Jo Cox’s murder
The price of caring
Jun 17th 2016, 11:57 BY BAGEHOT

ジョーコックスの殺害
世話やきの代償

SOME reports have it that Thomas Mair, the 52-year-old man arrested for yesterday’s fatal attack on Jo Cox, a Labour MP, was waiting for her outside the Yorkshire library where she was holding a constituency surgery. Whether or not this turns out to have been the case, her murder is a stark illustration of the risks MPs take by making themselves so available to their constituents. 

MP：the Member of Parliamentの略で、議会の構成員
constituency surgery：選挙民との面談
been the case：事実かどうか
stark illustration：厳しい実例




What is under-appreciated in Britain is how special this is. I have complained about First Past the Post (FPTP) in the past. But it is undeniable that it makes politicians more personally responsible to their constituents. In proportional systems some or all MPs have no specific loyalty to a particular, narrow geographical area. By contrast all Britons have a representative whose job it is to voice their interests and those of their neighbours. Moreover, most of those representatives give their constituents a degree of access unparalleled in other countries. 

under-appreciated：正当に評価されない
first-past-the-post system： 〈英〉小選挙区制　 first past the post 先着順 　小選挙区制◆英の選挙の制度。最も多数の投票数を得た者が当選する
proportional representation： (選挙の)比例代表制 
unparalleled：に並ぶものがない

During election campaigns, they will typically go door-knocking (on the continent street stalls and rallies are preferred). Between elections, most hold regular surgeries, like the one outside which Ms Cox was attacked yesterday. Constituents can attend these—sometimes simply turning up on the day and waiting in line—to raise their opinions, concerns and problems. Subjects range from badger culls and foreign policy to abusive neighbours and violent crime. Often these occasions function as the public-service-of-last-resort: a final hope for citizens who feel ignored or let down by, say, the police, the National Health Service or the local council. People driven to desperation can act in desperate ways. Yet most MPs continue to hold their surgeries regularly, and publicise them widely. 

continent：大陸
street stalls and rallies：露天や集会
Badger Cull：アナグマ狩り　イギリスで、ウシ型結核菌を媒体する野生動物で、感染源として非難されるのが、バジャー（Badger：アナグマ）です。 このため、この10年で、約11,000頭の野生のアナグマが殺されてきたそうですが、これが牛の結核の蔓延を直接的に防ぐことになるのか、答えはまだはっきり出ていないらしいです。 
abusive：暴力的な
let down：見捨てる
desperation：自暴自棄
publicise：公表する

The cynical response is to claim that they do so only to secure re-election. Not so. Studies have suggested that time spent in these meetings would be more fruitfully used (in electoral terms, at least) canvassing swing voters, or nurturing journalists. Often surgeries are dominated by repeat visitors, those at the juncture of multiple social fractures (poor health, crime, poverty) who are unlikely to vote come election time and may not even know which party their MP represents. 

cynical ：ひねくれた
canvassing ：勧誘して回る
nurturing：しつける
multiple social fracture：輻輳した社会的な破壊
juncture：接合点

Moreover, one of the other traits of FPTP is that it creates safe seats. There are plenty of MPs who, frankly, could ignore their constituents and still win elections. Practically none do. I witnessed this a couple of years ago when working on an article about the role of surgeries. First I spent a day with Jacob Rees-Mogg, who represents a corner of Somerset where they virtually weigh the Tory vote. But it is not without its social problems. And although Mr Rees-Mogg has a reputation for being a rather grand, fogeyish type, I was profoundly impressed watching him respond as his voters unburdened their woes on him. From volcanic disputes between neighbours to a constituent with a long-term health problem (who suffered a sort of fit during the meeting) and a woman reduced to tears by debt problems, he offered each sensitive, practical and informed advice and explained what he and his office could do to help. 

trait：特徴
weigh：影響力がある
grand：威厳のある
fogeyish：流行遅れの格好をした
profoundly：大いに
unburdened：胸の内を打ち明ける
woes：災い・困難・悲痛
a sort of fit ：ある種の適合・かみ合い
informed：わかった上で

Then I sat in on a surgery with Rushanara Ali, the Labour MP for Bethnal Green and Bow. This too was—and is—an extremely safe seat. Yet in a run-down council building she dealt with a long series of terrible accounts of bureaucratic indifference and institutional failure (many concerning the immigration system) with calm professionalism, switching between Bengali and English often within conversations with the same family. Her temporary office was protected by a punch-code lock while—if I remember correctly—a security guard stood outside. Only a couple of years previously Stephen Timms, the MP for nearby East Ham, had been stabbed in the abdomen at one of his surgeries. 

run-down：荒れ放題の
indifference：無関心
punch-code lock：暗証番号を打ち込むような鍵
abdomen：腹部

日曜日。ジョーコックスの殺害についての意見で、この国の小選挙区の選挙戦度にも関連していると言っている。選挙民というよりは集まってくる人たちへの助言とか相談をするのだが、それが結局選挙への成果につながっている。こうしたシステムのため、今回ののようなことが起こってしまう。以前にもそうした傷害事件があったとこの記事は言っている。こうしたことは日本ではない。

昨日は海野会があった。だいぶ疲れていたので、１日は相当きつかった。運良く懇親会がなかった。おかげで助かった。今日は1年ぶりにインラインで溜池山王まで行く。背骨を折ってちょど一年経った。このシティランのいわさんもリタイアし、メンバーも変わっていたが、懐かしい。藤井パパが気遣ってくれて
今日は同行してくれる。以前は１０時過ぎに出ていたのだが、今日は９時半に家を出ることにしている。溜池山王まで休まずに行く自信がないからだ。愚妻は心配してまた骨を折るのではないかと気を使ってくれている。確かにもう若くはないので、転べば簡単に肋骨が折れることはわかっているが、気をつけて滑ることにする。ではまた明日。