Henley-on-Thames by-election withdrawal

It is with some personal regret that I am today announcing my withdrawal from the Henley by-election.

Having spent the last week campaigning from Thame to Henley, it's become apparent to me how much money, and how many people, the Westminster parties are throwing at this election. As a relatively new entrant to British political life, the Libertarian Party simply doesn't currently have the resources needed to compete in such a febrile environment.

This is a great shame, as our message needs to be heard now more than ever. Labour, the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats alike all advocate increasing big-government intrusion in our daily lives, and continuing the failed tax and spend policies of our current government.

As our economy daily plunges closer to that last seen in the 1970s, the British public need to know that there is another way of running this country of ours, a way that puts ordinary people first, and politicians a very distant second.

Sadly, that message was being drowned out in Henley by the other parties, through sheer weight of numbers.

I would like to thank everyone who supported me whilst I was campaigning, and in particular all those resident of Henley and Thame who listened to my party's message -- that of a genuine alternative to 'business as usual' at Westminster -- with such enthusiasm.


Thank You.

Ian Parker-Joseph

Queen to lose her constitutional position with Lisbon Treaty

In an attempt to force the Government to admit what the constitutional position of the Queen will be before and after the ratification of the Lisbon Treaty, Lord Willoughby de Broke has tabled the following amendment to the European Union (Amendment) Bill, currently doing its final round in the House of Lords.

LORD WILLOUGHBY DE BROKE

26	Insert the following new Clause—

"Position of the Monarch

(1)	Within six months of the coming into force of this Act, the Secretary of State shall lay a report before Parliament on the constitutional position of the Monarch in relation to Her people, Parliament and Ministers—

(a)	prior to ratification of the Treaty of Lisbon, and

(b)	following ratification of the Treaty of Lisbon.

(2)	Within one month of the laying of the report, a Minister of the Crown shall move a motion in each House of Parliament that the House approves the report.

(3)	In subsection (2), the reference to "one month" does not include any period of time in which the House in question is dissolved, prorogued or in recess for a period of more than four days."

The UK will not only be left without its constitution, it will now also lose its Monarch.

The people need to be told this BEFORE this treaty is ratified.

The political elite, Lab Con and LibDem, who care nothing for this nation, who's corruption and sleaze is comparable with Mugabe, who have given away our sovereignty when it is not theirs to give without the consent of the people, are about to make our Monarch redundant.

 

The UK will cease to be a Sovereign State, these lands will be but mere regions within the new EU state.

 

Ask John Howell to comment, ask Stephen Kearney to comment. These are the things about Lisbon that the main 3 parties dont want you to know about.

 

This amendment will do little more than force ministers to admit this, what we need is leaders with backbone to stop it happening in the first place.


We implore Our Queen, The Monarch, not to give this Bill the Royal Assent, not to give away our Nation.

.
n.b. In Parliamentary terms the word 'prorogued' means: 'adjourn by royal prerogative; without dissolving the legislative body'


The Daily Mail finally wakes up, but where is the rest of the mainstream press.

 

 

 

 

Irony !

Having seen the number of cameras operating in Henley, sometimes, the Irony can be amusing.......

Avian Influenza H7N7 confirmed in Oxfordshire

On 3 June, Avian Influenza was confirmed in laying hens at a farm in Banbury, Oxfordshire, only 10 miles from the northern boundry of the Henley-on-Thames constituency.

The strain is the highly pathogenic H7N7. Preliminary analysis also indicates that this H7N7 strain is likely to be related to viruses which have occasionally been detected in domestic poultry and wild birds elsewhere in Europe. Further laboratory tests are in progress.

A Protection Zone of 3km and a Surveillance Zone of 10km have been established and bird gatherings and movement restrictions apply within these zones. More information on restrictions and licences.

It is vital that all bird keepers in the UK continue to practice the highest levels of biosecurity and be vigilant for any signs of disease. If you are concerned about the health of your birds you should seek advice from your vet. If you suspect that your birds have Avian Influenza, you should report it to your local Animal Health Office immediately.

If you are travelling to or from the Constituency for many of the forthcoming events in Henley or to canvass for the by-election, please be careful to follow the advice given on the Defra website and help to ensure that this outbreak is kept confined.

Immunity afforded to your masters while you are subject to the law

We have come to accept that the people we elect have privileges that the ordinary citizens don't enjoy. Privileges in the EU are set to be further enshrined in the Lisbon Treaty/Constitution, to further alienate the accountability of the elite and the Federal State proposed by this treaty. We have also been programmed and conditioned to accept that the law only applies to the "common people", as we've seen in case after case involving corruption at the highest level, while the ordinary people are jailed for not paying a television license or various types of fines.

As part of the text of the treaty are the immunities that make the members of EU even less accountable than they already are, while your rights will be under constant attack from the Charter of Fundamental Rights. First we look at the Federal State:

Protocol on the Privileges and Immunities of the European Union

 

Article 1

The premises and buildings of the Union shall be inviolable. They shall be exempt from search, requisition, confiscation or expropriation. The property and assets of the Union shall not be the subject of any administrative or legal measure of constraint without the authorization of the Court of Justice.

Article 2

The archives of the Union shall be inviolable.

This is contrary to all we've been told by the politicians about the openness and accountability of the EU, and makes any judicial enquiry almost impossible, further eroding the lack of oversight that's already inherent in this corrupt structure. There will be no body accountable to the people and overseeing the integrity of the EU, as we've seen in the tribunals in this country which have exposed the corruption and held the individuals to account while acting independently. They have cost a lot of money and the judiciary have made a fortune, but we have trawled through their findings and politicians have resigned over their conclusions. Next we look at the members:

Article 8

Members of the European Parliament shall not be subject to any form of inquiry, detention or legal proceedings in respect of opinions expressed or votes cast by them in the performance of their duties.

Article 9

During the sessions of the European Parliament, its Members shall enjoy:

(a) in the territory of their own State, the immunities accorded to members of their parliament;

(b) in the territory of any other Member State, immunity from any measure of detention and from legal proceedings.

Immunity shall likewise apply to Members while they are travelling to and from the place of meeting of the European Parliament.

Immunity cannot be claimed when a Member is found in the act of committing an offence and shall not prevent the European Parliament from exercising its right to waive the immunity of one of its Members.

That's right, we can no longer question the votes cast by our elected representatives even if they vote contrary to the wishes of the people or the national interest. We have already seen how Brown and members of the Labour Party, as well as most members of the Conservative and LibDem parties have voted contrary to the people but we will not be able to hold them to account under the treaty.

As for criminal offences, they have to be caught in the act of committing a crime, unlike everyone else who has to comply with the full rigors of the law and is subject to interrogation and investigation. As for the Parliament waiving immunity, that's absolute nonsense, as we've seen with any State body investigating itself or one of its members. Corruption will be given a free reign in this atmosphere and not only does this apply to MEPs, but goes further by allowing the un-elected to enjoy immunity as well:

Article 10

Representatives of Member States taking part in the work of the institutions of the Union, their advisers and technical experts shall, in the performance of their duties and during their travel to and from the place of meeting, enjoy the customary privileges, immunities and facilities.

This Article shall also apply to members of the advisory bodies of the Union.

Article 17

Privileges, immunities and facilities shall be accorded to officials and other servants of the Union solely in the interests of the Union.

Each institution of the Union shall be required to waive the immunity accorded to an official or other servant wherever that institution considers that the waiver of such immunity is not contrary to the interests of the Union.

Next we look at the judiciary, which will be responsible for your fundamental rights under which you will no longer have the protection of the Constitution of Ireland to defend you against. Again they have levels of immunity unheard of in this country:

Protocol on the Statute of the Court of Justice of the European Union

 

Article 2

Before taking up his duties each Judge shall, before the Court of Justice sitting in open court, take an oath to perform his duties impartially and conscientiously and to preserve the secrecy of the deliberations of the Court.

Article 3

The Judges shall be immune from legal proceedings. After they have ceased to hold office, they shall continue to enjoy immunity in respect of acts performed by them in their official capacity, including words spoken or written.

The Court of Justice, sitting as a full Court, may waive the immunity. If the decision concerns a member of the General Court or of a specialised court, the Court shall decide after consulting the court concerned.

Where immunity has been waived and criminal proceedings are instituted against a Judge, he shall be tried, in any of the Member States, only by the court competent to judge the members of the highest national judiciary.

Article 6

A Judge may be deprived of his office or of his right to a pension or other benefits in its stead only if, in the unanimous opinion of the Judges and Advocates-General of the Court of Justice, he no longer fulfils the requisite conditions or meets the obligations arising from his office. The Judge concerned shall not take part in any such deliberations. If the person concerned is a member of the General Court or of a specialised court, the Court shall decide after consulting the court concerned.

The Registrar of the Court shall communicate the decision of the Court to the President of the European Parliament and to the President of the Commission and shall notify it to the President of the Council.

The judges will be immune from prosecution unless other judges decide that they will lose their immunity, again a body deciding the rights of its members, with no oversight or accountability.

The judiciary will be responsible for accounting for themselves and if they don't comply with the objectives of the Union (Federal State), they are liable to lose their pension. So what are the objectives of the Union how will they be defined in years to come? These are vague statements which we can only assume will be to the common good and the objectives of a fair society, which is a false sense of security.

We are entering into a totalitarian dictatorship, whether we pass this treaty or not. A No vote in Ireland will give us time to wake more people up to what's going on and give us the opportunity to change the course of history, but democracy can only be defended by vigilance, which means an end to mindless distractions. It will require a more critical and responsible population, educated in their Constitutional Rights and willing to defend them at every opportunity. Nothing can be taken for granted in the future and those that are handing us over to this dictatorship must be exposed and held to account, which our Constitution states the people are fully entitled to do.

Will Nick Clegg and David Cameron be voting for this on the ratification of the Lisbon Treaty?.

You bet they will !!!

When will people stop voting for these people who are giving away your sovereignty, even though they know it is not theirs to give.

Let good policies guide the voters of Henley

Boris Johnson has finally resigned. I wish him well in his new role in City Hall, although I am sure that he will miss the constituency work that he has done so well in the past.

 

What matters now is the people of the Henley constituency, and it is to them that I appeal to think long and hard before you place your votes this time round. Look hard at what all the Party's are offering to do for you, and then ask yourself whether you trust them enough to place your future in their hands.

 

Henley has been a Tory stronghold for a Century and a Half. It is almost taken for granted that anything blue will win.

 

However, speaking with residents during my visit last week I understand that people are now fed up with the kind of politics that has managed to pervade our land, the politics of spin, of sound bytes, the politics of lies and deceit, of gain at the taxpayers expense and the unprecedented levels of taxpayer money used to keep it all secret.

 

If you want more of the same please vote for the Tory candidate or even the LibDem candidate, as their policies are all going to leave you in the same place that you are now, paying for the waste of state. The promises by the Conservative shadow cabinet to maintain the current levels of spending I find abhorrent.

 

They will then leave you stateless, as both of these Parties along with the Government have set themselves on the road to giving away our Soveignty without your permission, knowing that it is not theirs to give.

 

The reason I am here, standing in this election is because I too have had enough. Enough of government interfering in every facet of my life, of Government making decisions for me like a child about my food, my drinking and my personal habits, of Government taking my liberties for granted and restricting them.

 

I want a Government that doesn't repeatedly lie to me, I want a Government that is truly transparent and publishes everything for everyone to see, but more than that I want a Government that is small, really small and efficient, that doesn't need to steal the hard earned money from everyone to fund its own existence.

 

From me you will only get the facts, real politics, real policies, radical policies. I am not here to fool you, to spin to you, to lie to you, but to speak with you about the way it really is, and the way it really could be.

 

Please take the time to read our manifesto and decide for yourself. If you see me on the streets of Henley, Thame or anywhere else, stop me and ask your questions.

 

I hope you will listen, and ultimately I hope you will vote for me as someone who can offer a better style of Government for the people of not just Henley-on-Thames, but for all of our nation.

 

 

Ian Parker-Joseph

 

 

 

 

 

RE: A Question

Hi Ian,

I can't seem to find anything on the LPUK website about their position on 'The English Question' and the case for an English Parliament. If the party doesn't have a clear policy I would hope and expect that the libertarian answer would be to ask the English people how they wish to be governed - something that the three main parties are steadfastly opposed to.

Would it be possible for you to outline the party's thinking on this, or, if it hasn't been discussed at party level, what are your thoughts on this matter?

Best,

Gareth Young (aka Toque)

(Campaign for an English Parliament)

Gareth,

I deplore the lack of interest from both the EU and all of the 3 main UK Parties to answer this question. England is the only country in the EU that has no representation for its people and it certainly needs addressing.

It is my desire that the LPUK policy stance would be that we would be looking for all 4 nations to be equally represented within the framework of the United Kingdom. That would include the establishment of an English Parliament to bring England into line with the legislative abilities of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

The United Kingdom Parliament would then address only interests that concerned all those nations equally, such as, but not limited to, Defence, Economy, Energy and a commonality of Civil Service.

Ian

PR and modern UK policing

Modern policing has just become an illusionary PR stunt based upon the political creation of over 3000 new criminal offences in the past 10 years. Police are continually under Home Office pressure to reduce the amount of 'crime' in their areas and to create stats to prove it.

By making non events such as the dropping of an apple core in a public place a 'criminal' offence, the police can now score easy points by reporting that apple core dropping has been massively reduced in their area, whilst the real crime of burglary mugging and theft goes on unabated. That is the modern way of showing crime reduction, and is clearly a political phenomenon.

In order to make us believe that 'crime' is constantly being reduced and our Police Officers are being overworked, the politically 'on message' Police forces in the UK, under direct instruction from the Home Office and the ACPO have embarked upon a policy of PR instead of policing.

This article from Heather Brooke (who recently had the success of getting MP's to divulge their expenses) shows just how much of your tax, your money, is being spent by Police forces around the country on trickery, make believe policing and their policy of smoke and mirrors.

A three-month project by James Ball and I using the Freedom of Information Act to examine police spending on public relations, press offices and marketing concluded with two pieces in today's Times:
Long arm of police spin-doctors costs almost £40m a year

Tough on crime - or on the image of crime?

We found that police forces across the UK are spending £39m each year on press and PR - enough to fund an extra 1,400 full time officers and more than enough to cover the annual police pay rise withheld by the Government. The force at the top of the league (Police Service Northern Ireland) spends eight times more per person on PR than the lowest (Derbyshire). Meanwhile, forces spend nearly ten times more on PR (what police want us to know) than on FOI (what we want to know).

Also while resources are pumped into PR, we found a distinct lack of interest in responding to our FOI requests. Only 19 of 53 forces responded to our requests on time. All the rest broke the law. They had a variety of explanations though some offered none at all. Police Service Northern Ireland had the most novel excuse – their FOI officer was on an advanced driver training course. It had no affect in speeding up their tardy reply which came more than a month late. If any of us were to break the law I doubt such excuses would carry much weight. Even those committing non-crimes such as parking get no leeway.

When we called the press offices for comment, however, it was remarkable how quickly forces found the time to re-examine their figures to decrease the amounts, often claiming the initial figures they'd given us were incorrect.

There is lot more detail than we could get in the newspaper so check out the summary or the full database for the full story on how your police force responded.

Summary of press and PR spend in the 52 police forces questioned

Full Database (Excel). Here you'll find a sheet with the main findings, a summary sheet and finally the full detail of all our requests to 52 police forces.

Police PR Press Release

Link to Secret Squirrel page

Ms Brooke said:

The police are paid to enforce crime not manage the public's perception of crime. If police are serious about keeping residents informed they should put more money into freedom of information which deals with answering questions people actually want to know.

Also all crime incidents should be published, broken down by either street level or first section of postcode. Then we would all know precisely how safe or endangered we are. This information is already available to certain privileged people. That's not right. Everyone should have access.

There is no doubt that Policing is now a political event, rather than a Civic task undertaken by Civil Servants.

If you want the cynical view of the front line police that have to enforce this garbage, then I can suggest no better reading than Inpector Gadget, or PC Bloggs. (do read their other contributions, you too will realise that these Police Officers really do want to do proper policing, real policing instead of this politically correct non-job stuff).

It is also worth noting that the cost of all this smoke and mirrors PR is more than the cost of giving police their full pay rise (£30m). Such a waste of your tax money.

So how does this affect the taxpayers of Henley.

Well in 2005 the total staffing cost for PR within Thames Valley police was £294,829.00, but by the end of 2007 (last date for figures) it had risen to a massive £725,550.00, going up from 23 staff to 27. (Thats an increase of 146.1% for an extra 4 staff, which would indicate some outsized pay rises along the way).

For the same period the amount of money spent on FOI request responses was 2005 £34,145 and 2007 £36,537, virtually no change and still only 1 dedicated member of staff.

It is therefore quite clear that the emphasis is on your being told what the Government and Police want you to be told about policing in this constituency, rather than you being advised of what you ask.

The sooner we get around to changing the way in which policing in the UK is done, by electing local police chiefs, who will police their area's the way the local people want to be policed, and to break the political links, the better.

Only the Libertarian Party have promised to change policing in this way.

Henley-on-Thames

I am delighted and honoured to announce my selection as Prospective Parliamentary Candidate for the upcoming by-election in Henley-on-Thames. I will be campaigning hard for the Libertarian Party in its first electoral battle in the UK, and will work to spread the message that standards and integrity -- for too long a distant memory in British politics -- do still have a place in our public life.

Whilst the Libertarian Party is new to the established political scene, our aim is to provide a real alternative to the State-centred policies being enacted by our incumbent Government, and to which the Conservative and Liberal Democrat parties offer only token opposition.

Our approach to politics is radically different, in that we put the liberties and rights of the individual before those of the State. We believe, and will campaign for, the State and its elected representatives to return to their rightful role: that of public servants, rather than masters of the public. I believe in small government, and in honest government; where policy, decision making and all public expenditure -- including the taxpayers' money that MPs spend on themselves -- is transparent, with information freely available to everyone, at all times.

I want to see a Britain free from Government interference in everyday life, a Britain where business is free of the burdens of overweight regulation and tax, and a Britain where every individual is free to make their own choices in life, unfettered by government imposed taxes that limit opportunity, and State attempts to enforce a mandated lifestyle upon them.

I am a Libertarian. I believe in small government, individual freedom, low taxation and a minimum of regulation. I believe deeply and passionately in freedom and independence in all areas of life.

My background is one of Business Consulting, Programme and Project Management, providing practical help and assistance to organisations with failing projects and policies.

I am not a career politician who has only ever known University and Westminster, I live and work in the real world and like you every working day I see businesses struggling to keep up with more and more regulation, with companies and the public suffering with the ever increasing tax burden.

This cycle of destruction has gone far enough. Everything that the State touches -- from health and education, through policing and pensions -- is cursed by the micro-management of bureaucracy run wild, resulting in an endemic waste of resources, and preventing key front-line staff from actually doing the important work that they are employed to do, and so desperately want to do.

With their gold-plated pensions, and a revolving door into companies granted Government contracts, those in Westminster are happy to see this situation continue. I am not. With your help, I intend to be part of a new type of Government; one that aims to lift these burdens, and one that will put power back into the hands of those to whom it rightfully belongs -- the Great British public.

Ian Parker-Joseph

Cameron tries to fool the public over taxes

Iain Dale wrote this morning

This morning, in a speech in Birmingham, David Cameron will give voice to concerns over the levels of taxation, which will resonate around the country. But more important than that, for the first time he will signal that he believes government spending and borrowing are out of control. He will say...

"We have reached the acceptable limits of taxation and borrowing. With the rising cost of living, taxpayers can't take any more pain, and the economy can't take any more pain without losing jobs to lower tax competitors ... We need to start living within our means."

He talks about "good housekeeping" and Britain needing a government which is "careful, not casual with public money". He doesn't actually abandon George Osborne's pledge to match Labour spending for two years, but he might just as well have done. He describes a decade of "reckless" spending, waste and inefficiency.

It will be interesting to see the reaction to this speech as I think it signals the start of a major shift of emphasis to an agenda concentrating on the cost of living and the size of the State.

Whilst it is good to see that the Conservative leader is highlighting the overspending and borrowing of this Government, one cannot help but think that he is only tinkering around the edges in order to catch more votes whilst the Crewe and Nantwich by-election is underway.

It is relevant that he does not abandon George Osborne's pledge to match Labour spending for two years, a pledge still very much firmly in place, even though it is abundantly clear that the acceptable limits of taxation, spending and borrowing have not just been reached but were surpassed long ago.

I can only see this as being duplicity and more of the same old, same old, from the Conservative leadership with no real change for the hard pressed taxpayer.

The Libertarian Party have undertaken to scrap income tax altogether in a well costed manifesto pledge, combined with a massive reduction in State spending, something that the Conservative party could do if it wanted to, but as is very clear by his speech today, Cameron really doesn't want to.

The Conservative Party is a party of big government, as we have seen from Osborne's pledge, so the taxpayers of the UK will never be any better served by the Conservatives than they are by NuLabour.