Labour's threat to freedom
Thursday, March 6, 2008 Indignant because a majority of Labour (and Lib Dem) MPs voted against holding a referendum on the EU constitution Lisbon Treaty, the Daily Mail asks: "What hope for democracy when MPs pledge one thing to get elected - and then do the exact opposite when the voters have given them their trust?"
Funny, I don't remember the Mail complaining when Labour MPs voted to ban smoking in all enclosed public places - despite a clear manifesto commitment to exempt private members clubs and pubs that don't serve food.
They got away with it then because, well, it was only smoking. Suddenly, when the issue is something the Mail cares about, the paper gets on its high horse and starts talking about "democracy" and "trust".
As we keep saying, a free society depends upon people defending issues they themselves may not care for but which are consistent with a tolerant, liberal, democratic society. You can't pick and choose. Ignore "small" freedoms (such as smoking in some public places) and you risk losing more important freedoms.
When Labour MPs cynically ignored one manifesto commitment - with barely a whimper from other political parties or the "liberal" or conservative media - it was predictable, and inevitable, that they would do it again. That's what bullies do, until someone stands up to them and puts a stop to it.
Politically speaking, it's time to give this government - and the bully state it represents - a smack in the mouth. It may be frowned upon today, but my parents' generation was right - it's the only language bullies understand.
Reader Comments (4)
Can you believe the audacity of Gordon Brown, the so called leader of New Labour, our so called Prime Minister?
Brown and his lying bunch of hypocritical crooks, promised us, the British people, a referendum on the European Union's controversial Lisbon Treaty. And yesterday, this grinning buffoon, and his motley crew, voted to deny us this promise.
During the 2005 general election campaign, the Government deflected any serious debate on the EU constitution by insisting the issue would be discussed fully during the referendum it had promised in its manifesto.
Brown and New Labour, are very good at promising things when it suits them. They are not good, however, at keeping those promisees. In fact they are absolutely disastrous.
What is wrong with this Nation? We accept everything this lying bunch of crooks throw at us. I am fed up with taming my words down to suit the PC brigade. Brown and his cohorts have lied to us, and that is a fact.
Why should we accept anything more from this unelected moron, who's main purpose in life seems to be to sell us, the British people, down the river?
We did not vote for Brown to lead us, and we certainly didn't vote for that bunch of unelected crooks in Brussels to lead us either.
According to polls, between 80 and 95% of the British people wanted a referendum on the Lisbon Treaty, so what does this man, who supposedly works for us do? He laughs in our faces, and tells his tame bunch of morons to vote against our wishes.
We now need, more than ever, a strong opposition to Brown and New Labour. We need a party which will do what opposition is supposed to be about, and that is to oppose this bunch of yobs who are ruining our way of life.
I have always voted Conservative, but unless the Conservatives give us a definite promise to overturn much of what this disastrous Government have done over the last decade, including the promised referendum, I for one, will not be voting for them, and I suspect, that millions more will follow suit.
Well said Simon, all libertarian groups need to fight together on ALL fronts now, as it's quite clear that we live in a dictatorship. Some may dislike smoking, some smokers probably don't care about the Lisbon treaty or ID cards, but all of our freedoms are under threat as never before in British history. United we stand, divided we fall.Wake up people!
I'll do whatever is necessary now as long as we are all under a united banner !
And the sheep & lemmings will wake up.
Peter - I have recently got involved with local politics in that, with some friends, we are fighting tooth and nail our local town council, area and district councils. We were at a meeting last night which seemed to make it abundantly clear that if half a dozen people in our town said to one of the councillors that they wanted something, this, in the mind of the councillor, constituted a majority of the people in our town must want it and usually we end up with it! Many of these things are what we are fighting against now.
We also caught them out in an out and out lie last night, which has cost our Town hundreds of thousands of pounds and putting most of our traders at risk of closing down!
Do the councillors care? Do they heck, they have just voted for a 9% pay rise for themselves!
Local and National government are, in my view, totally corrupt and are only in government to fill their back pockets and for their own egos. They have a very long way to go to prove otherwise as far as I am concerned. Why do they expect us to respect them when they have absolutely no respect whatsoever for us? I just wish they would toddle off back to whatever planet they came from - we can't do a worse job without them, surely!