Whilst the establishment might think the thirst for independence has been quenched our resident poet foresees greater demands for devolution throughout the Union.

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IF NOT INDEPENDENCE THEN GIVE US (AT LEAST) HOME RULE!

The decision of Scotland to vote NO to independence is not the end of the story, for the promised extra powers to the Scottish parliament will bring to a head the existing ‘imbalance’ of decision making for the different nations within the United Kingdom. We will soon have a Scottish Parliament with extensive tax-raising powers (often referred to as Deva-Max), but weaker Assemblies in Northern Ireland & Wales, and nothing for England (or Cornwall). This must change!

Rectify the imbalance of devolution through Home Rule

The United Kingdom is a state composed of a union with a core of four nations (plus Cornwall, Isle of Man etc.). For 400 years it has attempted to promote itself as a nation but today many of its citizens still prefer to see themselves as members of their nation first or only. For the union to now function fairly and efficiently it must become a Federal state where the constituent nations have all power, beyond Foreign Policy, Defence and Monetary, devolved to their national Parliaments. Such a union must be built on consensus, including the right to secede via referenda, if it is to ultimately survive at all.

English Parliament

The biggest challenge will be the nature of England’s devolution. For years, Westminster has denied that it even existed and has refused to contemplate change, being fundamentally opposed to a Federal UK. Following the EU’s wish to see England split into regions, an attempt to impose Regional Assemblies failed at the ballot box. The latest suggestion is to give more power to cities e.g. Manchester, Leeds etc., similar to but building upon what has already been given to London. However, this is confusing devolution based on identity and shared ‘culture’ i.e. a nation, with the decentralisation of power to its lowest practical governance (subsidiarity) i.e. to Councils.

Equal Home Rule

ALL the nations of the UK must have an equal settlement of Home Rule (an old Liberal concept) and thus England must have a Parliament where English representatives must decide on (English) nationwide matters. Power can (and should) also be decentralised to Cities and Councils. Let us begin to campaign for this twin devolution and decentralisation and get rid of the constitutional fudge that Westminster politicians have created and maintained for their own interests. Besides, we will have, sooner or later, a referendum on our relationship with the EU too!

THANK YOU SCOTLAND!

Thank you Scotland for holding a vote on independence. Although it may not have been the result desired by many, you have led the way in using, and in turn promoting, the use of referenda to settle the most important political questions. You have shown that such a vote and the campaign around it, can inspire people to become ‘re-engaged’ with politics. The unprecedented turnout, after years of decline and disillusionment, proved the point. It has also shown that controversial and emotional issues can be settled without bloodshed (and revisited when necessary). It is also a model for settling questions of national self-determination in those world’s states that presently resort to ignoring or oppressing of minority nations within their (often artificial) borders. Thank you Scotland.

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TOWARDS the end of last year, Fourth World Review (4WR) produced its first e-poster.  It honoured EF ‘Fritz’ Schumacher, author of the iconic Small Is Beautiful – A Study Of Economics As If People Mattered.

4WR produced the Schumacher e-poster in response to John Papworth’s call for “a vast educational effort to resolve the multitudinous problems involved in the restructuring of power in society from the ground up rather than the top down.”

In this digital and milisecond media age, 4WR believe’s that one way of promoting this “vast educational effort” is via imaginative and thought-provoking e-posters.

With this in mind, a new e-poster has been produced.  Using a stark red, white and black colour sheme as well as the slogan Small Is Beautiful – effectively 4WRs raison d’être – it aims to introduce a new generation of thinkers and activists to explore the works of Leopold Kohr.

Kohr is best known for his book The Breakdown Of Nations. Written in 1957, this highly original work predicted the problems posed by globalism – effectively before the term ‘globalism’ had ever been used!

He remains a highly original thinker who concluded that the root cause of social evil was that all sections of society had grown too centralized and too big.  Indeed, the influence of the individual decreases exponentially with the increase of the population in a society.

Kohr believed that small nations work better for their citizens in every way – economically, socially, culturally, and so on.  He thus believed that the time was ripe to return to human size – and called for the peaceful dissolution of nation states into smaller independent entities which can network or confederate as they choose.

4WR – as a long-standing radical decentralist publication – believes that Leopold Kohr’s The Breakdown Of Nations should be considered essential reading by those who wish to promote a more ‘rooted’ and natural form of living.  We urge as many people as possible to read it, discuss it and become active in promoting its ideals.

In the meantime, we’d ask readers to ‘Like and Share’ this new 4WR e-poster on Facebook and link this article to any Twitter account(s) you may operate.

• CHECK out this 4WR mission statement: http://nationalliberal.org/liberty-wall-3/fourth-world-review

• CHECK out 4WR on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/288486767860011/?ref=br_tf

• CHECK out the first 4WR e-poster: http://nationalliberal.org/from-the-liberty-wall-%e2%80%93-4wr-%e2%80%93-first-4wr-e-poster

• CHECK out this YouTube video about Leopold Kohr: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kDRd_TJvzhQ

The National Liberal party debated the calls for Scottish independence when the Scottish Government consulted on the nature of the question(s) to be chosen at the proposed referendum.

Being a self-determinist party we were delighted that the referendum would take place. We believe referendums should be conducted throughout the globe to settle age-old questions of national identity. Perhaps half the world’s conflicts, if not more, are fought over such questions. The world will be more stable and peaceful if self-determination is embraced rather than resisted.

Opinion polls had consistently indicated that voters, after years as living as ‘Britons’, were nervous of supporting independence. However, a majority did want further devolution up to what is known as Devo-Max i.e. controlling all matters except Military, Currency and Foreign Affairs. We proposed that a third question i.e. for Devo-Max be on the proposed referendum. A ‘secret’ deal between respective PM’s scuppered that prospect (we believe that the deal will see DM given to Scotland if it votes NO, but there is no certainty).

Thus, there are only TWO choices facing Scottish voters, a YES or NO to outright Independence. Since we will not see another referendum, if at all, for the Scottish people for a generation so this is truly monumental.

It is also symbolic, as a peaceful model as to how national conflicts should be settled and, if the YES votes win, will inspire countless struggles for national recognition and liberation.

Therefore the NLP’s self-determinist pressure group, Nations without States, is calling for members of self-determinist communities in Scotland e.g. Tamil, Sikh, Kurds, Kashmiris etc to vote YES on September 18th!

Leftist Bob Crow supported the death penalty whilst Tory Enoch Powell opposed it. Where do you stand?

THE MANY problems faced by Britain – whether economic or social – are not going to be solved by screaming and shouting. Thus, the National Liberal Party is not interested in ‘hitting the headlines’ using the tired formula of macho–posturing and gesture politics. These problems will only be overcome by a combination of careful thought and action.

• First of all, say what you think – but think what you say.

• Secondly, just debate the issue(s) raised. There should be no personal attacks.

• As previously noted, we’re simply not interested in personalities.

• Please note that we may ask selected members and supporters to play ‘devil’s advocate’. Hopefully, this’ll help sharpen the debating skills of all involved!

• Finally, it should be remembered that all of the views expressed in Have Your Say! are personal and should not be taken to be the official view of the NLP itself.

We support these small-scale enterprises because we believe that a just and sustainable social order can only exist in which the ownership of property and the means of production, distribution and exchange are widespread. Whilst we are not a class-based organisation, the NLP – in particular – wishes to improve the material lot of the poorest and most disadvantaged.

As part of our support for small enterprises we stand in opposition to the vast economic, social and political power welded by the massive supermarket chains. We feel that unhindered, the supermarkets will be able to squeeze small retailers out of business altogther. This will be unhealthy in the extreme.

Another reason why we oppose the massive supermarket chains is because they pay their suppliers peanuts and then charge what they want for the produce supplied.

The Irish Farmers’ Association say that their members are getting a raw deal from the supermarkets

A case in point was recently highlighted in a brief report by the Irish Independent. Here, Irish farmers (organised by the Irish Farmers’ Association – IFA) had taken to mounting pickets outside various large retail outlets in Co Kerry and Co Galway.

The IFA protest concerns the drop in prices paid by factories for lamb. But the Irish farmers lay the blame for this at the doors of the big retailers like Dunnes Stores, Tesco and SuperValu.

According to farmer Kevin O’Sullivan, they are paid €4.80/kg for their lamb at the factory, but Dunnes are selling the end product – gigot chops – at €16.89/kg. To illustrate the drop in income, Mr O’Sullivan noted that:

“The price we’re getting fell from €6.50/kg at Easter down to €4.80/kg now and every year it’s the same story and we cannot survive at these prices.”

We agree with the IFA that all farmers should be paid a viable price for their produce. At the moment they are getting a raw deal.

Their plight illustrates that the large supermarkets can dictate prices to suit themselves. This is against the interests of both farmers and the general public. As usual, the only ones who profit from this are the supermarkets themselves.

• Check out the web-site of the Irish Independent here: http://www.independent.ie/

• Check out the web-site of the Irish Farmers’ Association here: http://www.ifa.ie/