Integrity

I have been listening to Nicky Campbell's phone-in on Radio 5 just now. An interesting theme developed of caller after caller who was disillusioned with politicians apart from those of  'character.'

One, not untypical, remark was from a caller who said he might vote Respect or UKIP. In other words the extreme left or the extreme right. Another said she only liked William Hague out of the lot of them.

I, a natural centrist although I don't think the socialist experiment has ever been properly tried let's watch France for a bit, find myself breathing a sigh of relief when Ken Clarke comes on to answer questions about his brief, honestly, engagingly and openly.

Have we got to a point where policies really don't matter as long as you are sincere? Or are we just reaching for the prop of integrity in an era where politicians won't tell us what they will really do for fear it would stop us voting for them? 33% turn-out last night. In the Bahamas recently it was 97%.