Libertarian Party UK

New Libertarian Party Website Goes Live

2011-08-08T21:05:00.001+01:00

Please click to www.libertarianpartyuk.com

Revised date for launch of new party website

2011-08-06T16:42:00.004+01:00

This will now go live on Monday 8th August 2011

We have already received articles from the UK, US, Switzerland and Italy for the launch, plus the usual parish notices, however if you would like to contribute please email your piece to editor@libertarianpartyuk.com

www.libertarianpartyuk.com

Scottish Libertarian Movement

2011-08-04T09:20:00.002+01:00

While the party is unable to release names and addresses for fear of offending the Data Protection Act, I would draw the attention of Scottish members to this post on the Scottish Libertarian Party blog.

We will try to canvas scottish members by direct email tomorrow. We have been contacted by an organiser of the North Carolina who is moving back to his home town of Glasgow in the next two months and is keen to help revitalise Libertarianism in Scotland.

This is hopefully a welcome move towards a Federal Libertarian Party we all want to see, where members can actually meet,talk and debate in a civilised manner and control their own funds, run their own campaigns and elect their own officers.

The South West & Kernow have already moved in that direction, with Wales to follow in the next few months.

The new website www.libertarianpartyuk.com will give details on how any regional group can affiliate and what procedures have to be followed with the Electoral Commission.

As per the Chairman's recent email, we are moving away from the friction of being an internet party towards one that interacts with members face to face and with the public.

Past Caring ?

2011-08-03T08:14:00.001+01:00

Dan Hannan has highlighted the case of the Flemish town of Vaals, as has Ian Parker-joseph that is using the EU law on free movement of EU citizens to prevent migrants from across Europe settling in their town that simply have no means of support other than benefits from the host state.

Libertarian Party policy to be seen shortly on www.libertarianpartyuk.com in manifesto and policy sections would be for free movement of all people across all borders to have employment. However whilst welfarism rewards migrants to move to Britain with at least the promise of entitlement under the welfare state, this is a policy that could not be implemented without as Hannan says bankrupting the state.

As a Town councillor I am not sure whether my fellow councillors are aware that they have power like Vaals, because the benefits system is largely a function of the State run from Whitehall. However Housing Benefit and other benefits are administered locally.

The EU seems to have drawn itself into a potential political maelstrom with increasing unemployment and hostility to immigration across Europe.

Under the old parish Poor Law, the 'guardians' were entitled to drive the poor not born in the parish across the parish boundary so as not to be a charge on the ratepayers. Are we to see this ugly side of welfarism start again ?

Membership Acknowledgement Delay

2011-08-02T14:46:00.002+01:00

There will be a delay of twenty four hours for membership acknowledgements for those members rejoining and renewing yesterday and today due to the upload to server of the new site www.libertarianpartyuk.com and testing.

Apologies

Further Consultation Documents

2011-08-02T11:17:00.002+01:00

Received two further documents for consultation.

1) Revision to Planning Guidance

2) Early intervention in Older People

If you would like to have imput into these proposed Government and NHS changes in policy. Please contact enquiries@libertarianpartyuk.com

Party Consultation

2011-07-29T07:51:00.005+01:00

The Libertarian Party has received a consultation letter from Alex Attwood MLA, Minister at the Department of Environment in Northern Ireland in relation to the display of election Posters in Northern Ireland being subject to planning regulations.

If any member wishes to see a copy of this letter and would like some input into our response, please email enquiries@libertarianpartyuk.com

We have to reply no later than Friday 12th August 2011

NB: This notice will be replicated on www.libertarianpartyuk.com when it goes live on or around 6th August 2011

Target Date

2011-07-27T15:24:00.002+01:00

The target date for www.libertarianpartyuk.com is now the 6th August 2011. This will not be fully functioning.

Articles Relating to Libertarian Policy

Virgin moving to Switzerland

Boris calling for Tax cuts to stimulate the economy

US Government default (again)

Can a principled Libertarian go to war

What Libertarianism is Not- Mises Institute

Notice 25th July 2011

2011-07-25T19:56:00.000+01:00

For the past three months the Libertarian Party of the United Kingdom has been unable to have a say on national and international events,instead concentrating on internal disputes.

While a few have dedicated their time to hitting the keyboard with the daily hate, it has been necessary for the legally responsible officers to move forward with tasks that will see the continued existence of the Libertarian Party.

On the 29th June the party faced a mandatory de-registration by the Electoral Commission,a situation that the responsible officers have so far prevented from happening. We are also pleased that the financial plan in place with the Electoral Commission has succeeded and the party again enjoys solvency. Operational Standing orders are in place for financial matters overseen by a committee of four Libertarian Party UK members.

The membership function was returned to the officers at the beginning of June and all members that have maintained their membership will shortly be receiving an outline of an action plan to take the party through to 2012 via the postal services.

On Friday 22nd July 2011, the responsible officers received a letter from the Electoral Commission that gave an 'avoidance of doubt' position as far as the Law is concerned. This is already available to the NCC and will be copied to all current party members.

The Party has a new website under construction www.libertarianpartyuk.com.

It will be designed to promote the Libertarian Party UK to the public, to outline our policies,provide party news, information and contact details, to promote regional party affiliations and to respond to political matters on behalf of the Party. It will not be a 'blog' where you can vent your spleen and repel the public.

Many ideas have been put forward on the future of the party, some good, some bad and many that are unworkable for a political party within the constraints of its legal obligations. However as some of these have come from outside the party they cannot be considered as amendments to the current constitution any more than we could draw up alternative constitutions for other parties

It is time to move forward. Those who wish to see the party prosper will stay with the party, whilst those who wish it harm will continue to attack it at every level and we bid them farewell. We will not indulge in flame wars and will use all influence to prevent such attacks on others.

The violent imagery of stringing up politicians and stabbing them until they bleed to death is puerile and narcissist.It has no place in a political party likewise it has no place in the Libertarian lexicon. Norway is currently counting the cost of such imagery by one alleged destructive and deranged individual.

We see the party slowly moving out of the Internet arena as its primary engagement mechanism, and happy that engaging with the public directly is proving more conducive.Our aim is to quicken the pace in this respect.

In 1944 Hayek said the words Liberty and Freedom were the most abused words in the English language and all we were left with is tolerance. Sixty years on that tolerance is under threat

Nic Coome

Party Chairman
Libertarian Party

n.b. This notice is published after consultation with all the legally responsible officers and as many members of the NCC as could be engaged.

What they are not telling you as members of LPUK

2011-06-03T09:02:00.001+01:00

On the 19th May 2011, an ‘emergency’ meeting was called to appoint new members of the NCC and it was to be conducted in a clear open and transparent manner. It was also to be supervised by ‘impartial’ members of the Party acting as observers. Sounds great.

Except it was anything of the sort, this was a fairly unsophisticated attempt to put a thin veneer of respectability on a crude coup based on smears.

One of the officers being proposed was not actually a member of the Libertarian Party, and neither was one of the impartial observers. Yet gamely they ploughed on proposing each other as officers of the party without a shred of legitimacy or even pretending that any of the proceedings were in line with the constitution.

Everything had the blessing of the Electoral Commission it was stated. One member of the NCC actually asked direct questions as to the legitimacy of the observers and of the proceedings only to be fobbed off .

Ken Ferguson who was still under a motion to remove him as Communications Director for breaches of the Data Protection Act was acting as ringmaster and allowed to vote. Ferguson rushed the ‘good news’ of the new appointments online, before the minutes were even drafted, congratulations all round (despite nobody being willing to accept the poisoned chalice of being treasurer)

Except just one fly in the ointment, a call from the Electoral Commission allegedly saying that due to poor Parliamentary dafting (??) the registered officers remained the same, and unless the transfer of officers was in line with the procedures of PPERA, the Act that governs registered political parties, the ‘new NCC‘ would be rejected by the Electoral Commission. And they were.

The small group around Ferguson, who now sees himself as leader in waiting, have been a little shy of announcing this gaffe that they discovered for themselves after having been repeatedly told that they were acting unconstitutionally on the 20th May. So currently the LPUK is a ghost ship, with various proposals to rip up the constitution and turn it into everything from an internet party to a committee led workers collective that will certainly ensure its rapid demise.

Various requests to turn the donation button back on and put moderation on the site to prevent further defamation and harassment were met by a blank refusal by the 'communications' director.

The truth is that the NCC announced by Ferguson had no validity has been known since the 20th May. The open and transparent ‘new leadership’ has decided not to make this public.

With no income and memberships flowing into the new unauthorised account, which is not declared as an accounting unit to the Electoral Commission, the insolvency situation has become even worse.

Faced with a blank refusal by Ferguson to stay within the constitution, together with electoral and civil law, and in line with Ferguson’s proposed ‘new constitution’ that suggests that registered officers will have no power, but are simply there to carry the can personally for breaches of of those laws, coupled with the suggestion that the party does not need more than £200 a year just to run his website, the Nominations Officer yesterday decided to call it a day and do the decent thing, and publish a public apology.

Except of course there was no way that this was ever going to be published on the LPUK website whilst under the control of the ‘Communications Director’, whose sole aim appears to be only to communicate what is acceptable to him and censor the rest.

The membership lists were handed over yesterday to the remaining registered officers and the following apology was made by Simon Fawthrop.

An Apology To Andrew Withers, the NCC, Membership and Supporters.

I want to make an apology to Andrew Withers, he is and always has been Party Leader as recognised by the EC and relevant legislation and the Party Constitution and I had no right to try to elect a new Leader and Treasurer. I also wish to apologise to the NCC and the wider membership and supporters for misleading you all about the position of Party Leader and Treasurer, I was wrong and it was not in my power to seek to fill those positions that I thought were vacant.

It was my misunderstanding that Andrew had resigned as Party Leader and that we needed to appoint a new Leader and Treasurer to be compliant with the relevant legislation. I now know that Andrew had not resigned and, furthermore, cannot resign. This means that Andrew is and always has been Party Leader and, with the resignation of John Watson, Treasurer.

As such the NCC meeting that I convened to find replacements for Treasurer and Leader was against the letter of the Constitution and means those NCC elections are not and have never been valid.

Obviously having been so wrong I cannot continue in any capacity within the Party and I have informed Andrew that I am resigning with immediate effect as Data Officer and Membership Secretary. Furthermore, I will step down as Nominations Officer as soon as a replacement is found. I am sure there are many members willing to take on those vital roles.

Once again, I apologise to Andrew and those I have misled and I wish you all well for the future.

Regards,
Simon

This is great shame as Simon has been a consistent and effective membership secretary for over two years, yet again another officer forced out by a small cabal who maintain that they are for openness, transparency and the continuance of the Libertarian Party, but act in exactly the opposite manner. This situation has been known to them for nearly two weeks.

The South West Branch has organised a meeting of its members on the 18th June to try an map out a proposed future for the party, the Scottish branch are doing the same in July.

Clearly things cannot go on as they are, the insolvency caused by the deliberate cutting off of funds needs to be urgently addressed or the party de registered. If it is to continue it may need to be restructured into a federal model. Clearly the ‘internet party’ has to cease.

What is certain is that the SGM to change the constitution called for 18th June 2011 has no validity constitutionally and would not be recognised by the Electoral Commission.

As the existing registered officers have only a short term intention to stay in office to either attend to funeral arrangements or to seek a more viable model for the lpuk to exist, within its constitution and comply with electoral law, the future of LPUK still remains uncertain.

Meeting Of South West Libertarians June 18th 2011

2011-06-02T12:25:00.002+01:00

There will be a meeting of past and current members of the South West Branch of the Libertarian Party in Bristol on June 18th 2011. Venue to be arranged.

Only one item on the agenda a response to the proposed tearing up of the party constitution as proposed here.

So This Is How It Ends ?

2011-03-30T15:59:00.004+01:00

I have been on the phone this afternoon to a colleague who was telling me the reality of what happens when a country is slowly 'going bust'.

This week (and it is only Wednesday) the local tax office have telephoned his accounts department and asked for a meeting. In the UK you know this usually means trouble, however the meeting was to ask if there was any possibility of paying their equivalent of National Insurance early because the Government has run out of money.

Then this morning he received a letter from their VAT office saying that the Government cannot actually afford to pay a refund this month can they wait ?

The State concerned is probably going to be unable to pay its employees and benefit claimants on Thursday, unless the German taxpayer is prepared to dig deep.

We are avoiding this situation at present by two means quantative easing (printing money) and massive borrowing.

Those marching on saturday under Unite's and Unison's banners have no idea of economic reality, nor has it crossed their mind what would happen if private industry could no longer stump up the cash they are 'entitled' to.

Nice Work If You Can Get It- What To Do With The Other 295 Days Of The Year

2011-03-30T10:21:00.000+01:00

David Edmonds reappointed as Chairman of Legal Services Board

David Edmonds has been reappointed as Chairman of the Legal Services Board for a further three-year term.

The reappointment is from 1 May 2011 until 30 April 2014.

The reappointment was made by the Lord Chancellor in consultation with the Lord Chief Justice in accordance with the Legal Services Act 2007.

Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Justice, Jonathan Djanoglysaid:

“I am very pleased that David Edmonds has accepted a further term of appointment as Chairman of the Legal Services Board. There are vital and exciting challenges ahead for the legal profession and I believe the leadership displayed by David will provide a steady foundation for ensuring the legal profession of England and Wales remains world leading well into the future.“

David Edmonds said:
I am delighted to be reappointed to this post. Maintaining momentum in the modernisation and reform of both regulation and service delivery is crucial for lawyers and the clients they serve. I look forward to leading the LSB over the next three years as we help to bring about that change.”

Notes for editors:

The reappointment will be from 1 May 2011 until 30 April 2014.

The role is remunerated at a rate of £63,000 per year for a minimum of 70 days per year.

The Legal Services Act (“The Act”) created the Legal Services Board as a new regulator with responsibility for overseeing the regulation of legal services in England and Wales. The new regulatory regime became active on 1 January 2010.

4. The LSB oversees eight Approved Regulators, which in turn regulate individual lawyers. The Approved Regulators, designated under Part 1 of Schedule 4 of the 2007 Act, are the Law Society, the Bar Council, the Master of the Faculties, the Institute of Legal Executives, the Council for Licensed Conveyancers, the Chartered Institute of Patent Attorneys, the Institute of Trade Mark Attorneys and the Association of Costs Lawyers.

5. In addition, the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Scotland and the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants are listed as Approved Regulators in relation only to reserved probate activities.

6. The legal profession consists of some 15,157 barristers, 116,122 solicitors and 12,116 individuals authorised to operate in other aspects of the legal profession such as conveyancing. In total the legal sector employed over 324,000 individuals in 2010. The sector was valued at £25.97 billion per annum during 2008.

7. The draft 2011-12 LSB business plan can be found at: http://www.legalservicesboard.org.uk/what_we_do/consultations/open/pdf/lsb_business_plan_10_web_final.pdf

For further enquiries please contact Ramandeep Bhatti on 020 7271 0061.

Ramandeep Bhatti | Administrative Assistant | Legal Services Board
Victoria House, Southampton Row, London, WC1B 4AD
T 020 7271 0061
E ramandeep.bhatti

Posted in Liberty

H/T Libertarian Alliance

UK Contribution To The EU Now £9Bn A Year

2011-03-30T10:15:00.000+01:00

The UK's payments to the European Union almost doubled in 2010, according to the latest data issued yesterday by the Office for National Statistics – soaring to £230 for every household in the country

Independent

Thanks for trusting us with a referendum Dave !

GQ Magazine-Inside The Parliament Of Fools (aka The Rotten Parliament)

2011-03-30T09:59:00.001+01:00

The ten worst politicians of the last Parliament.

I find it hard to disagree with this analysis, but would have had the corrosive Madelson near the top.

The Quentin Letts list bizarrely includes Van Rompuy described as-

who may now be the most famous Belgian on the planet, has the furtive, apologetic air of a customer in a Soho sex shop

We get the Political leaders we deserve !

A Word From Our Sponsor- Tom Harris MP

2011-03-29T14:28:00.000+01:00

Labour MPs Tom Blenkinsop, Ronnie Campbell, Martin Caton, Katy Clark, Michael Connarty, Jeremy Corbyn, David Crausby, Jim Dobbin, Jim Hood, Kelvin Hopkins, Gerald Kaufman, John McDonnell, Alan Meale, Linda Riordan, Virendra Sharma and Marsha Singh. They all signed up to heap praise on UK Uncut, whose spokesman last night refused to condemn the violence.

Source Guido

Rally Against Debt May 14th 2011

2011-03-29T14:14:00.002+01:00

This makes far more sense

I will be attending, please try to get there

Not Anarchist, But Trotskyist

2011-03-29T08:15:00.001+01:00

In Britain during the 1980s, the entrist Militant tendency won three members of parliament and effective control of Liverpool City Council while in the Labour Party. Described as "Britain's fifth most important political party" in 1986 it played a prominent role in the 1989–1991 mass anti-poll tax movement which was widely thought to have led to the downfall of British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher.

Almost all of the large far left parties in Britain are led by Trotskyists, including the Socialist Workers Party (Britain), the Socialist Party (England and Wales), Respect – The Unity Coalition and the Scottish Socialist Party.

Source Wiki

The 'election' of Ed Miliband by the Labour Party was the final defeat of Blairism in the Labour Party, Kinnock for all his faults took on the Militant Tendency and probably saved the 'People's Party' for a generation. Before that the SDP ( now the dominant party in the Lib Dems) split from the Labour Party that had swung far to the Hard Left.

The years of the 'Brown Terror' with its surveillance State was the logical outpouring of the splits within the Labour Party, that have refined it into a hard left party, whose puppet Leader feels compelled to support his TUC paymasters on a public platform, whilst Trotskyist supporters of the big state 'adopted' the flag of convenience of Anarchism .

Have no doubt Trotsky argued for no compromise with 'Liberals' or Capitalism, battle has been joined. The best thing that could happen now to wake up the British is that the 'black bloc' mount an attack on the forthcoming Royal Wedding next month.

The Labour Party is now in thrall to the enemies of Freedom and Liberty, and are excited as is Miliband about 'direct action'.

The Dialogue Of Political Violence=Fascism Part 2

2011-03-28T15:57:00.001+01:00

I have no problem with principled thought through political violence

Laurie Penny

So those of us who opposed the high tax oppressive surveillance state under Brown, Damien McBride et Al would have been perfectly justified in fire bombing HMRC and all government offices, as principled thought through political violence ?

This is utterly appalling.

Baby Gro Socialism

2011-03-28T09:51:00.001+01:00

"In the long run, we're all dead."- John Maynard-Keynes, the Fabian princeling who advocated that massive public spending was the way out of recession, again adopted by the Left, advocated that it was perfectly acceptable to lumber future unborn generations with debt. In the long run we're all dead is the economic equivalent of 'eat, drink and be merry, for tomorrow we die'.

Economic responsibility is not 'groovy' to those who who have never had to accept any. Two of these baby gro socialists are pictured above Adam Ramsey who describes himself as as a 'greeny lefty' (not an anarchist then ?) who was 'innocently' caught occupying Fortnum & Masons on saturday (please add your own comments). Miliband ( I am Mandela,I am Pankhurst etc) comes from the same sort of background of shrewd tax moves.

These two are duping 'the workers' that they are the 'natural born ' leaders of the revolution. While they advocate that we should all pay more tax, they are the beneficieries of some pretty deft tax planning.

Not too hypocritical then ?

Walter Mischel, an American psychologist, carried out a series of experiments forty years ago on deferred gratification on a group of four year olds, he found that those children who had to ' have it all now', carried this on into adult life. Socialism not only creates dependency it also creates a dangerous infantile population, who at the first sign of not getting want they want, start throwing violent tantrums and smashing things.

That is what we witnessed on Saturday. Infants being told the party was over.

H/T Old Holborn & Dick Puddlecote

Blackshirts On The Streets Of London Again

2011-03-27T18:41:00.000+01:00

Anarchism is a political philosophy which considers the state undesirable, unnecessary, and harmful, and instead promotes a stateless society, or anarchy.

These are not anarchists, anarchists do not advocate a big state and massive state spending.

They are blackshirts bent on political violence.

Liberal Democrats To Finally Come Clean

2011-03-27T10:07:00.000+01:00

One of the little snippets in the Sunday heavies is that the Lib Dems are going to have a 'rebranding' exercise after the local elections (I wonder why ?)

They are apparently going to re-introduce the word 'SOCIAL' in their title. I have been fairly consistent in calling this party 'Social Democrats' since before the LPUK was formed, because they are a Social Democratic party on historic fabian lines. They believe in massive State intervention and were spawned out of the Labour Party. The hijacking of the word 'Liberal' was a travesty, and an attempt at trying to get get some legitimacy. Twenty five years on they are planning to dump Liberalism.

About time.

New LPUK Website and Blog Goes Live 31st March

2011-03-27T09:55:00.000+01:00

The new integrated LPUK website and blog goes live on 31st March 2011 at www.lpuk.org in a more user friendly magazine version.

Thanks to Ken Ferguson LPUK's Communication Director and the rest of the team who have put so much of their time and expertise into this project in the last three months

InterLibertarian 2011 Lugano

2011-03-26T16:55:00.000Z

This morning I received an invitation for the above event 3-4th April 2011 from InterLibertarian, unfortunately I am already committed at the beginning of April, but it is good to see that the movement is coming together across Europe, we need to do much the same with various Libertarian organisations across the United Kngdom.

The Looters March- 26th March

2011-03-26T15:55:00.000Z

Having wrecked the economy in the previous thirteen years, the visigoths of socialism are on the march again.

Ed Milliband deficit denier extraordinaire was according to his 'followers' making an inspirational speech. Ye Gods this is the same man who betrayed his brother to become leader of the Labour Party by inches in a gerry mandered vote in which the peoples party were informed who they should vote for by the same TUC that has organised todays little shindig.

The premediditated violence in Oxford Street shows what happens when the Fabians do not get the election result they want. They resort to the streets.

So those of us who feel the State is oppressive, steals hard earned money with the threat of imprisonment to redistribute to the indolent, are we entitled to storm and occupy HMRC offices, DSS offices and rampage through Whitehall?

I really don't think that I have felt this angry since May 2010, when the feather bedded public sector refuses to share the pain that the private sector has endured for the last two years, out of a sense of entitlement.

What alternative is Janus Milliband talking about ?, his party still have the same policy they went into the election with, cuts cuts and cuts. Milliband is an opportunist paying his dues for Unite's support for his leadership bid.

To date we have seen no cuts, borrowing by the state last month was higher than this time last year, all that is happening is that the rate of growth of the Fabian State has slowed.