Open Your Eyes … And Say NO To Globalisation!
Date: January 13, 2017
Categories: Party News
The National Liberal Party Supports Direct Democracy – Voter Recall Now!
Date: January 9, 2017
Categories: Party News
From The Liberty Wall – Free Speech Debate (1) – The Threat To The Free Press
FREE SPEECH: How Do We Protect It? aims to promote, protect and preserve civil and religious liberties for all. We’re interested in all aspects of freedom. However, we’re particularly interested in instances whereby elements of the State try to restrict freedom of speech and assembly.
However, Free Speech isn’t the only group that is interested in the concept of civil and religious liberties for all. To illustrate this we reproduce an article by barrister Robert Rinder (better known as ‘Judge Rinder’) which originally appeared in The Sun of 23rd December, 2016. It raises concerns over what many liberty-lovers regard as an attack on press freedom.
He views Section 40 of the Government’s proposed Crime and Courts Act as having the potential to cripple the media – something that would only be welcomed by those who believe in totalitarianism.
You can read his original article here https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/2464034/judge-rinder-says-new-law-could-cripple-newspapers-or-websites-that-refuse-to-be-policed-by-a-state-approved-regulator/
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Section 40 law is a threat to the press – it’s there to protect privacy… not celebrities’ right to be hypocrites
Legal expert Judge Rinder says the law protects privacy… not celebrities’ right to be hypocrites
Barrister Robert Rinder believes that Section 40 of the Crime and Courts Act has the potential to shackle the press. Debate his view on the Free Speech Facebook site.
MY grandfather was a Holocaust survivor – he came to England having miraculously survived the Nazi death camps that killed the rest of his family.
He knew the devastating consequences of living in a society where there is no freedom under the rule of law.
It was he who taught me to cherish our country’s greatest freedom — the ability to say what you want.
He would sometimes take us grandchildren to Speakers’ Corner in Hyde Park, where we would listen to men on soap boxes spouting the most appalling anti-Semitic bile.
“You see,” he would say with pride and a sense of awe. “In this country, even this man can say whatever he wants and nobody can stop him.”
My grandfather wanted to remind us that freedom of expression is the fundamental ingredient for democracy, and all the rest is detail. It is the scaffolding around which every other freedom is based.
Like me, my grandfather would be troubled to hear about Section 40 and the threat it poses to the free press we are rightly proud of.
This section of the Crime and Courts Act – and the prospect of another round of the Leveson inquiry – could cripple any newspaper or website, including our struggling local press, that refuses to be police by a state-approved regulator under the Government’s Royal Charter.
If the press is to be free, the state has no role in regulating what is published. While signing up to a regulatory body is supposed to be voluntary, Section 40 sets out the enormous financial burdens that would be placed on publications that want to remain independent.
It could kill investigative journalism, including at local papers that have been instrumental in exposing numerous miscarriages of justice, because of the spectre of crippling legal costs.
This is very worrying, not least because if you want to curtail something as important as the freedom of the press you should have a jolly good reason. The case simply has not been made.
But it is more important to consider this now because of the global context we live in. There are returns to dictatorships, efforts to restrict the press and politicians who want to silence uncomfortable facts.
There are also people who want to shut down freedom of expression on the basis that newspapers might say or write something that will hurt someone’s feelings. There is a pincer movement where this most vital of freedoms is under attack from all angles.
We need journalists to be fearless and hold power to account. Never has it been more vital. Instead, people point to the mistakes the press has made. Undoubtedly, there have been bad ones.
However, it is important to remember the effect the press has had, not just on holding power to account, but also on social change.
Look at the paedophile allegations against public figures. Without journalists fearlessly reporting on the alleged abuses, victims who stayed silent for decades would not have found their voice.
It is difficult to understand why new regulation is necessary. The worst things journalists have been accused of doing are already illegal, and they have been held to account.
Which brings me to privacy, that one thing rich and powerful campaigners such as Max Mosley — who has funded the new State-approved regulator Impress — care about the most.
Of course, people are entitled to their private life. There are safeguards in European Convention law (which, by the way, still applies despite Brexit), which protects your right to privacy. It doesn’t give a celebrity carte blanche to be a hypocrite.
If you are a politician who styles yourself as a model of family virtue but are having a secret affair, you have no right to expect it to remain secret.
The only way we will truly understand the value of press freedom is when it is gone. Only then will you know the full horror of what it means to live in a state where the government seeks to regulate, control and cajole the press, where scandals and abuses go unheard, and lies go unchallenged.
My grandfather knew what that meant. I really hope we never find out.
Date: January 2, 2017
Categories: Liberty Wall
Christmas 2016 – NLP Community Action
WITH CHRISTMAS just a few days away, the National Liberal Party is calling its members and supporters to undertake some local community action. .
We want folks to print out just ten of our Christmas 2016 – Support Your Local Shops! leaflets and simply distribute them to their family, friends, workmates, neighbours and local shopkeepers.
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Distributing just ten leaflets will take a matter of minutes – but it will alert many, many people to our campaign in support of local shops, small businesses and the self-employed.
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To download our Christmas leaflet simply click HERE. Do it today – and let’s get those leaflets out!
Date: December 19, 2016
Categories: Party News
Christmas 2016 – Support Your Local Shops!
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YES it’s that time of year again – Christmas is just around the corner! But in your haste to do the shopping, don’t forget the local shops and businesses in your area. Give them an early Christmas present by shopping locally today.
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The National Liberal Party knows that times are hard and price considerations are obviously very important, but many small shops depend on their Christmas trade to see them through much of the following year. At present, many shopkeepers are still feeling the effects of the recession which was brought on by ‘casino capitalism’ – a mixture of greed and mistakes made by the politicians, bankers, ‘fat cats’ and speculators.
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Shopkeepers are also hit hard by the rise high interest rates and the criminal bank debt-system. In addition to this they also have to compete with the growth of internet shopping, giant shopping centres and multiple chain stores.
The shopkeeper, as a self-employed businessman or woman, plays a vital role in the local economy. (And don’t forget that these small shops collectively employ hundreds of thousands of workers throughout the length and breadth of Britain). Local shops are not only important for the elderly and young mothers, but are part of the glue that helps to maintain community spirit – a place to bump into friends, neighbours and relatives.
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If we don’t support our local shops and businesses today, we may loose them forever. Then people will have no other choice to travel directly into the nearest city or town centre for the smallest of items. This may be ok if you have your own transport and are fit and healthy. However, the elderly or young mothers wouldn’t really look forward to beating a path through the massive Saturday shopping crowds found in our large towns and cities.
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The message is clear. For the community spirit to survive and prosper, we must give local shops as much trade as possible. The National Liberal Party says support your local shops, shopkeepers and shop workers. Shop locally this Christmas!
Date: December 19, 2016
Categories: Party News
Essex Voice Says Shop Local This Christmas!
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• CHECK OUT previous Essex Voice e-posters:
Essex Voice Says Support Local Shops, Entrepreneurs, Small Businesses & The Self-Employed! http://nationalliberal.org/essex-voice-says-support-local-shops-entrepreneurs-small-businesses-the-self-employed
Essex Voice Says Free Speech For All! http://nationalliberal.org/essex-voice-says-free-speech-for-all
Essex Voice Says BreXit Now! http://nationalliberal.org/essex-voice-says-brexit-now
Date: December 18, 2016
Categories: Party News