00:00Trust is a word that comes up again and again when people talk about politics.
00:04For many, it's less about party labels and more about whether leaders are honest,
00:08keep promises, and understand day-to-day pressures.
00:10New research suggests a lot of people are unconvinced,
00:13and that shapes how they see elections, public services, and the future.
00:17Now, of course, we're talking about politicians who oversee the systems
00:22by which we are meant, if you like, to adhere to and be compliant with.
00:26They make the laws, and there is perhaps a sort of a view
00:30whether it's correct or not, is that politicians are only in it for their own ends.
00:35The most recent revelations about a certain Peter Mandelson,
00:41who, if you like, he was at the centre of the spider's web,
00:44never a prime minister, but always very close to certainly Tony Blair,
00:49less so to Gordon Brown, and indeed was brought back fairly recently.
00:52But the revelations undermine, if you like, that sort of faith.
00:56And there is this difficulty that only 9% trust in sort of politicians,
01:02which means, of course, by doing the sort of the maths,
01:04that the other sort of 91% don't trust them.
01:09That's a really poor state of affairs.
01:12And how is that ever going to be remedied?
01:15Clearly, we sort of need our sort of politicians to sort of be paragons of virtues.
01:19But undoubtedly, in any sort of system, you're bound to get a sort of odd bods.
01:24And I think that there is a sort of sense that anybody wants to be a politician
01:27where you're sort of opened up to sort of public scrutiny,
01:30then it takes a certain sort of egotism to sort of want to do it in the first place.
01:35So somehow we want our sort of politicians to be saints.
01:39We want them to live by the rules, which, of course, is not unreasonable.
01:42We want them to make laws, which, of course, they are seen to adhere to.
01:45And there is no doubt that we have instances.
01:48But I think they're the exceptions rather than the rule.
01:52But, of course, going back a number of years to the expensive scandals,
01:57quite clearly there is a sort of a perception, maybe a culture, if you want to use that word,
02:02whereby people get into sort of to politics.
02:04And then they find ways, if you like, to sort of do unto others, but not unto themselves.
02:09And it's a real problem, I have to sort of say, once we lose faith in our establishment.
02:14The Ipsos Veracity Index, which tracks trust in different professions,
02:18shows politicians are near the bottom,
02:20with only around one in ten saying they trust them to tell the truth,
02:23and government ministers only slightly higher.
02:25Other long-running research has pointed to a wider slide in political trust,
02:29with a parliamentary briefing noting growing numbers
02:32reporting low to no trust in MPs over the past decade.
02:36There is no doubt that sort of many, perhaps they do go, to use a sort of sociological expression,
02:42they kind of go native, as it were.
02:44They like living in the sort of the Westminster bubble, as it's often referred to.
02:49But, of course, you know, they are encouraged to sort of be back in their constituency,
02:53certainly on Fridays.
02:54That's why Parliament doesn't sit on Fridays,
02:56so they can sort of know and understand the sort of needs of their constituents.
02:59You know, I don't doubt that sort of many MPs are fully cognizant of the sort of the issues
03:05confronting the sort of the poorest, the most disadvantaged.
03:09The difficulty, of course, they have.
03:10It's, you know, that Parliament is a bit like a train,
03:13which it has its own sort of way, if you like, of poking.
03:17It continues regardless of individuals.
03:20But, yeah, undoubtedly, the Labour government came in to sort of make things better,
03:24and they're finding it difficult, because, of course, it's always about sort of money.
03:28And if you had lots more money, you could do better things, as it were.
03:32And perhaps, you know, what the sort of the government must do,
03:34if I'm talking to the policy, is to sort of to understand the lives of these people,
03:40and not to sort of to be seen to be living high on the hog,
03:44which, you know, I stress most MPs do not do so.
03:47But, yeah, undoubtedly, we put these people on sort of pedestals,
03:51because, of course, they are sort of absolutely vital to the future of the country.
03:54And, you know, can we sort of forgive them if they perhaps they sort of they enjoy being sort of
03:59deified?
04:00For some people, low trust means switching off completely.
04:03For others, it means demanding clearer answers and stronger accountability from those in power.
04:08Either way, trust shapes whether people feel politics can make life better,
04:12and whether they believe what they hear.
04:13So...
Comments