Politics is a rough trade, but Jamie Reed should be hanging in there | Polly Toynbee
by Polly Toynbee from on (#266JJ)
The Corbyn critic has every reason to feel less then thrilled about being a Labour MP right now. But he has a duty to his constituents, and to democracy itself
To be elected as a member of parliament is as near as we get in these humanistic days to a sacramental role - ordained not by God but by us, the people. Each MP may be just another twig of Kant's "crooked timber of humanity", out of which "no straight thing was ever made", but they each stand as the living representative of our right to choose who governs over us. For that reason, when they resign they undermine the sense of heavy obligation to their voters that they willingly undertook when they stood for election.
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