The National Liberal Party says Self-Determination for the Welsh Nation!
Date: January 23, 2013
Categories: UK News
Category » UK News
‘Total Democracy – a new concept in cooperation’
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The National Liberal Party has always supported the concept of cross-party co-operation. For centrist parties (whether of the left or right), that which unites us is stronger than those (policies) which divide us. Since we do not believe that any single party can unite the ‘opposition’ to our political system or the ruling three parties, a ‘broad church’ cooperative alliance, that appeals across the political (centrist) and social spectrum, just might.
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A number of small centrist parties have been discussing the need for such a cooperation and the mechanism to make it happen in the latter part of last year. Finally, four parties (Democratic Reform Party, People’s Democratic Party, Popular Alliance and the NLP) have come together to launch Total Democracy, a campaigning body that seeks to maximise our collective strength to the benefit of its members. As the opening press release says We are a co-operation of interested groups who work together on specific campaigns, you opt into the ones that match your values and ignore the ones that don’t.’ It hope to add similar parties, groups and Independents in due course.
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This is just the start of cooperative politics and the beginning of a ‘long march’ to change the face of British politics. It is the only alternative strategy in town. Join us, join the cooperation https://www.facebook.com/pages/Total-Democracy/248865718574022?fref=ts
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Total Democracy Press Release
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Note
* The ‘Sunflower’ logo reflects the colours of the major established parties plus a clear one representing all of us who reject those parties, who we say work in the interests of (their own) professional politicians.
Date: January 4, 2013
Categories: UK News
SUPPORTING LOCAL SHOPS!
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Small, local shops have been under intense pressure for years. Excessively high rents, increasing red tape and growing supermarket competition have all taken their toll. Thousands have gone to the wall leaving whole communities bereft of vibrant shopping areas, so vital to ‘community spirit’.
In recent years the greatest threat seems to have been Tesco’s expansion into high streets using their ‘Tesco Express’ brand. Smaller in size and focussing on convenience items, but benefiting from Tesco’s purchasing power’, they deliberately target those who don’t wish to visit out-of-town sites for small, daily purchases. In order to get permission to open up in small high streets they are often prepared to give ‘promises’ that they will not directly ‘attack’ local businesses’. For example, in Cuffley (Hertfordshire) they agreed not to install a Lottery machine as local newsagents already had.
Cllr Brent Cheetham
However, after opening in 2007 they recently installed just such a machine thus breaking their ‘gentleman’s agreement’. Local and National Liberal Parish Councillor Brent Cheetham led, with others, a campaign to remind them of their “amnesia and broken promises” and was later supported by the local newspaper. Tesco immediately put the decision on hold.
A SMALL VICTORY
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After a flurry of press letters, Tesco finally relented. In a letter to Councillor Cheetham, the Head of Tesco’s Regional Corporate Affairs, stated that after ‘having listened to the local community, I am pleased to say we will not be introducing (the) lottery to the store’.
It was a very small but significant victory for ‘Shop Local’ campaigners and we congratulate Brent and all of them for their vigilance. Sadly however, the decline of the small shop is relentless. In the absence of local or national help e.g. tax breaks, rate discounting etc the mantle of resistance continue to falls to residents to spend some of their hard earned cash in their shop. As the slogan says ‘Use them or lose to them!’.
Date: January 2, 2013
Categories: Party News, UK News
Nothing great about wars!
Dear Friends,
Whilst I am an anti-war person, I cannot be disrespectful to those men and women who in all wars, get sacrificed for the ire of war mongers, who plot, design, conceive, impose or trigger wars for multiple reasons. It is true, the beasts of war, are product of socio-political conditions that surface or triggered; into which ordinary folks get sucked into and become casualties, either as dead or injured or dependants having to adjust to the reality of passing away of a family members(s).
As we approach the centenary of the First World War (called Great War – I don’t know what is great about a war!), I offer you my take on war.
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Nothing Great about Wars!
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Why men call killings Great Wars?
As nothing to be great about
Killing fields full of horrors,
Leaving in its wake, nothing but
A tyranny of memories – a sum
That the war-instigating scum
Neither comprehends nor feels for.
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Poppy flowers carpet fields red,
War masters fill fields with blood.
Tame this shame so future not sees,
Human remains on earth and seas!
Women become no war widows,
Orphaned kids not living in woes!
Denounce wars! No wars forever.
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As my pen oozes with ink of tears,
On the past wars and ones in progress,
Let my pen firmly scribble to affirm
That humanity, to wars, shalln’t conform,
Let man now and into the future
Never gather men to a furnace of fire.
Let there be death to war mongers ire.
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Jason
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© All rights reserved. Requests for permission to reproduce or translate-whether for sale or non-commercial distribution, should be addressed to Jason @ e-mail jason_jesuthasan@yahoo.com
Date: October 31, 2012
Categories: UK News
NLP Scotland Update October 2012
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The ‘Edinburgh Agreement’ is signed by Prime Minister David Cameron and First Minister Alex Salmond on October 15. It paves the way for just a single Yes/No question on Scotland leaving the UK and allows 16 and 17-year-olds to vote.
THE SCOTTISH and Westminster governments set the seal on the independence referendum when David Cameron and Alex Salmond signed-off a deal on the issue in Edinburgh. Disappointingly, the question to be put to the Scottish electorate is going to be a simple yes or no to independence without the third option of Devo Max. The Liberal Democrats have discussed the idea of having another referendum a year after the independence vote on whether or not to devolve more powers to Holyrood but after what promises be a long and gruelling campaign leading up to the independence referendum now scheduled for the Autumn of 2014, it is open to question how much of an appetite Scottish voters will have for another vote a year later.
In the Tory camp Peter Duncan, the former Conservative MP and shadow Scottish Secretary, has called for the Conservatives to embrace devolution. Writing in The Sunday Times of 7 October 2012 he says: Poll after poll has established what most of us have already come to know: the most popular option that could be presented to Scots in a referendum is neither the status quo nor independence, but an enhanced form of devolution. And, with agreement almost reached on a straight yes/no question on the ballot paper, strategists in both the Better Together and Yes Scotland campaigns realise that the fight will be over that centre ground. Most observers suspect that 40% of the electorate are there in the middle, wanting more powers for Holyrood short of independence. It’s a big proportion-well worth fighting for”. Mr Duncan sees devolution as in keeping with pre-Thatcherite Tory support for localism and he describes Mrs Thatcher’s reversal of the previous Conservative commitment to devolution as “a major mistake”.
Elsewhere on the Scottish political scene, the Greens have once again decided to join the independence camp after expressing earlier reservations over the official pro-independence campaign.
The NLP in Scotland campaigned to get Devo Max on the ballot paper but it is not going to be deterred by the decision to have a straight yes/no question put in autumn 2014. Indeed, our message of federalism and decentralism for the whole of the United Kingdom needs to be promoted even more than before to reach the large number of people disenchanted with the omission of the option of Devo Max from the vote in 2014. Despite the ongoing foul weather, (including the worst September storms recorded for 30 years), distribution of Caledonian Voice continues. If you would like copies of the newspaper to distribute then please get in touch. E-mail: natliberal@aol.com
Date: October 25, 2012
Categories: Party News, UK News