Tuesday 5 March 2019

William Hague and the Art of Leadership

You'll need a Telegraph account (though a free one will do) to read this gem from William Hague:

 "Sometimes it resolves a crucial policy debate – such as my own victory over Ken Clarke in 1997 that established a more Eurosceptic Conservative approach..... In the recent past, choosing the wrong leader could lead to a long spell in opposition."

 Well, we know what you mean, Billy-Boy. After choosing you, the Tories were in opposition for 13 years.

But it's true. A good leader is a pearl beyond price. As the Bible teaches us, a godly leader will lead a country to prosperity whereas an evil one will bring it down. You might not think that making your followers drink powdered heavy metals, slaughtering the neighbours, or making someone pregnant then ensuring the death of her husband, are signs of good leadership. But since that's what Moses, Joshua and David managed, then it's more comprehensible why the evangelicals in the US think Donald Trump can make America great again.

Hague tells his readers to get beyond Brexit and worry about  the things that really matter - crime, education, immigration. The last combining that great Tory conundrum, how to get cheap labour over here while simultaneously telling your voters you're totally against it. But honestly? William Hague telling the Tories to ignore Brexit and focus on other things is like arguing  about what colour to paint the living room wall,  and whether you need a new hall carpet or if laminate flooring would be better - when the house is on fire. And it was you who set fire to  the house.

So enough about  politics. I have my own leadership conundrums today. At a time of falling Beaker membership and lowered revenues, do we need the seating in the Moot House arranged in a horseshoe or more of a loose circle?



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From Amazon, Sarum Bookshop, The Bible Readers Fellowship and other good Christian bookshops. An excellent book for your churchgoing friends, relatives or vicar. By the creator of the Beaker Folk.

3 comments :

  1. I wonder why former leaders in politics believe that sharing their wisdom is relevant to what the country needs. Perhaps we need to put a gagging order in place for former politicians particularly those who have lied through their teeth when in positions of power. i don't want to hear from IDS, Blair, Cameron, heseltine, Brown or any of those past labour or Tory Grandees who should be on their knee's begging the almighty for mercy after the damage they've caused to the country. Off course, peeps e like Thatcher kept a discreet silence, which many of those of her ilk could well take a lesson from.

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  2. A Catholic Writes....Yes, do by all means rearrange the seating into a circle, loose or otherwise. Then you can put the celebrants or "worship leaders" in the middle, with the laity circling round "like a pack of hyenas*" so the celebrants either have their backs to half the congregation at any one time, or spin like a top trying to please everyone.

    In reality, of course, the congregation will be fascinated by the bony knees/flash of undergarments/failing zips (revealed by manspreading now opposite them), that they won't hear a word the celebrant is saying.
    *not my phrase, alas, but coined in similar circumstances by the late great Alice Thomas Ellis.

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  3. Have you ever considered Catholicism? I mean, when you put your notes in the collection plate on a Sunday, is this really the Church you signed up for, all those years ago? Wimminpriests, same-sex blah blah, a corporate-led new ageism? I wonder, is Anglicanism perhaps a kind of Jorginho to our N’Golo Kante – admittedly an N’Golo Kante being played out of position at the moment by our Head Coach, Pope Francis, a flaky Peronist with a penchant for ‘Global Warming’ and Marxism; but which, with the Catechism as our guide, remains a world-class holding midfielder, ready to resume its pomp once the current Head Coach gets sacked?

    Don’t take me too seriously. Your faith does you credit. I’m just sayin’. Have a nice day.

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