AS WE’VE recently noted, the new phase of the National Liberal Party’s ‘Shop Local’ campaign will – in part – attack the current banking system. This is an exciting new development as (and as far as we’re aware) this’ll be the first time a modern political movement has produced a popular educational leaflet which exposes the ‘daylight robbery’ committed by the banks.

This is where they create ‘credit’ out of nothing and then charge interest on this! This means that you pay much, much more back to the bank than you actually get from them. As our Stand And Deliver! Leaflets and posters will note “Years ago Highwaymen robbed you. Today the banks do it instead!”

However, there’s not much room on an A5 leaflet to go into too much detail about the banking system. This is where the following article comes into its own.

Darwin Grey is currently studying Economics, Politics and History. However, during his Economics course he found himself “a little troubled.” He told us:

“We were taught about the two main economic theories; Keynesian and Monetarist.

My teacher summed up the Keynesian school as believing that ‘you can help the economy, essentially, by employing a man to dig a hole and fill it back up again.’ This didn’t sit well with me (if you aren’t going to pay him to do productive work, why not just give him the money?) Of course, I have a strong working class background, and I wasn’t about to just jump straight into bed with Thatcherism (Monetarism.)

From then on, I decided to treat both ideas with scepticism. It dawned on me a few months later, for all their differences, there is one group of people that benefits from either system: the Bankers. They either get one nice juicy government interest payment that comes with large scale spending (Keynesian) or they charge obscene amounts for private loans (Monetarist).

I decided to look for an alternative and it wasn’t long before I found Social Credit.”

Darwin hopes to produce one economic article a month for this web-site. His next one will be Heritage: The Fourth Factor of Production. It will look at the moral justification for a national dividend as well as pointing out more flaws in Classical as well as Marxist economics.

We hope that guest writers such as Darwin provokes debate.

In this article he takes an in-depth look at the Daylight Robbery conducted by the banking system – the system of debt-slavery.

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Daylight Robbery!

Major Clifford Hugh Douglas (20 January 1879 - 29 September 1952) the founder of the Social Credit movement. Does he provide us with any solutions to our economic woes?

We do not, however, live in a sane world. We have been tricked, by the sixth man, into believing that money has some sort of inherent value. The sixth man lends out £200 to each of the five. If this were the end of it, then that might also work. Since each man produces £200 worth of goods, everyone might conceivably end up with £200 at the end of the market cycle and be able to repay the sixth man and wait for the next loan.

The Bedroom Tax. Yet another Con-Dem attack on ordinary working families

Recently a story came to play of a blind windowed and bereaved mother who lost her son and husband in the same year who faced eviction from her home, the only place she is entirely secure and comfortably in, due to the bedroom tax. What a disgrace to our nation has a tax regime which forced a mother and wife who lost her family in one year but also someone who is disabled, and has lived in her home for numerous years.

What of those who don’t receive media attention? I’m convinced that the harsh winter has put more bodies to the soil due to the government’s lack of stamp down on energy providers and super-market chains; the cost of living is escalating with no wage increases. Inflation is at an all time high, and the value of the pound is worth more abroad than it is here. People have tightened their belts to the point where it is now causing them to suffocate.

Look at the number of soup kitchens opening up throughout the country. Why is it that in an energy rich nation, with plentiful resource and a fully operational commerce and transport system, that we must pay higher costs for food, accommodation and heat? If the government is truly with us, then they would surely use national directives and the power of the law to obliterate the abuse of the British household? No, the answer is that the top brass of the Conservative Party would like nothing better than to see the vast majority of those who have fallen on hard times fall on to an even harder bed of nails.

The economic downturn has destroyed the standard of life for the working class while the bankers and wealthiest increase in disposable income day by day.

Margaret Thatcher was bad, however in all honesty she was open about her ambitions, not like these new torries who sly in the shadows like a parasite.

You may ask yourself why they would want us dead, and it’s quite simple:

Darwinism – the survival of the fittest, except in this fight the weakest and more intellectually lacking somehow managed to find their way into government and thus began to erect the beating sticks against those who built their communities and country off blood, sweat and tears.

Three questions for you to consider:

2. Why is the NHS in England and Wales being privatised?

3. Why are there high costs for education? If the working class cannot successfully go to University due to costs, then what sort of society will that create?
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Since it was written who knows how many people have suffered from Cameron and Clegg’s Austerity Agenda? This has seen the banksers rewarded for their mistakes and greed (which led to the current recession) whilst ordinary working families have been hit hard by cutbacks, low or no payrises and a reduction in their living standards.

CAMERON AND CLEGG seem to take a perverse delight in attacking ordinary hard working families. In the last couple of years, their Austerity Agenda has seen the slashing of education and NHS budgets, allowed ATOS to bully disabled folks and the introduction of the hated bedroom tax.

The National Liberal Party is starting to organise resistance to this Con-Dem Austerity Agenda – at the moment we’re concentrating on supporting local shops, small businesses and the self-employed – but we need to do much more.

Fighting the cuts, the cruelty of ATOS and the bedroom tax will be a long-term political struggle. It will be a struggle waged by organised groups like the NLP. However, individuals and families can also take non-political forms of action to help them weather Cameron and Clegg’s attacks on their standard of living.

In this article, Barrhead-based Robert Byng – provides advice to those struggling to make ends meet.

Self-Help Or Helpless?

THE ECONOMY is suffering and the majority of us are feeling it – with food prices and the cost of living, with the high rate of VAT and inflation, are pushing more and more families under the breadline. Here are a few helpful tips as part of a series that the National Liberty Party are providing to help struggling families and citizens to help keep costs down.

1. Eat as a household – may seem like a simple idea however eating as a family can dramatically reduce the cost of food bills; by bulk buying items such as rice, pasta and metal, the price can be reduced.

2. Freeze not fridge – the freezing is excellent for creating meals and planning in advance; family favourites such as mince, spaghetti, meats, fish, pasta, stew and even bread can be frozen.

Cameron and Clegg's Austerity Agenda attacks ordinary hard working families

3. Plan at least 2 weeks in advance – plan your meals in advance; buy in ingredients instead of ready meals and create bulk portions and freeze left overs. Planning in advance can help to reduce the food bills by allowing more time to search for the best price instead of sporadic buying.

4. DIY take away – learn to create family favourites such as curry, Chinese and even Fish & Chips! You’d be surprised how learning to create your own take away and buying the raw ingredients can reduce the monthly food price. A £30 take away can go to £6 if you do it yourself!

5. Packed lunch – having worked for an office with a café around the corner, I am aware of the attraction of hot food. Try to make your own at home, finding the best prices and even helping your resolutions by being much healthier!

6. Skip bought dog food – consult the breed of your dog with a Vet before doing this: butchers have many cuts and organs that dogs absolutely love! It’s healthy, natural and sometimes even free. Butchers often have to pay to have this meat removed so will be happy to give it to you for free or cheap! Having raised huskies, I can say that the real meat is much better than tinned!

7. Shop as a community – apply business tactics. Gather your street, town or even close family and contact a local producer; attempt to buy food as a group rather than a person. Cheaper to buy in bulk!

8. Don’t rely on supermarkets – many local fish mongers, vegetable stockers and butchers will have much cheaper options than supermarkets; your local butcher isn’t a millionaire for a reason! Support your community shops, and support yourself!

9. Give up treats – it may seem harsh but try and give up the name brands. Try cheaper alternatives to items such as alcohol, sweets, bread, milk and pop.

10. Get a better deal on services – the NLP can’t nationalise services just yet, but in the meantime why not try and get a better deal for services such as internet, power and gas? Call your provider and try to haggle!

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.

EARLIER this month the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (Ipsa) reccommended that the basic salary of MPs should be increased. At the moment MPs pocket £66.393 a year. Ipsa wants this to go up to £74,000 in 2015. This is an increase of over £7,500.

During a period of aggressive cuts – imposed by Cameron and Clegg – this is a real kick in the teeth to ordinary working families. Here, many breadwinners have’t seen a meaningful wage rise for years.

Given the previous scandal concerning MPs expenses, NLP member Robert Byng from Barrhead, Scotland, wrote the following article which provides ways in which we can claw back the £20 million a year spent on MPs expenses.

Eagle-eyed readers may recall Robert’s previous article about Britain’s housing crisis: http://nationalliberal.org/the-lies-of-homeless-and-social-housing He also edits The Young Political Radical, a highly distinctive blog which pulls no punches. Check it out here: http://theyoungpoliticalradical.blogspot.co.uk/

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ONCE AGAIN friends, face the greed of those who are elected to represent our needs but instead decide to open up their wallets and loot our hard earned taxes for everything it’s worth. As seen in the video here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5OSzrOFzg30 many MPs can claim more in expenses than what most people make in a single year, several times over. How can you blame them, the system is entirely designed to allow for their easy access to our money, and I doubt very many of us would be able to hold such a moral high ground with such a twistable system in place.

MPs expenses alone cost the tax payer almost 20 million a year, that’s nearly 80 million over a 4 year parliamentary term.

Rather, here are a few ideas which removes much of the expendables from the expenses:

5. University style halls for MPs and their staff

Having grown up in Barrhead, I have around me 4 Universities – all of which have thousands of students. Glasgow’s west end and Paisley are both University locations, with many students from abroad.

Recently the University of the West of Scotland (Paisley Campus) invested 13million in to a comfortable and modern halls for their students – nothing too fancy; a bed, en-suite bathroom, internet, heat and a shared kitchen space. The capacity for this hall is nothing too special, however as someone who has spent many a drunken lad’s evening in there with friends, I can assure you that it is more than comfortable, especially when taking in to account that they will live there for months at a time.

MPs expenses – all in it together?

One of the biggest tragedies of the recent expenses rows is that MPs have been fiddling with which exactly is their second home – London, or hometown. Most people would explode their heads with such complicated questions such as ‘where do you live?’ however MPs are clearly so much smarter than the common-joe man, often claiming for homes which are more costly than where what the MPs were originally living in.

No second homes, it’s really that simple. I’ve been away on business trips before, I’ve had to travel to and from work on a daily basis, and from what I recall I didn’t need a second home for that.

MPs may claim up to an annual limit of £19,900 – Around 600 MPs. I think we can spare some dosh to invest in a brand new Westminster campus, and it was surely be a holiday experience for most MPs who spent their University life in 5star housing courtesy of Eton.

4. No food allowances

MPs are entitled to £15 per day for parliamentary meals (after 19:50).

I have a few roles in my life where expenses are involved, and I can safely assure everyone reading that those doing the paperwork at the end of the month for finance would drag me in to the pits for hell for claiming for a £15 meal several times a week.

The highest expenditure I’ve ever received from a food allowance was £4 for a sandwich and latte (I know, I’m living the high middle class lifestyle, but I’m worth it) and even that was asking permission. The only reason I claimed it in the first place was due to being trapped in Aberdeen during the last snow storm and sadly, at the time, I was suffering some of the worst poverty of my life. £4 makes a difference to the every day lives of someone on benefits, or low wages. Someone making £67k a year can deal with it.

It’s a question of why do we need to pay for their food in the first place? Politicians knew they’d be spending much of their time in London, no-one jumped that fact on them. Universal suffrage – we pay for our food, and they should too!

3. No allowances for fancy meetings

One of the advantages of a parliamentary posting is that you can often decide where to hold your ‘meetings’.

For example: John Doe MP is meeting an expert in business to go over economics, rather than meeting in a local cafe or the office that MPs are give money for, he holds it in a restaurant.

What they don’t tell you is that many MPs claim their daily calories through tax payer expenses by claiming under the Duty Expenses which allows massive expenses for going about their daily duties.

I am not opposed to this expense, so long as it is responsible.

MPs should use their office, or an office, where tea, coffee and biscuits are supplies (value range, naturally).

I will cut some slack to MPs for this one, however, having worked for an organisation that had meetings every week, It’s amazing how much money goes in to catering for no real purpose at all other than keeping a bunch of cry babies happy.

If a meeting is 6 hours, sure have snacks, but 2 hours? Not on my taxes.

2. Arrest expenses fiddlers

What do you call someone who fiddles accounts, and is not in power? A resident of HMPrisons.

MPs fiddle their expenses with intention of making profit? Fruad.

Don’t pretend you wouldn’t like to see some MPs in prison…

1. Stop electing Etonian style, upper-class politicians

Now I know we live in a democracy however the reason so many politicians commit the offences that I’ve highlighted is because they come from a rich world where morals is poorly seen.

The working class represent the 70% of the nation, therefore most MPs should come from a background that didn’t involve daddy paying for their first Aston Martin at age 18.

The public are as much to blame for the mess we face with MPs as the MPs are themselves.

We allow too much to happen and not enough to be punished.

Stop giving them your votes, elect a party that’s outside the big three, and maybe then they’ll start taking in what we’ve been saying for years: We’re sick of politicians so far up their own rear that they are literally spouting the dung we all know them so well for.

On June 15th (Magna Carta Day) National Liberal supporters hung Liberty cards on designated ‘Liberty Trees’ throughout the UK proclaiming our support for civil rights. The recent revelations that Western Governments are snooping on their citizens communications and sharing the information amongst themselves, will not be a surprise to our supporters but might to most others. Our resident poet Jason, has composed a poem to reflect upon this move to a (secretive) surveillance society.