î

Referring to comments by both Cameron and Blair, he concluded, ìAs Iím sure they both recognise, creating a new political culture is a bit more complicated than being nice and agreeing to troop through the lobbies together when that suits your interests.î

Ekklesia was recently listed by the Independent newspaper among the top 20 think-tanks in the UK. It raises over £100,000 a year for peace, reconciliation and development work around the world. Jonathan Bartley is the author of The Subversive Manifesto (BRF: 2003) which explores new ways of doing politics.

[Other related stories and features on Ekklesia: God and the politicians – where next?; Tory leadership candidate attacks Christian agency on trade; BBC’s Tory leader TV trail thwarted by Jesus; Government plans reopen debate on faith schools; UK churches push Tony Blair on AIDS/HIV commitments; Christian Aid challenges Blair on EU poverty impact; Why history cannot forgive us or Blair; Subverting the manifestos]


Cameron and Blair offered ‘Punch and Judy’ workshop

-08/12/05

In the light of yesterday’s events in the House of Commons, a UK-based think-tank will be offering British Prime Minister Tony Blair, and newly-elected opposition leader David Cameron, a private workshop on ‘overcoming the politics of confrontation’.

A spokesperson for Ekklesia, which promotes non-violent conflict resolution, commented: ‘Judging from the latest Prime Minister’s Questions, Tony and Dave (as they like to be called) need a bit of help if they’re really going to keep their word by avoiding turning into another Punch and Judy show – and let’s face it, their party machines aren’t exactly geared up to avoiding showdown politics. So maybe we could lend a hand?’

Although such an offer is the kind of thing that sometimes sends Parliamentary aides scuttling for cover, Ekklesia says that there is a serious as well as good-humoured dimension to their intervention.

Mr Cameron, who has promised a new style of politics and a re-engagement of the Conservative Party with society, used his first House of Commons encounter with Mr Blair to establish a fresh approach by offering to back ‘the good bits’ of the Labour leader’s controversial education reforms.

But MPs on both sides showed little sign of retreating from their traditional barracking, Labour chief whip Hilary Armstrong was accused by the new Tory leader of ‘shouting like a child’, Mr Blair admitted his tendency to finger-stab, and those on both sides of the House immediately circulated emails to their supporters denouncing each other when PMQs had ended.

Ekklesia, which is non-party based, wants to change politics from a grassroots perspective. It is allied to a conflict transformation programme called ‘Bridge Builders’, which seeks to transform the way that conflict is handled.

Ekklesia’s director, Jonathan Bartley, who is in the rare position of having worked with MPs from across the political parties, including a Prime Minister, said: ‘It looks as if the rhetoric of both leaders about a new approach to political debate has immediately descended into something else to squabble about. But it doesn’t have to be like this.’

Ekklesia argues that popular cynicism about politics is based not just on its style but also its ëtop down’ assumptions. A similar problem effects other spheres, like journalism and the churches.

As a think-tank specialising in religion and public life, Ekklesia promotes a critique of both institutional religion and institutional politics. But it also stresses that its approach is pluralist and it seeks open conversation across a spectrum of opinion.

Bartley continued: ‘We think there are resources from our tradition which can help make politics more open and engaging. Our approach is non-partisan, but we are certainly interested in getting politicians of all parties – not just the ëbig two’ – to look at how to pursue social justice, environmental sustainability and global poverty-elimination in the face of massive political and economic pressures, not least those of the ëparliamentary game’.’

Ekklesia co-director Simon Barrow added: ‘Giving up ëPunch and Judy politics’ doesn’t mean giving up argument or creating false alliances. It means learning to handle inevitable disagreements in a new way. It also means involving different civic perspectives – the huge number of teachers and parents who will be worried rather than reassured by a ëconsensus’ deal on education, for example.’

Referring to comments by both Cameron and Blair, he concluded, ‘As I’m sure they both recognise, creating a new political culture is a bit more complicated than being nice and agreeing to troop through the lobbies together when that suits your interests.’

Ekklesia was recently listed by the Independent newspaper among the top 20 think-tanks in the UK. It raises over £100,000 a year for peace, reconciliation and development work around the world. Jonathan Bartley is the author of The Subversive Manifesto (BRF: 2003) which explores new ways of doing politics.

[Other related stories and features on Ekklesia: God and the politicians – where next?; Tory leadership candidate attacks Christian agency on trade; BBC’s Tory leader TV trail thwarted by Jesus; Government plans reopen debate on faith schools; UK churches push Tony Blair on AIDS/HIV commitments; Christian Aid challenges Blair on EU poverty impact; Why history cannot forgive us or Blair; Subverting the manifestos]