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Good morning. Yesterday on this programme the playwright David Hare talked about the revival of The Absence of War his play about Labour Party politics, written over twenty years ago. During the interview he said that the public are much angrier with politicians than they were two decades ago and that politicians are much angrier with us. Usually it’s loss of respect or lack of trust which get highlighted but David Hare’s use of anger to describe the present political culture grabbed my attention. Earlier this week I watched Michael Cockerell’s documentary Inside the Commons on ��ѿ��ý2. For the first time television cameras were allowed on the floor of the Commons’ Chamber, as well as the division lobbies and even the hallowed Tea Room. It painted a sympathetic portrait of MPs seeking to improve the lives of those they served and doing so with good humour and grace. Any anger we saw seemed to be directed against perceived injustices rather than people. But Prime Minister’s Questions got a lot of attention in the programme. It was here that anger, whether real or synthetic, was highly visible. And this is the one occasion in the parliamentary week guaranteed to get media coverage. Is it that politicians are not so much angry with us but angrier with each other? If so, is it a matter of principle or the outcome of frustration? The political culture has become more diverse. Power bases are insecure. Public reaction becomes harder to determine. For all of us loss, disappointment or a sense of rejection can make us angry. The people on whom we vent our anger are often colleagues or family, those with whom we are in daily contact. If anger is due to our frustration it’s rarely going to be constructive though there are times when we are justly indignant, even angry, on behalf of others. A gospel example would be when Jesus over-turned the tables of the money changers in the Temple, telling them they’d made God’s house a den of robbers. The scriptures don’t actually describe Jesus as angry though he could hardly have been in a sunny mood. A line from the Book of Proverbs expresses the more commonplace biblical perspective on this subject – “one who is slow to anger is better than the mighty”. An angry person rarely changes our minds or convinces us of their wisdom. It’s not just politicians who should curb their anger. It’s us as well. Though perhaps not completely. I’ll give Aristotle the last word: “Anyone who gets angry at the right things and with the right people, and in the right way at the right time and for the right length of time, is commended.” But that doesn’t mean every Wednesday lunchtime.