February is a very good month.  I mean it, both underrated and scorned for all of the wrong reasons. It true that the most hateful holiday ever dreamed up in a boardroom happens to fall within it. Yes this holiday is a bilious, sickly wet dream of consumer culture. That’s not February’s fault though, it’s the little month that could. Remember to balance the scales there is always Pancake Day, a gloriously  misnamed and misappropriated day of gluttony that is the only relic of my Catholic upbringing that I’m happy about. What’s more, there is the finest sporting competition on the world.

That’s right it’s the Six Nations.

I cannot put into words what pleasure this annual tournament brings me. I hope that you’re watching it. If not, give it a go. There is nothing that can quite compare to sitting in the company of ones friends basking in the glory that is rugby.  The excitement that builds within me as the two squads stand poised, awaiting only the whistle of a man they could break with one arm, to unleash focused aggression on their foes, well its down right indecent.

Don’t look at me like that, I know all the criticisms. They don’t matter. Yes it’s within spitting distance of a blood sport, it encourages violence and its incredibly homoerotic. To these I say , its more honest than the celebrity or reality-TV emotional blood sports that are excreted by Endemol or Heat and others. It encourages self improvement and offers a glimpse of the human spirit not seen in other sports. I haven’t come up with a way of countering the eroticism of the game, because some of those boys are so bloody yummy they give me pause for doubt.

Like all my great obsession  it can cause great depressions in me. Thinking of this has made me think of another great human endeavour that has reached harrowing depths. By which I mean the office of governance. Politics as it inadequately termed. Depending on your personal levels of cynicism, recent sleaze allegations might not have bothered you. You may believe that all politicians lie, or even that they are all corrupt.

This indicates the greatest problem facing our society, bar none. The greatest wonder of democracy as a form of governance  Our Government is appointed by the people, they rule only by our consent. Their authority is dependent on the trust we place in them that will work on our behalf for our good. There is not a political issue that cannot be attributed to this in some way, from voter apathy, to the rise of extremism and crime levels.

Of course I refer to the behaviour of the former Conservative Whip, Derek Conway. A man who has forged over his twenty five year career in politics a sense of entitlement akin to that of a spoilt child. He believed that it was OK for him to pay his sons a wage of about £40,000 each from public money for work they did not do. By treating his political office as personal fiefdom that he can manage as he alone deems fit he has irrevocably damaged all of Britain.

 What really sticks in my craw about his man, who I have no hesitation in pointing out as all that is wrong with British Politics, is his recent comments. He has said that MPs should be paid more for their services since they earn less than the “Sous Chef at the Commons”.

Fuck you!  Mr Conway, fuck you. You already earned £60,675, and you want £100,000? That‘s quite some cost of living adjustment. You seem to have forgotten that the reason the Sous Chef is paid a wage is because he has spent a career developing marketable skills. You Have Not! You’re an unskilled Public Servant, and your wage is paid for by people on minimum wage. And just when did you becomes so jaded that you think that all public institutions come with a restaurant, with highly trained chefs, attached.

You are a thief.

Still there is hope. Ben Wallace MP has voluntarily given full disclosure of his expenses and the money that he has claimed from the public. All but two incidents are supported by receipts. Would a major corporation or large business expect anything less? His example and the efforts of the Information Commissioner, Richard Thomas, to make this mandatory are the only way that our Government and all politicians will regain any measure of public trust.  

I know that Rugby has arcane laws that are near impossible to penetrate from the outside. Its is part of its charm, and of course the reason for commentators on television. That it is bedlam in mud is wondrous. That the greatest players are often the craftiest cheats is a point of pride. However I know it is a game, one that doesn’t matter once a tournament or match has finished. This is not the case in politics. Transparency and trust are of paramount importance. And they are being sadly devalued by the shameful actions of a few and the reticence of the majority.