New Year Agenda

Politicians should listen more - and to more people. To be thought of as 'a good listener' is a compliment - but it implies that it is the exception rather than the rule. Of course, it is not true only of politicians, as you will know! So next year I will listen more. Why?

I bought my Christmas tree from the usual family business just outside Salisbury (where they tell me only 10% of us still prefer the traditional Norway Spruce). While he was sliding my tree into its string bag, the son asked me one of those questions to which you know he has the answer and is longing to tell you. It turned out to be a Christmassy, topical question. Which is the strongest nation on earth - so strong, every last man and woman will fight to the death? Israel was the right answer. The Romans found out the hard way. Then there was the Holocaust. Now there's Palestine - and Israel has nuclear weapons.

As we tied my tree to the car roof, he told me why the war against terrorism will not be won, nor the anger of the Islamic world assuaged, until there is peace between Israel and Palestine. We might defeat the Saddam regime in Iraq - but the war would go on around the world until peace, prosperity and stability broke out on that tiny patch of the planet that has been the focus of our attention at Christmas. Of course, he was right.

So, the Middle East must be a big issue for me in 2003. This is not just of academic interest. It affects us locally. Oil and energy prices, local military activity and jobs, preparations for terrorist attack, the deployment of humanitarian aid - this is the here-and-now side of conflict far away.

There's another kind of conflict I've been hearing about, too. The other kind of Boxing Day. In our country the police get a call every minute of every day about domestic violence. One in four women in Britain will experience domestic violence at some time in their lives. Every week, two women in the UK die at the hands of their partner or former partner. Every week two children are killed as a result of domestic violence.

If you can believe it, a woman is likely to be assaulted 35 times before the police hear about it. Worse, 20% of young men and 10% of young women think violence or abuse against a partner is acceptable. No wonder 50,000 women and children seek refuge in sanctuaries every week. So, thank goodness for our women's refuge here in Salisbury - and for those who minister there and elsewhere in the community to women beaten up by men.

I've not gone soft on political correctness - I've just been listening. Listening to thoroughly sensible women (and men) telling me about workplace bullying in Salisbury offices. So there's another challenge for us all in 2003.

Sorry to be gloomy this month. Must be the time of year! We all need some sunshine in our lives - so that is my wish for you in 2003!

ROBERT KEY MP