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This could all be a tease (there have been hundreds of similar reports about a referendum on scrapping the pound for the euro).
The EU constitution in itself may not be worse than what the British version is mutating into. If adopted our choices become a pan-European libertarian movement or a secession.
The latter may not be as easy as the Confederate attempt in 1861 from the USA (less public support in the UK, more heavily outnumbered by the rest of the EU etc). Hopefully such a secession could be more Slovenian than Croatian.
The advantage of a referendum is that it cannot be worse than letting the Prime Minister decide alone.
The disadvantage is that it will only happen once the result is known in advance to suit the government, so that when they win, it can slip through the single currency without a vote (that is what the French government did with the Maastricht Treaty in 1992).
Either way spread the word: by next weekend we could have a live campaign on our hands.
How could I possibly pass up the opportunity to gloat over this one?
Will Hutton, Britain’s foremost critic of capitalism and an outspoken advocate for affordable social housing, is married to a property developer who has made a fortune out of selling and renting inner-city properties, often at rates which local council housing officers describe as exorbitant.
No, you don’t get it. Will Hutton is a foremost critic of capitalism for people other than Will Hutton.
Mr Hutton’s wife heads a company called First Premise, which owns and manages dozens of commercial and residential properties in London.
The company specialises in renovating rundown properties – often with the help of public grants – and then makes a profit by selling or renting them out.
The disclosure that Mr Hutton’s own family is among those capitalising on Britain’s property boom will be an acute embarrassment for him.
Nah, he will just dismiss it as a ‘right-wing conspiracy’.
The Left-wing commentator, who appears regularly on BBC television and writes in The Observer newspaper – which he used to edit – has often railed against the iniquities of the property market.
He has been particularly scornful of what he believes is Britain’s socially divisive obsession with owner occupation. Property developers, people who buy to let and middle-class families who live in gated communities have all come in for criticism.
He is trying to shame them out of their well-appointed homes so that he can snap them up on the cheap and re-sell them.
Will Hutton, eh. The High Priest of Pieties. The Sultan of Sneers. The Prince Regent of Redistribution.
Makes you wonder how many other capitalist skeletons are rattling away in the Guardian closet.
Some months ago, David Carr and I had a quick and long forgotten conversation over the subject of withdrawal from the European Union. It is a hardy perennial that fades in and out of debate. This time, I was interested in the ‘Greenland option’ where a region had stayed loyal to the crown of Denmark but had exited the EEC. Similar constitutional anomalies bind the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man to the Crown. The option was not considered realistic because we concluded that the EU would never countenance losing larger portions of their members.
Think again! Labour MEP, Eluned Morgan, tabled a question to Romano Prodi, President of the European Commission, asking if Wales would remain a member of the European Union if it declared independence. Prodi appeared to indicate that any region declaring independence would have to reapply for membership.
Asked if a newly independent region would have to leave the EU and apply for accession afresh, Mr Prodi said: “When a part of the territory of a member state ceases to be a part of that state, eg because that territory becomes an independent state, the treaties will no longer apply to that state.
In other words, a newly independent region would, by the fact of its independence, become a third country with respect to the union and the treaties would, from the day of its independence, not apply any more on its territory.”
His answer, written on March 1, also said any application for EU membership would require negotiation and consent of other member states.
Plaid Cymru, the Welsh nationalist party, viewed the eruption as a spoiler for their spring conference and noted the constitutional implications:
But Plaid Cymru last night rubbished the claims. Jill Evans MEP described it as “nothing more than a spoiling attempt by New Labour on the eve of our Spring Conference”.
She said: “The United Kingdom is constituted as a state through the respective acts of Union in 1536 and 1707. If either act is repealed, the UK as a nation state will no longer exist. On the basis of Romano Prodi’s letter, if Wales and Scotland were to become independent, all component members of the UK including England would have to reapply for EU membership. These ridiculous claims should be treated with contempt and are pure nonsensical.”
If Prodi’s reading of European law is correct, then declarations of independence by the constituent parts of the United Kingdom, followed by the dissolution of the Union, would be sufficient for withdrawal from the European Union. This provides food for thought since the campaign for an English parliament and for English independence now has another virtuous outcome.
Good news so near St. Georges Day!
Some readers who enjoy British history may recall that period in the 18th Century when highway robbers like Dick Turpin acquired a certain notoriety as they held travellers at gunpoint and stole valuables while simultaneously charming their female victims. Like most such ‘legends’, the truth was usually rather grubbier and more unpleasant.
Well, I had an example of being charmed into surrendering a large chunk of my wealth by force the other morning. As in the USA, where working-age citizens are currently going through the chores of filing their IRS forms, the British Inland Revenue is busy getting us all ready to pay our taxes. I received a form which said, “You have been chosen to receive this new short tax return.” Golly, how grateful am I supposed to feel? I have been ‘chosen’, apparently. It is made to sound as if I have been invited on board a millionaire’s yacht off St. Tropez for a spot of weekend sailing.
Even worse, the form ends with the little motto, no doubt dreamed up by some clever chap, “Tax doesn’t have to be taxing.” Aahhhh! You see, the Inland Revenue can make the experience of telling us how much wealth we must pay out an easy, even pleasurable experience.
Why do I go on about this? Well, in a subliminal way, forms like this encourage the citizen to accept the tax burden as a natural, and even wholly benign part of the human order. It is another way of wearing us down. And that is a bad thing. Personally, I am actually glad that the Americans have a nasty time filing their tax returns because once a year it reminds the citizens of Jefferson’s Republic of just how far they have gone from the modest government ambitions of the Founding Fathers. The easier we Brits can pay our taxes, the less angry we might be about the taxes in the first place.
Of course, this all leaves aside the issue of whether, even in a minarchist or anarcho-capitalist order, we could get by without some form of collective funding for stuff like external defence and internal courts and so on. I have a few thoughts but it is too big a topic for a single blog item. I’ll have to return to this point another time. Of course that’s no reason why others cannot have a go. Comments welcome as always.
It still remains unlikely, but I do feel that is at least possible that the Conservative Party may win the next General Election, here in the UK. With Blair increasingly going off the rails, behind in some polls, and trying to ramrod unpopular policies through Parliament, even against the wishes of his patrons and supporters in News International, there is some hope that we may yet be rid of him before he has his heart attack.
But what will replace him? Oliver I Love Socialism Letwin, perhaps, or David Two Welfare States Willets? It could almost be better, in some ways, if Blair stayed in power, as at least then we would still possess an enemy we could focus on properly.
So, this is a call to any Conservative politician out there, anyone who is active within the Conservative Party who stands any chance of a sniff of power should the Blessed Michael shock us and actually win electoral power. Now it may be too much to assume that the Blessed Michael, himself, is a regular Samizdata reader, but if you are with us, Mr H, I have the perfect plan of action for you to make England the wealthiest, the freest, and the happiest country in Europe, except for approximately one million Guardianistas who, basically, can just sod off.
Sean Gabb’s THE ENEMY CLASS AND HOW TO DESTROY IT: A MANIFESTO FOR THE RIGHT, which I read for the first time this morning, really is or should be the plan for your next government. Take time to read it. Then act upon it. Become a hero.
Tuscan Tony Millard is very unhappy that Britain’s civil servants are on strike. No, not really
I for one was relieved that 110,000 civil servants went on strike today claiming the urgent need for more taxpayers money, presumably to spend down the pub during their 37 days annual paid leave. I calculated that, assuming their refusal to honour their employment contracts results in the withholding of a day’s pay, this little exercise alone has saved us the grand total of £7,403,846 (US$ 13,549,843) without us even having to put down the TV remote/let go of the mouse/whatever.
I assume that you civil ‘servants’ are all now sufficiently dissatisfied with your lot to seek employment elsewhere, preferably not funded by my tax receipts. Viva il mercato, as we say in Tuscany! Well done, lads, and thanks.
Tony Millard
One of my earliest reminiscences is following the adventures of Bill Savage, self-styled resistance fighter and Cockney psychopath, who fought thinly disguised Soviets, called Volgs, in a future Britain that had been conquered by the communist hordes. The comic was that anti-establishment cultural icon, 2000AD, tapping into the punk zietgeist of 1977, and the comic strip was Invasion
British boys’ comics recovered from a rut in the 1970s with a newfound determination to cater for the violent tastes of their teenage market. They differed from their American counterparts as market segmentation led to titles concentrating on specific subject matter: War: Battle, Victor, Warlord and Commando; Football: Roy of the Rovers; Science Fiction: 2000AD, Starlord, Tornado, Eagle and Starblazer. No doubt I have missed out a few, including the weekly reprints of superhero comics by Marvel UK.
Bill Savage was a lorry driver whose exploits appeared in the first issue of 2000AD, spinning into orbit in 1977. This allows an indulgence of nostalgic relish as I recall Birmingham nuked, a clone of Maggie as Prime Minister shot on the steps of St. Paul’s and the new Prime Minister announcing “People of Britain. The Volgans are our Friends! We must not fight them…Hand Over All Your Fire-Arms!” With his handy shotgun and avenging the death of his family, Savage enjoyed taking the war to the occupiers and killing them in a number of diverse ways, followed by a suitable quip. The roadlayer that he gleefully used to ‘level’ a Volg firing squad was a particularly nasty way to go.
Whilst interesting, Invasion was a second world war story, transplanted to the future. The world of 1999 had changed little from the 1940s and there are no dark faces in the comic. A parallel can be made with the film, “Dr Who and the Dalek Invasion of Earth, 2150”, another invasion narrative that symbolised England’s vulnerability by trading on the cultural myths of 1940. Nonetheless, even in 1977, popular culture could encompass a comic that envisioned a Britain where lorry drivers kept shotguns at home and firearms were an accepted part of working class life. It seems like another world.
Savage eventually made it to Canada with Prince John, ending his personal war. But, in his pithy way, Savage said it all…
“My cannon stays with me! Greased and ready…”
A few years back I read an essay by some free market activist (whose name escapes me entirely now) about apathy and why it was every politician’s worst nightmare. They can survive hostility and, of course, they bask in adulation but lumpen public indifference is the tar-pit that will gradually delegitimise them and drag them under to irrelevance and obscurity.
A nice theory but wholly untrue. Public indifference is by far the most powerful ally of the political classes. How else can they possibly get away with such a sudden, one hundred and eighty degree volte face?
The Commission for Racial Equality (CRE) is blocking grants to ethnic minority projects that fail to promote “Britishness” and integration.
Last week, CRE chairman Trevor Phillips sparked a debate when he said the term “multiculturalism” should be scrapped.
What is all this? ‘Multiculturalism’ should be scrapped? ‘Britishness’ should be promoted? Do mine eyes deceive me or have the cultural revolutionaries at the CRE suddenly been transmogrified into blue-rinse, little Englander, prehistoric, sexist, facist, racist, Tory types? Does Mr.Phillips not appreciate that Pim Fortuyn was branded a ‘Nazi’ and subsequently assassinated for expressing precisely the same sentiments about his native Holland? Does he merit a posthumous apology now? → Continue reading: We have always been at war with Eastasia
If there were ever an annual Ayn Rand award, here in the UK, for Britain’s most outstanding business leader, then a recent contender could easily have been Tim Martin, the founder and chairman of the JD Wetherspoon chain of pubs. He created this chain from virtually nothing, in 1979, and built it into one of the largest leisure businesses in the country. Which is remarkable.
But being a former law student he has fallen into the trap of believing that if a law is passed by a legislature then this automatically makes it a good thing. Because he has just called for a smoking ban to be imposed upon all the privately owned pubs and bars in Britain, following Ireland’s recent heavy-handed example.
Now I have no problem with Mr Martin banning smoking in all of his own pubs. But like all the best hypocrites Mr Martin has no intention of doing this, because he realises he will lose too much business to his competition. But this hypocrisy has failed to prevent him from wishing to inflict his own intolerant views upon every other private bar owner and pub smoker in the country.
Which does beg the following question: Are there any truly successful business people here in Britain who we libertarians could actually hold up and respect as role models for the future? Or is it simply impossible in Nanny State Britain for any big business leader to be successful without being mentally flexible enough to accommodate the sinuous and relentless needs of our slave controllers in government?
I need a hero to worship. Does anybody have one?
But for the grace of God, are there any loathsome politicians out there who you sometimes feel you may have ended up like? I have one. His name is Alan Milburn, a man who I sometimes look like and sound like, which for those of you who know the difference really is quite a cross to bear.
Mr Milburn used to be the Secretary of State for Health, here in the UK, until his shock resignation in 2003. We may never know the real reason why he resigned. But when Alan visited me in a nightmare recently, in the guise of my former Marxist Dark Half, he told me he flounced out of government because Tony Blair had become incapable of protecting him from Gordon Brown’s prime ministerial ambition.
But it seems Alan is regretting his flounce and is trying to worm his way back into Tony’s ministerial cash box. This morning, on Radio4’s Today programme, he spent a lengthy chat with James Naughtie banging on about the glorious work-life balance achievements of Scandinavian-style socialism. → Continue reading: Return of the undead
Two news stories caught my eye today.
Firstly B.B.C. Radio 4’s Today show reported that the authorities in the People’s Republic of Scotland have noticed that sport is unfair – there are winners and losers and sometimes the winners win big.
To deal with this problem the local authority in Edinburgh has declared that if a team in a children’s football match are winning by 5 to 0 (or more) at half time the ref should be allowed and encouraged to declare the score to be 0 – 0.
In this way the losing children can have another chance – and their self esteem will be protected.
Soon the careful minds of the Scottish authorities will work out that a better way of ensuring equality would be to declare that all matches end in the score 0 – 0.
Oh well, whilst the English taxpayers continue to fund the Scottish government (latest example – a 400 milion plus Paliament building that was supposed to cost “a maximum of 40 million”) such sillyness will continue.
Also today I got to see this week’s Economist… and I spotted a report on Somalia that I think will be of interest.
As is well known most of the nation of Somalia does not have a formal government. Now opponents of anarchism (or perhaps “anarchocapitalism” as “anarchism” is a word that is sometimes used to refer to some forms of collectivism) have pointed at Somalia and said “see anarchy – it really is vile, bloodsoaked chaos” and defenders of anarchy have claimed “no – Somalia does have a government (indeed it has multiple governments), the Warlords are all statists acting as warring governments”.
The Economist report does not settle the dispute between anarchists and non-anarchists, but it does provide some information.
Firstly that paying the Warlords money to protect oneself and property does not work very well as (unlike the “protection agencies” of anarchist or anarcho-capitalist theory) the Warlords will take the money – but their men will tend to rob and murder you anyway. → Continue reading: Scotland and Somalia
Intelligence sources have confirmed to Sky News that a plan to launch a chemical attack in the UK has been foiled. A highly toxic chemical called osmium tetroxide was to be used in a device. The chemical compound, which can be bought on the internet, causes victims to choke to death in agony. It also attacks the cornea of the eye and can lead to blindness.
The security services are believed to have been alerted after a mention of the chemical was picked up at the GCHQ electronic listening centre near Cheltenham. The speculation is that it could have been used by terrorists to target enclosed spaces such as the London Underground, airports or a busy shopping centres. Even though arrests were made in the United Kingdom, authorities say the operation was being run out of Pakistan by a suspected al Qaeda figure.
Londoners are not novices to security alerts and actual terrorist attacks. Irish Republican terrorists made sure of that. But this is different. However despicable the acts of the Irish terrorists have been, their aim was limited, if not acceptable.
The islamofascists are fighting us because of what we are, because our existence is a daily reminder to them of the failure of their ways. Their aim is our destruction and the notion that they can be appeased is absurd.
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We are also a varied group made up of social individualists, classical liberals, whigs, libertarians, extropians, futurists, ‘Porcupines’, Karl Popper fetishists, recovering neo-conservatives, crazed Ayn Rand worshipers, over-caffeinated Virginia Postrel devotees, witty Frédéric Bastiat wannabes, cypherpunks, minarchists, kritarchists and wild-eyed anarcho-capitalists from Britain, North America, Australia and Europe.
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