The Conservatives and Liberal Democrats share a deep-rooted ideological background. This vision is founded on the promotion of civil liberties over government expansion. Both are committed to making individuals responsible for their own lives, be this by a non-judgemental conception of individual morality or a smaller, less intrusive government. There is no reason to doubt the compatibility of the two parties.
The recent death of Corporal Sarah Bryant, the first British servicewoman to die on a “deliberate” operation in Afghanistan, attracted much attention from the UK print media. The tributes reveal wider cultural discomfort towards the death of a young, bright servicewoman as a direct result of conflict. They also demonstrate the significance of gender to the legitimation of the ‘war on terror’.
I believe in appreciating the EU for what it is: a uniquely well developed form of interstate cooperation focussed around a single market. Yet Europe could be made to suit us still better. Rather than playing on people’s fears of a power hungry EU that is the stuff of fiction, let us begin this task.
I have a point of view about government and regulation which is shared by the majority of my fellow countrymen and women. There is too much government, it is too expensive and too prescriptive, and too much regulation which often achieves the opposite of what it sets out to achieve. The EU is guilty of imposing unnecessary and cumbersome rules and regulations on the UK.
In addressing John Redwood’s claims about the European Union and the process of ratification of the Lisbon Treaty, I will not dwell on the rank hypocrisy that characterizes much, if not most, British political debate on the latter issue. Suffice to say that it suffuses all three major parties. Rather, in considering what passes for the substance of Redwood’s critique, we must navigate a bewildering mélange of half truth and innuendo.
The whole process of the Lisbon Treaty’s ratification over recent weeks, both here and abroad, has revealed just how undemocratic a construct the EU project has become. In France the Treaty has now been rushed through without another referendum, despite clearly expressed hostility towards the Constitution, in order to avoid […]
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