That is a reminder of the dangers MPs face daily; the price they pay for listening to their constituents and making themselves so approachable. A report cited by the Guardian just in January documented the abuse to which parliamentarians are routinely subjected. Of the 239 MPs surveyed, 192 said they had experienced “aggressive or intrusive behaviour”, 43 that they had been subjected to attacks or attempted attacks, 101 that they had received threats of harm. Reports included accounts of being punched in the face; of being hit with a brick; of their children being told that they would be killed; of having petrol poured through the letter box. The authorities were already trying to improve security for MPs when yesterday’s attack took place. Fresh safety advice has now been issued. 

abuse ：悪口・暴力
intrusive：立ち入った

It is their very visibility to their constituents—that noble hallmark of the British system—that makes MPs targets for loners, extremists and the furious. The lurid rantings of such people regularly make it into parliamentary mail bags, as I have witnessed both working in one MP’s office and visiting dozens of others as a journalist. In one I was shown a thick wad of paper from one constituent, perhaps one hundred pages thick, filled with dense, spidery, scatological fantasies of violence and destruction. It was not untypical, I was told. 

hallmark：特徴
loner：一匹狼
lurid：恐ろしい
ranting：喚き散らすこと
mail bag：郵便袋
wad：束
spidery：乱雑な
scatological：糞便に関する
fantasies：幻想

The abuse is not confined to the deranged. It arises in an environment in which the stereotype of the lazy, venal, self-serving MP is depressingly widely accepted. This has deep roots in Britons’ ancient scepticism of authority. Yet particularly since the 2009 expenses scandal, when a handful of (frankly rather minor) scoundrels gave the decent majority a bad name, this has curdled into something darker, something nastier. In the heat of the EU referendum campaign I have attended a series of events (for the Leave side, it must be said) at which placid, middle-class Middle England types have parroted not just the usual gormless claims about MPs (“They’re all the same”, “They’re all in it for themselves”) but have tipped into outright conspiracy theorising. Britain is not a democracy, its politicians are just puppets for shadowy corporate and foreign forces, they are traitors. 

confined：限られた
deranged：精神錯乱した
stereotype：通念・典型
lazy：怠惰な
venal：たやすく買収される
self-serving　：私欲に走る
depressingly：気が滅入るほど
scoundrel：悪人
decent：まともな
curdled：固まらせる
nastier：不快な
placid：おとなしい
parroted：おうむ返しに言う
gormless：馬鹿げた
tipped into：タレコミをする・傾ける
outright：あからさまな
traitor：反逆者

Such was the febrile atmosphere in which Ms Cox was slain. It is too early to say whether it was a big-P “political” act; early reports claim Mr Mair shouted “Britain First” and has links to far-right groups. But irrespective of what investigators discover about the causes of the murder, yesterday’s ghastly incident is unequivocally political in at least one respect: it took place as a hard-working, public-spirited MP was among her constituents, serving them, trying to make their lives better; yet in a society in which such efforts go scandalously overlooked. 

febrile：熱のこもった
slain：殺害する　slay
irrespective：に関係なく
ghastly：酷く不快な
unequivocally：明白に
overlooked：見落とす

Were it not for its frightening underside, the popular view of politicians would be laughable in its utter inaccuracy. Britain is one of the least corrupt countries in the world; its politicians are probably cleaner and more accountable than those in any European country outside Scandinavia. MPs are not well paid compared with other parliamentarians and other professionals in the public service. Most work spectacularly long hours, spend chunks of most weeks in what amount to glorified student digs in London, have little time for their families. Why? There is a dose of ego in the equation, of course. But far more prominent is a genuine commitment to the public good, a desire to do something positive and meaningful. The quest to “give something back” is no less sincere and important for being cliched. 

frightening：恐ろしい
underside：裏側・内面
aughable：馬鹿げている
chunks of：たくさんの
glorified：見せかけの
student digs：ガリ勉家
in the equation：等式の中に
ego：自尊心
genuine：正真正銘の
cliched：言い古された
no less：確かに

And yes, it is healthy for citizens to hold their representatives to account, to interrogate and challenge, to adopt a sceptical attitude towards the decisions they take and to boot them out when they fail. But Britain in 2016 has gone far, far beyond that. A country so intensely suspicious about its leaders, so wide-eyed in its willingness to believe the worst, so thirsty for proof of betrayal and decadence, is not a country in a good place. 

interrogate：尋問する
boot them out：クビにする
gone far beyond：大きくそれる
thirsty：強く望む
betrayal：背信
decadence：堕落

月曜日。少数選挙区制の弊害だけでなく、この国は政治家を信用していないところがある。今は賄賂とか、怠惰とか言った政治家はいない。ただ、ここのところ政治がうまくいっていないのは確かだが、そうは言ってももっと政治家を見直すべきだという意見だ。今回のBrexitもそうした背景があるのかもしれない。特に高齢者がGrexitにかなり賛成していたので、あまりに物事に保守的に硬直しているのかもしれない。衰退国家の典型なのかもしれない。

昨日は背骨を折ってから丁度1年ぶりで、スケートの仲間から溜池山王まで来ないかということで、藤井さんと一緒に自宅から溜池山王まで滑っていった。1年ぶりだったので、午後の英語の資料レビューは地獄だった。疲れてどうしようもなかった。スケートは予想外にエネルギーを消耗することがわかった。今朝は７時半から朝会がある。昼はいつもの連中の昼食会で、築地市場の魚四季だ。今朝は朝会があるので、４時に起きました。ではまた明日。