Why mocking politicians make a mockery of the public

As I was driving to the dentists this afternoon I heard the live statement made by Gordon Brown to parliament about the G20 meeting held last weekend in Washington.

Now I am not a great fan of Gordon Brown. I think him to be vain, dour, lacking in the sure footedness needed to be a Prime Minister and lacking in empathy with real people. But when Gordon Brown made his statement he reported a number of facts about the current world financial climate and a lot of bad news about what the world could expect. However, a number of MPs, who I am presuming to be Tory members, jeered, locked and laughed at the most in appropriate times.

Why it was funny to laugh haughtily as Gordon Brown made reference to increasing unemployment, why it was necessary to jeer as information about house prices was given, indeed, why it was necessary for any shouting during an important announcement was beyond me.

With David Cameron having the right of reply, couldn't "honourable" members have listened, shown some respect, thought hard about how electors at home would be feeling when they hear about how hard life is going to be for them and generally show a more grown up way to deal with what are very grown up problems.

Those of us involved in politics sometimes feel that politicians get a bad name, being judged by the worst excesses of a very small minority. However, at times you see that we have politicians who act like they are back in the boarding school dorms, and not in the most important building in the country.

I note some Tory bloggers have complained too about Gordon Brown's performance and lack of answers to questions, and I would generally agree with their assessment. However, they should remember that how the opposition conducts itself whilst millions of people in this country suffer tells us much about the Tory party and how much they really care.