God's Country

Part Fifty-Five

'Train up a child the way she should go: and when she is old, she will not part from it.'

Proverbs 22:6

Peter Munroe felt torn between his career and his daughter. Being back in Westminster was a dream come true. He had never really expected it to happen again and he had never really expected to be so impressed by the new policies Charles Buckingham had plucked from the Reformist's vision of social change. Almost despite himself, he was starting to believe that the fundamental social changes within their manifesto were not only exactly what the country needed but also what a large proportion of the electorate might just vote for. In his humble opinion, and as an accountant he was hopelessly analytical, the crucial target audience were the so-called silent majority. These were the people who stood back and largely did what they were told to do; they paid their taxes and voted for who they had always voted for, and they did not protest or complain about their lot, apart from perhaps a stiffly worded letter to a newspaper. But regardless of their traditional voting preferences, they were susceptible to policies which tackled the issues that they were particularly interested in.

Typically middle-aged, they were the sort of people who had saved diligently for their early retirement, bought their own house and then found themselves helping their children with everything from the mortgage to childcare. Ever since the bank crash, their savings had been worth less and less, and they had seen their children and grandchildren struggling to make ends meet. Maybe their grandchildren were also struggling in a poor school, or doing things that their grandparents did not really approve of. They were just the sort of people who would instinctively think that some form of National Service was a good idea, even if they were too young to ever experience it themselves. They disliked the idea of benefit scroungers and they knew that their daughters wanted to be at home with the children but could not afford to be anymore. They wanted better hospitals and care homes for their old age, and they wanted much better schools and job prospects for their families. The CDP really were singing their tune. Reasonable, practical policies to tackle issues which were important to real people.

Munroe believed that the extreme nature of dedicated Reformists actually impressed the silent majority. It did not mean that they themselves wanted to follow the same doctrine, but in basic general terms they would rather see their granddaughters in a matins gown than a mini-dress. Even people without faith seemed to understand the principles. During the last election campaign, Munroe had discovered that it was the little things that really had most resonance. Charles had come out against women soldiers, saying that they should not go into battle, and the silent majority agreed with him. They did not care if it was politically incorrect to say it, if it was true. It was also simple to understand what the Reformist's believed in and stood for. Whether you liked it or not, it was all there in the bible. There was no pretence, no hiding behind ideology. And the pictures of life in Meadvale were always sanitised and therefore the impression they gave was one of peace, serenity, decency and piety. It was all admirable. Tactically, as he had discussed long and hard with Charles Buckingham, the CDP were definitely electable. Munroe really could allow himself to start dreaming of being in government for many years to come, and in a senior position beside his friend.

But therein lay his major problem with the future. He had seen Meadvale at close quarters and understood the bigger picture. He was a valued member of the team and nothing was sanitised for him, so he knew that there were extremes. He had seen his friend become a part of that and although he respected his reasons for doing so, it was not a decision he felt able to make. Not for his Claire. And yet it was clear that a level of commitment would be expected of him, sooner or later, if he wanted a seat at the top table. It was a stark choice and he had some tough thinking to do. He knew that a lot of people, the silent majority and beyond, did not much like the 'modern world'. Political correctness was largely despised by the man in the street, and indeed the woman in the street, because it did not relate to them. Reformism in that sense, the sense that would be voted for, was the victory of plain old commonsense over nonsensical liberal dogma. Why was it wrong to say that Great Britain could not cope with any more immigrants? It was obvious to everyone who had every tried to get an appointment with their doctor, or who had a child in an inner-city state School. The country could not cope anymore. The government did not have the money to fund the basic services the electorate thought they were entitled too, and Charles Buckingham had pointed that out, at just the right time. The question Munroe had to ask himself was how far would that go? He could see people voting for the CDP whilst the true extent of the doctrine remained hidden, but what would they think, say and do when they knew the whole truth? The basic doctrine, and the intentions of the men who wrote it, was extreme. Charles could argue that it was just a matter of legislating for appropriate boundaries, but sooner or later those boundaries would start to bite and that would be the test of the renaissance. Both for his own sake and for the sake of his daughter he had to make sure that he ended up on the right side of the debate.