Will anyone vote in the European elections?!

Given the current expenses claims scandals that are being drip-fed to us daily by The Telegraph, I predict a dismal turnout in the European elections on June 4th! My wife works in Westminster and passes the House every day. In the last few days she has witnessed a frenzy of media reporters and cameras conducting numerous interviews on the lawns opposite.

But if the MPs expenses claims system needs reforming in the UK, there is a good chance that the European equivalent needs the same treatment. Concerns about the expense claims of MEPs have rumbled around for years. The general dismay over some MPs behaviour combined with general British ambivalence towards the European Union may not be a recipe for success. But we should never take democracy for granted, however disillusioned we might currently be with those who represent us. It isn't perfect, but at least with a democratic system we all have a voice - unless we choose not to use it.

Many years ago a Christian organisation used to hold meetings at our church. It got dubbed 'the Conservative Party at prayer' because so many of their views were straight out of the Conservative Party manifesto. There was an assumption that true evangelical Christians would, of course, align themselves with the policies of the Right.

I think it is good and healthy for Christians to be involved in a range of political parties. Of course we need to be aware of the different policies but more than anything (in the current climate) we need men and women of integrity who have genuinely gone into politics to serve other people and not themselves.

'The integrity of the upright guides them, but the unfaithful are destroyed by their duplicity.' (Proverbs 11:3)