Al-Madina newspaper

“For anyone who has ever arrived late to work, an apology will usually suffice. But for one British lord, it was too late to just say sorry. It took less than 60 seconds for Michael Bates to arrive late, apologize profusely, offer his resignation and then leave the House of Lords,” the Washington Post reported last month.

The House of Lords - one of the two Houses of the British Parliament - convened to discuss issues and government accountability on behalf of British citizens. Prime Minister Theresa May was supposed to attend the session to answer questions, but because she was on an official trip to China, the International Development Minister Lord Michael Bates was given the responsibility of attending on behalf of the prime minister and the government to answer any questions by members of the House of Lords.

The session started on time and members started asking questions with Baroness Lister of Burtersett initiating proceedings. With Lord Bates running late to answer her question, one of the ministers attending answered on his behalf. By the time Lord Bates arrived, less than a minute late, he asked what had happened and based on the answers he got, he stood in the dispatch box and said:

“I want to offer my sincere apologies to Baroness Lister for my discourtesy in not being in my place to answer her question on a very important matter. During the five years in which it’s been my privilege to answer questions from this dispatch box on behalf of the government, I’ve always believed that we should rise to the highest possible standards of courtesy and respect in responding on behalf of the government to the legitimate questions of the legislature, I am thoroughly ashamed at not being in my place and therefore I shall be offering my resignation to the prime minister... with immediate effect,” said Lord Bates, and continued as he gathered his belongings: “I do apologize” and immediately exited the chamber.

Despite this dramatic resignation, the House of Lords continued as if nothing had happened because the main concern was the interest of British citizens.

These types of actions are what made an island on the edge of Europe rise to become Great Britain. Admitting your mistakes, apologizing, and accepting the consequences even if means resigning from your job is the sort of approach we need our bureaucrats to adopt.

Any government position is a responsibility before the people. Instilling a sense of responsibility and integrity into government positions ensures that there is accountability even for the most minor transgressions. And it is because we lack this culture of accountability, that we rarely hear of a government minister resigning in the Arab world let alone admitting any wrongdoing.

People in power should have a sense of responsibility naturally without having to be supervised or reminded. It is unfortunate that we have to go as far as the West to find an example of exemplary conduct by a government official and to remind ourselves that true Islamic and Arab principles also advocate such accountability and honesty.