Today and yesterday there’s been online discussion about Baroness Warsi’s sudden resignation from government. There were a number of unusual factors: she chose to tweet her decision, following that up rapidly with a tweet that included her letter of resignation. In doing this Baroness Warsi had pre-empted the usual Downing St mechanisms, and I do wonder how she felt as she pressed that ‘send’ button.
What seems even more unusual is the courage and integrity of taking this step, recognised already in many of the commentaries as brave and unprecedented, whatever the writer’s own view of the conflict. This is hugely important. We live in a world dominated by groupthink, where whistleblowers are treated with scorn by the establishments they seek to expose, a world where it’s very difficult for politicians to break free of the party line, even when they have justifiably strong feelings about what’s happening. This is certainly being recognised on social media:
‘A politician with principles. I didn’t know there were any left. @SayeedaWarsi I salute you.’
‘what happens when the most principled people leave positions of power & the decision making is left up to the immoral people? #SayeedaWarsi’
Must have been difficult but she stood for what she believed in & that in itself is greatly inspiring. Respect to her.. #SayeedaWarsi’
It’s becoming almost impossible now for those in power to stand against the tide, and when they do they can expect a fresh wave of cynicism and sarcasm to wash over them – as is also happening to Sayeeda Warsi online.
The simple point I’d like to make here is that this is an almost-unique example of someone thinking for herself, breaking free of the herd to think independently about a subject of great importance to her and to the greater world.
That takes moral courage. It doesn’t even matter if she is right or wrong – what matters is that she stood up and challenged what she sees as institutionalised groupthink. We could do with a few more Warsis.
[ssba]