Reflections for September 2025

In my July letter we looked at religions across the world and outlined the common ground each faith has in its principal  concepts of morality. The letter ended with two short sentences: ‘We all have more in common than divides us. We can build on that’. 

To summarise with one moral guide from each religion:                                                

1. empathy with other human beings (Agnostic),
2. minimise suffering (Buddhist),
3. love & compassion (Christian),
4. non-violence (Hinduism),
5. reasoned empathy with other moralities (Humanists),
6. kindness (Judaism),
7. compassion (Muslim).

I thought, as the August holiday began perhaps there would be a politically quiet four weeks. No chance!

Internationally - Putin increases his attack to seize more of The Ukraine, and Netanyahu to destroy Palestine. They have vacuums where moralities should reside

Trump basks in his infamy in many ways while his Officers of State are brought to the Oval office to smile and praise the grinning overgrown infant in his chair. The very latest as I write is Trump’s acolyte Kennedy, breaking up the  Centre for Disease Control. Vaccinations are important not just to the USA but to the whole world where American knowledge and manufacture of the necessary preventative treatments go. And Trump trying to force the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates- as he wishes – is causing serious alarm in the USA and here amongst people who know what they are talking about and are not motivated by  overpowering self interest and self-importance. 

We have here our own dictatorial would-be Prime Minister Farage – who is riding high in the polls on the hated shoulders of immigrants, good and bad, who seek help from a country they believed was better than their own – and people that always showed charity. 

There is a lot of hate about in politics and little evidence of any religion or faith or care for others. I have emailed Sir Ed Davey to praise him and thank him for his boycott of The King’s banquet for Trump. Sir Ed’s apology to The King explains, simply, that his boycott of the dinner will send a message to Trump and Starmer that  Trump must act now to end the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza and get the hostages released.

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Meanwhile throughout the summer Liberal Democrats have been campaigning and offering practical solutions to problems in the country  such as saving our ambulance services, and the sewage crisis. The Liberal Democrat MP for Maidenhead, Joshua Reynolds is shining a light on shoplifting –“793 shoplifting cases a day unsolved” and also from the House of Commons Library: “289,464 shop lifting investigations closed with no suspect identified in England and Wales in 2024-2025”  Here is a problem with no easy answer. I suspect neither Police nor  Courts can handle it.

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 It is time for a boast or two to raise your spirits: A by-election at Surrey County Council gave a Liberal democrat gain from the Conservatives – thus removing the Tory majority.  And in Keir Starmer’s back yard a gain from Labour in West Hampstead with a 19% swing from Labour. We held off Reform in both North Devon and East Hampshire.

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To put an important name of an admired and great philosopher before you I give you the famous philosopher: Edmund Burke. He was a Whig and  MP for Wendover 1764 -1774 and Bristol 1774 – 1794. In my view Burke was a Liberal Democrat before that name was available, but in the two-hundred and fifty years since, the Tories have claimed him for themselves. The present MP for Hereford and South Herefordshire, Jesse Norman, in 2013 published a scholarly book: Edmund Burke, The Visionary who Invented Modern Politics.

Edmund Burke is my favourite political philosopher. I bought his Thoughts on the French Revolution written in October 1789 when the revolution was coming absolutely to the boil. I had found an 1814 edition of Thoughts and  made it my ‘set book’ for exam purposes.

Now, while we are at a time when our world and our country are distressed – when we know that we must change our Government and revitalise our Democracy, I quote from page 23:

“A state without the means of some change is without the means of its conservation”.

I wish you many good thoughts and ideas and a good rest after a hot and exhausting August