Why I am not a Libertarian
Recently, there appears to have been an influx into the Liberal Democrats of Libertarians. This is typified by the members of ‘Liberal Vision‘, which is in turn part of a Tory organisation called ‘progressive voice’ (essentially a bunch of Objectivists).
Now, in many ways I agree with libertarians on many subjects – which is, of course, why we can be in the same party – I am all for more personal freedom, for a lack of government interference in people’s lives, for the restoration of recently-lost civil liberties and so on. But libertarians seem, to me, to have two big holes in their thinking, both of which are summed up by some recent comments by Nick in this thread on Liberal Conspiracy (scroll down).
‘Nick’ is following the libertarian ‘party line’ almost exactly: the government should not interfere with the workings of the market when companies are failing. Not only should they not spend any money bailing out the companies (a reasonable, debatable position) or on retraining the workers so they can get jobs elsewhere (a much less reasonable position in my view) – they should not even pay unemployment benefit to the people who lose their jobs, because the money would be better allocated by the market.
Now, there are two distinct errors here.
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Labour wants you to pay up
This is an incredibly late April Fool, surely:
The government has been accused of trampling on individual liberties by proposing wide-ranging new powers for bailiffs to break into homes and to use “reasonable force” against householders who try to protect their valuables. Under the regulations, bailiffs for private firms would for the first time be given permission to restrain or pin down householders. They would also be able to force their way into homes to seize property to pay off debts, such as unpaid credit card bills and loans.
The government, which wants to crack down on people who evade debts, says the new powers would be overseen by a robust industry watchdog. However, the laws are being criticised as the latest erosion of the rights of the householder in his own home.
The government, which wants to crack down on people who evade debts. I can think of a few individuals and companies which have been known to evade their debts, or as they are sometimes also known, taxes. How about sending the bailiffs after the likes of that fucker Philip Green, who paid his wife £1bn into a Monaco account to avoid having to hand over any of his quite legitimately owned moolah? Why don’t we hire the goons when Rupert Murdoch is next in town to loot his office, all the while pinning him down so tightly that he can’t breathe?
Or perhaps we could set them on probably the biggest debtor in the country, or as he’s otherwise known, the prime minister. I can just imagine the burly bastards shoulder charging Number 10’s door, gathering all the Brown’s belongings, including his children’s toys, and putting them outside while the heavens open, Brown unfortunately being winded after getting obstreperous and asking them whether they know he is and then pleading with them that he will eventually be paying back that £645bn, honest. Fair is fair, after all.
Wrong end of stick grabbed, shaken vigorously
Mike Smithson over at Political Betting has “just received some information that could have major consequences for bloggers”.
Apparently, the entire adjournment debate on Tuesday concerning libel (I assume this is what he’s talking about) was about ZaNuLiarbore (or whatever it is this week) finding “a way of dealing with government irritants such as Guido and to a lesser extent Iain Dale.”
Sorry Iain and Guido, but you didn’t come up. Denis MacShane did, yes, float the idea of registration on sites as a means of cutting down on anonymous slanderous comments (slander, not libel, being the legal status of defamatory comments), but qualified this suggestion heavily with “except where for good reason, as in a newspaper letters column, a name and address is withheld.” The whole notion was pretty much dropped when Evan Harris pointed out the ease of setting up a pseudonymous identity on the web.
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Libel progress at Commons
You may have noticed the announcement earlier this week of a joint inquiry in to libel by Index on Censorship and English PEN. The issue of the unfairness of UK defamation laws has been exercising us for some time, and we’re not the only ones.
Today saw an adjournment debate at the House of Commons on the subject of libel laws, featuring contributions from Labour, Conservative, Liberal Democrat and UKIP MPs.
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Libel inquiry announced
Index on Censorship and English PEN, two of the UK’s leading free expression organisations, are launching a public inquiry into libel legislation.
The decision reflects increasing concern in this country and abroad about the extent to which our courts are being used, and abused, to stifle investigative journalism and chill free expression of all kinds.
The inquiry will invite submissions from publishers, writers, editors, journalists, lawyers and other interested parties. It will hold round-table discussions, leading to a major conference next spring.
The inquiry coincides with increasing concern in the House of Commons. The Select Committee on Culture, Media and Sport is launching its own probe.
In a related move, Denis MacShane MP has secured an adjournment debate on the operation of libel laws for this Wednesday 17 December at 930am in Westminster Hall, with cross party support.
The United Nations Human Rights Committee has already signalled its concern that English libel law discourages: “critical media reporting on matters of serious public interest, adversely affecting the ability of scholars and journalists to publish their work, including through the phenomenon known as libel tourism”.
Sir Geoffrey Bindman, one of Britain’s leading human rights lawyers, said of the joint inquiry: “There is a difficult balance to be struck between freedom of expression and the protection of the innocent from damaging falsehoods and invasion of legitimate privacy. In Britain, the pendulum has swung too far towards censorship. This comprehensive review of the law by two highly respected organisations is therefore very welcome.”
English PEN is a registered charity (number 1125610), working to promote literature and human rights. From defending the rights of persecuted writers to promoting literature in translation and running writing workshops in schools, English PEN seeks to promote literature as a means of greater understanding between the world’s people.
www.englishpen.org
Index on Censorship is a registered charity (Writers and Scholars Educational Trust number 325003) promoting freedom of expression. Its award-winning magazine and website provide a window for original, challenging and intelligent writing on these vital issues. Its international projects in media, arts and education support freedom of expression around the world.
www.indexoncensorship.org
Growing racism in Italy
A strange mix of racism and authoritarianism is surfacing in Berlusconi’s Italy.
Since Silvio Berlusconi’s landslide victory last April, it’s as if the country started to passively give the nod to a disturbing series of populistic and semi-authoritarian measures. Whether it’s style, rhetoric or actions, whatever the government is doing is increasingly greeted by a collective shrug.
Berlusconi’s victory wiped out of Parliament the radical and green left and dropped the decimated centre-left into a morass of petty infighting. That allowed the Government to hit the ground running. Propped up by the type of anti-immigration rhetoric that Britain would only tolerate if the BNP were in power, the new Italian executive agreed to some seriously draconian legislation. Immigrants are now officially b-citizens.
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Damian Green: Tory crocodile tears
Snippets of commentary from blogs on the Damian Green arrest.
Jim Bliss:
But the last people that should be replacing them are a bunch of dangerous fools who are willing to cry “Stalin” when one of their own gets questioned for a few hours and then released, but who stay silent at — and indeed support — the systematic harrassment of others. I don’t recall the Tory outcry when police kicked down a door in Forest Gate and shot an unarmed suspect. I don’t recall the tories accusing the police of ‘Stalinesque’ tactics that day. In fact, just to demonstrate how divorced these fools are from reality, how utterly self-serving in their outlook, a Tory spokesman has described Green’s arrest as “unprecedented in its heavy-handedness”.
Unprecedented? Really? What complete tossers those tories truly are.
Censorship at Waterstones
New Humanist Blog report :
Just as it looked like Sarah Palin was going to walk away with the Bad Faith Awards, Christian ‘lone’ Voice Stephen Green makes a late bid for the prize, by forcing the Waterstones in Cardiff to cancel a book signing. Patrick Jones was due to sign copies of his new poetry collection Darkness is Where the Stars Are but Waterstones cancelled at the last moment citing concerns about disruption. Apparently our friend Stephen had mobilised a few believers, aggrieved at what they consider Jones’ blasphemy, who sent emails and called the store. What’s the deal! Are we allowed to pressure bookstores to cancel events featuring people we don’t like… if so there’s a few I’d like to start with.
I phoned the manager of the Cardiff Store, who wouldn’t comment but referred me to John Howells in their central press office. He said the event was cancelled because of concerns about safety in the light of a high volume of complaints received yesterday (he wouldn’t say how many or what proportion were emails or phone calls).
Let’s not make Nazi martyrs
I’m heading to Westminster Magistrates Court this afternoon, to cover the extradition hearing of Dr Frederick Toben. The outcome is by no means certain, and has potential to affect British free expression, rendering citizens here vulnerable to prosecution in EU countries with less liberal legislation.
This will be Toben’s fourth appearance at court, and the court will be, as it has been previously, packed with a mixture of frantically scribbling hacks and a smattering of Toben’s supporters, among whom Michelle Renouf and David Irving are the most notable.
Toben has been subjected to a European Arrest Warrant issued by German authorities. One’s initial reaction to the EAW is to baulk at just how wide ranging they can be. But as Chris Huhne points out on Index on Censorship this morning, they are a valuable tool:
“The arrest warrant is extradition for the Ryanair age. If criminals can re-emerge hundreds of miles away in a different jurisdiction within hours of a crime, the state must be able to pursue offenders without the interminable bureaucracy that is such a feature of traditional extradition. But countries must be able to trust each other’s legal systems and the responsible use of the warrant, or the political support for the warrant will wither.”
As with so many legal tools, sensible, sensitive application seems the key. The EAW is not, in and of itself, a bad mechanism. But in this case, the UK authorities have been far too keen to comply with their German counterparts, and ended up stepping in to a legal minefield. We can only hope that this afternoon, we return to a sensible position.
Geoff Hoon – unrelenting saviour of mankind
What would we be without people like Geoff Hoon standing up for us, protecting us in our eternal hours of need?
In weeks where the government is at least trying to appear like they’re getting rid of bullshit policies that have only drawn fierce criticism, Geoff Hoon is clearly the man tasked to buck the trend, to show that while the backtracking may be happening in practice to some degree (though clearly is nothing more than a reorganisation of strategy), that there can be no denying that this government is still absolutely the toughest kid on the block when it comes to punching out those terrorist bullies.
From yesterday evening’s Question Time, Geoff Hoon says:
“If they are going to use the internet to communicate with each other and we don’t have the power to deal with that, then you are giving a licence to terrorists to kill people” … “The biggest civil liberty of all is not to be killed by a terrorist.”
This is the mentality of our government, a mentality that keeps adapting and trying to implement their insane plans by any means possible, a mentality that says “Sit down, shut up, we’re doing all of this for your benefit”. It’s a dangerous one for sure, once you start saying that you’d “go a long way” to stop terrorism, to the level of giving the green light to mass (and under this government, insecure) data storage on our lives, where do we stop?
Call it paranoia, but this is the sort of question that needs asking in these times. Slowly, slowly we’re seeing more and more liberties leaked in the name of “Terrorism”, slow enough that it seems that little fuss is caused.
Indeed we have to perhaps be thankful that Hoon makes an ass out of himself with his language. Terrorists can communicate over the internet so we have to have it monitored? We already monitor phone calls…but I suppose next on the list of things to achieve a way of retaining communication details not transmitted through technology. I’m not sure I would be surprised if Labour did turn around and ask to have all of our personal conversations in the street to be recorded, if they could only find a way to make it come in at the right price.
42 days vote today / video
Amnesty International have today released a new 1 min video on the theme of ’sleepwalking’ into losing our civil liberties.
The vote on 42 days is in the House of Lords today. It is expected to be defeated. The question then is, will Brown try and use the Parliament Act to force it through, or give up on this stupid piece of legislation?
Abortion rights lobby: meeting notice
Hey all,
Quick reminder re: tonight’s meeting:
Oct 7th, 7pm, Committee room 11, House of Commons
Join Abortion Rights for an update on amendments tabled for the report stage of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill, and to discuss the pro choice campaign.
Speakers: Diane Abbott MP, Annie Campbell – Alliance for Choice, Kay Carberry – TUC Assistant General Secretary, Katy Clark MP, Katie Curtis NUS, Evan Harris MP, Jacqui Lait MP; Wendy Savage – Doctors for a Woman’s Choice on Abortion, Dr Audrey Simpson – fpa Northern Ireland, Polly Toynbee – Guardian commentator.
More at Abortion Rights.
Sir Ian Blair sacking: since when did Paul Dacre decide senior police appointments?
You wouldn’t expect a leftie to mount an out-and-out defence of the track record of Britain’s top copper, and I’m certainly not going to do that.
The de Menezes killing happened on Sir Ian Blair’s watch, yet the worst consequence for the Metropolitan Police was a conviction for breach of health and safety regulations, as if the offence was of no more import than leaving packing cases blocking a fire escape. continue reading… »
Top Stories and Blog Review – 29th Sept
Tories
City must share blame – Osborne
Brown’s had his boom, now he’s bust says Cameron
It’s not policies that the Tories need, but a bit of gravitas
Tories: £20bn 180mph rail link instead of 3rd H’row runway
Elsewhere
UK: Tests for drugs in tap water
Bailout bill day of reckoning
Banks rattled by rescue
Olmert: Israel must quit East Jerusalem and Golan
DAILY BLOG REVIEW / by Jennie Rigg
Plenty of comment on the Bradford and Bingley situation: Stephen Glenn reports a conversation between Senor Bradford and Senor Bingley; Chicken Yoghurt has productive suggestions for buy-to-let landlords; Jonny Nexus has no sympathy for small shareholders; Nich Starling has some regulatory suggestions for Gordon; Anton Vowl comments in his usual, inimitable, style; even So Very Doomed have picked up on it…
RM, a native New Yorker, has an open letter to Sarah Palin, telling her to stop using 9/11 as a political football.
Jonathan Calder has some suggestions for the Tories on how to conduct their conference.
Charles Darwin, meanwhile, has been casting a rheumy Victorian eye over the Labour party conference.
Live Science points out scientific proof that immigration reduces crime rates. Commenters pick holes with anecdotal “evidence” and no sense of irony.
Amused Cynicism has a retort for those who think that whatever Labour do, the Tories will be worse.
Liberal Harpie muses on the lack of male primary school teachers.
Charlotte Gore, champion of the underdog, sticks up for smokers.
Why Labour Voters Ought to Think Again
Yeah, I figured that headline would get the attention of some of you. Cory Doctorow has posted what it’s like to be on the sharp end of Labour’s current policies. Because I know that some of you won’t be arsed to click the link, I’m going to copy and paste.
Earlier this year, I married my British fiancée and switched my visa status from “Highly Skilled Migrant” to “Spouse.” This wasn’t optional: Jacqui Smith, the British Home Secretary, had unilaterally (and on 24 hours’ notice) changed the rules for Highly Skilled Migrants to require a university degree, sending hundreds of long-term, productive residents of the UK away (my immigration lawyers had a client who employed over 100 Britons, had fathered two British children, and was nonetheless forced to leave the country, leaving the 100 jobless). Smith took this decision over howls of protests from the House of Lords and Parliament, who repeatedly sued her to change the rule back, winning victory after victory, but Smith kept on appealing (at tax-payer expense) until the High Court finally ordered her to relent (too late for me, alas). continue reading… »
Hosing down the homeless
Forever fond of its grandiose targets, the government announced some time ago that it was going to rid the homeless from Britain’s streets by 2012, presumably so that when London becomes filled with Olympic tourists, the only shabby, downtrodden drunks they’ll encounter will be our nation’s pop stars.
In order to attain the frankly unattainable, the City of London Corporation has taken to sending outreach workers into homeless hotspots to persuade them to either enter a hostel or a drink/drug rehabillitation programme. If that doesn’t work, a council crew will turn up some time later to spray where they might’ve been sleeping with the odd gallon of water.
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Abort Gordon
Evening all. Tremendous to see our comrades in the Green party embracing the notion of extending abortion rights to Northern Ireland when the Human Fertilisation and Embryology bill comes round for its third reading.
The part I’m really looking forward to, though, is watching our comrades in the Labour party try to reconcile any push for Northern Ireland abortion rights with the undoubtedly high expectations of their new and highly reactionary pals in the Democratic Unionist party. Can’t WAIT to see the great Harriet Harman – our very own self-proclaimed champion of women’s rights – pull that one out of her butt. What a result that’ll be for perversion.
You’ll remember the DUP, of course, and the unpalatable details of its recent, greasy love-in with Labour. You’ll remember that DUP MPs agreed to vote with the government on 42 days’ detention, in exchange for – well, in exchange for absolutely nothing apart from job satisfaction if our glorious leader Gordon was telling the truth at the time. continue reading… »
Surprises from the airline plot
There will be more than a few surprised people tonight, both in the media and outside it, at the verdict reached by the jury in the “liquid explosives” trial. The case, after all, had been presented, as George Tenet famously said, as a “slam-dunk”. Here were 8 Muslim extremists, caught red-handed with quantities of hydrogen peroxide, used by both the 7/7 and 21/7 bombers in their attacks, having recorded “martyrdom videos” and with apparent plans for the blowing up mid-flight of an unspecified number of transatlantic planes.
There were shrieks of initial incredulity then horror from the press, all liquids in containers above 100ml were banned from planes as a precaution, with mothers having to taste their babies’ milk, apparently as a result of claims that the bombers were prepared to blow up their children and use their bottles as containers for the explosives. This last claim, as Craig Murray notes, was nonsense.
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Top Stories and Blog Review – 9th Sept
Elsewhere
Police crisis after jury rejects £10m terror case
Suicide videos: what they said
McCain the messiah
Palin makes gaffe on the economy
DAILY BLOG REVIEW / by Douglas Johnson
Two Doctors - names a few famous community organisers. Take note, Sarah Palin.
Lee Griffin - discovers that Frank Field is, in fact, not a saint.
Tory Troll - on Boris’ Red Summer.
Quaequam Blog - wonders whether the Lib Dems should begin to worry about the Greens. (Answer: Yes.)
Gaian Economics - And just what is a Brumaire, anyway?
What do you mean by ‘anti-Americanism’?
You know times are tough for a global superpower when someone devotes a large amount of time and money producing a blog in solidarity with you.
America in the World is a new project from Conservative Home’s Tim Montgomerie which aims to act as a bulwark against anti-Americanism by dispelling myths, extolling the country’s virtues and arguing that a world without America as a dominant force is not a notion anyone should want to entertain.
If done right, the site serves a decent enough purpose, and the content certainly seems well-researched and attractively designed. But the sticking point was always going to be how they define anti-Americanism, and in this respect they threaten to alienate a significant number of people.
continue reading… »
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» Why don’t MPs pay back tuition fees instead of increasing ours?
» Obama is right to slam BP – and why capitalists should too
» Why does Phillip Blond see civil cohesion as a security issue?
» So what if the Labour candidates went to Oxbridge?
» Last night’s Labour hustings: will it get interesting or turn to torture?
» It’s now down to Ken to win London for Labour
» The Labour people need
» Blog Nation: what would you like to see discussed?
» The Labour leadership’s token contender.. and it’s not Diane Abbott
» In defence of these fraternal nominations
» Is this the end for the socialist left?
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