More government? Just say no!

More good news. Tucked away inside the Telegraph are three short paragraphs that mean a lot to those of us who want to reduce the burden of government on people's lives: "John Prescott's vision of a new tier of local government was in ruins yesterday when Gordon Brown dumped his regional assemblies project. Plans for eight regional assemblies were floated in Labour's 1997 manifesto but hit the buffers in 2004 when a referendum on whether to establish a first assembly in the North East was rejected by 78 per cent of voters."

Of course, this doesn't reduce the layers of government, it merely removes (for the moment) the threat of further expansion. But it offers hope for the future. Perhaps the message is sinking in at the highest level. Many of us do not want extra layers of government. More government means more politicians running around like headless chickens looking for things to do to justify their existence.

That is one of the reasons why I am against an English parliament, which some people believe will restore political equilibrium between England and the rest of the (devolved) UK. I (and many other people) want less not more government. An English parliament? More politicians?!! Just say no.

Scotland: crying out for freedom

Yesterday I was in Edinburgh for the first anniversary of the Scottish smoking ban which has been hailed a “huge success”. This, despite the fact that many bingo halls are in freefall, a number of working men’s clubs are in trouble, publicans are having to sack bar staff, and – according to a recent Populus poll for Forest - a huge majority support exemptions to the ban. Oh, and the smoking rates have dropped by 1.5% (from 26% to 24.5%), largely in line with the existing year on year trend. Some success!

Early in the day I joined Brian Monteith MSP (pictured above left), Neil Rafferty (Forest’s Scottish spokesman) and others for a photocall outside the Scottish Parliament. For one shot the photographer asked us to stand in the middle of an ornamental pond, water lapping over our shoes. He then asked us to light up, inhale, count to three, and exhale in unison. (It’s a tough job but someone’s got to do it.)

Last night Brian and I met up again for dinner. We first met many years ago when we were students in Scotland, editing student magazines at our respective universities. Years later we shared an office in Edinburgh and it was Brian who was responsible for my applying for and being appointed director of Forest.

After an eventful year, Brian is not seeking re-election to the Scottish Parliament in May. In fact, this is his last full week as an MSP. So, after eight years as a member, how does he view today’s Parliament? “Self-indulgent, self-delusional, self-satisfied,” he tells me between mouthfuls of Albarino.

“Since devolution Scotland is a lot less free. It's exactly what Friedrich Hayek warned against in The Road To Serfdom. That is, social democracy: removing individual liberties one by one, democratically, in the name of the people rather than stormtroopers goose-stepping into your living-room. First they came for the fox hunters, and the urban public cheered. Then they came for the smokers, and the killjoys laughed. Soon they will be coming for the leisurely drinkers and after that the comfortably overweight.”

He will miss the cut and thrust of debate in the chamber but has no regrets and to kick start his new career outside Holyrood he has written his first book, Paying The Piper, which I shall review after it is published on April 1st.  He will also be playing a significant role in The Free Society. A former spokesman for Forest in Scotland, Brian’s political antenna remain firmly libertarian, a far cry from the paternalistic (or Presbyterian) tendencies of many Conservatives north and south of the border. We haven’t heard the last of him.