Wallpaper's not important!

The man on TV who really made me mad this week was Sir Charles Walker, Conservative MP for Broxbourne in Hertfordshire. Sir Charles has been a critic of his own government during the pandemic as he thinks that the lockdowns have been too severe. He is reported to have said at some point that people in their 80s and 90s just die and that governments should not think that they can control it (a very insensitive view of the effects of coronavirus on families and the NHS).

However, this week he wanted to be supportive of his leader, Boris Johnson, in face of the growing scandal as to whether Boris’ flat at No.10 was redecorated well beyond the standard provision at the expense of undeclared donors. After opposition politicians and academics had voiced their concern, Sir Charles piped up in highly scornful mode, saying something to the effect that there were many things that were more important than ‘wallpaper’. In doing so, he attempted to trivialise the issue.

Let me provide an illustration as to why that made me mad.

I want you to imagine that you are the parent of a student for whom I was the tutor at York St John University. Let us say that your little Kylie struggled a bit and scraped through with a low grade. She was not in the same league as her friend Suzi, another of my students, who got a really good grade. Kylie was never sure why Suzi got the hang of it so well when she did not; in all her conversations with Suzi about the course, it was not clear that Suzi knew much more than she did.

Now you have got to know Suzi’s parents and, around the time of the degree ceremony, you are very surprised to pick up on the fact that Suzi’s parents very generously gave me the money that I needed for a redecoration of my house. It was really good of them as I was a bit broke at the time and I had perhaps been over-ambitious with my plans.

Suzi’s parents try to reassure you that there was nothing untoward; they had just helped out someone in need whom they liked. But it doesn’t seem right to you, and you can’t let it drop. After all, you have spent a small fortune on Kylie's degree, and even then, she is still in considerable debt. You want to know whether I might have been unprofessional, and so you ask to meet me.

Here's my reply:

‘I can’t believe that you are worrying about something so trivial! What are a few bits of wallpaper compared to the educational experience of an entire degree? Don’t be so silly. Let’s discuss matters that are a bit more important.’

OK, is that the end of the matter? How do you feel?

Unfortunately for me, it doesn’t satisfy you and you complain to the vice chancellor. An investigation later uncovers the fact that I never declared my interests (my benefitting financially from a students' family) at an examination board, and so I am out of a job.

In real life, I'm glad to say, this didn't happen because it's obvious that it is wrong. The book would be thrown at just about any ordinary bod in a job who compromised their office in such a manner. Unless, of course, you live at No. 10 Downing Street.

OK, wallpaper may be less important than unemployment or pandemics or ecological collapse, but in this context it is still a serious matter. What made me mad is that Sir Charles Walker is supposedly an intelligent man, and yet he comes on TV pretending that he doesn’t understand this very basic principle of professional life that applies to everyone, given that we live in what we believe to be an open and fair society which tries to prevent corruption. I think he would have said that 2 and 2 made 13, or that Istanbul was the capital of Norfolk in order to try and blag his leader out of the hole. The word disingenuous comes to mind. Other words do too, but I won’t undignify my blog by recording them!