The Coalition government (with the FULL support of the ‘Liberal’ Democrats) is seeking to monitor ALL the calls, emails, texts and website visits of everyone in the UK under new legislation they soon hope to introduce. They say it is to fight crime and terrorism yet they can already obtain all of this information against specific individuals by applying for a warrant. Even assuming the authorities are not already collecting information ‘illegally’?, we guess the police don’t like the inconvenience of having to substantiate their snooping to a magistrate and the paperwork that no doubt must be (rightly) produced to convince them of its need?
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One might be sceptical of even the present procedure, after all does a magistrate have the knowledge or inclination to resist? However, if the information is misused there will at least be an audit trail. Under the present proposals it will be much harder to track down the ‘guilty parties’. Will it be abused? Of course it will, for example, by individual police officers or civil servants or government organisations who wish to make a political or personal point against certain individuals or groups. That apart, we also know that the easier it is to collect information the greater the desire and inclination to do so. With more information ‘floating around’ the more likely it will be hacked/lost/sold. Given the furore of these plans, Nick Clegg has focused on a smaller (but important) aspect of the alleged legislation, namely the use of ‘secret’ courts to review intelligence information in civil cases i.e. the defence would not be allowed to be aware of the information let alone challenge it. Nick Clegg doesn’t oppose the process, just that Judges rather than Ministers must take that decision. We agree with him but he neither opposes the courts nor highlights the fact that all this is being suggested because the US say they may refuse to share intelligence if it is not kept totally secret.

The legislation overall is effectively the same as the Tories and Lib-Dems opposed when out of Government. They said at the time it was a part of a growing ‘culture of surveillance’. What has changed? Perhaps being in government they comfort themselves that it won’t be used against them? Whilst we might expect the Conservatives to roll over (with honourable exceptions such as David Davies MP) but for the Liberal Democrats to do so is unforgivable. Do you trust their assurances of rigorous protections? ………………………………………………… No we don’t either!

TELL NICK CLEGG!

As liberals and liberty lovers we will resolutely oppose this pernicious bill. Please sign the new petition created by our Steering Committee aimed at Nick Clegg at http://www.gopetition.com/petitions/say-no-to-the-surveillance-society.html

“The NLP’s political roots are also unique in that they represent a combination of two classical ideological trends: Nationalism and Liberalism. This fusion of nationalism and liberalism means that we give gave equal weight to ‘national questions’ (concerning all of the nations and peoples of the British Isles and in principal, beyond) as we do to ‘liberal questions’ concerning the individual. This fusion of nationalism and liberalism provides us with a general position that can be best summed up as being ‘Neither Left nor Right – Neither Capitalist nor Communist.’”

– The Economic Roots and influences of National Liberalism, New Horizon (Issue 1)

IT SHOULD be reasonably obvious from the National Liberal Party’s name that we base our ideology on the twin pillars of Nationalism and Liberalism. However, our nationalism and liberalism differs considerably from other groups and organisations who claim to be either nationalist and/or liberal.

We realise that both nationalism and liberalism are very much ‘broad churches’. For instance, nationalism in Britain has several main strands or ‘varieties’ – civic, cultural, ethnic and racial.

The NLPs ‘brand’ of nationalism can be best described as ‘Progressive Nationalism.’ (Progressive Nationalism is also sometimes referred to as ‘Green Nationalism’, because, as one supporter noted, it “fuses Nationalism and Green issues in the search for a realistic alternative to the reactionary Nationalism of old and the Socialist Watermelon policies of the Green Party.”)

As Progressive Nationalists, the NLP rejects all forms of reaction. As the Editorial in issue 2 of Liveable Nation – ‘The Voice of Progressive Nationalism’ – noted:

“INSPIRED by the booklet A Declaration and Philosophy of Progressive Nationalism, Progressive Nationalism seeks to build a popular and radical counter-cultural movement. It represents a fusion of Environmentalism, Nationalism, Social Justice, Monetary Reform and Peace.

Progressive Nationalism is a nationalism based on equality, popular sovereignty and national self-determination. Therefore, Progressive Nationalism rejects the dehumanising materialist doctrines of capitalism and communism – which we view as two sides of the same coin – as well as racism, imperialism, fascism and war.

In short, Progressive Nationalism could be said to be “For the Loyalty of the Right, for the Compassion of the Left and the Green Centre ground!”

With this in mind, we’re more than ready to work with other Progressive Nationalists – no matter what their race, nationality, ethnicity or religion is. Indeed, such co-operation would represent a natural step for us. We are opposed to all forms of imperialism and colonialism. It would be hypocritical of us to demand national self-determination and liberation for ourselves whilst viewing the nationalism of others as something to be denied.” (1)

That’s our ‘brand’ of nationalism. So what’s our ‘brand’ of liberalism like?

First of all, the liberalism of the NLP shouldn’t be confused with the liberalism of those Politically Correct busy body’s who seem to want to dictate to everyone how they should think and act. Despite their self-proclaimed ‘liberalism’, in reality they’re dogmatic, undemocratic and totalitarian in nature. Indeed, they would have given the combined forces of the Gestapo and KGB a run for their money.

Our liberalism is very much in support of the individual against the might of the state. Whilst we recognise the need for some state involvement and functions – the NHS, for instance – we are radically anti-statist i.e. against too much state interference.

We also have a lot of libertarian blood running through our veins! For example, we think that it’s vital that everyone is allowed to have their say. We disagree with lots of individuals and groups – but they all have a right to free speech. It could be argued that there could (or even should) be a few exceptions to this rule e.g. promotion of violence, but on the whole our view is that either we all have rights – or none of us has rights.

With this all in mind, we’re very happy to report that the following new ‘alternative’ publications will be out fairly soon – or are at least in the early planning stages and will be out later on this year!

The first publication that will be on the streets is one of our own. Issue 1 of the Isle of Wight Voice should be out within the next couple of weeks. Sub-titled ‘Voice of the National Liberal Party on the Isle of Wight’ it’ll look at the various social and economic problems faced by Islanders.

It interviews Glen Maney – the National Secretary of the National Liberal Party – who accuses the Con-Dem Government of not doing enough.

Glen is well-placed to know all about the Isle of Wight. As we’ve already noted (2) Glen used to live on the Island and his family still does. (Because of work commitments he’s currently living in Scotland, but hopes to return to the Isle of Wight in the near future. He also intends to stand for the NLP in one of the two (new) Parliamentary seats on the Isle of Wight at the next General Election.)

In his interview, Glen tells the Isle of Wight Voice:

“It’s said that for every job available on the Island, there are around 16 people applying for it. Sadly, it’s a figure that you’d normally associate with deprived inner-city areas of London, Birmingham, Liverpool or Manchester.

Here we are in one of the most beautiful parts of England and we’re sitting on a social and economic time-bomb. If Islanders can’t find work, we’ll start facing the serious social problems associated with long-term unemployment.”

The Isle of Wight Voice should be out within the next coupe of weeks. It’ll be launched via this site, so check back soon.

The next ‘alternative’ publication on the agenda is Fourth World Review.

Regular readers of this site will know that 4WR was re-launched last November (3). It was founded by the Reverend John Papworth who has spent decades promoting the “argument first put forward by Professor Leopold Kohr over half a century ago in his epochal Breakdown of Nations, later popularised in Fritz Schumacher’s Small Is Beautiful. They were simply arguing that the origins of the modern crisis lay in the fact that governments and institutions (including industries), had become so large as to be uncontrollable under any political label, and that the genuine democratic target lay in making them smaller so people could control them.”

Given the convergence of views between ourselves and 4WR, we were absolutely delighted when John Papworth invited the NLP’s Graham Williamson – along with Wayne John Sturgeon – to re-launch and jointly edit this prestigious magazine. (John Papworth still remains actively involved with 4WR – which has been accurately described as a “journal for radical thinkers and thinking radicals” – as a member of its Editorial Board.)

Graham and Wayne agreed to host it to prevent it being lost to history. Their aim is to further popularise the ideas of Kohr, Schumacher and Papworth and promote them to a world-wide audience. They will do this via the pages of this magazine, helping to found similar local publications to Purton Today as well as establishing 4WR internet-based TV and radio stations. Already a small start has been made with the introduction of a 4WR Facebook page (3)

The new editors regard globalisation – which leads to the centralisation of power – as a threat to the belief that ‘small is beautiful’ and the ideas contained within 4WR are now required more than ever!

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With this in mind, they’re now working on issue 154 of 4WR. This will include an excellent article by John Papworth, several interviews and a look at the Panjaab – a small (Sikh) nation versus Indian superstate.

It’s anticipated that it’ll be out sometime in April. We hope to provide progress reports in due course. In the meantime, the National Liberal Party would recommend 4WR to its members and supporters as its views are similar to our own. Those interested in obtaining the last issue (which is only available in e-zine format) should simply e-mail John Papworth at papworthjohn@yahoo.co.uk and ask for a FREE pdf copy of issue 153.

Another publication to look forward to, will be the New Horizon. As many readers will know, it’s the National Liberal Party’s ideological journal.

Paying homage to an earlier Liberal National/National Liberal journal (which was published between 1942 and ’68) it’s an e-magazine. The purpose of New Horizon is to “allow writers to dissect the philosophy behind National Liberalism, discuss the national liberal credentials of world figures, engage in political debate and promote policy ideas.”

Issue 1 was launched late last year cutting-edge promotional tools (4). Similar methods will also be used to promote issue 2 (for instance, see the poster to the right of this article).

The reaction to the first issue was fantastic. The lead article was entitled Head & Heart and looked at the relationship between Nationalism and Liberalism. It noted:

“Thus a vital Nationalism and Liberalism within society can be seen as a perquisite for a healthy people as a vital head and heart is for a healthy body. A National Liberal thus seeks to harness and maintain a balance between the needs of the nation and the individual as a doctor would between the needs of head and heart. One cannot be complete without the other.”

It included articles on Democracy, Ecology, Economics, and the NHS. Subject matters like Strategy and Educations were also covered. There were also two reviews of thought provoking books, Liberal Nationalism by Yael Tamir and A Little Chit Of A Fellow – A biography of the Right Honourable Leslie Hoare-Belisha by Ian Grimwood.

Graham Williamson – the Editor of New Horizon and a member of the NLP’s Steering Committee – said:

“Issue 2 will include articles on History – including one of my political heroes, Gustav Stresemann – Opinion, Ideology and Strategy.

For those who still haven’t seen New Horizon, simply click on the advert that appears on the home page of this NLP web-site.

Once they read it, I’d appreciate any feedback or offers of help to produce the next issue! Just e-mail me at natliberal@aol.com or write to me c/o New Horizon, PO Box 4217, Hornchurch, Essex RM12 4PJ.”

(1) http://thirdway.eu/liveable-nation/newsletter-no-2/

(2) http://nationalliberal.org/?p=3328

(3) http://www.facebook.com/groups/288486767860011/

(4) http://nationalliberal.org/?p=3478

We have published several articles of late concerning the benefit of a distributist economy i.e. where the workforce own the businesses they work in, whether as self-employed, in a partnership or as cooperatives. One, amongst many positives, with such a structure is that such enterprises would not be paying themselves inordinate salaries or bonuses. Our resident poet Jasan has this contribution to share with readers.

“The target of my latest poem are the Rhino-hide capitalists in Britain who among themselves reward each other millions of shares and bonuses despite some of these businesses doing poorly in the current business climate or them owned by the public, having been saved from Bankruptcy.

It is not only the private businesses which are doing this, according to the Independent newspaper over the weekend even public mandarins also taking bonuses exceeding 100k. Despite some refusing to take these shameful bonuses, many of the CEOs and Board Members help each other to take exorbitant levels of bonuses which shock ordinary folk. Infact there is a vicious circle of elites who help each other with this shameful business.”

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CAPITALISM VOID OF CONSCIENCE

© All rights reserved. Requests for permission to reproduce or translate-whether for sale or non-commercial distribution, should be addressed to E.Jesuthasan, e-mail jason_jesuthasan@yahoo.com.

At a conference last year by the group ‘Freedom from Torture’ new evidence was unveiled about the ongoing torture of Tamils, sent back to Sri Lanka, due to their ‘political’ activities in the UK or elsewhere (see http://www.freedomfromtorture.org/
srilanka-report). Sri Lanka is one amongst many regimes (more than we care to admit) that routinely use torture as a way of finding out information or punishing victims for their views or activities. Most of the torture victims could only share their experience because the guards had been bribed to release them (god only knows what happens to those with no family or money). Yet, we in the West continue to trade with Sri Lanka (and others) whilst pontificating on the world stage about human rights and even use it to justify military action e.g. Libya etc. Essentially, if the regime is part of the ‘in-crowd’, authorities will turn a blind-eye to their behaviour (whilst disingenuously and dishonestly castigating others who are in the ‘out-crowd’, for all manner of alleged crimes).

The West, especially Britain, has a noble history of granting political asylum, whether Marx or Mazzini, and has traditionally been a mark of our civilised approach to political dissent. However, the asylum system has been massively abused in recent years by individuals, often under the instruction of ‘human traffickers’, claiming to be either a ‘vulnerable’ nationality they are not (which happened a great deal when the Kosovo crisis erupted) and/or they are in personal danger due to their political views/activities. So much so that claiming asylum has become synonymous in the public mind with immigration, even illegal immigration, per sae. Sadly this has meant, especially as the Government is under pressure to fulfil its’ promise to cut immigration and increase deportations, that we are now seeing genuine ‘political’ refugees being sent back to unsavoury regimes. Whilst illegal immigration must be tackled urgently and energetically, we must also protect genuine political refugees from torture or worse, at all costs.