8 November 2022 – Jan Arriens

Truth and integrity

Finding common ground

“In a society in which lies, injustice, inequality, deception and entitlement are prevalent it is only the truth – in all its uncomfortable forms – that will heal us.”

The Quaker Truth & Integrity Group (QTIG) began as an informal group of Quakers sharing a deeply felt concern about the state of truth and integrity in public life in Britain. In March 2022 it gained official recognition by the national Quaker body (Britain Yearly Meeting) as a Quaker Recognised Body.

QTIG has committed itself to:

  • Upholding standards of honesty and integrity in our lives and organisations
  • Acknowledging that the majority of those in public life/politics are people of goodwill and finding ways of working respectfully with them on 'kinder ground'
  • Helping to ensure the Nolan principles (selflessness, integrity, objectivity, accountability, openness, honesty and leadership)[1] continue to govern public life
  • Working towards a system of truly inclusive, participative democracy, where people feel their wishes and needs are truly respected and taken into account
  • Encouraging constitutional reform and strengthening systems of accountability
  • Promoting higher standards of truth within the media, including social media

Jan Arriens is an active and vocal member of the group.

Jan Arriens

Jan Arriens was born in the UK, of Dutch parents. He holds dual British and Australian nationality. After gaining a PhD from Cambridge University, he spent the first 10 years of his professional life as an Australian diplomat, later setting up a translation business in the UK.

Jan became a Quaker in the mid-1980s, “rather to my own surprise,” having previously shied away from organised religion. In 1988 he founded the charity LifeLines, whose members correspond with prisoners on death row in the US. He has been a Quaker prison chaplain, and has been a member of the Quaker International Conciliation Group for the past 15 years.

He has published two collections of all-age stories, was editor to a collection of writings from inmates on death row. In 2021, Jan’s book “Living in the Mystery – Between Head and Heart” was published, in which he grapples with the tensions between rationality, intuition, scepticism, and experience that have played such a big part in his life

Jan is actively involved in the recently established Quaker Truth & Integrity Group.