Boris Johnson, he prepares for showdown talks with European Commission President, Ursula Von Der Leyon. The European Union will be hoping their Queen can deliver checkmate, as the longest running game of political chess in modern times continues. Sputnik Radio spoke with Michael Swadling from the Croydon Constitutionalists to find out how important this meeting is for Brexit negotiations and why it could be the end for Boris Johnson if he fails to protect British sovereignty.
Blog
How to avoid Croydon’s fate – Harry Fone article for Conservative Home
Harry Fone the Grassroots Campaign Manager for the TaxPayers’ Alliance has written in Conservative Home, on how to avoid the fate of Croydon Council.
“Between 1997 and 2010, before the cuts, Croydon Council raised rates 13 out of 14 years, leaving it with the seventh most expensive council tax charges in London”
“Frankly, access to loans from the PWLB was all too easy. One former council leader described the process as “absolutely bonkers” having requested hundreds of millions of pounds only to receive it “three days later.”
“As Council Tax increased, both Negrini and Lacey repeatedly failed local residents, but enjoyed gold plated pay at their expense. Council leaders shouldn’t assume that paying top dollar for chief executives will benefit taxpayers. All too often it ends up costing residents dear.”
Full article: https://www.conservativehome.com/localgovernment/2020/12/harry-fone-how-to-avoid-croydons-fate.html
This follow a litany of failures by the council which resulted in the section 114 notice being issued which we write about here, a damming audit report, and years of excessive salaries and spending.
For more on Croydon Council see our other articles: https://croydonconstitutionalists.uk/category/croydon-council/
Debating Society speech – Why it will take more than a year to get back to normal
On December 1st the Coulsdon and Purley Debating Society debated the motion “This time next year life will be back to normal”
Mike Swadling opposed the debate, and below is his speech delivered to the society via Zoom. As always with this friendly group the debate was good natured, very well proposed and drew out some great views from the audience.
“This time next year life will be back to normal” – Opposing motion
What a year we have had, and expect to have for a good few months to come. We have lost too many people, lost too many freedoms, and will continue to suffer from the economic consequences and health care losses of lockdown.
Meanwhile new ways of living have become part of our new normal. Many people who had never held a conference call or video conference, now do so daily. Millions have worked from home all year.
The knock at the door of an Amazon delivery is now a familiar sound, and if you’re lucky enough to get a slot, we have become used to home deliveries for our food shopping.
Now much, as I would like it to be so, I don’t believe this time next year, life will be back to the old normal. Nor do I believe, we will be living fundamentally changed lives, but the way we live has seen a step change, and will continue to evolve.
“let me offer some hope, the pandemic levels of death ended in June, when death rates thankfully returned to the 5 year normal. Life with Covid became endemic. Predictions of a second waves of deaths have proved thankfully untrue”
First let me offer some hope, the pandemic levels of death ended in June, when death rates thankfully returned to the 5 year normal. Life with Covid became endemic. Predictions of a second waves of deaths have proved thankfully untrue, even as cases have risen. Treatments are getting better, the NHS was not overwhelmed at the peak, and won’t be now. We also have the prospect of a multitude of vaccines to build up further immunity in the population. We can look forward to the future, where the true threat of Covid 19, is seen as no more serious than threat of a normal seasonal flu.
But the absence of Covid deaths does not mean an immediate return to a year ago. For instance let us look locally for examples of how things are changing.
Most of us have gone a year without visiting a department store. Debenhams in Croydon has closed, John Lewis, a flagship store for the new Westfield development, has closed its Purley Way outlet. Arcadia, which includes Topshop, Burton and Dorothy Perkins, based out in Valley Park is reported to be on the brink of collapse. The Westfield shopping centre unlikely to happen before the first lockdown, is now almost impossible to believe.
With retail on the life support from furlough schemes, it’s hard to imagine the Whitgift centre ever truly reviving. No doubt we will see something new in our town centre, but online shopping has ensured it won’t be the kind of all-encompassing retail centre, we have seen for all our lives.
Aside from retail, Croydon has been for many years a major office centre. These offices have now largely stood empty since March. Offices that cost millions to run are now being run from peoples spare rooms, dining tables or sofas. Why would a business want their staff to return, to reincur those costs?
Now I don’t believe the world of work will fundamentally change so much we will never be back in the office. Distant relations work in part because we have built up trust and connections from having physically meet.
But I wouldn’t overplay that fact, I like many now work with teams all over the globe, I have never meet the people I work with in the US, Malaysia, or Italy, yet we get on, we laugh and joke, and importantly we get the job done.
People are sociable, it would be handy to meet-up with my local colleagues from time to time. Frankly it would be good to get out of my house. I’ve not seen much evidence you can fully train people to do a job remotely. Some office jobs require a higher degree of physical interaction, and of course away from offices there is a whole world of world that requires a physical presence.
But what does this mean for Croydon?
Well my prediction, and hardly an original one, is that we will move from a world where many work from home 1-2 days a week, to a world where people go into the office say 1-4 days per month. Offices will have less desks and more meeting rooms and breakout spaces. I firmly suspect enterprising coffee shops will be adding ‘work pods’ you can hire to get together with a few co-workers.
What happens to the plethora of office blocks in central Croydon? Their use, can only reduce. What will we need? 80% of what we have today? 50% maybe, or even just 20%? I don’t know, but I do know the twin engines of our town and indeed our city of Offices and Retail have both fundamentally changed.
Now what to do with all these office blocks? We are already building a large number of housing blocks in Croydon. Many people have concerns about this making Croydon a dormitory town, and that these homes are not suitable for families.
With people traveling to work less and working from home more, needing space in their homes, and dare I say it, maybe even a garden, these home are not suitable for todays’ let alone tomorrows living requirements.
With a need for housing people will no doubt be cramped into converted office blocks, even with the problems that will bring.
This does however offer one possible future for the Whitgift Centre. Conversion to a much needed central park for those living in the new high rises around it.
Our town will not be the same this time next year, although I’m sure things will feel far better than today, they will be far from normal.
From the local changes let us look at some national changes. Great Frost of 1709 was the coldest European winter during the past 500 years. It caused widespread crop failure and economic devastation. We are now facing the worst economic failure since then. Let’s just put that into some perspective.
In the intervening years we have faced Jacobite revolution, a global 7 Year war with Louis XV’s France, fought in and lost the Americas, seen off Napoleon, fought two World Wars against Germany, seen massive economic changes with agricultural and industrial revolutions, introduced and repealed The Corn Laws, seen global economic depression in the 1930’s, formed a Union with and given independence to Ireland. Gained and lost the world’s largest ever Empire, Yet none of these lead to the economic crisis we now face.
To put it simply, Lockdown has caused more damage than the Luftwaffe.
The Office of Budget Responsibility forecasts the economy will shrink by 11.3% this year, and we will borrow £394bn the equivalent of 19% of GDP. We are in a hole, and with new tougher Tiers in place, we have just ordered new digging equipment.
We don’t know how bad unemployment will be, how many shops will shut down, how much the transport industry will contract, or how little of the hospitality sector will remain after furlough ends, and economic realities kick in, but we do know it will be devastating.
Recovery from an economic shock this size won’t come quick.
The income tax was first introduced in the Napoleonic Wars as a temporary measure and is still with us today. Blanket restrictions were applied to pub opening times during World War One, and left largely unchanged until 1988. Rationing stayed in place for 9 years after the end of the second world war, and we didn’t pay off our war debts until 2006.
This economic shock is bigger than any of them. It will take far, far longer than a year to get us out of this hole.
“Pre-lockdown a 1000 people a day were diagnosed with Cancer. That has largely stopped for the last 9 months….The consequences a year from now, of the shutting down of large parts of our health service don’t bear contemplation”
We also see health consequences. Pre-lockdown a 1000 people a day were diagnosed with Cancer. That has largely stopped for the last 9 months. Many minor operations have been postponed and will become major operations. The consequences a year from now, of the shutting down of large parts of our health service don’t bear contemplation. On top of that the coming unemployment and lost prosperity, is a health crisis of its own.
Worse than all this I believe, and likely to have far longer consequences, is our loss of freedom.
I hope you all agree, Everyone has following the rights
- The right to liberty
- To not be subjected to arbitrary interference with privacy or home
- freedom of movement and residence within the borders of each state
- freedom of religion; ….either alone or in community with others and in public or private
- freedom of opinion and expression
- freedom of peaceful assembly and association.
- the right to work, and to free choice of employment
- to freely participate in the cultural life of the community, to enjoy the arts
What I have read to you there are extracts of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
Articles 3, 5, 13, 18, 19, 20, 23 and 27, of which, are being broken right now by our government. This is not a partisan point, as our opposition parties are arguably even more enthusiastic about the Covid Laws
Since 1215 with Magna Carta, through the 1689 Bill of Rights, to universal suffrage, freedoms have been hard won. Those in power always want more, and by necessity will sacrifice your liberty to take it.
“If you believe these freedoms, all these freedoms, will be back with us, and life will return to normal in a year from now, I have a bridge to sell you. Only under the current law I’m not allowed to trade”
If you believe these freedoms, all these freedoms, will be back with us, and life will return to normal in a year from now, I have a bridge to sell you. Only under the current law I’m not allowed to trade, you’re not allowed out to see the bridge, and shaking hands on a deal will see us both severely fined.
Some genies have escaped their bottle, and won’t be put back. The economy will take many years to come back, the NHS will be dealing with the health consequences of this year for much of the next decade and who knows, when we will simply be allowed to do what we used to think of as normal interactions.
Life won’t return to normal by this time next year, but we should do our damnedest to make it as normal as possible.
“We have no right to protest, the churches are closed, drones were following hill walkers and police ask you to report those breaking the rules, and government literally banned couples who live in separate houses from meeting up”
Summing up
It has become something of a cliché to say George Orwell’s 1984, was meant as a warning of a dystopian future not a how to guide for government.
In the book criticism of the state is forbidden, there is no organised religion, you are under constant surveillance, and intimate relationships are strictly controlled.
We have no right to protest, the churches are closed, drones were following hill walkers and police ask you to report those breaking the rules, and government literally banned couples who live in separate houses from meeting up.
These will be temporary measures, just like we’re still in last March’s 3 week lockdown, to flatten the curve.
A year from now we will be in the midst of a very real economic crisis. Many shops, pubs and restaurants will be boarded up. Hotels will be closed, tourist attractions behind shutters. We will have empty offices being converted into the troubled high-rises of the future, and we likely see a massive reduction of choice of public transport. Things will not be normal.
The human spirt will however prevail. The economy will bounce back. We will push to regain our lost rights, or much like we are seeing in this lockdown, many will just ignore those in authority. Life will return to normal but it will be a struggle and one that sadly will take us well beyond next year.
Image: https://pixabay.com/illustrations/virus-covid-science-covid19-4937553/
Article in January 2021 CR5 Magazine https://cr5.co.uk
Interview with Ian Woodley, SDP organiser in Surrey
The Social Democratic Party (SDP) continued to exist after the merger with the Liberal Party to form the ironically named Liberal Democrats. The pro-Brexit party, anti-lockdown and anti-woke SDP have attracted some high profile support. We interviewed Andrew Bence, back in April and have published and worked with the party.
More locally Ian Woodley is the party organiser in Surrey. An ex-Croydon resident and Palace fan, we spoke with him about the party’s plans in the county.
Ian thank-you for your time.
Can you introduce yourself to our readers?
My name is Ian Woodley. I am the Surrey Coordinator for the Social Democratic Party. I was born In South London and spent my school years in Croydon, Elmwood and Selhurst Grammar /High and now live in Woking. I run a couple of businesses that raise investment for the restaurant sector and British manufactured goods, I have 4 children and one grandson.
Food, Music and Sport dominate my personal interests, lifelong Palace fan, once chairman of Dulwich Hamlet FC, Harlequins supporter, Americana music and a keen home cook.
The party is gaining publicity, but it’s still fair to say the SDP is not a well-known as it once was. What first attracted you to the party?
The party has had a roller coaster past. It is 40 years old in January and hit the heights with the “gang of four” in the early 80s. Then followed what turned out to be a disastrous alliance with the Liberals which ended in a full merger and gave them the word “Democrat” which is something over Brexit they have obviously forgotten. Those who didn’t want to throw their lot in with the Liberals such as Dr David Owen kept the flag flying and the party has existed at grass roots level ever since. Membership is now growing as we have enjoyed greater visibility. Like most people I have gone almost full circle on political views as I have grown older, before joining the SDP I was an “inactive” member of the Conservative party although was never a fan of austerity and got very frustrated with the infighting and ill discipline over Brexit. I now very much feel at home.
“at the time of writing I really hope Boris doesn’t bottle it, we have come too far for a fudged compromise. I am in line with the party’s views on lockdown in that what we really needed was a longer term consistent policy not the endless stop/starts which have destroyed some sectors and as for woke, I see this an unwelcome American import”
We described the SDP as pro-Brexit party, anti-lockdown and anti-woke SDP. Would you agree with these descriptions and what are your thoughts on where things are on these issues?
All of those things are certainly true although that sells us a bit short. We are very much Red Tory Blue Labour. We sit left of centre on economic matters such as a fairer distribution of wealth and renationalising the railways. As you suggest we are socially conservative although radical in some matters such as the abolition of the house of lords and creation of an English parliament. Specifically, at the time of writing I really hope Boris doesn’t bottle it, we have come too far for a fudged compromise. I am in line with the party’s views on lockdown in that what we really needed was a longer term consistent policy not the endless stop/starts which have destroyed some sectors and as for woke, I see this an unwelcome American import which has highlighted that our media and academia is laden with progressive liberals who are a real danger to free speech and British culture.
We are hopefully coming out of the worst of the Covid Lockdown crisis. What would you do to help us recover?
Firstly I would say that now there is news of a vaccine do not expect the government to change its approach. To me I think the discussion around state aid and Brexit are crucial. What the government need is free a hand to stimulate British Industry. I think the major difference between us and the other parties on this is that we would be far more interventional and not leave everything to the vagaries of the free market which would mean more jobs effectively exported to China. We have a buy British policy where possible for government procurement.
“We have a policy for new immigrants “All will be required to agree to a pledge to uphold and adhere to contemporary British values as a condition of migration” which will light up the wokeratti but is what we feel most British people would expect”
The SDP are a communitarian party, what do you think we should be doing to build a more coherent national community?
That isn’t a five-minute job as our communities have been undermined for decades. Culturally I think the governments Australian style immigration policy is on the right track in that we need to slow the flow to allow things to settle. Never were the British people asked for their views on mass uncontrolled immigration. Most are in favour of immigration but not at the speed it has happened in past decades a situation made worse by there never being a plan for integration. The free market liberals whether they be Labour or Conservative have viewed immigration as a means to plug gaps in the need for short term unskilled labour but without factoring in issues such as housing and the NHS which have become stretched. We have also hugely ignored the needs of our own working class who have understandably felt that they have been pushed to the back of the queue. What some people call racism is actually resentment which has built as a result of thoughtless government policy. We have a policy for new immigrants “All will be required to agree to a pledge to uphold and adhere to contemporary British values as a condition of migration” which will light up the wokeratti but is what we feel most British people would expect. As a nation we have grown afraid to actually say what we want on this issue.
Economically there are huge extremes of wealth and the North South divide is real. We keep hearing the term levelling up but that will not happen on its own and will need steering from government.
You’re an ex-Croydonian what are your memories of growing up here, and thoughts on the now bankrupt borough?
I spent years 2-22 in Croydon, as mentioned earlier I was at Elmwood in West Croydon, which had the countries first schools steel band! Going to see Palace at the age of 6, the last year of the 11 plus and going to Selhurst Grammar seeing the head boy wearing a cape. No more first year intake so we were the youngest boys in the school for 4 years in a row. Discovering Lady Edridge girls school even though Selhurst girls school was right next door. Working my Saturday job at Sainsburys in the Whitgift centre and the many pubs we used to frequent around Croydon. I must admit not being close enough to understand what has happened with Croydon council but I was saddened by the news as I am sure most old croydonians were.
“We have made ourselves busy in objecting to Surrey County Council’s bid to get rid of the 11 district and borough councils to create one mega unitary authority. Too big and not accountable”
How are the SDP making headway in Surrey, how have you been campaigning and what are your plans once we’re back to a more normal situation?
I only took on my role this summer so have not actually enjoyed a period of freedom to convene a meeting of existing members live so to speak and comms revolve around zoom calls . This is massively frustrating as it has been very difficult to make any headway. We are focused on getting some candidates out for the forthcoming Council elections in May and will be all guns blazing once we can get back to some form of normal. I think in common with most members of the party we believe we have a compelling message but as we get so little coverage progress is painfully slow.
We have made ourselves busy in objecting to Surrey County Council’s bid to get rid of the 11 district and borough councils to create one mega unitary authority. Too big and not accountable.
What are the local issues you think the party can make headway on in Surrey?
Surrey is very Conservative, all 11 constituencies are viewed as safe seats so we are under no illusion that we have an uphill battle. That said I feel there are a great number of disillusioned Tory voters who would certainly feel comfortable our policies and I think a number of people vote Lib Dem thinking they are centrist when on many issues they clearly aren’t. Housing and Transport are the big two. Its impossible for young couples to get onto the housing ladder and our solution is to dust off the concept of council housing which worked well for decades but then became ideologically unacceptable. We would also nationalise the railways its expensive and not very good and every Surrey commuter we feel would happily encourage a complete rethink.
If you could introduce two big changes Surrey and two nationally what would they be?
Only two? In Surrey as mentioned above, we must resolve the housing issues and make public transport more affordable and efficient, it should be our jewel in the crown.
Nationally, lets go big, proportional representation and abolish the house of lords. The people of this country will not get the government it needs and deserves under the current archaic system.
“Brexit was a fantastic reminder of this, forgetting the EU for a minute, it was the British people saying Oy! This is not what we want! That however was the start of a bigger fight to defend democracy not the finish as we found out”
Are there any thoughts you would like to leave our readers with?
Wow, haven’t I said enough. Without sounding like a conspiracy theorist, which I am not. We need to be very alive to the creeping globalism of huge tech firms, big pharma , vested interest and a political elite who seem to forget they are accountable to the people who put hem there. Brexit was a fantastic reminder of this, forgetting the EU for a minute, it was the British people saying Oy! This is not what we want! That however was the start of a bigger fight to defend democracy not the finish as we found out.
Learning the lessons of EU membership we must not sleepwalk into a situation where we find that our views and our vote no longer count.
Ian can be found on Twitter at https://twitter.com/IanWoodley6. The SDP are online https://sdp.org.uk/, on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCxHouHEwW8AguK_Vi1y_duQ with some great interviews, on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/TheSDPUK and on Twitter https://twitter.com/TheSDPUK.
Podcast Episode 47 – Sean Finch: BBC Humbug, Green Industrial Revolution & Canada Trade Deal
We are joined by local Libertarian activist Sean Finch, as we discuss BBC Radio 1 banning the Christmas classic Fairytale of New York from their airwaves, Boris’ 10 point Green Revolution and the Canada Continuity Trade Deal. We then chat with Sean about his resignation from the Libertarian Party, his involvement in anti-lockdown protests and his plans for the future.
Follow Sean on Facebook and on our site at https://croydonconstitutionalists.uk/category/sean-finch/
Fire and rehire
Hoong-Wai Cheah asks –What is fire and rehire? And why does it happen?
What is the effect of banning fire and rehire? Bad policies can make a bad situation much worse – we have to be careful to not let good intentions cloud our judgement.
Driven by Labour MPs (of course), Parliament is now talking about banning the employment practice known as “fire and rehire” – a method for employers to reduce the wages they pay their employees, by releasing them from their current employment contract (fire), and then re-employing them under a new contract with lower wages (rehire). Sounds like a reprehensible tactic, doesn’t it? It’s unfair that employers can do this to their employees, right?
“Sometimes businesses do need to reduce costs. Not just for the sake of profit, but it could be the difference between breaking even or unsustainable losses”
Why would an employer fire and rehire?
Sometimes businesses do need to reduce costs. Not just for the sake of profit, but it could be the difference between breaking even or unsustainable losses. Many big businesses will have bigger financial reserves, or are able to borrow money easier. But smaller businesses don’t have enough flexibility in their operational margins to weather losses for long periods.
“why is it fair for any employee to get paid more for their work than everyone else on the market who does the same work?”
Why would an employee accept fire and rehire?
If the employee can command a better wage elsewhere, why haven’t they gone to work for another employer, instead of coming back to their existing employer for a lower wage? Employees aren’t forced to stay with any employer. In a worst-case situation, the employee has to stay on the new lower wage only until they can find better employment elsewhere.
In most cases, unhappy employees facing an unfair reduction in wages should be able find another employer who pays them better. The only situations in which this is not true is if 1) there is a general economic downturn so wages are falling everywhere, or 2) the employee was being paid above market rate to begin with.
In both cases, why is it fair for any employee to get paid more for their work than everyone else on the market who does the same work?
“Alternatively, businesses can terminate existing staff, and hire new staff at lower salaries instead. This means existing staff are forced to become unemployed instead of simply having a lower wage”
What is the effect of banning fire and rehire?
Nevermind the issue of fairness. What’s more significant is the effect of banning fire and rehire on both employers and employees alike.
Without the ability to reduce employee wages, employers will not be able to reduce their operating costs as easily. More businesses facing financial difficulty will go out of business if they cannot lower operational costs whilst retaining the staff they need.
Alternatively, businesses can terminate existing staff, and hire new staff at lower salaries instead. This means existing staff are forced to become unemployed instead of simply having a lower wage.
It might feel unfair for an employee to be moved to a lower wage, but which is better, for employees to remain employed at a lower wage, or for the business to close down, rendering all staff and business owners without an income?
Bad policies can make a bad situation much worse – we have to be careful to not let good intentions cloud this reality from our judgement and decision-making.
Kindly reproduced with permission from HoongWai’s blog at https://hoongwai1984.wordpress.com/2020/11/16/fire-and-rehire/
Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay
Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay
Image by Darko Djurin from Pixabay
The Libertarian Listener interview – Dan Heaton
The Libertarian Listener is a UK political podcast reviewing the week’s major news stories, current affairs and events whilst providing original insights, public opinions and perspectives from the nation’s freedom lovers and liberty seekers.
For the 18 November 2020 episode they spoke with Dan Heaton about – UK Second Lockdown, EU, COVID Vaccine, Trump Lawsuits.
Interview with Councillor Sandy Wallace of the Scottish Libertarian Party
The Scottish Libertarian Party a pro-Brexit and pro-Independence for Scotland, has recently reached an important political milestone. Back in April we interviewed Tam Laird the party leader. Now we are delighted to interview Aberdeenshire Councillor Sandy Wallace a first elected politician for the Scottish Libertarian Party.
Sandy thank-you for your time.
You represent Stonehaven and Lower Deeside on Aberdeenshire Council. Can you tell us a bit about how you came to be a councillor and about your ward?
I was the Councillor for Lower Deeside, where I live, from 1999-2007 under old one member FPTP rules. I was not re-elected when it went to multi-member STV wards at a time when the Conservatives went through a Hague/IDS/Howard period of being unelectable. I was talked into standing again by a close friend, Alex Johnstone MSP, who sadly has since died. The Conservatives won a mini landslide in 2017, which English readers will recall from Alex Salmond losing his seat in the GE a month after the Council elections. The ward is 20% Lower Deeside, rural farmland but in reality an upmarket dormitory for Aberdeen, then 80% Stonehaven, a gorgeous seaside harbour town. In England it would be rock solid Tory but we have tartan Tories to fight it out with
“I sit on the Communities Committee, which is Policing, council housing and social work. That is my opportunity to ask the police how their pointless war on drugs is going”
You sit on the Aberdeen Community Planning Board, The Regulation of Private Renting Sub – Committee and the Sustainability Committee, among others. What are you able to achieve in these roles, and what are the main challenges facing Aberdeenshire Council?
I have achieved the square root of bugger all which is why I flounced out of the Conservative Party. They have no interest in smaller government. Sustainability is enjoyable, mostly I draw attention to BS, and point out that the fluffy policies the council has merrily adopted actually have consequences. Planning has been fairly heart-breaking and was the camel back-breaking straw for me the council is run by anti-business NIMBYs. Gypsy Traveller Committee is good fun, the Chair likes having me there because I can give a pro-business and liberty perspective on the idea that perhaps we should stop trying to give gypsies services they don’t want but maybe just leave them alone to live on land they themselves own. I sit on the Communities Committee, which is Policing, council housing and social work. That is my opportunity to ask the police how their pointless war on drugs is going. Have they managed to bully anyone into choosing to give up drugs by threatening to take their kids into care or have them evicted? Yes, sadly, I have been reduced to that level of behaviour. The main challenges are that we have no money left and can’t get our head around doing less.
You had been a Conservative Councillor prior to moving to the Scottish Libertarian Party. What made you leave the Conservatives and what first attracted you to the Scottish Libertarians?
I did not join the Conservatives because I agreed with them, I joined because they seemed to be the party with the most chance of coming my way., They had dropped their stupid support for Clause 2a ( Clause 28 in England), dropped the poll tax and opposition to devolution. I had hoped they could continue the journey. They didn’t, but nobody else did either, so I have not been proved wrong. I am a very wet libertarian, I would say a Whig, a fanboy for Dan Hannan and Doug Carswell. Joining the Libertarians is my public expression of anger at the lockdown.
We speak at the time of Covid. How have you personally found the lockdown and what do you think of the Scottish Governments handling of the crisis?
Personally? I am one of the many people living the dream. Detached home, garden, financially secure, 80% salary on furlough, granted a pass for university work based on earlier marks. Who cares about the kids in the gig economy whose future is being squandered. Of course in reality, I am livid. Johnson looks like a rabbit caught in the headlights, but while Sturgeon is following identical policies, her motivation is totally different. This is what she dreamed of, an authoritarian regime that destroys people’s lives then calls them selfish for grumbling about it.
“The idea of letting somebody have a birthday party for a ten-year-old now seems like anarchy. We need to have birthday parties for ten year olds. With a magician. And a whole buffet of finger food that all the parents just sort of graze at”
As we move into 2021 what would you like to see done to help the economy and society recover?
It is a huge task because even if you lifted all restrictions tomorrow, 25% of people would still choose to follow some of them and every time you don’t buy a coffee, that is somebodies job at risk, and with it, perhaps her ability to stay in college. It honestly needs changes that are tantamount to revolution. The idea of letting somebody have a birthday party for a ten-year-old now seems like anarchy. We need to have birthday parties for ten year olds. With a magician. And a whole buffet of finger food that all the parents just sort of graze at. And car sharing. We have put society back 25 years, the only solution is to put government back 25 years.
The Scottish Government is introducing a new Hate Crime and Public Order bill. Can you give us your thoughts on this legislation?
My thoughts are barely printable. This is Humza Yousaf’s pitch for leadership when Sturgeon goes, his vision is a soft-focus form of fascism like Singapore or Malaysia.
If you we’re able to get more Libertarians on to Aberdeenshire Council what would you like to see done differently, how would you change the council?
Well if you mean Councillors of a libertarian frame of mind, most of what we do is defined by the Scottish government, so a tax and services cutting budget is not actually feasible. I would like us to run the planning system with a presumption in favour of development, whether it meets policy or not, unless there are actually constraints such as sewage. A neighbour with a bad attitude is not a constraint. a planner thinking the building is ugly is not a constraint. I would like us to seek to delist half our listed buildings so that people could afford to maintain them, including all the bridges the council actually owns. I would like us to regard the equalities agenda with the contempt it deserves, given that it is the bastard child of people who belong to parties that are actually institutionally racist
“I would like to see Scotland governed very lightly, more of it by local authorities than the Scottish government, with local authorities raising nearly all of their own revenue so answerable to the voter for value for money”
The party is both a pro-Brexit and pro-Independence for Scotland. What would be your vision for the future of Scotland. How would you like to see it governed in say 5-10 years?
I voted for the winning side in both referendums. I hope to see that the democratic mandate honoured. I would like to see Scotland governed very lightly, more of it by local authorities than the Scottish government, with local authorities raising nearly all of their own revenue so answerable to the voter for value for money. The UK government can carry on worrying about defence and foreign affairs, ideally not being involved in any foreign wars. More important than that, however, I would like to see us being a tolerant nation, one that welcomes economic migrants and treats asylum seekers with compassion but a bit of suspicion. I would like anyone who claims to be offended to be asked ” so what?”
Are there any thoughts you would like to leave our readers with?
I think George Foreman was a better fighter than Muhammed Ali, new Taylor Swift is as good as old Taylor Swift and John Stuart Mill should be core reading in states schools especially the bit where denounces the very concept of state schools
Sandy can be found on twitter at https://twitter.com/Boogieeck and on https://vote-2012.proboards.com/.
The Scottish Libertarian party can be found online at http://scottishlibertarians.com/, on Twitter at https://twitter.com/ScoLibertarian, and on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/ScottishLibertarians/.
Podcast Episode 46 – Dick Delingpole: US Elections, Lockdown 2, Rolls-Royce Nukes & Croydon Council is Bust
We are joined by Dick Delingpole as we discuss the US Elections Results, Lockdown 2, some “Despite Brexit” news and the fact that Croydon Council is now officially bankrupt. We then chat with Dick about his new found stardom and we play the Yes/No game with him.
Follow Dick on Twitter at https://twitter.com/DickDelingpole or listen to him periodically on the Delingpod at https://delingpole.podbean.com/.
Johnson’s Aide’s Resignation: Tory Government Was in Turmoil Since Start of Pandemic – Sputnik Interview
On 11 November, Boris Johnson’s ally, Director of Communications Lee Cain, announced that he would leave his post, just 24 hours after reports suggested that he was in talks to become the prime minister’s chief of staff. Sputnik Radio spoke with Mike Swadling.
“This is a Government in turmoil. It has been this way since the start of the pandemic. It’s not clear they have control of what’s happening. They have a strategy for Brexit, but that seems to be dragging on and on and on”
“fundamentally, if you have a leader, it doesn’t matter what the lieutenants think of you. Know what the general thinks. No one ever thought with Gordon Brown, Tony Blair, Margaret Thatcher, Harold Wilson – no one thought that the lieutenants were making the rules. They knew there was a general in charge of them”
“you’re chief of staff, and you have to force through a policy, then a professional footballer makes you change it a few days later. Then they do that again, after another few days. Then it feels like you’re following the policy of the Welsh Government or the Scottish Government. Then you say, ‘No’ we won’t have another lockdown, then you have another lockdown, and so on, and so on and so on. You know, you’ll come out of that role with no credibility. Why would you go into it in the first place?”
“There’s nothing you can say about this Prime Minister or this Government that makes you think, ‘Oh, he’s the reason for their being, he is their raison d’etre’. Therefore, until they have a purpose, they’re going to be in constant turmoil”
“Every deadline they’ve given so far has been pushed back. A deadline has to be a deadline. A sensible negotiator would have said, ‘Business needs six months to roll in the new rules, whatever they might be, so let’s set a deadline in the middle of June this year”
Audio: