See and hear our National Secretary explain why you should read our latest ideological journal the New Horizon….
For your free copy CLICK HERE
Date: January 11, 2012
Categories: NEWS CLIPS
Tough Going for Pensioners
THE CON-DEM CUTS seem to be affecting every social group in Britain. Ordinary working families, the unemployed, the disabled and youngsters have all been hit hard. However, spare a thought for Britain’s pensioners who are really finding it tough going.
According to the Mail Online (1) many pensioners have seen the cost of living rise by nearly 20 per cent since 2008. This means that “they are having to find an extra £1,000 per year to maintain the same living standards. It compares with average UK inflation of 13 per cent over the same period.”
The Mail report notes that this increase is due to the fact that pensioners tend to spend more money on heat, electricity and food. As these items have all soared in price, Senior Citizens have been hit badly.
For instance, “Gas tariffs have leapt by 25.3 per cent in just the past year, while electricity is up by 15.5 per cent.”
Cameron and Clegg also cut the Winter Fuel Payment for all OAPs. Those over 80 had £100 docked (with their WFP being cut from £400 to £300) whilst other pensioners faced a £50 deduction (from £250 to £200).
We feel that pensioners represent one group of people who we have a genuine responsibility to care for. To us, the actions of this Con-Dem government represent a national disgrace.
Date: January 22, 2012
Categories: NEWS CLIPS
Towards a ‘Distributist’ Economy
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As we have pointed out in an earlier article http://nationalliberal.org/?p=3486 the idea, that a greater spread of business ownership throughout the workforce would improve productivity, personal happiness and the spread of wealth, is a key principle in National Liberal economic thinking.
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That is why we welcomed the recent comments from the Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg in favour of a ‘John Lewis’ economy. Although we have our differences e.g. over Europe, tuition fees and sticking to pledges, on this point we can agree. What he meant by that phrase was an increase in the number of employee owned companies, largely through share ownership. Unlike the PM’s support for greater shareholder control (which would primarily still be absentee investors), a firm like John Lewis is a form of cooperative. It is a little known secret but there are already there are over 1.4 million Co-operatives across the globe, with over 1 billion members. In the UK there are 5,450 independent co-operative businesses in the UK, working in all parts of the economy, a small but significant force (see http://www.uk.coop/).
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Go further
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We would go further than the Lib Dems and support a whole-scale move towards a ‘Self-employed, Partnership and Co-operative economy’ i.e. A ‘Distributist’ economy. All of them are examples of worker ownership, the former a ‘pure’ one being sole owners but, where the business requires numbers, then a co-operative fulfils the principle.
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We would also go further than Nick Clegg and ensure that the tax system operates to favour Co-operatives and the self-employed. This is a solution to our long term prosperity that ‘Liberals’ (National or otherwise) can get behind. If you fall within the above economic sector let us know what you think?
Date: January 20, 2012
Categories: UK News
