Pilgrim's Progress column with Brian Hamill: Trust
There are in some respects two approaches to how society is run effectively.
The first is the competitive approach. In this scenario all members attempt to be better than the rest of the others. This can prove very effective in producing good results.
The obvious example is sport where individuals or teams vie to become the best in their area of expertise – such as running or football, and so be hailed as the best of their year or era.
Who is the greatest tennis player of all time, the GOAT, is regularly discussed, and we have also just finished the Football World Cup which is a blending of team competition and the other possible approach – cooperation between team members.
An area where cooperation was of paramount importance was in the shared information concerning work on producing an effective vaccine against Covid a few years ago.
When cooperation is suggested between parties whose raison d'être is opposition it can lead to profound difficulties of trust. This seems to me to be the case with the proposed reform of the NHS care system which has been proposed by our new Prime Minister, Andy Burnham.
Can the other parties trust the Labour Party not to just use them to make a success of the venture and then claim all the credit? It is a real question and needs to be addressed and resolved from the very beginning.
As a Christian, one is almost steeped in trust, since that is the main element in the words believe and faith. So, for me, prudential trust is a natural response to the present situation, which in our country’s care system is pretty dire.
I just hope and pray that those who are our leaders can attain the level of trust on this pressing issue – not to lose yet another opportunity for doing the right and necessary thing.
Brian Hamill, St Austin's Church