Bringing Classical Liberalism to South London
We are joined by Sean Finch of the Libertarian Party and Hoong-Wai Cheah of UKIP to discuss libertarianism, what it means to them and how their respective parties approach policy making from a libertarian perspective.
YouTube:
Drinks to celebrate our independence from the EU. Chance to meet:
Join us at the The Randall Tavern. Field Way, New Addington, Croydon CR0 9DX.
From 7:30pm, Saturday 21st March.
On February 2nd the Coulsdon and Purley Debating Society debated the motion “Implementing green policies to combat global warming is imperative to save the Earth”
Mike Swadling opposed the debate, and below is his speech delivered to the society in Coulsdon. As always at this excellent society the debate was good natured, well proposed and drew out great comments from the audience.
In 1970 Harvard biologist George Wald estimated that “civilization will end within 15 or 30 years unless immediate action is taken”
“At least 100-200 million people per year will be starving to death during the next ten years.” The Stanford University Professor Paul Ehrlich declared in the April 1970.
In January 1970, Life Magazine reported, “Scientists have solid experimental and theoretical evidence to support…the following predictions:
In January 2006 Al Gore predicted that we had ten years left before the planet turned into a “total frying pan.” – anyone else have their heating on today?
In 2008, ABC News predicted that New York City would be under water by June 2015. (1)(2) – Nope didn’t happen
Planet Earth might quote Mark Twain in saying “Rumours of my demise have been greatly exaggerated”
I thank the Chair and the members for getting the title right in calling it global warming. Let’s dispense with the nonsense called “climate change”.
The climate changes. Yes we know that. Global temperature is not fixed, we know we had ice ages, we know we have had warming periods.
I believe the premise here is the following:
To believe that last two premises you have to believe in the predictions of the people who told us food would run out in the 1980s and that New York City is currently underwater.
Now I’m not convinced we ran out of food or you can swim to the top floor of the Empire State Building.
It’s important to look at these in detail, as our civilisation, all of this abundance you see around you, that has allowed billions of people to move from calorie insecurity to having commodity goods, in our lifetimes is feed by fuel, mostly fossil fuels.
It is our civilizations manna from heaven. It is a manna showing no end. We have more oil reserves than all the oil we have ever used, with new technology opening up even further access to fuel. (4)
If you have a proven, working, source of fuel that reduces pollution great let’s use it.
If you are saying we need to change the basis of our modern civilisation and put at risk the food supply chains for billions of people, you better be dammed sure of your predictions.
The first premise on which all others are built is that the world is getting warmer.
11,000 years ago sitting here would have been cold, very cold. We wouldn’t be under ice, but Scotland, Wales, Ireland and the North of England all would be.
We would be linked by Ice to Norway and Denmark, and by Land to France. (5)
Are we warmer than then – yes. But perhaps we would all agree that’s a good thing.
As I’m sure many of you are aware much of our cultural view of white Christmases comes from Charles Dickens stories rather than our actual memories.
Only 11 times in London in the last 60 years has snow fallen on Christmas day. (6) (7)
Of course this was not always so.
The River Thames held its first frost fair in 1608 and the last was in 1814. These took place during the Little Ice Age lasting from about 1300 to about 1850. (39)
Clearly we have warmed since then. The Little Ice Age started without man made input and ended before any serious global industrialisation.
It’s almost as if temperatures change without a man mad cause. Incidentally the Coldest Christmas day on record since 1659 was in 2010. – so much for global warming.
But what if I was to pick other dates, different dates to measure warming. What might conclude?
The English wine market is once again growing, centred in the South East and South West.
Of course the Romans grew grapes and made wine at Hadrian’s Wall, not something we could do today without artificial heaters. (8)
Later tax records show the Britons extensively grew their own wine grapes in the 11th century. (9)
Compared to then we are colder not warming.
The later growing took place in the Medieval Warm Period lasting from around 950 to 1250 AD. (10)
The warming during this period saw the Vikings break out of Scandinavia concur much of Europe and even grow barley in Greenland. (11)
The same warming in the east produced more rain, and grass for the grazing animals that Genghis Khan’s Mongolian horseman rode and feed off.
This abundance allowed his descendants conquer much of Eurasia. (12)
The Medieval Warm Period was not caused by car journeys, aircraft, coal fuelled power stations or even ‘trial by fire’ used by Saxons.
The climate changes it often has little to do with man.Compared to then we are colder not warming.
Once again I ask.
When was this ideal period of warmth. Who is to judge this.
Why are the starting dates that prove the climate scientist clams we are warming any more valid than the start dates I have used?
After all these are the same climate scientists that told us. (13) (14)
We are often told Climate Change is Settled Science. Yet Science is knowledge that is testable, repeatable, observable, and falsifiable. (15) (16)
And it’s that falsifiable that really matters here. Science cannot by definition ever be settled.
If a claim can’t be falsified it’s a matter of faith, of religion, of ideology, but never ever Science.
We often here the claim 97% of scientists believe in manmade global warming. But who are these scientists?
It’s really not clear, where the figure comes from.
One source of support for this is from the University of Illinoi. A survey which over 3000 scientists responded to, selected a subset of just 77 who said they agreed that ‘global temperatures had generally risen since 1800, and that human activity is a “significant contributing fact”. (17) (18)
Is this the basis on which to change the modern world economy? On the say of just 77 carefully selected opinions?
Should we give up the industrialisation that dragged our ancestors out of poverty and is still giving the first real hope of a good life to billions in the developing world, on this basis?
Another often made claim is that “2,500 scientists of the UNs Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the IPCC agree that humans are causing a climate crisis.”
Except of course it’s simply not true.
The number is based on the number of scientist reviewers of all of the IPCC reports. Only 600 were involved in the report with this statement and proposals. (19)
It’s not even clear that the 600 all agreed with the outcome of the report.
Whilst on the subject of the IPCC, their 2001 report featured the Hockey Stick graph. This showed broadly flat temperatures with a sharp upturn. The graph was used to prove the need for urgent change.
The now discredited and dropped hockey stick graph ignored the medieval warming period and little ice age as if they simple didn’t happen. (20)
We could all show the bank manager a graph of our increasing bank balance if we ignored all our out goings
These scientists simply ignored the facts to make their argument.
To believe in the projections of these scientists you have to believe the Thames Ice fairs didn’t exist and all evidence of farming in Greenland was simply made up.
I was in Sydney the first two weeks of December. From a view point in the Blue Mountains I could see half a dozen fires over a fifty square area.
It’s tragic, the loss of humans fighting the fires, and animals is something I am sure we all agree is terrible.
But is it anything to do with global warming?
A 1642 expedition saw smoke drifting over the coast of Tasmania and noted blackened trunks and baked earth in the forests.
In 1770, Captain Cook’s crew saw autumn fires in the bush burning on most days of the voyage.
Many of these fires were deliberately set by Aborigines across Australia.
Fire-stick farming was used to producing lusher grass to fatten kangaroos, they also burned fire breaks as a precaution against bushfire. (21)
Australia suffered major bush fire outbreaks in 1851, 1898, 1925, and 1938.
These occurred before the massive industrialisation in India and China and before any of the supposed trends for man-made global warming.
Yes this year’s fires are tragic. Worse than many remember.
But the causes are complex, environmentalists have stopped the clearing of land near residential areas and stopped selective burning to create fire breaks.
And of course we have Arsonists. New South Wales Police reported 716 of this year’s fires did not occur naturally. (22) (23)
After the hurricane seasons of 2010, 11, and 12 the second and joint third most active years on record, we were told due to global warming hurricanes would become common place.
Except of course in 2013 we had the fewest hurricanes since 1930. The number of storms have been fairly low and stable ever since.
Around here we on occasion have some flooding.
When a story of flooding in the UK hits the news, we hear the familiar cry of climate change.
Yet despite heavy and consistent rain this winter we have thankfully had little flooding. We see the here and now, we often forget the past was often as bad s.
Much as when Devon and Somerset flooded in 2013 largely because it appears we stopped dredging local water ways. Natural disasters can have a man-made component. But let’s not confuse that with a systemic problem.
Odd natural events happen, they make compelling stories, but they are not a reason to change the world.
If the impact of global warming is hard to find it’s worth asking, are we even warming?
Even if we ignore the need for an answer to the question “compared to when” and that’s a massive issue to ignore, are we warming right now?
“Between the start of 1997 and the end of 2014, average global surface temperature stalled. This 18-year period is known as the global warming pause” (24)
Recently the Met Office concluded the last decade was the second hottest in the past 100 years in the UK, slightly behind 2000 to 2009. – So err I make that we are cooling decade on decade. (25)
The official NASA global temperature data shows from February 2016 to February 2018 “global average temperatures dropped by 0.56 degrees Celsius”. The biggest two-year drop in the past century. (26)
Contrary to predictions polar bear numbers have never been higher rising 30% since 2005.
CO2 is now at about 412 ppm, or 0.041%. This plant food is helping the earth become greener.
Despite the supposedly dangerous level of CO2 of 1 part per 2400. Life has never been better. (27)
Don’t believe the doom mongers. The world is doing just great. It’s not clear if it’s warming, it is clear the scientists predictions are wrong.
Why are the scientists and their political bedfellows getting the predictions so wrong?
Scientist is never settled and not about consensus, but scientists are people. They naturally want to be part of the majority. They want to conform.
For many years around the middle of the last century many scientists wouldn’t support the Big Bang theory even as more and more evidence with experiment substantiated it.
Science had for some time believed in the steady state theory of the universe. This is had always existed. Many Scientists didn’t want to believe in the idea of a beginning to the universe because it opened the possibility of a beginner or a god, something that the then modern science was against.
Yet the evidence was there. Scientists understandably being people weren’t following the evidence but rather the sticking to the ruleset they had been brought up in. (28)
Scientists now, are driven by grants and agendas to support global warming. When your economic self-interest is driven by a viewpoint it becomes easier to follow that viewpoint.
Between 1989 and 2009 the US Federal Government funded to the tune of $1.6 billion and year climate studies. (29) Clearly no one was expected to find no change to keep the money coming in.
I am not suggesting corruption in these cases, more I am simply noting it is much easier for your research to find the required answer when paying your mortgage depends on it.
Where there was clear corruption however was with the 2009 Climategate scandal. Leaked emails from the University of East Anglia Climatic Research Unit, showed a number of scientists collaborating to manipulate data.
This manipulation included:
There are a number of possible reasons politicians push the climate change agenda.
The Chinese like it because we hamper western industry whilst they continue to build a new coal fuelled power station every other week.
Many of our politicians like that all solutions to global warming require more taxes, and power for the politicians, and less rights for the people to make choices in their own lives.
They also like the new jobs it creates and the power they have to disperse them.
Croydon Council recently announced it has a appointed a lead for their Climate Crisis Commission. They can’t collect the bins on time, planning is a joke but the council can appoint people to a Climate Commission. (31)
Some like Al Gore I suspect do it simply for the money. Why else would you preach climate catastrophe and rising sea levels whilst spending $8,8million on an ocean front villa with six fireplaces, five bedrooms and nine bathrooms. (32)
You either believe the oceans are rising or you buy a beach property, surely not both.
It’s not so clear why so many celebrities and indeed some of our own royalty are so keen to push green policies. My own view is they simply don’t like the plebs spoiling the holiday destinations.
I would not normally be some unkind in assigning motive, but I can simply find no other reason to understand how you can fly by private jet to a climate change camp where you then deliver a speech about the environment while barefoot, as Prince Harry did last year. (33)
Why else would Emma Thompson fly the 5,400 miles from LA to London to support the Extinction Rebellion protests? (34)
Can I ask your indulgence for a show of hands on who has flown in the past year….
Multi-Millionaires Al, Harry and Emma, want to stop you doing that.
And they are so determined that they won’t stop buying mansions or jetting around the globe, until they have stopped you having your annual fortnight in the sun!
We all want to live in a good environment, we want to improve the world around us. The best way to do that is to simply let people get rich.
Poor nations and peoples care little for the environment, survival rightly takes precedence.
As nations like us move to the post industrial age, and we value experiences more that things, we use less carbon.
Our carbon output per person has gone down for 6 years, this has little to do with direct green policies, and much to do with technology improvements. (35)
New Zealand is planting a billion tress, partly because they can afford to. (36)
The amount of land used to produce food for the every growing population is stable, and in the west reducing, with some being returned to the wild. New science, actual science not computer models has made this possible. (37)
We didn’t face starvation, our cities are still above water, and you are still at risk of polar bear attack in the icy north pole.
We are warmer than two centuries ago, but colder than when Genghis threaten much of the globe. The biggest threat many face today is in a massively reduced standard of living following the policies preached to us by the rich and powerful.
Life is good, and getting better.
GDP per capita in Africa has increased in real terms by 60% since the year 2000, by 50% in Latin America, and doubled in Asia.
That’s a real terms increase in prosperity. Why would you want to change that?
Why would we want to put at risk the abundance we have based only on the predictions and fear of those so often proved wrong?
The world is doing well, people’s lives which were through all of human history an immense struggle are improving, all over the globe.
Let’s not throw that all away for fanciful and consistently wrong computer models.
Nigel Lawson sums up the situation well.
‘The fact remains that the most careful empirical studies show that, so far at least, there has been no perceptible increase, globally, in either the number or the severity of extreme weather events. And, as a happy coda, these studies also show that, thanks to scientific and material progress, there has been a massive reduction, worldwide, in deaths from extreme weather events.’
In some ways worse that the economic impact of the global warming scare is the impact to the mental health of the next generation of adults.
According to the Royal College of Psychiatrists there is now a condition called eco-anxiety.
Talk of a ‘climate crisis’ has led to an upsurge in young people reporting feelings of anxiety, helplessness and guilt. (38)
This Christmas Channel 4 screened a special edition of Gogglebox with children watching claims by Extinction Rebellion that ‘scientists say we have only 11 years to act’.
One child counted on her fingers how many years she had left to live and worked out that, the world could end when she was just 19.
One mother described how her daughters had asked what the point was in taking their GCSEs if they weren’t even going to be here a few years later.
We are all old enough to know to ignore Prince Charles when he says the world is ending in just 11 years, someone who is 11 years old is not.
Incident the Prince said that the world was ending in 11 years, over 11 years ago.
Children are easily influenced. Especially once teenagers they like little more than to tell their parents how wrong they and their whole generation is.
Telling children the world will end before they get to be adults is immoral, it damages their mental health and has been proved time and time again patently false.
Naturally want to be part of something big, we like to think our influence on the world around us is greater than it really it.
The world is just fine, humanity is doing great.
Keep the bureaucrats out the way and the natural inventiveness of mankind will ensure things keep getting better.
Leave well alone and lets enjoy the great world we live in.
References:
On January 31st 2020 the United Kingdom finally left the EU. We need to maintain vigilance during the transition, but sovereignty has been returned.
We celebrated in de facto Croydon Vote Leave campaign HQ, The Skylark in South Croydon. Photo’s from the night below, also below are some songs and quotes we thought summed up the day and posted on the 31st on our various social media streams.
”We welcome change and openness; for we believe that freedom and security go together, that the advance of human liberty can only strengthen the cause of world peace. …tear down this wall!”
Ronald Reagan
“I have the heart and stomach of a king, and of a king of England too, and think foul scorn that Parma or Spain, or any prince of Europe, should dare to invade the borders of my realm”
Elizabeth I of England
“I’ve spoken of the shining city all my political life…. a tall, proud city built on rocks stronger than oceans, wind-swept, God-blessed, and teeming with people of all kinds living in harmony and peace; a city with free ports that hummed with commerce and creativity”
Ronald Reagan
“the Roman, in days of old, held himself free from indignity, when he could say Civis Romanus sum so also a British subject, in whatever land he may be, shall feel confident that the watchful eye and the strong arm of England, will protect him against injustice and wrong”
Henry John Temple, 3rd Viscount Palmerston
“No one pretends that democracy is perfect or all-wise. Indeed, it has been said that democracy is the worst form of government except all those other forms that have been tried from time to time”
Winston Churchill
“No single person can liberate a country. You can only liberate a country if you act as a collective.”
Nelson Mandela
We talk to Mal McDermott of the Libertarian Party about Libertarianism and how the Party would tackle issues such as knife crime. We also discuss Irish politics, the upcoming General Election in the Republic and Brexit.
We have previously interviewed Mal in written form, and he spoke at our My Tuppenceworth free speech event on Corporate responsibility to free speech in a free market.
YouTube:
On 27th January Mike Swadling was interviewed in Sputnik Radio on Leo Varadkar’s comments on the Brexit talks and Civil Service and Lords Reform.
“A good trade deal is important for the UK, but frankly we are in a more economically positive situation than the EU”
“It might come down to 30 December, but I suspect that we might see something come through just at the last moment”
Full article – https://sputniknews.com/analysis/202001271078155750-eu-not-prepared-for-brexit-under-wto-terms—pundit/
Audio:
Never let it be said the Croydon Constitutionalists don’t work for their readers. In early December Mike Swadling undertook the sacrifice of visiting Australia, to be able to share some thoughts on their politics with you, and ok take in a little sun. Indeed the title of this article is translated from the Latin state motto of New South Wales, ‘Orta recens quam pura nites’. It’s fair to say this is an incredibly appropriate motto.
I had hoped to meet-up with the, or a Libertarian Party in Australia much as I have previously in the US making the sacrifice of a visit to the Libertarian Party of Orange County, California. Sadly I was not able to get in touch with the party, partly because there isn’t much of a separate libertarian strain of Australian politics, indeed only one member of the federal parliament describes themselves as a libertarian, although a couple do descript themselves as Classical Liberals.
This might be partly because politics on the right in Australia is already coalition between the Liberal Party, the main centre right party and more city based and the more country based National Party. This coalition does allow for a more broad base for people on the economic right. It may also be partly because voting is compulsory, this results in turnout often around 91% (a $20 fine for not voting in federal elections) and a centralisation of parties.
At a federal level the general election held in May 2019 resulted in a big win for the Coalition in both the House of Representatives and Senate. This came as a surprise to the national and global media, in the same way that Brexit and Trumps wins came as a surprise. That all too often the media lives in a bubble that doesn’t speak to the people who voted., Leave, for Trump and for the Coalition was all too evident in their reaction to the win. Indeed I have written and spoke about this before citing how in 2013 the Ozzies BBC, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, journalists were surveyed with 41% saying they would vote Green, 32% Labor and just 14.7% for the Coalition. At the next Australian general election the Coalition received 45% of the vote, and the Greens just 8.6 percent. If you’re interested in knowing more about the Federal Elections I would recommend Helen Dale on Triggernometry after you have finished reading and sharing this page with you all friends of course.
New South Wales
My first encounter down under with Australian politics was to discover this delightful poster on a lamp post in Darling Harbour, Sydney.
I wondered if Jeremy Corbyn worried about his impending election defeat had escaped the country early. Being in an area where property prices start around the A$1.5million mark (~£750K) and increase quickly, how are these people not already the rich? Maybe the Islington set had joined me?
My next encounter was a protest against the Carmichael coal mine, set-up in Queensland. The Stop Adani group appeared to be protesting a private party at Luna Park on Sydney Bay. The protest was peaceful and from the harbour ferry looked fairly good natured, if a little loud.
A country that has had 28 years of economic growth can afford some environmental protests. However much of that growth is based on the sale of natural resources including coal to the ever hungry Chinese market. The fact that the protest wasn’t better attended may be in part because Australia has recently recorded its second straight quarter where the economy shrank on a per capita basis. Uncertainty is also growing because of increasing property prices which are pricing people further away from jobs. A private coal mine provides well paid jobs, available to people with a range of educational backgrounds and jobs that can’t be exported. What’s not to like about that.
It’s safe to say most people didn’t pay too much attention to the protest preferring to enjoy for view of Sydney Harbour Bridge and Opera House.
Fair dinkum
By and large the Australians I encountered where not that bothered by politics. In a country where the weather is hot and life is pretty good, who can blame them. One of the immediate things I noticed about Australia was the lack of Police. Not that it felt like they were needed, it was in my limited experience a country at ease.
There are challenges, not least because China looms large. Chinese millionaires and billionaires are understandably keen to move their wealth out of the communist state. This has led to a major property investment in Sydney and the city expanding with new blocks of flat around railway stations in the suburbs (much like London) paid for with Chinese money. This change to an area creates some concern in areas that were full of detached Australian houses, but thankfully no real backlash. Chinese students are another area of concern. Australia has 208,000 Chinese students, this brings in much income to the universities, but also means something like 10% of all students are from China. This number is large, really large in a country of 24 million people. Walking around Sydney and Melbourne you are aware of the Chinese influence. Australia is a nation of immigrants and blends a variety of peoples into being Australians exceptionally well. It needs to continue the self-belief to do that.
The expansion around Sydney is causing problems many of us in Croydon understand as the previous suburbs become part of the city. An example of this and the part us Croydonians might not understand is at Yarra bay. The bay which is part of Bottony Bay where Captain Cook first made land in Australia, is at risk of becoming part of a port for visiting cruise ships taking people to Sydney. The locals are unhappy, and at 8 and a half miles from the CBD (Central Business District where the main attractions are) it does seem an odd choice. However Sydney Bay is busy and often has a few cruise ships in it. Whilst maybe not this solution, it’s easy it see the need to change things. The tricky part for Croydonians is imagining the River Wandle over burdened with tourists.
The woke crowd is around in Australia. In the public buildings there is always someone keen to acknowledge the traditional owners of the land. In the many zoos and wildlife parks you are constantly told how everything is endangered. With a population density of 9 people per square mile, I suspect many species in Australia really aren’t. Checking the numbers for Koala Bears, you see estimates from experts in the range of 329,000 to 43,000 with doomsdayer predictions rather than any sense of actual facts. The Immigration Museum in Melbourne was painfully politically correct, but the Shrine of Remembrance was both fitting and proudly patriotic.
But Australians are by and large unaffected by it all. At one stop in a League Club, talk turned to the Australian Marriage Law Postal Survey. The government pledged to facilitate a private member’s bill to legalise same-sex marriage in the event of a “Yes” outcome. It’s fair to say most of those around needed to be reminded of the vote. The outcome was 61.6% in favour of same-sex marriage. Largely the people I was with didn’t feel strongly about it, and felt free to talk about the pros and cons of the decision without entrenched views in a way you couldn’t imagine happening in London. Rather than taking a strong stance on the issue they were more interested in ensuring your reporter had another pitcher of VB. Rather than make my excuses and leave, I felt best to stay to ensure I was a gracious guest and good representative of the mother country.
The League Clubs and Returned and Services League of Australia Clubs (RSL) are interesting places, supporting respectively rugby league clubs and former service men and women. The clubs are often major venues with a mix of places to eat, drink, be entertained and importantly gamble! The Pubs as we would think of them are often called Hotels due to historic licencing laws. These clubs are the main entertainment venue in the sprawling suburbs.
One welcome input from politics was Hawke’s Larger. Bob Hawke was the Australian PM of much of my childhood. Many Australians reasonably blame him for the move from a laissez-faire Australia to today’s more overtly taxed and regulated nation. However the larger was great and policies aside, we can all only wish all political legacies taste so sweet.
Parliaments
Australia is a federal nation. Each state and territory has significant independence from the national government in Canberra. So each state has its own parliament.
My first visit was to the New South Wales Parliament in Sydney. At first glance you will notice how similar to the UK parliament it is. The parliament is split between the Assembly and Council. These broadly represent the equivalent of the House of Commons and House of Lords. If you weren’t clear about that correlation the Green and Red benches and carpets make it clear. On top of that the fact Hansard take notes in parliament and the Assembly calls out Stranger in the House if they see a non-member cements the deal.
They admit they copied the model from the UK. The Britishness of the founder members and the honouring of the Queens visit make it clear how closely we are aligned. The Assembly currently has the Coalition in the majority, members are elected in single member constituencies using a preferential system. The Council also held by the Coalition is elected by proportional representation in which the whole state is a single electorate. Could this be a better model for the UK to import from the former colony?
The NWS Parliament council chamber is quite small, frankly as it should be. It won’t come as a great surprise the Parliament building keeps expanding as its members ‘require’ greater space and acquire greater powers.
The Victoria Parliament in Melbourne, also models itself on the UK parliament. My reputation preceding me meant I was granted a private tour, or no one else turned up on the day. I will let you choose the reason.
Victoria and specifically Melbourne split themselves from New South Wales in 1850 and a rivalry (bordering on contempt) still exists today. Victoria is politically to the left of New South Wales. The current government is Labor with a large majority in the Assembly and being the largest party in the Council. As with New South Wales the Assembly members are elected in single member constituencies using a preferential system. The Council is elected from multi member super constituencies. The more proportional system leads to some smaller parties like the Shooters, Fishers and Farmers Party, Justice focused on “putting victims above criminals”, Animal Justice Party, Transport Matters Party opposed to the deregulation of taxis, and The Reason Party a “civil libertarian alternative” formally known as the Australian Sex Party.
This leftness of Victoria has seen a more ‘progressive’ set of laws from the parliament. My otherwise excellent tour guide was keen to point out that the Victoria Parliament was the first to pass laws for seat belt use and to allow assisted dying. As if infringing liberty and making suicides easier were positives.
Still the parliament is representative. Despite moves to ‘collaborate’ and align laws across all the states in Australia, as we find leaving the EU, more devolved power at a local level, meeting the different needs of different areas is immensely positive.
Sports Mad
The last sacrifice your intrepid reporter undertook was to tour the MCG (Melbourne Cricket Ground) the 100,024 capacity home of Australian Cricket and Australian Rules Football. The ground is home to 4 Australian rules football teams and the local area includes a Rugby League and Football (soccer to them) stadium and is home to the Australian Open at Melbourne Park.
The record attendance at the MCG was 143,750 for Billy Graham in 1959. I mention this because I find it an interesting fact, and to note as someone who isn’t particularly religious it’s small wonder so many were brought together to praise god in a country quite so wonderful.
Title image by Squiresy92 with elements adapted from Sodacan – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, Link
With a late change of venue following the suddenly closure of the Milan Bar due to sewage problems, the Leavers of Croydon drinks didn’t get off to the best start.
However we rearranged at the last minute for The George and had a great evening cramped in and looking forward to the 31st…..
Thanks all who joined us. Sorry to anyone we couldn’t get the message out to on the venue change.
Email [email protected] to ensure we can keep you posted on future events.
We visit The Pembroke in Coulsdon to discuss Mike’s recent article on ways to reduce government debt.
Full article can be found here: https://croydonconstitutionalists.uk/how-to-shrink-government/
YouTube:
Croydon Councillor Jeet Bains stood in the arguably safe Labour seat of Luton North in the recent General Election. He first became a councillor in 2010 in the then Coulsdon West ward. In 2018 he campaigned in Addiscombe East and split the ward with Labour’s Councillor Maddie Henson winning the other seat, a somewhat surprising result written about in ConservativeHome.
Jeet thank-you for your time..
How did you find it being a Parliamentary rather council candidate, what were the big differences?
It was an honour to be the Conservative Parliamentary candidate for Luton North. I absolutely loved it, so much so that I felt this is what I was born to do – not a feeling one often gets. For me, every minute was a joy. Whether it was pounding the streets for hours on end delivering leaflets, talking to people outside shops, being praised, receiving abuse, answering questions on radio stations, debating at hustings, going to different places of worship and community centres – I thoroughly enjoyed it. I made good friends – some stayed by my side day-in and day-out. There were the Sikh businessmen, the Kashmiri radio hosts, the Irish construction guys, the Afro-Caribbean church community…innumerable and wonderful community members. It is an experience like no other. I’ve been thinking about why I liked it so much. My wife says it’s because I like being the centre of attention…
As a council candidate, the issues are obviously very local – streets, planning, bins etc. Many people do, however, vote according to the national picture even in a local council election. In fact we come across many people who aren’t aware that the local council is controlled by Labour – they just assume that, because the Conservatives are in power nationally, that the Conservatives therefore run the council too.
Running for Parliament is different. I found that people are much more engaged and passionate. The issues are also on a wider scale: I received questions about nuclear disarmament, abortion, euthanasia, the environment, and the NHS. I also attended several hustings, community meetings and was interviewed by local and BBC Radio.
In short, running for Parliament is more intense, and I enjoyed this.
“Throughout the campaign, I felt that in this election the electorate had a clear choice between a Marxist agenda from Labour and an economy-boosting agenda from the Conservatives”
What led to you being a candidate in Luton North? What were the big issues in the area?
To stand for Parliament in the Conservative Party, you must be an approved candidate. Being one, I was asked to stand in Luton North.
Luton suffers from higher than average poverty levels, and so for me an emphasis on improving the economy and generating jobs was important. I made the case that getting more companies and government departments/agencies to locate in Luton would create more jobs. This would lead to people having more money in their pockets and feeling better about their lives, and there would be a beneficial effect for the local economy. This was in contrast to my Labour opponent who emphasised public spending and advocated scrapping Universal Credit. Throughout the campaign, I felt that in this election the electorate had a clear choice between a Marxist agenda from Labour and an economy-boosting agenda from the Conservatives. This was quite different to recent elections in which people would complain that there wasn’t much difference between the parties.
Housing was another big issue in Luton, as more people are coming to locate there from other areas. The experience I have of dealing with this issue in Croydon was very useful. People also felt that they were waiting too long for GP appointments, so this was an area on which I was particularly committing to focus.
We’re sure you’re pleased with the overall election result. What do you hope to see the government deliver on?
It was a great night for the Conservatives. The Great British Public utterly rejected Corbyn and his hard Left agenda and, frankly, saved the country. I met people who aren’t usually very interested in politics but, on this occasion, were quite appalled at the prospect of Corbyn in No. 10. The Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, has committed to getting Brexit done, levelling up investment across the nation, and investing much more in health and education. I think this is absolutely right, and I know the government will deliver.
More broadly, the country now has that great benefit of the first-past-the-post system, viz. a clear majority. Gone is the previous deadlock in Parliament, and with it the endless gloom propagated by those that refused to accept the result of the referendum. There is an air of positivity and energy to get things done. I think we will see quite a transformation in the country. In particular, I think there is a permanent shift of political loyalties that has occurred, for example in many northern constituencies. I worry, however, about how it is that some of our younger generation have been convinced that the solutions to their very valid concerns lie in Marxism. I hope the government gives attention to re-making the case for capitalism.
You used to represent Coulsdon West and are now in Addiscombe East. What are the similarities and differences between the two wards?
Coulsdon West was larger, with the usual three councillors representing the ward. Addiscombe East is smaller and thus has two councillors. It’s interesting that in Coulsdon West there was just one Residents’ Association for the whole ward, which is quite normal, whereas in Addiscombe East we are blessed with four!
In Coulsdon West there are family homes in the main, and the issues I dealt with there were chiefly around planning, building control, and traffic and parking in Coulsdon Town. I was also involved in the Cane Hill development – a fine example of Conservatives providing housing of various kinds, in contrast to the Labour council policy of wantonly permitting highly inappropriate developments in existing streets.
Addiscombe East has a greater variety of housing and, I guess with it being a marginal ward and in the Croydon Central parliamentary constituency, the politics is a little more intense. A long running issue, and quite jarring to local residents, has been traffic flows on local streets. An historic decision to make certain roads one way in neighbouring Addiscombe West has resulted in a wholly unequal distribution of traffic on neighbouring roads. In essence, Elgin Road is now flooded with traffic night and day, whereas the residents of Canning Road in Addiscombe West benefit from hearing the birds chirping and their children playing safely in the street. All sensible people agree that this is an anomaly, but the fact that Labour control the Council and all the councillors in Addiscombe West are Labour has nothing at all to do with this sad problem remaining unresolved.
“in Addiscombe East. We focus on helping and making a difference to local residents rather than fighting over our political differences. I think local people quite like this arrangement”
Addiscombe East is the Boroughs only split ward. How do you find representing an area with a Councillor of a different party?
It actually works well. I get on well with Maddie Henson, the Labour councillor here, and we keep things friendly and cordial. I have heard that in the past where there has been a split ward, the councillors from different political parties barely spoke to one another. It’s not like that in Addiscombe East. We focus on helping and making a difference to local residents rather than fighting over our political differences. I think local people quite like this arrangement.
What are your thoughts more generally on Croydon politics?
Croydon is a great town with huge potential. I think Croydon has been let down by the Labour-run council. The town centre has declined, major employers have left, Westfield is nowhere to be seen, and Labour have a quite deliberate policy of allowing highly unsuitable residential developments (mostly small flats) in the middle of streets with family homes. Everyone was hoping for some positive news from the redevelopment of Fairfield Halls, but even that looks to have been botched, and there are complaints arising about where and how the money has been spent.
All of this means that there is a lot for politicians to address. The case needs to be made to local people on which party can best solve these problems. My focus would be on attracting employers to Croydon, providing jobs to people so that they feel responsible and can look after their families. I also want to see a relentless focus on improving the standard of our schools, so that our children have the springboard for getting good jobs.
I think a directly elected mayor could make difference, because the Council is patently failing. Let’s take a tangible example. The government announced a £28.8bn National Roads Fund and an increase to the National Productivity Investment Fund so that it totals £37 billion. I’m not aware that either the Croydon North MP or the Croydon Central MP have made any efforts to have some of these funds come to Croydon. In contrast, Chris Philp, the Croydon South MP, has made herculean efforts in, for instance, getting funding allocated to improve the Brighton-London rail line so that Croydon passengers benefit. This is the kind of thing that a directly elected mayor can really boost.
“We have a great tradition of being free to hear all sides of an argument make their cases robustly, and we shouldn’t lose this. Shouting that the end is nigh is, I suggest, counter-productive”
On Twitter you have expressed some concern with the doom mongering of the environmental lobby. What sensible action do you think we should be taking on the environment?
I think that people don’t respond well to doom mongering, and there is an adverse reaction to endless lectures. At the same time, most people want to do the right thing and be environmentally friendly. If we look at how the world came together to tackle the ozone layer issue, that is an excellent example of how people made conscious buying decisions which stopped the ozone layer being damaged. Similarly, the government’s measures on charging for plastic bags in shops and the ban on the sale of products containing microbeads are measures that make a real difference. The government has also committed to achieving net zero carbon emissions by 2050. That may seem a long way off but it is realistic and achievable. In contrast Labour was talking about reaching net zero by 2030 – something that even the GMB union refused to support.
I think the key is to be realistic and help people to do the right thing – because, most of the time, they want to. I also think we’re not hearing serious dissenting voices, such as Lord Matt Ridley who presents data and questions some of the conclusions that we are asked to accept. We have a great tradition of being free to hear all sides of an argument make their cases robustly, and we shouldn’t lose this. Shouting that the end is nigh is, I suggest, counter-productive. Also, walking along the top of tube trains in Canning Town is probably best avoided.
Any other thoughts you would like to leave us with?
Politics is important and (as apparently Charles de Gaul said) it’s too important to be left to the politicians. I’m encouraged by the increasing engagement in politics by young people. It doesn’t matter which party you join or what your cause is, it’s good to be involved in matters that affect you and your community. I am worried, however, that someone who was utterly unfit to be Prime Minister was one step away from achieving it. It is important that we look at how it is that the hard Left ideology, long ago rejected as damaging to society, has reared its ugly head again.
Finally, a word about social media. Its ability to amplify and to distort is something that we are just beginning to understand. Our greatest minds will need to be brought together to wrestle with this problem. Anonymous accounts, fake news, false utterances with no consequence – freedom and liberty need armour against them.
Jeet can be found on twitter at @Jeet__Bains.
