Can moderation trump hatred?

I was in Florida last week, working with a client. On the way back to the airport in Fort Lauderdale we drove past a couple of people with large placards standing on the coast road, waving to people in their cars. Their placards said ‘Hillary should go to jail’ and ‘Vote for Trump’, and some motorists were tooting their horns in support.

Today the FBI has said that they have found no further evidence of wrongdoing over the recent email investigation. But what struck me as we drove towards the airport was how the people with the placards were keen to believe the rhetoric about Hillary rather than wait to hear the facts. As we see increasing levels of polarisation and condemnation creep into our politics we are losing something essential to democracy and freedom – the desire to be fair, to include others rather than exclude them, the balance of views that rejects religious or political extremism. I hope tomorrow that the US election results demonstrate success for moderation over hatred. 

I'm interested in what you think. If you’d like to share your views, please tweet @SimonJHayward #moderationrocks

‘Je suis Charlie’

The values of liberty and equality are connecting millions in the face of terrorism

Watching the four million people march through Paris in response to the Charlie Hebdo attack, I was struck by how the defiant French response has inspired an even wider international response.

Political leaders from around the world joined the French in asserting the right to liberty, equality and brotherhood of all people, whether they be from France or elsewhere. I respect the French resolve to stand up to the terrorists in a wave of public demonstrations where ‘Je suis Charlie’ signs demonstrate their sense of identity with the satirical journalists and their right to free speech. They are living up to the three values of the French Republic, ‘Je suis Charlie’ standing firm when these are under threat.

The French sense of what’s right, and that it is worth defending, is a powerful example to leaders around the world of how defining and protecting what’s really important is an act of leadership that an entire nation can share.