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With the glorious pageantry of the State of
Opening of Parliament this week and a parish visit to our
Church patrons Trinity College Cambridge last Sunday, it has
been a time to be very proud of our country and its
heritage.
Each year thousands of people flock to the UK
to enjoy our wonderful heritage, and see what was the
grandeur of this country in years past.
As we toured the beautiful grounds of Trinity
College, we saw students lying on the grass or punting down
the river Cam and enjoying the weather or reading getting
ready for their finals. With a traditional tea served by the
College staff, then walking into Chapel for Choral Evensong
passing marble statues of Darwin and famous former fellows
of the College, it was difficult to realise that the world
was outside.
The following day I came down to earth with a
bump. With parish magazine deliverers away it was my task to
deliver 3 areas of Fakenham starting in a fairly new
privately owned housing area of manicured lawns and
beautiful gardens, then I moved on to a large area of warden
assisted housing for the elderly, followed by a housing
association estate for families. This was the UK in all its
glory. A real mixture of housing, and a mixture of people.
With the state opening of Parliament as with
any grand occasion such as visiting Trinity College, you
know that it can’t last. The new coalition government has a
task of bringing together our divided country where one
section worries about capital gains tax and the other
worries about how much benefit they are receiving. As clergy
we are neither rich nor poor, but unlike so many people in
society we are fortunate to be working and being paid and
live in a beautiful house. We have many opportunities denied
to others, and clergy children generally do well and succeed
in life.
This week I gave out £200 worth of clothing
vouchers to a family in Fakenham with 4 children. The dad is
unemployed and the young mother at home with her family. All
the children were of school age except the youngest, and no
one in the household has ever worked. Somehow as a church
and a nation, we must connect with these families, we must
move from giving charity hand outs to the poor and
encouraging the whole nation that work is a means to a
fuller life. In our town we are preparing to build 800 new
homes, but where are people to work?
Most of those in Parliament come from very
privileged backgrounds. Few would have come in contact with
the real world. I would plead with all those in authority to
do as I have done and walk the streets and talk to the
people and they will find out that we are a very divided
nation. We are land of opportunity for some, but for a vast
number, these post war years have seen the division in
society getting wider and increasingly children are growing
up without hope or any prospects for the future. Our new
government has a vast task on its hands.
Adrian Bell
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