Philip Luty update - free speech in peril

Some of you may have heard of the recent arrest of British author P.A Luty, this time under the all so convenient guise of 'anti-terrorism', namely "making a record of information likely to be of assistance to terrorists''.

Well, more news has come to light folks - and it's not good.

A story from England:

At 2.15 pm on 5/20/09 the author of the Expedient Homemade Firearms books, Philip A.Luty was arrested at gunpoint by the British "North East Counter Terrorism Unit" (NECTU). Philip is the well known author of Expedient Homemade Firearms—The 9mm machine gun. [Buy at Amazon.com]

Numerous other books and information on building improvised firearms were available on Philip's website www.thehomegunsmith.com. The website has, I am told, been temporarily closed until security measures can be put in place to prevent British police from tracing and visiting those who downloaded publications from the site. More on this chilling development later. Following Philip Luty's arrest he was held in a London prison for over nine weeks before obtaining bail. This is the second time Philip has been arrested and questioned by British police over the books he writes and sells via his website. No, Philip Luty is not a terrorist, nor does he have any links to terrorists, but it seems that in the UK today the British police are not just happy with obtaining a ban on most types of legal firearms but also want a ban on any publication that shows how to build a firearm and/or ammunition. Hence the quite unbelievable persecution of those who sell firearms related publications.

As I said earlier this is the second time Philip has been arrested and questioned. In 2005 he was arrested and questioned over his books and website. At that time the British "Crown Prosecution Service" (CPS) took no further action and the case against Philip collapsed. Undeterred by this failure, the police waited another three years and then charged him under the UK Terrorism Act 2000. The wording of the charges is that Philip "MADE A RECORD OF INFORMATION THAT COULD ASSIST TERRORISTS". No folks, I am not joking. In the UK British police are now trying to create a link between those who commit terrorist acts and those who write gunsmithing publications. Oh yes, I mentioned above a "chilling development". That is putting it mildly. It turns out that at the same time that Philip was arrested the British police (Gestapo?) paid a visit to over fifty other people across the UK who had downloaded books from Philip's website.

Reading information is no longer neutral absorption of knowledge - It's now terrorism. To say the least, this a serious attack on our basic freedoms as human beings. Friends, things are deadly serious and if no one stands up to this, we're going to continue along this road until we join the ranks of North Korea or China.

I implore everyone to aggressively download all of Phillip's books. Show these jackbooted, cowardly pieces of putrid trash that you will not be intimidated into bowing down to their tyranny.

Help Get "Austrian Economics" to DAVOS

Guys, I just submitted a question to be voted of for world leaders to be asked at the Davos conference.


Questions as follows:

"Why is it that in the face of the most severe financial crisis the world has ever witnessed, Economists who were unable to fore see this crisis are now being entrusted with overcoming it? Have you heard of the "Austrian School" of Economics?"


Please vote for it to get it noticed!!
So far there are only 280 questions being voted on, so please do this!

STEP 1
Go Here:
http://www.youtube.com/davos


STEP 2

Search the terms "Austrian Economics" in the QUESTION SEARCH bar (not youtube video search bar)


STEP 3

vote to SUPPORT it and let your friends know to do the same!

F.A Hayek IN DA HOUSE!

This is too f****** catchy to not be posted :)

HarPerson screws young men

Just when you thought New Labour couldn't make things any worse for the British economy Harriet HarPerson strikes again...

Fathers will be able to take up to six months off on paternity leave while their baby’s mother returns to work, the Government will announce today.

They will have a legal right to take the place of the mother at home for the last three months of her nine-month maternity break.

Fathers would be eligible during that three-month paternity leave to statutory government pay of £123 a week.

There are a number of obvious reasons why this is a bad idea. First it is a stupid imposition on businesses given our economic situation.

Second it is wrong to force people to subsidise other people's children. Given that contraception now makes childbirth a real choice why should Peter be made to pay for Paul's baby?

But less obvious is the negative impact it will have on young men. Any man between the ages of 25 and 35 is now going to come under extra scrutiny when applying for jobs.

Because what right minded business is going to employ someone who may cost them 6 months paternity leave? Not many I bet.

So as a young aspiring man in this age bracket all I can say is, "Thanks Harriet, thanks a bundle. Cos this is exactly what I need right now..."

Don't Smear Libertarians

Conservative Home have just done a piece on 'Libertarian Britain' ,
some Authoritarian Tory pops up huffing about Libertarianism being
morally repugnant, the joy of seeing 'Lib'Dem Libertarians, Conservative Libertarians and LPUKites round on him !

At last a tiny bit of coalescing against the common enemy the Fabian Authoritarians.

Libertarian Nic Coome to stand in Devizes

Photo Credit Rohen Kapur

The Libertarian Party has today announced its Prospective Parliamentary Candidate for Devizes, Nic Coome.

About Nic Coome

Nic Coome lives in Chilton Foliat, with two children - Jonathan, currently studying for a PhD in Chemistry at Durham University and Juliet, currently an undergraduate in French with Russian at Bristol University.

He has spent virtually the whole of his working life in railway industry. He started on British Rail as a sixteen year-old school leaver in 1973 as a Signal and Telecommunications Department Trainee Technician, and went through that department for several years before becoming a commercially-minded manager with Network South-East.

Since then he has worked for Eurostar and the Office of the Rail Regulator, before joining Railtrack in 2000. He has worked there since, going through the trauma of the demise of Railtrack and the birth of Network Rail. He currently works in the Planning and Regulation directorate on projects for the reform of Network Rail and the wider industry.

As well as experience in the rail industry, Nic Coome has also been the Sound Engineer at The Hexagon Theatre in Reading, working on a very wide variety of different productions. Nic believes he is very much an ordinary working man, not a professional politician.

Interests

Nic's principal interest is music. He also enjoys cricket, rugby (he is a Harlequins fan) and American Football. He recently started learning to play the Saxophone which he believes he will continue forever.

Politics

Nic had been a member of the Conservatives in Swindon for around three years and stood for the then Thamesdown Borough Council on two occasions. He was then, very briefly, a member of UKIP and stood essentially as a paper candidate for Kennet District Council in 2007.

With the formation of the Libertarian Party two years ago, Nic saw an opportunity to be a part of an exciting organisation that truly believes in individual freedom and personal responsibility. He found himself in agreement with the Libertarian Party's opposition to the bureaucratic and expensive European Union, as well as the party's call for much smaller government, and its utter rejection of big taxes and the surveillance State.

Nic Coome has been a member of Chilton Foliat Parish Council for around fourteen years and Chairman of the council for the last six.




If you want to help or contribute financially to Nic's Campampagn please contact donate@lpuk.org

Quote of the day

The main argument now, increasingly, is between those who view the state as an enabler and those who view it as, at best, a sometimes necessary irritant. To employ a massively oversimplified analogy, statists seem to think that the state should act as captain, coach, physio, kitman, ballboy, PR department, groundsman, ticketing department, FIFA representative, the guy with the half time oranges, agent, translator, WAG, turnstile operator, matchday police, the guy selling the big flags outside the ground and the guy confiscating the big flags on the way into the ground.

Libertarians just want a guy with a fucking whistle.

Mr Eugenides

H/T OH

Regulation and Corporations

Of course we recognise in this relationship that big government is the problem.

But it's amusing to see how some companies will use regulation to their advantage.

On rats and sinking ships..

Please, someone tell me what the f*ck UKIP think they're playing at?

I cannot stand by and watch UKIP go down the road of attacking Islam and the Burka.
[...]
For this reason, I have decided to shift my loyalty from The UK Independence Party to The Libertarian Party (UK), [...] planning on standing in the 2011 Local Elections as the UK's youngest City Council Candidate

There's no LPUK candidate standing in my constituency (and I haven't the organisational skills nor the money to stand myself), and I was quite prepared to register a protest vote for UKIP. Not anymore.

The UK Libertarian Party; the only truly liberal party left in the UK.

Coverage at the Conservative Blog; support Alex for Canterbury City Council on facebook.

Demand your right to self defence NOW

How long will people be happy to remain unarmed and at the mercy of criminals who will arm themselves regardless of the law?

Burglary victims attacked in their own home once every 30 minutes

A householder is attacked by a violent burglar every 30 minutes.

The shocking statistic exposes for the first time the epidemic of terrifying intruder confrontations taking place in Britain. It will intensify demands for householders to be given greater protection if they use force to protect themselves and their family against a burglar.

Solution: The Right To Bear Arms

Heroic student shoots home invader - saves 10 from being raped and murdered

"Bailey said he thought it was the end of his life and the lives of the 10 people inside his apartment for a birthday party after two masked men with guns burst in through a patio door. “They just came in and separated the men from the women and said, ‘Give me your wallets and cell phones,’” said George Williams of the College Park Police Department. Bailey said the gunmen started counting bullets. “The other guy asked how many (bullets) he had. He said he had enough,” said Bailey. That’s when one student grabbed a gun out of a backpack and shot at the invader who was watching the men. The gunman ran out of the apartment. The student then ran to the room where the second gunman, identified by police as 23-year-old Calvin Lavant, was holding the women. “Apparently the guy was getting ready to rape his girlfriend. So he told the girls to get down and he started shooting. The guy jumped out of the window,” said Bailey."

How things should be done

Violent Home Invader Fatally Shot by His Victim
11 Year Old Boy Shoots a Violent Home Invader in Self Defense
Houston, TX Homeowner Shoots Burlgar in Self Defense
Houston, TX Home Invader Shot in Self Defense
Disabled FL Man Fends Off 2 Home Invaders

LPUK comes above any UK political party for promises regarding restoration of armed self-defence in your home or in public. If you feel strongly about this issue, then do join.

Also feel free to join fellow like minds at:

www.armbritain.com

A Message From The Conservative Party

Click here to make your own David Cameron poster.

First Authoritarian Outing Of Tory Party Policy

A Prisoners Earnings to Be Taxed
and the money used to fund Rape Crisis Centres

Fabian social control using the Tax system, how novel !

Strengthening Police stop and Search powers, and 'grounding' orders

The Police will love that, and abuse it the same way they did the Terrorism Act

Anybody caught carrying a knife should expect to go to jail

That's me buggered then, I had better start practicing gnawing through stuff as an alternative to carrying a tool to do the job.

Allow Police to use surveillance powers in routine cases without need for authorisation

The Stasi Charter, the DDR did this they bugged and followed people and completedly missed the 1989 revolution. Do CCHQ not watch films like the 'Lives of Others' or read books like '1989, The Berlin Wall, My Part In Its Downfall' by Peter Millar.

The Police will love this

Replace Police Authorities with Elected Police Commissioners.

No No No, Elected Chief Constables. In Swindon when the Authority said they were going to rip out speed cameras, the Chief Constable just said he was not accepting that, and would put more mobile units on the street. The Chief Constable should set out his Policing Priorities in his manifesto, not drafted by the likes of Jack Straw.

VOTE TORY, VOTE FOR AN AUTHORITARIAN POLICE STATE


This crap comes out the same day the Met was chastised for allowing a taxi Driver sexually assault forty women, because they basically could not give a toss.

Why Governments can't grit the roads

I am indebted to Mr E for introducing me to the BBC's excellent Point Of View (yes, that is praise for the BBC, but with all that money even monkeys would get something right). I take it on podcast and when I first started listening it was written and narrated by Clive James. He hung up his pen and microphone at the end of the year and made way for Lisa Jardine.

Her first couple of attempts were a bit weak and I was just going to delete the iTunes entry when she came up with this post on gritting to show why markets are netter than central planning:

On the other hand, as the winter freeze has proved more serious and of longer duration than forecasters predicted, so the government and local authorities, who find themselves without sufficient supplies of salt and grit, have been roundly chastised for their lack of foresight.

This supposed inability to get essential commodities to where they are needed is considered unforgiveable in the highly developed consumer world in which we live.

The efficient movement of retail goods from point of supply to point of demand is one of the marvels of modern computerised planning, and we take it for granted.

It goes on to give a potted history of how the market deals with nightmarish logistical problems to route round problems and bring us goods that we want at ever cheaper prices:

Da Gama's successful first voyage had an immediate impact on European pepper prices. In 1501 Girolamo Priuli, a Venetian nobleman, recorded in his diary:

"Now that this new route is found, the King of Portugal will bring all the spices to Lisbon. And there is no doubt that the Hungarians, Germans, Flemish and French, who formerly came to Venice to spend their money on spices, will all turn towards Lisbon, for it is nearer to them, and easier to reach.

"Furthermore [he went on], spices via this route will be better priced. The mark up for transit through the countries of the Sultan and Venice is so great that whatever the spices cost in Calicut in ducats, the price in Venice has to be multiplied sixty or a hundred times."

Five centuries on, supermarket chains in a highly competitive market know that getting the goods consumers want into the right location at the right time is still the way to maximize profit.

I liked this bit which might have be described as summing up I, Pencil in a single paragraph.

It seems that logistics is more powerful at accurately predicting needs when its strategies are based upon large numbers of individual consumer transactions, so that the data can give a better statistical model.

She then goes to solving the problem in an almost libertarian way:

Perhaps if Britain - like the United States and much of Europe - had a law requiring householders to clear the pavement outside their property of snow and ice, customers would demand an adequate supply of materials, logistics would anticipate that seasonal demand, and supermarkets would stock rock salt and grit in winter.

Supply and demand has also, as it happens, controlled the distribution of swine flu vaccine in America. There you purchase your H1N1 shots from your local pharmacy.

OK, so there's a bit of compulsion, but we can't have everything. I'm sure that if this was proposed we'd have the usual Guardianistas screaming about the elderly and infirm (and lazy), but they get round this problem in Europe so I'm sure we will. How long would it take for neighbours or charities to step in an help? That's what happened when we were snowed in last week, we all helped those who couldn't, including going shopping. And how long would it take the market to step in with people clearing snow for a couple of pounds? Not long I bet.

Either get the podcast or go and read the whole thing, it really is worth the investment of some time.

Yorkshire Region Coordinator

As you are no doubt aware the regional coordinator for Yorkshire stood down recently and left the Party. As Libertarians it is important that the Party is a grass roots body with its members having a big say in how their region/county/district is run.

Yorkshire Libertarians are a reasonably sized and active group within the Party and we looking for a regional coordinator to step in to the role quickly. The task isn't onerous and we can provide support from the NCC. As he lives in the North West the Chairman, Gregg Beaman, (gregg.beaman@lpuk.org) has volunteered to help and work closely with the co-ordinator. Typical duties include:

· Organise local meetings and stir up activism and local recruitment

· Greet new members and make them feel welcome - I copy the coordinator on introductory emails

· Vet anyone who wants to stand for office in any of the assorted elections that we have. Again the NCC will be involved and we need someone with local knowledge and personal contacts to help us

· Attend NCC meetings. These will be held every two months or so and assistance with expenses is available. Unfortunately they are like to be in London as all roads lead to London and it is easier for the South West and Scotland teams, for example, to get there

If you would like to consider this role please feel free to contact Gregg or me and we can discuss it with you.

It has also been suggested that if we cannot find anyone for the role that we merge Yorkshire and North West as they are also active with a coordinator. Being a Yorkshireman myself I'm not sure restarting the War of the Roses is the best solution, so give the position some thought.

mailto:simon.fawthrop@lpuk.org

New Permissable and Reporting Thresholds

This is a summary of letter from the Electoral Commission dated 15th January 2010

Reporting thresholds have been increased.

We will be required to check the permissiblity of all donations and loans over £500 before I accept them, as opposed to £200 in 2009. We must report all impermissable loans/donations that are worth more than £500.

We must report any permissable donation or loans received by the central party of more than £7 500 as opposed to £5 000 in 2009, and £1 500 for branches

The De Facto Break Up The Banking Industry Continues

Big Government needs Big Banks to prop up its junkie like mentality
towards spending other peoples money. Therefore this Government and the
Tories before it have favoured MonopolyMegabanks to a fully functioning competitive banking sector.

Big is not beautiful, it is inefficient, amoral in its dealings and is target driven irrespective of economic realities. This applies to Government as well as banking.

Today we see some of the first steps to having new 'back to basics' banking in the proposed floatation of Walton & Co., Virgin Money are already one step ahead in their recent acquistion of Church House Trust

The fact that these two deals are going ahead without vast amounts of taxpayers money, shows that RBS and HBOS should have been placed into administration and broken up. This was never going to happen under the Scottish Darien Government of Brown and Darling. The howls of protest from Edinburgh and the dent to Scottish National Pride would be too much for that to happen.

What I would hate to see happen now is that Cameron (I am discounting Brown as an irrelevance daily) allows the situation to continue with the Megabanks still enjoying their too big to fail status, still insolvent continue trading against smaller, properly run Banks that are solvent.

Unfortunately the distant prospect of a seat on the Board of a Megabank a la Blair, that is highly likely what is going to happen.

'Security Theatre' Protest

UKIP- Rolling Back The Years

Obnoxio comments on UKIP's new 'flagship, and succesful eye catching ban the Burqa stunt. Trying to Out BNP the BNP.

I do not want to hear one more word on how UKIP is Britain's only Libertarian Party. Fancy having your office raided viz Nikki Sinclaire MEP, join UKIP the party of kick arse 1950's authoritarianism. UKIP is all things to all men as long as you hate the EU.

By using the word 'hate' I am being specific, because this is the gout ridden, red faced emotional reaction to Johnny Foreigner. UKIP are fully aware that the have very little to offer that this one pressure group offering of 'Out of the EU', but the best they could come up with was bashing Johnny Foreigner for what they wear. I say lets ban tweeds and MCC ties whilst we are about it.

The Libertarian Party is agin the EU because it is more big, costly, unrepresentative Government. AND the people of the UK have not assented to it. Therefore it is illegitimate.

I do not give a monkey's if people want to wear burqas,MCC ties or pink thongs in the street. As long as they are doing nothing harmful to others who cares.

If UKIP and the BNP are appealing to the foul mouthed, drunk, white working classes who were thrown off the train, I was travelling on yesterday. I want the BNP and UKIP to 'ban' them as well. In fact lets ban everything we do not agree with personally.

I find Lord Pearson offensive to look at and listen to, but I am happy to let him push on not be banned and sink UKIP into a party of Colonel Blimps

Computer says terrorist...

Quite how this occurs in a sane world is beyond me...

An eight-year-old boy from the US is apparently suspected of being a terrorist when he goes on holiday because of a name mix-up.

Cub scout Michael Hicks, from New Jersey, is believed to share his name with a suspicious person - and he gets stopped and searched at nearly every airport.

Problems began six years ago when the family tried to fly to Florida from Newark Liberty International Airport.

Airline staff said Michael's name was "on the list" and the boy was 'patted down' - he was just two years old.

Now, I know this is America but it does raise an important point about the nature of large states.

Which is that one of the biggest things we have to fear is sheer, bloody incompetence.

Libertarian Alliance Press Release

The LA have come out against the kneejerk 'banning' fixation of this Stalinist Government in relation to Islam4UK.

See Press Release

The idiocy over giving this tiny group maximum publicity by banning them is utterly counter productive. Let them say what they want, to have a free society, you
have to learn to be offended at times.Just about the last thing this lot were going to do was march through Wooton Bassett.

I am far more concerned about the banning order from this Government than these faux Jihadis.

Towards The Abyss

I heartedly recommend all Libertarians read Tom Paine's post on another Constitutional Freedom that has been kicked away.

Centuries it took to get these freedoms, the Stalinist Left just take them away with a waft of their fairy wand, do not rely on Cameron repealing this action.

London meet up reminder

This is just to remind you the South East branch of LPUK will be meeting for drinks this Thursday in Soutwark.

For more details see here.

All are welcome and I hope to see you on Thursday.

Why are DfID funding TUC?

This email from the IPN came as somewhat of a shock today. Turns out I'm a fully paid up member of the TUC and so are all of you...

In a report in 2009, International Policy Network disclosed that between 2003 and 2006 the Trades Union Congress received over £1.2 in taxpayers' money ostensibly intended for promoting development in poor countries. A significant amount of this money - which came from the UK Department for International Development (an entity created by the Labour Party in 1997) - was spent in the UK on activities that do not seem to have yielded any practical benefit to the poor either inside or outside of Britain.

Subsequently, IPN discovered that the TUC was recently granted a further £2.4 million by DfID for the period 2009 - 2011.

The new support to the TUC comes from funds intended for large international development NGOs with a track record in poor countries. It’s unclear why this trend has been broken to fund a British trades union.

To make matters worse, unions that are members of the TUC represent over half the funding of the Labour Party. Since the DfID grants to the TUC come with few constraints, it is possible that DfID's money could essentially substitute for money that would otherwise come from member unions - freeing them up to give more to the Labour Party.

Seriously, can our Government become any more corrupt?

Sadly the answer is probably yes.

Libertarian Party Policy on Home Education

The Party will dismantle barriers to Elective Home Education, including the repeal of new measures being planned by other parties in or out of government.

Although the Party will be implementing a Voucher System roughly along the lines implemented in Sweden[1], this will not mirror any clamp-down or coercive programme directed towards Home Educators that exists there. One of the cornerstones for us as a Party is to dismantle monopolies, not remove one only to replace it with another.

This raises important issues in regards to the funding of Home Education. We need to strike a balance between preserving the freedom of parents and children with that of Taxpayers, who, we must never forget, are being coerced and forced to fund government spending on pain of imprisonment.

On the one hand parents may wish to be free from any State control, while Taxpayers have a right to expect the State to spend their taxes prudently. The nub is “prudently”, as it immediately becomes a value judgment and a collectivized one at that.

Our position is that we would not prevent people Home Educating, nor would be demand any kind of “notification” across the board, which can rapidly become a Trojan Horse for State control[2].

However, should the Educator request that the taxpayer fund such education – take the State’s Shilling as it were - there would need to be evidence that the funding was in fact delivering an education [3]. It is unreasonable for anyone to demand no strings funding from the Taxpayer and we feel that genuine Home Educators will understand this point completely.

In exchange for Taxpayer funding we would expect, in almost all cases[4], improvements in literacy and numeracy over time, where literacy is one of reading, writing, comprehension and critical reasoning. We are not interested in curriculum specifics and to be so would be irrational - one of the reasons some choose Home Education is due to their rejection of a centrally controlled and imposed curriculum, regardless of if that centre is National, County, City, Borough or even Parish[5].

Should even this be unacceptable to some Home Educators, they will always be at liberty to decline the funding and its attendant measurements for a period of time or throughout. Our Policy will not demand “all or nothing”, “now or forever not” or “once and forever more” conditionality upon the funding, which would be coercive, in our view, and may distort decision-making.

In summary, it is not unreasonable to expect that Taxpayer funded spending come with strings attached, but that one shall be free to decline the funding and, consequently, the strings. Educational funding is no exception.

Tim Carpenter,
Policy Director,
Libertarian Party, UK.

[1] This differs from the Conservative Party approach, which still retains central control, commissioning, granting and approval powers. Fake, in other words.

[2] The idea of notification has been touted by others, including the Liberal Democrats: "It is quite sensible for all home educators to be obliged to notify local authorities that they are home educating. Local Authorities cannot do their present job if they do not know which children are being home educated. A voluntary system would do little or nothing to address the minority of cases where home education could be of poor quality or non existent." – Nick Clegg, Leader, The Liberal Democrats. The unasked question: is the “present job” of the Local Authority necessary, correct or beneficial? What is also ironic is that there are cases where the education of children by the Local Authority in schools is “of poor quality or non existent” and that is sometimes the motivation for Parents or Guardians to embark on Home Education in the first place. The problem with notification is that it rapidly becomes registration then an approval process – “granted until refused” then “refused until granted” - backed by monitoring, box ticking, targets, curricula and logistics such as teaching environment. The conceit of many that the State “owns” children, “knows best” or they need to be tagged/tracked like livestock is not lost on the Libertarian Party. We reject such self-serving notions.

[3] Blank cheques will create all manner of unintended consequences when one considers that a child might “yield” £’000’s pa in cash each year for a parent.

[4] In some cases this might not apply due to the particular child and this must be taken into account.

[5] It is important to remember that under the Libertarian Party approach to a Voucher System with its removal of barriers to the formation of educational establishments and micromanaging thereof, Educators will be free to form their own arrangements including whatever level of cooperation they are comfortable with, up to and including no longer being “Home” Educators once educational establishments form that meet their needs or forming such themselves.

The Country Grinds To A Halt Because Of A State That Promises To Solve 'Winter'

As the usual panic sets it because we have a few inches of snow, it is symptomatic of how the welfare state has enfeebled the country. Somebody must be found to take responsibility for this thing called Winter.

It started last night, the old were told not to panic over heating their homes because the Government are going to give them a couple of extra quid, so thats a relief. Don't travel unless you have to, people have to get to work to earn money to pay their mortgage,their bills, the fifty per cent that they have to hand over to the State every month/week. So of course people have to travel.

Why has 'somebody' not done 'something'about the snow ! What like passing legislation against it ? Why have the gritters not been at work since June, because its pointless putting grit on deep snow, plus our local authorities are no longer allowed to have ad hoc arrangements with local construction companies to clear the snow, that is the job of forty six Quangos now. Plus we as a nation have decided that keeping the roads clear and having adequate volunteer emergecy services is not as important as paying hundreds of thousands of public servants doling out benefits to the raft of claimants who never have struggled to get to work.

I have just taken a call from a colleague who wanted to talk to somebody sane. All the staff at her place of work are kicking off that the 'management' should have done something about the snow- like what ? Its just not safe under Health and Safety Rules y'know. Emails are flying how unfair it is. Somebody driving in the company carpark collided with another car. A straight forward case of not driving with regard to the prevailing conditions. This joker wants compensation.

I have given lifts to people to get to work in my politically incorrect 4x4, two weeks ago one of these people was tut tutting about me personally causing 'global warming'.

Its called Winter, Its nobody's fault, the Government cannot legislate against it, you cannot get immediate compensation via insurancescams.com. It is in circumstances like this you truly see the mindset that has been warped by sixty years of welfarism.

Just pick up a shovel, go and clear some snow and stop waiting for the 'State' to sort it out for you.

First published on the Economic Voice

UPDATE

Listening to 'Farming Today' this morning, an East Anglian Farmer said twenty years ago he would be out with his tractor and snow plough keeping the rural roads open for his and neighbours benefit. He was told along with all other farmers to 'stop it' because they were using red diesel to power their tractors on the public highway and it was illegal.

Direct evidence that jobsworths and the obsession with taxing everything has lead to the reduction in voluntary emergency capacity.

The State can do it all except it can't, it just pretends it can to justify taking our money.

Exciting Times Cost Money

Things should start getting a bit more exciting for the LPUK in the next few weeks, the NCC have been pondering the publicity blackout enforced by the Main stream Media. Not ones to don spidermen outfits and dangle from the House of Commons roof or a nearby bridges, we needed a cost effective alternative. Chris Mounsey our new leader has this now in hand, and when the go is given, LPUK members will be the first to know.

My job as treasurer is however to prepare for the upswing. At the the Conference I said I hoped that we could open a permanent office staffed by at least one part time official and backed up by volunteers. My target date for this is May 2010. To do this I am relying on a core of donors to guarantee the wage bill and other running costs.

However we will need office equipment of all descriptions, if you think you can donate that Louis XIV desk please let us know asap.

In the meantime we still need to up our donation rate, so please give generously as a member or as one of the LPUK's supporters. Monthly Standing order forms can be quickly set up to our account so please contact us at donate@lpuk.org

Freedom to defend one's self

Graham, owner of BritainNeedsGuns.co.uk is currently facing jail for possessing a can of self-defence spray. Being the victim of a violent attack left him in no doubt as to the States' ability to offer protection against such incidents. The only choice left was to take responsibility himself.

On October 26th 2009, I was at work as a bus driver. Returning from my break I decided to take a shortcut through New Street train station in Birmingham City Centre. I was challenged by an asian ticket inspector who believed that I had travelled on a train without a ticket.
This wasn't the case, therefore he had no proof that I had fare-dodged.

The inspector became aggressive towards me and after trying to explain to him what had happened he called a "white honkey b******d".
To avoid confrontation, I pushed past him and walked away.

I was then arrested for common assault (over a single push - unbelieveable !!!) and taken to the local nick where I was held in a cell for 22 hours with one small snack and a single cup of coffee. The pepper spray was found when I was searched at the police station.
I refused to answer any questions on legal advice, but was charged with common assault (CCTV evidence) and plead guilty recieving a £250 fine.
I was bailed for further enquiries over the spray.

Charged on 17th Dec with possession of section 5 firearm and bailed to appear in court.
Appeared on 29th Dec at Birmingham Magistrates Court, where I was advised to plead guilty due to very strong forensic evidence against me.
(It's basically a small can of pepper spray which I carried illegally for personal protection after being a victim of a serious violent assault.)

I have been released on bail until 15th January, and I have been told that I face up to 3 months in prison, depending on the reports from the probation service.
I admit that this is the second time that I have been convicted of this offence, the first time being 3 and a half years ago in 2006. The thought of going to prison scares me a little, but my lawyer told me that I have 2 choices -

1. I apologise for protecting myself, tell them what they want to hear and basically kiss the judges butt, this MIGHT keep me out of jail.
2. I stand my ground and say how I feel, namely that I believe that I have a god given right to self-defence. In this case I will definitely be jailed.

I've considered all my options, and I'm sorry to say that it looks like I'll have to bend over and be shafted by the government. In other words, tell the probation service what they want to hear, as opposed to how I really feel.

I think I'd have difficulty coping with jail as I prefer my freedom, privacy and not having to worry about dropping the soap (LOL).
I feel like such a pathetic coward for not standing up for my beliefs, but prison would make my life so much harder once I got released as I'd have trouble getting a decent paid job and paying my bills.

Sorry guys, I feel really ashamed at my lack of courage !!!

Bryan Caplan on Adoption

Caplan, a yank economist kicks things off with a defense of what he calls a "maternal division of labour:" (emphasis mine)

High-achieving women like Kerry Howley have premium eggs, but they'd want a mountain of money to spend nine months pregnant on a stranger's behalf. Women willing to endure a pregnancy for a reasonable rate, on the other hand, rarely have eggs in high demand.

In response to these preferences and technological progress, the market splits apart three jobs joined together throughout history. The egg comes from a young woman with great genes, the womb from a woman who doesn't much mind being pregnant, and the mothering from a woman who wants a baby. From an economic point of view, it's Adam Smith's pin factory all over again. To some, it's repugnant. To me, it's not merely logical, but life-affirming.

Controversial, no? A former GMU prof asks: "Does it matter if the parents love the child?" Caplan responds:

Baby-selling is a solution to abuse, not a cause. Most of the horror scenarios that Morse [the GMU prof] poses - like child prostitution - are far more likely to involve kids raised by their biological families in the Third World. The same goes for child labour.

Discuss.

The views and opinions expressed in this post and any linked articles are my own or those of the respective author(s) and do not reflect current or planned Libertarian Party policy.

Predictions for 2010...

Well first things first -- Happy New Year! I hope the new year and decade treat you well.

As this is my first post of the New Year it seems logical to start with a few predictions.

So in Mystic Meg fashion here goes...

1. The Economy is going to go off a cliff again this year. This will be a result of New Labour's failure to deal with public sector deficit and debt.

Gordon Brown simply hasn't got it in him to cut spending. A fine example of this is his intervention in the Corus Steelworks Closure in Teeside.

'Call me Dave' has also shown no signs that he is willing to end the debt by taking on the public sector and its unions.

Once the bond market work this out -- about August/September time -- it's game over for Britain.

2. There are going to be a lot of strikes this year. Every time the word "cut" is mentioned the unions across the State sector and it's Corporate Monopolies will go mental.

They will fight tooth and nail to defend every penny of public spending even if it bankrupts Britain.

3. The surveillance state is going to continue to grow despite the fact it makes us no safer. Full body scanners are on their way. But I guarantee they won't stop more attempts to blow up planes or anything else.

4. And my election prediction. It will result in a very small Tory majority. But not enough for them to do much and I'm not convinced it will last very long.

Anyway, they're my predictions. Please feel free to add your's in the comments below.