So, the Prime Minister has changed her mind! She has decided that it is in the ‘national interest’ that we should have a snap General Election. She says that while she sees signs that the general population is closing ranks and becoming more united after the divisive traumas of the EU Referendum last year, there is no such unity in Westminster.

The battle between Brexiteers and Remainers continues in both Houses of Parliament – especially in the Upper House where unelected peers have declared their intention of fighting an unending warfare against the decision to leave the European Union.

But is it really in the ‘national interest’ that we should have the upheavals of another General Election so soon after the last one and less than a year after the Referendum?

Political Opportunism?

Of course, Mrs May is being accused of political opportunism, with Labour trailing 20 points behind in the polls and Jeremy Corbyn being unable to command the support of all his MPs.

It is a compelling argument that if she can increase her parliamentary majority she will strengthen her position in the inevitable battles that will accompany negotiations with European leaders to agree the terms for Britain to leave the EU. It will not necessarily make the negotiations themselves any easier, but it will secure her own support in Westminster and minimise the dangers imposed by backbench revolts.

The battle between Brexiteers and Remainers continues in both Houses of Parliament.

It would also put the Government in a strong position to use the Parliament Act to overcome opposition from the Lords, if that becomes necessary for approval of the final Brexit deal.

All these, of course, are political considerations. But we must come back to the fundamental question – what is in the ‘national interest’ – in fact, even more fundamentally, how do we define ‘the national interest’?

Deciding the National Interest

For example: is it in the ‘national interest’ that the sexual grooming of the nation’s children should begin in the nursery? This is what is being demanded by the National Union of Teachers (NUT), who passed a resolution this week calling upon the Government to introduce the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transsexual (LGBT) social grooming of children as young as two years old!¹

No doubt the NUT know that they will have the support of Justine Greening, the Education Secretary, who has already said that she wants to make it compulsory to teach a version of sex education to primary-aged children.

One has to ask if the Prime Minister thought it to be in the ‘national interest’ to appoint a lesbian Education Secretary? We know perfectly well that the LGBT lobby’s social engineering policy aims at the destruction of traditional family life and the demolition of the Judeo-Christian foundations of the nation. We therefore have to question the use of the term ‘national interest’ when used by politicians.

Only Time Will Tell

Was it in the ‘national interest’ when Edward Heath took us into the European Union, or when Tony Blair took us to war against Iraq? Was it in the ‘national interest’ when David Cameron decided to ‘re-define’ marriage?

If we answer those questions in the negative, we should also ask, “was it in the national interest that Cameron should give the nation a Referendum about leaving the European Union?” It certainly created much division in the nation, but many Christians would say that there has been a right outcome (others would disagree). The final judgment on whether or not Brexit is in the national interest can only be made in years to come.

We have to conclude that there is no clear definition of what is in the national interest. It is a judgment that leaders have to make and only subsequent events can prove whether or not they were truly wise and correct.

Leaders have to judge what is in the national interest – but only subsequent events can prove whether or not they were correct.

Mixed Motives

So, is the Prime Minister right in saying that it is in the ‘national interest’ to have a General Election right now?

Certainly, it is in the ‘national interest’ that she should be freed from political battles at home whilst negotiating difficult and complex resolutions on the Continent. It is certainly in the ‘national interest’ that Britain should have the best possible deal in withdrawing from the European Union.

But we also have to conclude that there is no such thing as a political decision that is purely in the ‘national interest’. All political decisions are taken with a mixture of motives – with one eye on the polls and the ballot box and the other eye on ‘expediency’.

In the Bible, the most blatant hypocritical misuse of the appeal to ‘national interest’ was by Caiaphas, the High Priest who presided at the fake trial of Jesus. He declared that it was in the national interest that Jesus should be crucified. Addressing the Sanhedrin, he said, “You know nothing at all! You do not realise that it is better for you that one man die for the people than that the whole nation perish” (John 11:50).

The Bible tells us that none of us have pure motives; we all make decisions that are influenced by self-interest. Speaking through Jeremiah, God says, “The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure, who can understand it? I the Lord search the heart and examine the mind, to reward a man according to his conduct, and according to what his deeds deserve” (Jer 17:9-10).

The Bible tells us that none of us have pure motives; we all make decisions that are influenced by self-interest.

This is why we are urged to pray for our leaders - that they may overcome the human propensity to self-interest and be given wisdom in the huge responsibility they carry. Never have our politicians and business leaders been in greater need of Divine guidance and wisdom than in the negotiations to leave the EU.

Looking Ahead

Whether or not we voted for Brexit, we have to accept that the die is cast and the greatest need today is to support and to strengthen the hands of those who will be negotiating on our behalf.

Meanwhile, we can be sure that a great spiritual battle is raging throughout Europe. Some of it will be seen this weekend in the French parliamentary election, especially since the latest terrorism attack in Paris yesterday. Many French voters are deeply worried about the rising power of Islam which they say is destroying the traditional character of the nation.

This same fear is rising in many other parts of Europe and will cause EU leaders to be increasingly hostile to Britain because we have led the way out of the EU. It is essential to recognise that this is not a battle against flesh and blood but against the spiritual powers of wickedness (Eph 6:12). In our intercessions we must remember that, “though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds” (2 Cor 10:3-4).

Notes

1 CitzenGo are hosting a petition calling on the NUT to withdraw its decision - click here to sign it.