Reader Writes September 2023

The junior minister slung her bag on the big desk and slumped into the office chair to finish

the article she had started as her train pulled into the station. Then carefully folding her

copy of The New European she slipped it into her bag ready for the homeward journey;

she didn’t want the Minister walking in and having all his suspicions confirmed in a second.

But there was no denying it; she found herself naturally amongst the liberal-minded,

beleaguered, wing of her party.

Essentially she was a practising Christian; nothing secret about that, and it had already

given her occasion to clash with constituents and even with colleagues, although not so far

with the boss, who was a prominent member of Cabinet. But the Illegal Migration Act 2023

had caused her more than unease. She didn’t like its –dare one say it- xenophobic

sentiment. But it was of course popular with perhaps a majority of her constituents; that

makes politics so challenging. She was out of step with the harder-nosed wing of her party,

especially with their proposed bonfire of zero-carbon commitments. Every day she picked

up her well-used travelling bible and read and prayed.

Deuteronomy 10 seemed a good summary of the Christian’s responsibility. There God is

reminding Israel, and therefor now his Church, that they too were once aliens (or

sojourners) in Egypt; therefor they should, as hosts, exercise kindness and care for the

sojourners of the day. Putting it simply, if we are rightly conscious and grateful for the

kindness and care we have enjoyed from others, nationally and internationally, and indeed

from God, we should in turn treat others with hospitality and kindness. Love your

neighbour as yourself. She was very conscious, and encouraged, by the fact that the bill

had run into such a storm of objection in the Upper House, including staunch opposition

from the Archbishop of Canterbury. Continuing to try to remain invisible would probably

lose her her job, but that was a price she would pay.

In the febrile atmosphere of the Commons it was hard to bring up the long term and

essential issue of complicity, without which it would be impossible to solve the problem of

refugee immigration, legal or otherwise. Empire, slavery, exploitative trading; they all

contributed to the inequality between the rich north and the rest. And don’t mention unjust

wars; that has ruined whole Middle East societies. But towering above all of these is the

catastrophe of climate breakdown; scientists and academics predict a billion climate

migrants on the move by 2050 fleeing an uninhabitable earth. Perhaps she’ll make history

and cross to join Caroline Lucas in the Green Party. But one thing is certain, solving the

problem of refugees fleeing impossible lives, requires broad and long term costly

cooperation both at home and internationally.

Coffee arrived, along with her box, but before setting to she quickly reminded herself of

what she had been reading on the way up. “Love the sojourner, therefore, for you too were

once sojourners in the land of Egypt” Dt 10:19. Yes, we have a lot to be grateful for; the

farmers in her constituency were busy bringing in pretty good harvests; meanwhile

desperate families in Asia and the Horn of Africa where sending their children on perilous

journeys to escape drought, famine and war.

Robert MacCurrach