LOVABLE ROGUES

A plea was brought before me by one of my constituents at an open surgery once. They had a very interesting story to tell me, they said, and they hoped that it would appeal to my nature and that they could count on my backing in their campaign, just as they had backed me in mine. I appreciated the play on words, and I appreciated that they had sought me out in their time of need, so I asked them to take a seat and tell me the story.

The man sat and turned to look me straight in the eye. He had two friends, he said, that he’d known his whole life. They were salt of the earth types. Good, family men, who were known in the community for being firstly the life and soul of the town, but secondly for the hard work they put in. Any local residents councils, he said, they were there. Any village fayres or carnivals and they’d be on the task force. Any chance to raise money for local charities and they’d be involved.

They’d raised over half a million pounds for charity, he told me.

Excellent, I replied. They do sound like great members of our community. So why are you telling me this?

Well, he said. I saw the look in his eye and it intrigued me. The guys, they gave so much time and effort to the causes that it affected them deeply. Both men lost their full time jobs, and they were no longer able to support their families. Their homes were under threat. So to keep themselves afloat they dipped into the charity pot. Just enough to cover a couple of months mortgage until they could get back on track.

My eyebrows raised a little.

But then they couldn’t get back on track so they had to borrow a little more. Between them it was around a hundred thousand.

I felt my mouth drop slightly agape.

I ask you again, sir, I said. Why are you telling me this?

He said isn’t it obvious Mr Whitlock, I need your help to get them off the hook. All they have ever done is good for this community, we can’t let their lives fall to ruin now.

And the point I made to him is the very same point I make today. That a person is not one isolated incident. They are the sum of everything they ever have been, everything they are, and everything they ever will be. A constellation of decisions. A plethora of mistakes. I could very much appreciate that these men did a lot of good for the local community, and they’d earned a lot of grace with the residents, but they were criminals. They had taken charity money for themselves.

Lovable rogues are still rogues, I told him. And a pirate and a thief are exactly that too. Don’t let the slapstick fool you, for they will have a flintlock pistol digging in the small of your back and one hand in your wallet before you even know what has hit you.

Vote Whitlock.