When someone commits suicide, those close to that person naturally reproach themselves. In politics, and similarly contested areas of life, people reproach others too. So it is not surprising that when a 21-year-old Conservative party worker, Elliott Johnson, killed himself in September, accusations about Tory bullying arose.
Judging from what is reported about Mark Clarke, the leader of the party’s campaign RoadTrip group, he should never have been in charge of any youth wing. But there are couple of other things to bear in mind. For some reason, it has not been reported, though it is widely said, that Mr Johnson had been in a relationship with a party colleague and that he had felt betrayed when the relationship was broken off. It seems reasonable to guess that this break-up would have added to his despair, and therefore have made him more likely to commit suicide. It does not seem reasonable to think that the party chairman, Lord Feldman, can be arraigned for Mr Johnson’s death, although he should certainly be criticised for his joint role in appointing Clarke.
Why is this worth saying? Only because this case is yet another example of the false exaltation of victims. It is true that the living people who, by miles, deserve the greatest sympathy in this case are Mr Johnson’s parents, but it does not follow that the only result of any inquiry must be one that would satisfy them. This is the same illusion which says that the families of servicemen killed in action have to be satisfied before any case can close.
Grief takes different people in different ways. There are some people who find it cannot be assuaged, and lose all sense of fairness. Even if they remain fair-minded people, they are not qualified — why should they be? — to judge the wider questions that arise, such as how an army, or, in this case, a political party’s youth wing, should be organised. Suppose that Mr Johnson’s parents decided they would not accept anything less than the resignation of David Cameron himself as the price for their son’s death. Would we have to defer to them? The correct, serious charge against the Tory leadership is that they have neglected the once-healthy roots of a national party youth movement, leaving it vulnerable to takeover by shysters. They cannot be blamed for the sad decision of one young man to take his life.
This is an extract from Charles Moore’s Notes. The full article can be found here.
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