A Word of Thanks

A brief word of thanks to those among you who followed my advice and contacted your Members of Parliament about Syria. I noted that some readers said the matter was foreordained and there was no point in this. I believe they were wrong. This country is not what it was, but still has independent public opinion, free speech and an adversarial parliament whose members in many cases pay attention to their constituents.

 

I instinctively felt that there was a chance of influencing events. Perhaps the matter was already settled when I wrote, but the closeness of the vote (which in all justice should have been more like 500 to 130) suggests that the usual counter-forces of ambition, cowardice, stupidity and dogma were still very much at work.

 

In any case, I thank all those who responded, and I thank those MPs who listened. This is the first time in years that I have felt actively proud of my own country.