Wednesday 21 October 2009

LPUK Conference 28th November 2009






The Annual AGM/Conference will be held at the Gladiator Room, Gloucestershire Cricket Club, Nevil Road, Bristol BS7 9EJ 10.30am- 4pm November 28th 2009


The Conference will deal with matters of policy and constitutional matters to be put forward by members via their regional coordinators, and the election of officers for 2010, plus party organisation, aims and objectives

A business meeting dealing with end of year accounts and hand over to the new NCC will be held in January.

We need to know numbers attending by November 2nd. There will be a £5 charge to defray costs on registration so please help us by registering early, and as ever Donations will be happily received.

Contact members@lpuk.org

The Sportsman Pub is nearby where I understand the usual fare can be obtained.

There is carparking available for 100 vehicles.

Directions

By Road

From the North:

Exit Junction 19 on M4 onto M32 to Bristol

Exit at Junction 2

Take the 3rd exit off the roundabout, keep in right hand lane and follow brown
tourist signs to County Ground. Continue on Muller Road for approx.1 mile.

Turn left into Ralph Road, opposite Bus Depot.

At T junction, turn left and then take first right into Kennington Avenue.
At top of road, turn left (signposted) into Nevil Road and drive through the Grace Gates into the ground.

From Central Bristol :

From St. James Barton roundabout in the City Centre, take exit marked Horfield (A38)
Continue along Stokes Croft Road and onto Gloucester Road

After approx. 1.5 miles turn right into Nevil Road (Signposted)
The Grace Gates are at the end of Nevil Road

By Rail :

Bristol Temple Meads is in the centre of Bristol, approx. 2 miles from The County Ground
Bus no. 8 or 9 will take you from the station to the bus station and then take any of the buses as below

Bristol Parkway is on the northern side of the City and approx 4 miles from The County Ground

By Bus :

The Bus Station is located in the centre of Bristol.

Outside the Bus Station from The Travel Inn, services, 72, 73, 74, 75, 76 and 77 will take you along the Gloucester Road. The stop is Nevil Road, which is within 100yds from the Ground.

Tuesday 20 October 2009

Thursday 15 October 2009

Devon & Cornwall Police Have CCJ's ??

This makes interesting reading !

The Devon & Cornwall Police are not a private business and should not be allocated an unregistered business number.

The sooner ACPO is wound up and Chief Constable's are directly elected the better.

H/T Old Holborn

Monday 12 October 2009

SW LPUK Meetup Saturday 17th October 12 noon

Ye Shakespear, 78 Victoria St, Bristol, Avon, BS1 6DR 12 noon.

Hi all. At last and last minute! Always the best. A get together for philosophy, policy, strategy and drinking. Everyone is welcome to come along. See you all there. It's five minutes from the station.

email sw@lpuk.org for further info

Tuesday 29 September 2009

Something To Be Really Worried About On May 6th 2010.


I listened to Radio 4 this morning, to Austin Mitchell after his fringe meeting at the Labour Party Conference yesterday. Eight people turned up at his meeting, and one of those was his wife.

I saw the empty seats, the closed off areas at Brighton

I saw the photographs of half dead, half asleep Lib Dem supporters whilst Cleggy gave his all at the Lib Dem Conference.

UKIP and BNP are in dire straits financially; the LPUK is examining the pointlessness of contesting seats at Westminster in favour of building a grass roots local authority base.

Next week I am going to be watching the glassy eyed adoration of no policies Cameron and the Conservatives.

Basically Party Politics has collapsed in this Country, dwindling party memberships, over centralisation into Westminster, the recession, the expenses scandal etc has traduced democratic politics that has taken four hundred years to build up in less than twenty years.

The Public know it’s a fix, the Public want Radical Change and a New settlement, that was evident at the Forum on Modern Liberty, but that clamour for real progress has been stymied by the big three parties, and the growth of smaller Parties and pressure groups will never have a voice under this Electoral system. The British just don't do the 'Summer of Rage'

The Public has withdrawn from even voting, because ‘the Government’ always gets in. This has produced the bizarre situation where corrupt faux aristocrats lead the Labour Party. Has it really got to the point where Mandelson is the saviour of the Socialist Left? Is there nobody left in the Labour Party that can see what a travesty this is. We have now got a situation were Esther Ranzten and a baggage handler from Glasgow, are now seen as the authentic voice of politics. Don’t get me wrong anybody who takes on somebody who is trying to explode a car bomb has physical courage, but I am not sure that I want my politics to be along the lines of ‘fisticuff’ Prescott. A man who can barely string a coherent sentence together.

Politics is dead, the only option on offer is Mandelson’s ‘post democratic’ age. This is just an Oligarchy by another name with the rest of us condemned to the role of exploited serfs.

Unless the Radical smaller Parties start to coalesce around the concept of a new constitution, a new settlement and a new voting system, we are going to see the gradual sapping of the life blood in our democratic institutions, with the Police and the EU taking up the slack and running the country by default. The Army is now a degraded institution, loved and respected by the people. Hated and kept short of funds by the political classes and sent to fight illegal wars and to occupy foreign countries, the police on the other hand seem to have no shortage of equipment and helicopters, because the political classes see them as the only thing between us and them.

I spent the weekend as a Libertarian, with a Socialist, a near BNP supporter two Tories and a Liberal Democrat. We discussed politics we all had strong points of view that we could never agree on, but we had a forum to discuss politics because we had respect for each other and ‘ground rules’ that everybody was entitled to their say. What we did agree on that this was not replicated at either National or Local level. There is no forum. If nobody is prepared to listen to my point of view, why the hell should I listen or engage to somebody who wants to talk ‘at’ me about their politics.

That is the position that the Public now have with the current political structure.
There may be only 646 of them and sixty million of us, but nobody is listening to the sixty million, only to the 646, and pretending that this the body politic.

Personally the prospect of a Cameron Government on May 6th fills me with dread, as it will not be any different to Blair/Brown.

Irrespective of each of our political standpoint, we have to fight for a New Constitution, one that comes from below not imposed from above.

Our Politics are Moribund, and worse still has absolutely no mandate from the people of this Country.

Wednesday 16 September 2009

Monday 17 August 2009

Pretty Vacant

Monday 10 August 2009

Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?



So the plan is we all commit a crime that so overwhelms the Police that they cannot lock us all up.

What sort of crap is this, when 1000 Met officers commit fraud against the taxpayer the the 'investigating authorities' are so overwhelmed that they have a secret ammnesty for all the fraudsters in their ranks. I suppose its the same 'secret ammnesty that means that serving Police officers never get speeding tickets or can appeal to 'the boss' to let them off.

Something the rest of us cannot do, we have to go to Court.

The Stasi State using Nu Labour's RIPA legislation is spying on 504 000 of its citizens, discounting children (but who knows) that is roughly 1% of the population are considered 'terrorists' of some kind. The IRA was deemed at the height of the troubles was estimated to have six hundred members, terrorists resort to terror because the chaos caused is disproportionate to their size.

The only conclusion that I draw from this is that if you are politically active,a member of some organisation that Whitehall does not 'control', active in the community, a member of a professional body, you will be watched.

This is unacceptable and if the watchers are not being charged with their 'crimes' the watched should not accept the authority of 'those in authority' , did you elect these bastards ?

(2) The Secretary of State shall not issue an interception warrant unless he believes—

(a) that the warrant is necessary on grounds falling within subsection (3); and

(b) that the conduct authorised by the warrant is proportionate to what is sought to be achieved by that conduct.

(3) Subject to the following provisions of this section, a warrant is necessary on grounds falling within this subsection if it is necessary—

(a) in the interests of national security;

(b) for the purpose of preventing or detecting serious crime;

(c) for the purpose of safeguarding the economic well-being of the United Kingdom; or

(d) for the purpose, in circumstances appearing to the Secretary of State to be equivalent to those in which he would issue a warrant by virtue of paragraph (b), of giving effect to the provisions of any international mutual assistance agreement.



RIPA ACT 2000

It would be interesting to see how many of these warrants are made on behalf of 'Foreign Powers' under 'the provisions of a international mutual assistance agreement ?

You do not need to send spies to this country anymore the British State will do it for you, and arrange free flights to a nice cell abroad.

The Power V HM Court Service has established in Law the two tier legal system. The Public cannot hold the State and its servants to account.

Do you seriously believe that the British State does not condone torture
?

The State has been torturing people for decades, Mau Mau suspects,Irish Republican suspects etc, the only result is the further radicalisation of as yet uncommitted sympathisers.

No doubt the torturers also have written ammnesties, everybody else working for the State has.

Saturday 8 August 2009

Are they malicious or just stubborn?

The Guardian, which despite the lefty economics, Polly Toynbee, and a general stench of Champagne Socialism, occasionally gets it right when it comes to civil liberties, gives us this piece of bad news:
Chief constables across England and Wales have been told to ignore a landmark ruling by the European court of human rights and carry on adding the DNA profiles of tens of thousands of innocent people to a national DNA database.

Senior police officers have also been "strongly advised" that it is "vitally important" that they resist individual requests based on the Strasbourg ruling to remove DNA profiles from the national database in cases such as wrongful arrest, mistaken identity, or where no crime has been committed.

This is despite the ECHR ruling last year* that keeping DNA samples indiscriminately from those not convicted of anything breached Human Rights (Specifically, article 8, right to a private and family life).

The advice to senior officers comes in a letter from the Association of Chief Police Officers criminal records office. The letter, seen by the Guardian, tells chief constables that new Home Office guidelines following the ruling in the case of S and Marper are not expected to take effect until 2010.
As usual, not good enough. This database needs to be ended now. No DNA should be taken until being charged with an offense, and even then, it should be destroyed if the accused is cleared or the charges dropped. There's not much chance of that happening though; our government is just too stubborn. It won't back down on its "no referendum" stance for The Lisbon treaty, and it won't back down on the database and identity cards. It'll just repackage them up again and again until we all fall for it.

At least Chris Huhne has found a pair and is attacking ACPO's little scheme:
"It is not up to police forces to ignore court judgments because they or their masters do not like them."
Excellent.


*That'd be S and Another v UK, aka S and Marper. In that case, some kid of ELEVEN had his DNA taken from him. Eleven.

Wednesday 5 August 2009

The Reality of Brown And The Lisbon Treaty




is that clapped out politicians are heading for the sinecure of Brussels. Blair wants the top job, and Patten wants to be EU Foreign Minister.

Do you and I have a say in any of this ? No we do not. This is a big boys club, invitations only.

Monday 3 August 2009

Saturday 1 August 2009

'Gay' Marriage and the Quakers

As a Quaker, I struggle with sentences that begin ‘it says in the Bible’ – to me the Bible is a historical document, as are Shakespeare’s plays, and I read both with interest, but I cannot take seriously that any man, nor any book, is the ‘word of God’ – the bible is the word of man as those men interpreted God. I interpret God in my own way, and I simply don’t accept that anyone else has a greater right than I to dictate what I believe.

The basis of a Quaker marriage is a declaration of a life-long commitment in the eyes of God of a loving relationship between two people, those people present are merely witnesses to that commitment, not some form of state or religious ’sanction’ for the marriage. So it is little surprise that the Quakers should have been amongst the first to form the view that it is the value of that commitment between two people that counts rather than any stricture as to what, or whom, constitutes a marriage.

Children being the only means of replenishing the basic stock of society, quality control of those children has been the main reason for society to demand the role of quality controller. Religion, in all its forms, has held the post for thousands of years, with strictures on how, with whom, and when, children might safely be created with the best chance of growing up to be useful members of society.

So the argument that marriage is for the continuation of the species is a societal construct – the species would have continued in any case, but the quality control of the outcome would have suffered; nor could the cost of rearing the outcome have been reasonably fairly placed on the correct shoulders without the intervention of the priestly seal of approval. Children should without doubt be reared with both male and female committed role models, sadly, many are not, through death and divorce, but that does not prevent us from recognising a marriage between man and woman, nor is the inability to have children a bar to marriage.

Now that the quality control is achieved by means of abortion, and medical intervention undreamed of in previous centuries, and quantity control by artificial means, you have to wonder what is the actual point of marriage and why should the religious institutions, or the state, have so much say as to whom, when, and how.

What is the ‘point’ of marriage now?

It is surely the moment when a private relationship becomes public, when the support of society is sought to help cement that relationship, a celebration of that commitment.

Quakers were given the right to conduct marriages in England and Wales in 1753, but case law before that recognised the validity of Quaker marriages. Following the Civil Partnership Act of December 2005, same sex couples in England, Wales and Scotland, who share Quaker beliefs may opt for a blessing or commitment ceremony after entering a civil partnership. The Civil Partnership Act allows same sex partnerships to be registered as civil partnerships in law, but such registrations cannot take place in the context of religious worship.

Yesterday, after intense discussions at the AGM for the Quaker organisation, the Religious Society of Friends decided that :

“We are being led to treat same sex committed relationships in the same way as opposite sex marriages, reaffirming our central insight that marriage is the Lord’s work and we are but witnesses. The question of legal recognition by the state is secondary.

We therefore [...] take steps to put this leading into practice and to arrange [...] that same sex marriages can be prepared, celebrated, witnessed, recorded and reported to the state, as opposite sex marriages are.

We [will] [...] engage with our governments to seek a change in the relevant laws so that same sex marriages notified in this way can be recognised as legally valid, without further process, in the same way as opposite sex marriages celebrated in our meetings. We will not at this time require our registering officers to act contrary to the law, but understand that the law does not preclude them from playing a central role in the celebration and recording of same sex marriages”

I have little doubt that by the time the main stream media wake up to this declaration, we will have headlines screaming ‘Quakers to marry gays’, and all the familiar knee jerk reactions and quotations from the bible condemning homosexuality. They will be missing the point.

Society has contrived through various means, medical and otherwise, to take away the role of marriage, and ‘parents’, in the production line of children.

What is left of marriage has nothing to confine it to a man and a woman. The Quakers, not being controlled by a ‘book of rules’, nor a man in a floor length party frock, are merely acknowledging that.

It’s a decision I applaud.


Friday 24 July 2009

Norwich North By Election

Was this a poor result for us- yes it was, but everybody lost bar Chloe Smith, and even she cannot go to take her seat until October.

Did all of the parties have equal access to the media, no they did not, sorry as I am to say this the Monsters have a far higher ‘profile’ than the LPUK.

Was Norwich the best place for us to campaign, absolutely not, we had two members in Norfolk at the beginning of the campaign, we now have twenty four and at least thirty six people who now understand the difference between Liberalism and Social Democracy.

This campaign was not about politics, it was about the need to tell Labour that their time is up. The result showed that. This was not a ringing endorsement of the Conservatives, but certainly showed the depth of loathing of the Darien Labour Party.

Do we give up and wring our hands, no we do not, however bad this result was, Tom was a good performer when he was allowed near a microphone despite his years, it gave our activists a chance to engage with the public, some travelling as far afield as Cornwall.

This afternoon a former Lib Dem Councillor has rung me to say that he is resigning from the Lib Dems and is joining the LPUK, as he sees that in this two and a half party State, he can no longer get the 'half' to accept classic Liberal principles

At the end of the day a High tax, High Spending, Centralising, Authoritarian Party won the day. So not much has changed.

Andrew Withers LPUK Chairman

Sunday 19 July 2009

Truro 25th July Wig and Pen 1pm SW Libertarian Meetup


Lets get a good turn out for this meetup.
It should be very interesting after the Norwich North by-election campaign.
There is loads to discuss and lots of beer to drink. 5 mins from the train station
Hope to see you all there.
New faces would be most welcome.
We are after all making it down into the depths of the South West. Come along to check us out. Wig and Pen 1 Frances Street, Truro, TR1 3DP‎ - 01872 273028‎

email sw@lpuk.org for further info

Friday 17 July 2009

Let's play "Join the dots"...

"Switch to Ecotricity & help fight climate change with your electricity bill. £20 will also be donated to The Converging World on your behalf." boasts the Ecotricity website. The Converging World? Who they, you ask? Good question.
We are a UK based charity that invests in renewable energy projects in the developing world. All the profits from these investments are used to fund community-based sustainable development and social projects around the world.
That would be the Tamil Nadu Wind Farm, India. This being an industry which gets government soft loans in India, tax holidays and the RPS:
In India, under the renewable portfolio standard (RPS), utilities have to purchase a certain proportion of their energy from green sources like wind.
Sound familiar? Yep. It's the ROC!! I smell global governance. And no, it ain't tinfoil hat time either. One of the major pushers of wind in India is EIWEN supported under the ECCP.

EIWEN is a network of European and Indian industry and (Small and Medium-sized Enterprises) SMEs, financial institutions, universities, research institutes and civil society associations in the wind energy sector.

Co-funded by the European Commission, the network, has been established under the EU-India Economic Cross Cultural Programme, and is being implemented by a consortium led by the Energy Research Centre of the Netherlands. The partners include EWEA (Belgium), Risø National Laboratory (Denmark), the Confederation of Indian Industry (India) and the Indian Wind Turbines Manufacturers Association (Chennai/India).

Yes, its all the same jolly little scam from the same pigsty. Why wouldn't Ecotricity want their nose in that trough too? But so long as "the profits from these investments are used to fund community-based sustainable development and social projects" (that the being two of the ten turbines actually constructed) then its ok. So long as they don't mind paying double for their electricity that is.

Tuesday 7 July 2009

Press Release 7th July 2009




NEWS RELEASE


Libertarian Party fields
youngest ever parliamentary candidate
at Norwich North


Thomas Burridge, aged 18, is the Libertarian Party candidate for the upcoming Norwich North by-election, and is set to make history as the youngest person ever to contest a Westminster seat. Thomas was accepted offically by the Returning Officer today.

Thomas is aware that his age may raise a few eyebrows. “People may ask what can I possibly know about anything at my age? Well, one thing I do know is that Labour excesses have left my generation with a massive debt that will take generations to pay off.” “It’s all the more painful because we were not given any say in the decisions that have forced us to spend the rest of our lives in debt.”

“Currently, the Tories and Labour are squabbling about cutting state spending by a pathetic 5 per cent. Whereas, the Libertarian Party want to scrap the whole rotten system. A system that has given us high personal taxes, squalid services and a corrupt parliament.” “I may not win this time, but I will be back in five years, and in another five years, if necessary. By which time, the guilty ones will be wallowing in their generous pensions – while my generation – The Debt Generation – will still be paying back the money that was squandered.”

The Libertarian Party believes in individual liberty, personal responsibility and freedom from government. Its most prominent policy is to scrap income tax, and transfer taxes to non-essential goods, leaving items such as food, heating and rent tax-free.

ENDS

For more information, or to arrange an interview, contact the Libertarian Party Norwich North Campaign Office on 01603 850573 or the media enquiries mobile on 07505 228618.

Further details are available on our campaign website: http://www.thomasburridge.com
Alternatively, visit the Libertarian Party website: http://www.lpuk.org

Open Your Mind

Sunday 5 July 2009

Mandelson Kicks MG Rover into the Long Grass To Save His Hide



Poppet Peter is kicking the investigation over to the SFO, despite refusing them to lead the enquiry from day one if there was a suspicion of fraud, despite the administrators finding there was no evidence of wrong doing by the Directors, despite refusing several requests under the Freedom of Information to reveal the Governments role.

This investigation has cost £16m to date, and Mandelson is still determined to cover up the role of Nu Labour, because publication of the report will show glaring holes in the Governments story (ie a pack of lies) in the run up to a General Election, starting a criminal investigation is a way of ensuring publication will be delayed for years.

Mandelson is already facing meltdown in the West Midlands, this is just crude damage limitation.

The 'Man' is a curse to British industry, we have been down this line before with the Tories over Matrix Churchill, it was only when Alan Clarke told the unvarnished truth in Court about the Government's role did the action against the Directors collapse.

In the Stasi State that is the UK now being a Director of a company is morely likely to be a road to financial ruin that financial wealth, I would advise nobody to sign up to being a Director of a company without looking at what the BERR can do to you.

In fact I would strongly advise you to move your business out of the UK while Mandelson is anywhere near the levers of power.

Thursday 2 July 2009

Monday 29 June 2009

Libertarian Party at 500/1 Norwich North By Election



So we start at 500/1, bloody marvellous, we are looking at this as the first real opportunity to get the idea over to the public that the State is bloated, unproductive and is bringing the country to its knees. With its twin parasite Corporatism in the form of the Banks sucking us dry, its about time that the simple idea that we are all free, it is not neccessary for this country to thrive by being over governed by people who are personally corrupt and think that spending vast swathes of our cash is normal.


My name is Thomas Burridge and I am eighteen waiting to go to University, I am the Libertarian Party Candidate for Norwich North.

Most sensible people will be saying what the hell does he know about anything- This is what I do know the last twelve years
of Labour has left my generation in massive debt, my generation will be paying off the excesses of the last twelve years for the rest of our lives,
not only my generation, by our as yet unborn children. Did we have any say in spending the rest of our lives in debt ? No we did not.

Currently the Tories and Labour are arguing about cutting a pifling 5% of our current bloated State spending. The LPUK are talking about
scrapping the whole rotten system, that has given us high personal taxes, squalid services, a corrupt Parliament and starting again.

I may not win this time, but I will be back in five years, and in another five years and in another five years, by the then guilty ones will
still be wallowing in their pensions or will be long dead, but the debt will be there.

I am from the Debt Generation only the LPUK has fresh answers from a new Generation.


It starts from here

Sunday 28 June 2009

A Barrage Of Spin

"Public to have a say on plans for Severn barrage" apprently.
“During this consultation, we plan to hold public meetings on both sides of the Severn estuary. Before the consultation begins, a hand-picked audience, including members of the public, will be invited to a separate “small-scale public meeting”, Mr Kidney said.

“This work is intended to provide a representative view on Severn tidal power at this point, the priority issues for people and how best to communicate information in the consultation,” he said.

Something tells me neither democracy nor common sense will prevail.

Saturday 27 June 2009

Dead Men Walking




In September The House of Lords will determine its decision on the ongoing OFT v All the Banks over unfair charging.( Last Chance for the Banks)

Listening to the commentators on the Banks Legal Team, 'They have given up' 'The Banks are dead men walking' 'The best they could come up with was the dire warning of what would happens to the Banks if they are compelled to refund all unfair charges going back to 1997 when the regulations came in.

If Labour are hoping that the economy is going to improve by the time of their conference, think again. The economy will implode as the Banks squeal for more of our money, and we collectively tell them to fcuk off.

Brown is already preparing his exit strategy, I am going to teach ! FFS

Between now and the Autumn , the Banks will be calling in loans, restricting credit,driving businesses to the wall- waiting for the Armageddon to come in September.

Friday 12 June 2009

Home Education: Badman Bad Report

Graham Badman's Report to the Secretary of State on the Review of Elective Home Education in England has now been published.

You may not be particularly interested in home education. You may think that because you don't home educate your children, this doesn't affect you.

But, as Renegade Parent writes, "This is not a home education issue, it is a fundamental civil liberties issue. Dressing it up as the mark of a civilised nation, as Badman does, is simply propaganda. The recommendations, if accepted, essentially change the nature of the relationship between child, parent and state as it is currently enshrined in law."

It is an excellent post. Read the rest of it here.

Ian Parker-Joseph, leader of the Libertarian Party says: "LPUK will oppose changes to HE. Parents must be free to educate children as they see fit, they are yours not the State's."

That is the position of the Libertarian Party. The state does not own your children. For more on LPUK education policy, see here.

Choose Liberty Instead






Beau Bo D'Or

Thursday 11 June 2009

South West Libertarians Meet Up, Saturday 27th June, 12 noon.



The Imperial, New North Rd, Exeter, EX4 4HF

If you come down by train, Exeter St Davids is the main station, which is about 5 mins or so from the pub.

Follow the signs for the University up the hill. If its warm we will be in the beer garden.

Hope to see you there for a social, a beer and some serious talking.

The next meeting should be coming to Cornwall.

email sw@lpuk.org for further info

And Then He Goes And Ruins It By Saying Restore The Authority Of Parliamemt






As much as I find Hague amusing and erudite, making Cameron look the twit he is, Hague ruins a perfectly good speech by saying we must restore the Authority of Parliament by having a General Election.

Two points Billy Boy, the People have the Authority in this setup, not Parliament. Parliament is only loaned Sovereignity by the electorate, that is the bit the 646 always forget, this sustains their arrogance and their theft. It sustains their view that only they can provide 'essential services'. Secondly it betrays that the Tory Party is still deeply Authoritarian at its heart and will never give way to Electoral Reform.

The two major parties have been caught with their collective hand in the Taxpayer's wallet.

Devolving all power apart from Defence and Foreign affairs away from Westmister is the only way forward, only when power is devolved closer to the electorate, will things ever change.

There is no service that is essential that cannot be done better and cheaper by anybody than by the corrupt,bloated inefficient State.

Westminster does not know how to do anything different to the way it is doing it now, until the 646 are brought to heel, nothing will improve or change.

Wednesday 10 June 2009

Sunday 7 June 2009

Ceauşescu At Least Had the Good Grace to Do A Runner






The reports and rumours of moves against Gordon in the next twenty-four hours are coming thick and fast. Falconer being the layest to put the boot in.

If and it is a big if Gordon goes, the Labour Party cannot 'appoint' another Prime Minister in another 'palace coup'. What sort of Constitution do we have where the people of this country are completly sidelined.

If I was a betting man, either Gordon is going to call an election so that he stays in post, or he will be replaced and that caretaker will have to call an election.

A second imposed PM is completly unacceptable,

Saturday 6 June 2009

North Somerset District Council having a rough week




Finance is not proving a strong suit of the District Council after losing £3 million in Iceland.

An early estimate of legal fees between the owners of the burnt out Weston Super Mare pier and North Somerset DC was £20 000, the owners threatened to stop rebuilding when the legal fees had escalated to £150 000. A settlement has been thrashed out to allow rebuilding to continue.

The District Council is now wrestling with a potential shortfall of £18 m

Tuesday 2 June 2009

We Still Need Your Support With Donations



This Darien Government is now in freefall, an Election is sooner rather than later. We are hoping to put ten candidates forward in the South-East alone, and other are throwing their name in the ring.

The widget is now up and running on the blogs showing monies received since the appeal ten days ago.

We can only repeat the appeal for whatever you can spare.

Last year we set up a pledge bank in case of an Election. We would like to go down the same route again. The pledge will be called in on the morning that the GE is called.

Make your pledge at donate@lpuk.org

Sunday 31 May 2009

Politics.co.uk Interview

Thought I would point you in the direction of the Libertarian Party's first main stream political interview.

It was done by Ian Dunt of Politics.co.uk on our humble leader Ian PJ...

Right wing but socially liberal: Could the Libertarian party leader pick up the spoils of the expenses scandal on June 4th?

In the future this will be called the expenses election. Even candidates for the local elections can't get enough of it. And with so many members of the public obsessing over MPs' duck houses or house extensions those involved in the local elections can't afford to not have a view.

Ian Parker-Joseph, leader of the newly-formed Libertarian party, has a different attitude to most politicians, who have concentrated on proving how serious they are with promises of constitutional change.

"This particular frenzy about constitutional reforms is very much a red herring," he says. "As a party we would be looking for repeal of the many laws which have taken away our rights and liberties before we even discuss reform."


Good to see we're beginning to get some attention from the media. Well done Ian. And thanks must go to Ian Dunt.

Rob Waller

Friday 29 May 2009

Reform Is Pointless.....Without Control Of Our Money



There is a general national mood for reform of the way we are governed at present, I never thought it would be a global recession coupled with the expenses row that would bring it about.

However there are two types of Reform being proposed at present, one is that of the three main parties tinkering around the edges, setting up scrutiny committees dah de dah de dah- and the other one from frustrated members of the public who want this ‘Rotten Parliament ‘ cleared out now, not next month, not next year but now with a General Election.

Both presuppose that the ‘system’ will plod on much the same as before with a few bolt ons, a ‘recall’ system which I think is a given now that it has support from just about everybody, and fixed term Parliaments which is also gaining strong support. I think Cleggy has got it right, no summer hols until you sort this out, and involve the people in a Referendum on the Constitution- NO MORE TOP DOWN EVER- I am firmly in the STV/AV+ camp and have been for thirty years, I am not terrified of everybody having a say in how the country is run, and would have the Swiss Cantonal system here tomorrow morning. Switzerland and Germany run effectively with devolved power, and we desperately need a written Constitution with checks and balances in favour of individual Liberty against the State, not one that presupposes vice versa as Straw would have.

All of this chat is very well, but the one major reform above all else is the way we finance Government.

What should we pay to central Government for-

The Libertarian view is only two- Defence and Foreign Relations. Number of MP’s needed 100 tops

Everything else can be delegated to the County level, including tax raising powers.

( You will not get somebody risking robbing you blind if they are standing next to you in Tesco’s checkout, and no need for second homes and 800 inch TV’s)

How do you raise Revenue-?

The system that currently operates where the State deprives you of your money before you get it (PAYE) has to end, if you had to write out a large cheque every year you would think about what it was being spent on and would be interested in politics, rather than feeling you had been mugged and could do nothing about it.

The system where companies large and small are under the obligation to act as unpaid Tax collectors has to end, along with it the threats to companies from the hirelings of HMRC. Companies are set up to make profits for the shareholders, NOT to be an extension of the State. End deductions at source for Court fines, the Child Support Agency, this is nothing but a burden on industry, if the State is going to impose these sanctions let the State collect the money. The insidious use of private enterprise to do the States bidding must end, ie Tesco’s and ID cards.

Lastly not one, not one organisation should be in receipt of a penny of the public purse unless the Board are elected. This goes for the Police, including the Chief Constable, every Quango, Private enterprise like ACPO and the fake charities.

Deprive the State of Money, it will wither and die, the corruption happens because it can, because they are taking our money without consent and under the threat of violence or loss of Liberty.

You can only change your Constitution through the destruction of your Society caused by War, or in times of Economic Stress/Crisis. This moment in peacetime will not come for decades, we should not waste this time.

Monday 25 May 2009

Appeal For Election Fund



The election is drawing ever nearer, the hot money is now on October 2009.

We urgently need to raise £10 000 to support our candidates, that is merely the equivalent of £12.50 per paid up member ! Please give £15 out of your May or June paypacket to make this happen, it will be going into a designated Election Fund

The artwork and text for the leaflets is done and paid for.

Rob Waller and myself are updating the database so that we can start putting out monthly newsletters and appeals letters.

If you can spare more please give more, if you are unemployed,an OAP or Student and cash is beyond tight, give that other form of capital your time, it is just as valuable.

Sunday 24 May 2009

Hats Off To Avon & Somerset Police





Last night, due to three car pile up, all roads from my son's place of work (partime job waiting in a restaurant) to home, eight miles, were blocked.

The only route home was the M5, not advisable for a 50cc moped. A Police escort fore and aft was arranged for him to ride up the hard shoulder of the M5 on a blue light.

You have done more to restore my faith in the good sense of the local copper over his PC superiors could ever have done with all their press releases and outreach intiatives.

Well done chaps

The punishment must fit the crime (that you were cleared of).

MPs outraged as it is revealed they will not vote over police storing innocents' DNA

OK, so you take a borderline fascist idea that will give the state near total surveillance over citizens lives, you plan to pump billions of tax payer money into this scheme, you try every trick in the book to bring it in through the backdoor, all to the publics' anger, as well as opposition from both Tories and the Lib Dems, and then you find that the ECHR has decided it's illegal. It should be dead, right? No, what happens is this:

Yesterday the criticism mounted as the Home Office admitted it plans to rush the reforms through Parliament using a 'statutory instrument' which will be rubber-stamped following 90 minutes of discussion by a Labour-dominated committee, with no debate or vote in the House of Commons

Ya hu. Or, you could scrap the whole thing. Ever consider that? No? Well, at the very least do what Strasbourg ruled you should do and stop taking the DNA of people cleared of their charges. The EU may be a load of rubbish, but you guys support it, so follow its rules.
Miss Smith's officials sparked further anger by saying the procedure was necessary in order to comply with the Strasbourg ruling as quickly as possible - effectively claiming there was not enough time for MPs to debate the matter.

Oh, you are, are you?
But the Home Secretary sparked outrage over so-called 'Big Brother' powers earlier this month when she unveiled new rules, which will still allow the police to keep innocent people on the database for six years, or 12 years if they were arrested for but cleared of a serious sexual or violent offence

Not good enough. The last part, in italics, is doubly insulting. So, if you didn't commit a minor offence, you're "only" going to have your DNA taken for 6 years. But, if you didn't commit a sexual/violent offence, that makes you more guilty than a person who didn't commit a minor offence. Once you've been charged, it's assumed you're guilty, even if the courts disagree.

Even the tabloid papers have a higher burden of proof, what with their history of demonising paedos and murderers before they've even set foot in court. We now receive punishment based on the seriousness of non-existent crimes. This is an insane, abusive move, that completely bypasses Parliament.

The LPUK has not one but two solutions to prevent this sort of abuse of the law- we will scrap the proposed database, along with ID cards, but will also review the statutory instrument system.


UPDATE

RAF lies about the sensitive data lost/stolen last September, did not tell the Information Commissioner or Parliament- The State will not look after any of your personal data, so it should be denied on both moral and security grounds

LPUK Merchandise Shop Now Open




The LPUK shop is now open

Friday 22 May 2009

Tuesday 19 May 2009

Speaker Martin to Go this afternoon


After yesterdays disgraceful charade, it has even occured to Speaker Martin's thick skull that the game is up.

He is only the first, the whole rotten Parliament now needs to be closed down and fresh elections called. Hopefully with enough independents there to neuter the big three parties who have stitched this country up for decades.

Brown next.

Saturday 16 May 2009

South West Libertarians Meet Up


The Shakespeare in Victoria Street is in easy walking distance of Bristol Temple Meads Station.

78 Victoria Street,Redcliffe, Bristol BS1 6DR

23rd May Midday

This meeting will largely be social though if anybody has pressing issues we can discuss them, but it would be good to get a small committee together to run the SW Region.

Subsequent meetings will be rotated through the region.

email sw@lpuk.org for further info

Friday 15 May 2009

'The Public Don't Understand' and the Rule of Law






On Questiontime last night I thought the political members of the panel were going to be lynched, the mood of the public was so foul.

If Margaret Beckett said it once she said it twice,three times-'The Public Don't Understand'

Yes- we do you arrogant woman- We do understand only to well. You treat us like ignorant serfs who need to be 'guided' in the correct way to think, you reduce our families to penury with overtaxation that you then waste propping up failed banks, you turn our jobs and factories to dust AND you sit upon the dunghill gorging yourselves on our money.

The People are brighter than you, the lowest chav has more idea of right and wrong than you. The reason engagement with the political process is so low is because people do not want to be tainted with you.

Last night the peasants were shaking with rage, it was on their faces. We are revolting in the truest sense of the word.

Dissolve this Rotten Parliament now.


UPDATE

Two Burglars Caught Red Handed And Photographed NOT given Jail Sentences, seems fair enough to me while the Lawmakers are indulging in fraud and are not even being questioned, let alone arrested.


'As His Honour Anthony Thompson observed this week: "During many years as a Crown Court judge, I always felt contrition expressed after the miscreant had been found out had a hollow ring – even if accompanied by an offer to pay for the return of the benefit obtained. While it afforded mitigation, it could not expiate the wrongdoing."

Telegraph May 15th

" I was given a Police caution, because the Social Security thought they had overpaid me £200- they had not overpaid me"

Unemployed Resident on a Council Estate -Radio 4 May 15th

Some are more equal than others

George Orwell


If the Police are not prepared to arrest these people under the Theft Act 1968 and the Fraud Act 2006, The Mail and the Taxpayers Alliance have threatened Private Prosecutions.

The Police are not going to take any action because Senior Police Officers are in thrall to the Jacqui Smith and the Labour Party, they are their creatures. A directly elected Police Commissioner for the Met, who owed his mandate to the people of London where these crimes were committed, would have no qualms about arresting these people.

It is all about the rule of Law, none are above it

Thursday 14 May 2009

Just arrest him






This loathesome piece of detritus represents you, look it says UNITED KINGDOM on the name plate. He has claimed £16 000 for mortgage payments on a mortgage that did not exist. On the Black-Grey scale of criminal offences this one firmly is in the Black under the terms of the Theft Act.

It matters not a jot that he has paid some of it back, this was not a mistake, this 'was not within the rules' it was deception and theft.


If he is not arrested/the whip removed/resigns by the end of the day, the rest of us do not have to obey a single edict of this corrupt Parliament.

We have had the long and short Parliaments,the Rump Parliament, we have even had the Addled Parliament, we are living under the rule of the Rotten Parliament

Sunday 10 May 2009

Filthy Lucre






Bo Beau D'Or by way of Guido

Friday 8 May 2009

Conservatives are Liberal Republicans ??


Both Tim Montgomerie and Ben Brogan are positing the new battle ground between the Authoritarian Big Staters and Liberal small Staters.

The very idea that the Labour Party could turn itself into a 'Liberal Party' is a joke too far it was founded on the very concept of a benign State that was an Agency for good.

Montgomerie is also pushing it too far, when he says that Cameron is a Liberal Conservative, he may be on the left of his Party, but he is still wedded to the idea of a benign State. viz his I am not a Libertarian speech last September.

The argument that we as Libertarians have always said was the most important, between Authority and Liberty is now reaching centre stage

Thursday 7 May 2009

Killing the Sacred Cow



One of the greatest problems that a Libertarian has is trying to convey the message that Libertarians would not close all of the hospitals in the country, and the dead, dying and ill would be lying in hedgerows and/or the work house.

Anybody who has been near an NHS hospital in recent years will know that the NHS is not 'the envy of the world'. This myth has grown up over the last sixty years that has been reinforced by this Government, to the point that the NHS is beyond reform. Its hospitals are dirty, prone to MRSA, overstaffed with accountants and administrators. Its the UK encapsulated.

Don't take my word for it visit any French,German or Italian hospital to see the difference.

Yesterday a nurse was facing disciplinary action for calling out details of patients bowel movements across the wards, and failing to attend to the most basic of hygiene standards of washing hands after handling rubbish, before dealing with patients.

Today a body of a missing patient was found after three days in a locked toilet. This begs two questions, three days for a patient to be missing ?? three days and a cleaner had not checked or cleaned the toilet in the hospital ??

Whilst whistleblowers are stripped of their livelihoods for highlighting the foul conditions that patients are forced to endure, these practices will continue.

The sacred cow is bloated,riddled with disease and shoould have been sent to the knackers yard years ago. None of the main three parties dare touch the NHS because of its ill deserved iconic status.

The National Insurance scheme that we pay into should revert back to what it was intended to be an insurance scheme. Not another route into the general taxation pot, so that the Government of the day, scared of raising direct income tax, increases NI instead, as it is the line of least resistance as far as the public is concerned because nobody complains as they are deluded into thinking it is all going into hospitals and pensions.

Each hospital should be self administered, and should only receive patients if it can maintain the most stringent of standards, otherwise it should close on Health and Safety grounds alone. Whitehall is about the last place that should be trusted with collecting in Health Insurance.

Wednesday 6 May 2009

Serfdom returns



The best thing that ever hapened to this country was the Black Death in 1348

Why ?, because with between one-third and one-half of the population dead, the ruling elite had no peasants to toil in their fields, being chained to your village Lord by Feudal Laws with the threat of death should you leave, hanging over you was suddenly removed.

The market operated, despite the Monarchy bringing in Laws in 1351 to ensure that the going rate for peasant sweat before the Black Death was maintained, peasants just moved to those farms or towns that paid higher wages. Simples

The Party of the people, has now engineered a situation, where we are now to work for a further five years for men, ten years for women, and be taxed at a far higher rate to pay for the Blair/Brown years. With a bit of luck for the Government Acturies if they get their figures right, we will all drop dead the day we retire and save a fortune, so that they can spend it on their Jacuzzis, second/third homes, porn, mistresses etc.

Today, for the princely sum of £33, the neo-peasants of Manchester can pop along to Boots and forge a new churls yoke to put round their necks in the form of an ID card- Why would anybody without a slave mentality want to do that ?

Thirty years later, peasants were demanding their freedom in the Peasants Revolt, from punitive taxation, the Poll Tax (Thatcher was no historian was she !)

"When Adam delved and Eve span, who was then the Labour MP?" to paraphrase John Ball, the Lollard preacher

Men were men in those days, seizing scythes and billhooks, not signing on without a whimper.

Friday 1 May 2009

Join the LPUK- Stop the Rot



Do you remember Matthew Taylor a Government spokesmen at No 10 saying that the Web was 'fuelling a crisis of confidence in politics', That was in 2006.

In 2006 The media was largely sown up by the Labour Government after 'seizing control' of the BBC in the aftermath of the Kelly Affair.

The Fourth Estate, the Press were under the thumb of the likes of Damien McBride.

In 2007, the LPUK was born out of a total frustration with the 'Big Brother' State, and the seeming non existant opposition to the Government by the Tories and Social Democrats. The LPUK was the first Party born out of the 'Net'

The Political Blogs were the only force that was consistantly exposing graft,corruption, expense fiddling and incompetance of Big State, High Tax Government.

Guido Fawkes claimed his first real scalp in McBride, where the media were too intimidated or in the pocket of the Government. Today he is reporting Three Million readers.

The Net is not fuelling a crisis in politics it is exposing a crisis and rotteness that is in the body
politic

Donate to LPUK link


Please Join the Libertarian Party, we do not need a tinkering with the system by the Labour/Conservatives/Social Democrats we need need a total overhaul of our system and a massive reduction in the size of the State. We are in Debt, our unborn Children and Grandchildren are in Debt. Is this the legacy we are going to leave the next generations ?

Join LPUK link

0845 299 7650- Libertarian Party UK

Thursday 30 April 2009

Having a bad day



Bristol Dave

Tuesday 28 April 2009

We Are Nu Labour



H/T Iain Dale

Sunday 26 April 2009

South-West Libertarians Meet Up 23rd May 2009 midday


The Shakespeare in Victoria Street is in easy walking distance of Bristol Temple Meads Station.

78 Victoria Street,Redcliffe, Bristol BS1 6DR

This meeting will largely be social though if anybody has pressing issues we can discuss them, but it would be good to get a small committee together to run the SW Region.

Subsequent meetings will be rotated through the region.

email sw@lpuk.org for further info

Friday 24 April 2009

Sign and Sign now

Just one million signatures to send a message

Just putting it into perspective- twelve years of Labour






This Baby born today, will be twenty three before this mountain of debt is under control, the Japanese had their 'lost decade', we are going to have a 'lost generation'

Please donate to the LPUK and help us stop this State Madness

Donate to LPUK link

Donations have trebled this month, and new members are joining every day.

Remember Labour blew the wealth of this country, and the Tories failed to oppose for twelve years.

Thursday 23 April 2009

Libertarian Party Response to the 'Budget'.






Anyone who has ever flown on a commercial flight will know the drill.
If the cabin depressurises and the masks drop, the first thing you do
is pull on your own mask before helping others – even before helping
your children. The reasoning behind this is stark - unless you do, you
will rapidly be in no fit state to help anyone and in fact you will
end up a casualty yourself, and who will be there to help you and your
dependents? Unless the flight crew pull on their masks and stabilise
the craft, we are doomed.

Well, in Britain’s economy, the masks have most certainly dropped.
This is due primarily to the reckless navigation and now piloting of
Gordon Brown. Had a more competent pilot been at the helm, had the
aircraft been in a fit state, the current turbulence would have only
required a tightening of safety belts.

Instead, we are told that we must expect additional borrowing by the
government of £175bln this year alone and similar figures for the
coming years, doubling our National Debt to £1,200,000,000,000, from
40% of GDP to 78% - and these are the Chancellors figures which many
say are wildly optimistic. Yet the Chancellor only proposes to reduce
the growth in expenditure. He talks of a £15bln “saving” while
increasing spending by 1/1%. Unless you call 40% off something you
have yet to buy and cannot afford a “saving”, you will see through
this turn of phrase. Drastic cuts are required to public expenditure.
It is not just about making efficiency savings, it is a hard look at
what the State does, or purports to do and cutting back on things that
are unnecessary or better performed by the wider economy. People might
say that is drastic, but our debt burden is drastic - one that will
saddle every one of us and all our children for a generation to come.
They will grow up under its yoke like some poor Japanese rice farmer
who inherits a mortgage from their forebears. New Labour has mortgaged
our and our children’s future.

Spending other people’s money and running up debt are common factors
in a Socialist administration. So is the politics of envy, and we see
this in the rise in tax rates for higher earners.

Economists and analysts will tell you that the 50% tax rise is a tax
rise too many. It will raise millions, no billions. It will punish
ambition and wealth creation. As Winston Churchill so rightly said:

“We contend that for a nation to tax itself into prosperity is like a
man standing in a bucket and trying to lift himself up by the handle.”

Alistair Darling is straining at the handle and his red-faced
exertions are driving wealth away and our prosperity with it.

Those earning over £100,000 often pay more tax in both absolute and
percentage terms than most other people, yet they are now asked to
bear additional burdens. Such people are far more mobile and have far
more transferable skills. Faced with such discrimination and blatant
theft of their income, they will consider, seek out and in many cases
find a life beyond these shores, taking their wealth, energy and
business with them. The untaxed part of their income is spent on goods
and services that keep people employed and keep other companies in
business. This will be lost. Taxing high earners more with the
intention to “create” jobs is a delusion. Even if not one single high
earner left the UK, not one single company baulked at relocating to
the UK over this policy, even then the taxation will not “create” real
jobs, but will only serve to destroy them.

No, I must correct that. It will create real, sustainable jobs - but
not in the UK.

At the other end of the scale, we see promises to raise Tax Credits.
This grotesque piece of social engineering taxes the working poor
higher than they need to be so those the Government deem “worthy” –
families - can go cap in hand clutching their paperwork to beg for
some of their own earnings back. It is an utter disgrace. Even before
a Libertarian Government that will scrap income tax for all, Tax
Credits should be scrapped and personal allowances raised so the low
paid are not subjected to income tax. The social engineering, needless
humiliation, waste and administration must end.

Another announcement in this area is the idea of “green collar” jobs.
It is a conceit of the Government to think that such industries would
not advance if it were not for their guiding hand - only one hand,
mind, for the other is needed to pick our pocket to pay for it all.
And this is where the problem lies. Jobs created require taxes to fund
the subsidies. Ignoring the problems of lobbying, corruption and rent-
seeking that such initiatives spawn, Spain has shown that for each
“created” green-collar job, two are lost in the wider economy as a
result.

The British are very industrious if left alone. The biotech industry
took off in part because of a lack of obstructive regulation. If the
State gets involved it will begin to direct matters intentionally or
unintentionally via the mechanism and decisions involved in who, what
and where the subsidies are spent. Wind? Wave? Ground Source? As if
those in Whitehall know or can ever keep up. The arrogance! Our
Formula 1 manufacturers show our country has some of the finest
entrepreneurial engineers in the world. How well would a Government-
subsidised F1 team work, I wonder? I think we know the answer to that.
Forget pole position – they would not make the grid.

The topic of motoring contains another disastrous, counter-productive
headline, that of scrapping vehicles over 9 years old in return for
£2000 towards a new car. This makes no sense economically – only 14%
of cars sold here are built in the UK - or environmentally - 80% of
the energy a vehicle consumes in its lifetime is used in its
production. It is encouraging wealth to leave the country so a group
of middlemen can secure their incomes. It is foolish environmentally,
negligent economically and so one wonders if it may be borderline
corrupt.

A government is meant to be responsible, not irresponsible. A
Government that weakens itself becomes dependent on and a burden to
the population. This Government, because of its fiscal incompetence,
arrogance, spendthrift nature, cowardice in confronting the systemic
inefficiencies and expansion in public services, has become a burden
to the population, yet it seeks to heap yet more burdens upon us as it
continues to fail.

Einstein said that the definition of insanity is to do the same thing
over and over, expecting different results. This budget is
irresponsible. This budget is insane.

Wednesday 22 April 2009

Taking the Shirt off you Back Campaign



Its started off on Old Holborn's site Don't just sit there and accept this crap budget designed to bail out this corrupt Government and its Banker friends.

Dig out that old shirt and send it to 10 Downing Street with a note of what you really think of this budget- let us know that you have done it on 1984@lpuk.org

Gordon Brown
10, Downing Street
London
SW1A 2AA.

Stop whinging and do something

Tuesday 21 April 2009

French Mayor has got it in one






Natacha BOUCHART Mayor of Calais has got it in one when she says that Britain's generous benefits system is responsible for the economic migrants desperate to reach our shores.




Libertarian Party Policy has always advocated open borders where people can live and work whereever to the best of their abilities. The LPUK has recognised however whilst you have a system that is effectively waving free fivers in the direction of the desperately poor of other countries, and a failed asylum system, an effective immigration has to be in place.




The fact that this Government are so incompetent that they have not a clue how many people are coming to the UK, is distorting our economy, allowing parties like the BNP to thrive on racial hatred, but at least it is creating a 'client state' for future Labour voters.




Scrapping our benefits system is the only way the incentive to come here is going disappear, but this also applies to those born here as well.