BRITISH HISTORY THE STORY of
DEFEATING THREATS TO FREEDOM
THREAT No 2
Rodney Stark contends that Christians helped to spread reason and freedom. For UK orders: For US orders:
Heroism in Afghanistan and Iraq
One of many heroes, U.S. Army Medic and Mountain Soldier Photo:
A belief in the primacy of ideology has led to Communism, Fascism, and Nazism, with all their attendant horrors. A belief in the dignity of every person as a child of God, representative government, and just laws has led to peaceful and prosperous societies. The reasons for these two very different scenarios are ignored at our peril, as Roger Scruton suggests. For UK orders:
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Glenn Reynolds has good evidence for writing that the secret of success in business and politics in the twenty-first century lies in "An Army of Davids". He explains who those Davids are and how they will work together. For UK orders: For US orders:
James Burnham was concerned about the West's tendencies toward appeasement a long time ago. He suggests that if liberal western societies want peace, and another society wants domination, which it calls peace, liberal societies will be deceived, and then destroyed. For UK orders:
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Though he speaks about the size of the U.S. Government, Joel Miller shows how big government reduces family income; drives up the cost of housing, healthcare, and other consumer products and services; hurts employment; misdirects entrepreneurial efforts; and stifles marketplace creativity and innovation. The lesson for centrally run nanny states could not be more clear. For UK orders: For US orders:
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Brits and Americans have put their lives on the line to help create countries where each person can worship freely, where government is of, by, and for the people, and where children can grow up safely. Photo: GhostOfTragedy@istockphoto.com OPPOSING TYRANNY 2000 'METRIC MARTYRS' TAKE STAND FOR BRITISH FREEDOM AND WAY OF LIFE Cheeky and mischieveous and always the first to give to charity, Steven Thoburn begins his day at 3 am buying fruit and vegetables to sell at his stands. When the EU declares it is a criminal offense to sell "a pound" of apples or "ounces" of cheese, insisting that all foods be sold in metric weights, Thoburn asserts his right as a freeborn Englishman. Brits have been using pounds and ounces, yards and feet since before Magna Carta, and Americans still do. He wants his customers to have the freedom to choose, and he provides scales and pricing for both metric and pounds. He becomes a national celebrity after he is arrested selling a pound of bananas to an undercover council trading standards officer, and is dragged before the court. The world's press descend on Sunderland Magistrates' Court for the landmark hearing.
Helping Steven Thoburn (center) is his friend Neil Herron (second from left), a fishmonger who builds a people’s campaign to win back British freedom and end EU interference. "It was never about a pound of bananas and a set of scales," explains Herron. "It was about who governs this country." Steve is convicted, and given a conditional discharge, but the Metric Martyrs continue their battle to uphold British rights. Photo: www.neilherron.co.uk When his third child, a son, is born, Steven Thoburn helpfully announces his weight in grammes – all 3,790 of them – telling reporters, "No-one I spoke to had a clue if he was the size of a baby elephant or a small tomato." Steven dies of a massive heart attack at the age of 39 in 2004. Neil Herron writes, "Steven symbolised the true British spirit of grit and determination and fought passionately for what he truly believed in." 2000 LORD PEARSON CALLS FOR PUBLIC DEBATE; SAYS BBC IS PRO EUROPEAN UNION AND “WRETCHEDLY BIASED” Lord Pearson of Rannoch, Chairman and founder of PWS, one of the world’s leading specialist reinsurance brokers, stands his ground on BBC’s Radio Four's Today programme, and accuses the BBC of ignoring the millions of Brits who do not want the UK to be part of the European Union. Lord Pearson, a Council Member of The Freedom Association, declares that Brits are being denied public debate by the "wretchedly biased" BBC. 2001 BRITISH DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE Led by Rodney Atkinson, Esq, the British Declaration of Independence » invites the candidates of all parliamentary parties to commit to a Bill asserting the Sovereignty of the British People by voting for an Act of Parliament that would take Britain out of the EU. In 2001 some 100 MPs or Candidates either signed or gave their full support without signing. The numbers in 2005 will improve by more than 50%, and the campaign continues. 2001-2007 CHALLENGE OF VIOLENT ISLAMISTS DEMANDS BEST FROM THOSE WHO LOVE FREEDOM, JUSTICE, AND PEACE “Slay the pagans wherever ye find them, and seize them, beleaguer them, and lie in wait for them in every stratagem (of war)” says the Koran, Sura 9:5. All over the world thousands of violent and misguided Islamists are murdering men, women, and children because they are not Muslim. According to their own statements, these violent Islamists want to destroy anyone who believes in representative government, freedom, and rights for women, and establish a worldwide Muslim empire. Violent Islamists and their supporters have carried out more than 5,580 terror attacks since 9/11/2001 in places as far apart as Thailand and Spain, India and North Carolina, France and Lebanon, Russia and London, Bali and LA. Thousands of men, women, and children from all over the world have been murdered or hurt. In response to their attack on New York City in 2001, the United States, Britain, and allies entered Afghanistan to remove the Taliban Government that had shielded the terrorists. In response to credible German, French, and Czech intelligence reports that Saddam Hussein supported terrorists and was assembling weapons of mass destruction, the United States, Britain, and allies entered Iraq to remove Hussein from power.
Gunner Colin Rees, 457 Battery Royal Artillery (Volunteers) 1 YORKS Battle Group, greets a young Baswari in a market in Umm Qasr, Iraq. Image: Cpl Ian Forsyth RLC After terrorists attack New York City and Washington, DC , Americans, Brits, Australians, South Koreans, Italians, Poles, Czechs, Slovaks, and Japanese join in a coalition to try to liberate the captive peoples of Afghanistan and Iraq. The Brits join Americans, Australians, and two dozen Allied nations to free Afghanistan from the Taliban and Iraq from the dictator who defied two dozen U.N. resolutions, murdered hundreds of thousands, corrupted the UN's oil for food programme, and bought off permanent UN Security Council members Russia, China, and France. Despite terrorism, and attacks from Islamofascists from Saudi Arabia, Syria, Iran and from within Iraq and Afghanistan, the courage and idealism of Allied soldiers and Iraqis and Afghanis who want to be free are extraordinary. 2001 - 2007 BRITS JOIN AMERICANS AND ALLIES TO LIBERATE AFGHANIS AND IRAQIS Iraq was first established as a country by Britain in the 1920s with a constitutional monarchy modeled on the United Kingdom's bicameral parliament. Decades of cupidity and blood feuds, a 1958 coup and Saddam Hussein turned Iraq into a tyranny that waged war, invaded two of its neighbours, murdered hundreds of thousands of its own citizens, allowed the powerful to rape women, and built prisons for children. In Afghanistan, the Taliban would not allow women to vote, go to school, or hold a job, and the government hid terrorists who had attacked and murdered Western citizens. Operation Iraqi Freedom overturns those tyrannies. Coalition soldiers train Afghani and Iraqi soldiers to protect their people from terrorists. They help to establish two Constitutions and free elections, and to restore their economies, which had been plundered by Hussein and the Taliban. According to Christopher Hitchens » Coalition soldiers "guarded polling-places, opened schools and clinics, and excavated mass graves. They represent the highest form of the citizen, and every man and woman among them was a volunteer."
Photo Credit: Adam Napier 2003-2006 LORD PEARSON INTRODUCES PRIVATE MEMBER'S BILL THAT WOULD FORCE THE GOVERNMENT TO EXAMINE THE POSITIVES AND NEGATIVES OF WITHDRAWING FROM THE EU Lord Pearson is a businessman who likes facts since it is on facts that a business thrives. He believes that the facts of the European Union point to the demise of the United Kingdom. In 2003 Lord Pearson introduces a Bill in the House of Lords that would require "the Government to set up an independent inquiry into what life might really be like outside the European Union, especially for our economy, defence and constitution. It requires the result to be made public, together with the financial cost of our membership of the EU." During debate he wonders whether the Government will accept the challenge, "so that we can at last have the honest debate which all governments of the last thirty years have avoided? We shall see." For extracts from the debate » The Bill does not pass the House of Lords. In 2006, Lord Pearson introduces the Bill again. Recall that William Wilberforce introduced a bill to end the slave trade many times before he succeeds. 2004 AS EU GROWS MORE POWERFUL, RESISTANCE GROWS The EU continues to take control over all aspects of British life, and to slice away at historic freedoms. Britain has lost control of its trade policies, laws, and borders. Thousands of new regulations are depressing business, while EU corruption in the EU increases unchecked. In response, free Brits organise resistance to the EU, and carry their message to the polls. Lord Pearson of Rannoch The Bruges Group »continues to research, analyse, and publicise frightening EU trends. Norris and Ross McWhirter help to found the Freedom Association » to foster understanding of the economic, constitutional and moral principles that alone sustain a free society. Better Off Out » is mounting a campaign to leave the EU. Eurofacts » offers timely updates on EU developments. For more, see Defeating Threats to Freedom No 1 »
Growing from half a dozen people determined to become free of the EU superstate to tens of thousands, the UK Independence Party becomes strong enough to fight Parliamentary by-elections and establishes itself as the UK's fourth party. Photo: David Abbott 2004-2006 UK INDEPENDENCE PARTY WINS 16% OF VOTE; WORKS WITH ALLIES TO OPPOSE EU With a unique set of policies on Defence, Crime, Agriculture, Housing, Education, Welfare and Economics all focused on Britain's independence and regeneration, the UK Independence Party » achieves a strategic political breakthrough in 1999 by returning 3 Members to the European Parliament. In 2004, four Conservative peers in the House of Lords publicly urge Brits to support UKIP in the elections to the European Parliament. The Conservative Party immediately punishes the four: Lord Willoughby de Broke, Baroness Cox of Queensbury », Lord Pearson of Rannoch, and Lord Stevens of Ludgate. In the 2004 European Election UKIP wins enough votes to return 12 MEPs. UKIP MEP Nigel Farage » and Conservative MEPs Roger Helmer » and Daniel Hannan » provide an ongoing and devastating critique of the EU from inside the belly of the beast. Independent MEP Ashley Mote » decries the 3,000-plus secret EU committees whose anonymous and unelected members draft legislation. He campaigns to return self-government to Brits. The Brits are not alone. A group of freedom-loving MEPs that includes UKIP and MEPs from France, Germany, Belgium, Italy, and Eastern Europe is working together to resist EU tryanny. For more about these allies, see the Independence and Democracy Group » After French voters reject the EU Constitution, the INTERNATIONAL HERALD TRIBUNE proclaims, 'E.U. Leaders And Voters See Paths Diverge.' Mark Steyn » drily responds, "Traditionally in free societies, when the paths of the leaders and the voters 'diverge', it’s the leaders who depart the scene. But apparently in the EU this is too vulgar and 'Anglo-Saxon', and so the great permanent Eurocracy decided instead to offer up Euro-variations on Bertolt Brecht’s jest about the need to elect a new people." For more on Brits leaving the EU, trading with Europe, and governing themselves, see Defeating Threats to Freedom No 1 » Most heartening, Richard North and Helen Szamuely launch EU Referendum » Their daily blog doggedly and brilliantly critiques the EU, media bias, and the ludicrous posturings of ineffective British politicians, and their readership grows into the millions. 2004 NE VOTERS REJECT REGIONAL ASSEMBLY; NEIL HERRON LAUNCHES LEGAL CAMPAIGN AGAINST TYRANNY As part of the effort to dismantle England and create a series of regions for the European Union, the Labour Government introduces plans for an elected regional assembly in north-east England. An unelected North-East Assembly, funded by the EU and quite unimpeded by democratic concerns, already exists, and Labour feels sure the voters will respond with gratitude on learning they will be given the right to elect its members. Neil Herron » leads the no campaign, and in November the voters throw out plans for the assembly by an overwhelming margin of four-to-one. They want nothing to do with an EU-sponsored Trojan Horse. Untroubled by this resounding setback, the unelected North-East Assembly announces that it will set itself up as a limited company, and carry on. During the campaign, Neil Herron had revealed the stunning fact that the unelected assembly was an unincorporated body whose members were personally responsible for all its financial obligations, liabilities amounting to millions of pounds. Herron, who is becoming a national hero, also points out that according to the 1985 Companies Act setting up such a company would not absolve members of their existing obligations. Indeed, members who had voted for their councils to provide the assembly with funds were in breach of the 1972 Local Government Act, since they had voted to give public money to a body in which they had a financial interest. It appears that similar breaches of the law have taken place in other English regions with other EU gravy trains. Again, voters interested in freedom might want to visit Herron » 2005 ANCIENT LIBERTIES TRUMP PARKING FINES Neil Herron and Robin de Crittenden assert that the covenant rights of Magna Carta and the Declaration of Rights are Constitutional rights that belong to all Brits and cannot be lawfully altered or destroyed by Parliament. In the Declaration of Rights the Brits affirmed their ancient rights and liberties and declared that all "fines and forfeitures of particular persons before conviction [that is, without trial] are illegal and void." In a quirky move that highlights the freedoms at stake, Neil and Robin fight the imposition of traffic fines since these are imposed without trial. They win in court, forcing the government involved to refund fines to delighted drivers. Robin de Crittenden has gone forward to the Court of Appeal to contend that according to Magna Carta and the Declaration of Rights his right to trial cannot be dismissed or damaged. He has asked the Court of Appeal to rule that the British government may not lawfully breach the terms of Magna Carta and the Declaration of Rights. This is a crucial right for Brits. To reach Robin and offer support, email him » 2005 THE SPIRIT OF ASSOCIATION IS THE SPIRIT OF LIBERTY; FIGHTING THE WELFARE STATE No one person can achieve freedom on his or her own. In order to become free, we need others to stand with us. For the Brits, the spirit of helpful association begins in the moots and witenagemots of the Anglo-Saxons, and grows strong in the medieval guilds. In ensuing centuries the Brits start hospitals, universities, building societies, political parties, schools, clubs, scientific societies, charitable trusts, trade unions, corporations, and even marching bands. Protected by the Common Law, these societies are based on an ethic of helpfulness, fair play, and trust. Their idea of fair play is equality of opportunity, not equality of outcome, for equality of outcome can only be achieved by creating a socialist nightmare. The Brits' concept of community is personal, effective, and cost-efficient. It is very different from government-mandated community service networks which over-regulate, over-tax, and underperform. The relentless expansion of government-driven, tax-fed organisations kills spontaneous associations. This is tragic since spontaneous associations of men and women are primary sources of freedom and prosperity. 2005 - 2006 VICAR AND WAR VETERAN GO TO JAIL TO PROTEST UNFAIR COUNCIL TAX Clutching his toothbrush, the 71-year-old Rev Alfred Ridley is jailed for refusing to pay his council tax. He is the first Brit senior to protest local council taxes, which have risen 76% over ten years and hurt seniors on small, fixed incomes. Ridley believes in paying for services, but not for tax gouging. "If you don't stick your neck out no one is going to take a blind bit of notice," he observes. He is part of the IsItFair? movement begun by Christine Melsom that sweeps the country. Citizens who protest taxes have a long and glorious history in helping to create a free, representative, and responsive government. In 2006, Ridley is joined by other brave Brits. The most recent is Richard Fitzmaurice, a 75-year-old who served 22 years as a warrant officer in the Royal Army Ordinance Corps. After his sentencing, he was strip-searched, and made to share the prison van and cell with drug addicts and murderers. 2006 BRITS DEFEND THE RIGHT NOT TO BE FORCED TO ACCUSE THEMSELVES A British citizen has the fundamental right not to be forced to accuse himself at trial, but to remain silent. This right was won by 16th and 17th century heroes such as John Lambert » and John Lilburne» who defied torture and death. It is a right that protects us from torture, that has been sacred in criminal law for well over 300 years in Britain, and that became part of the American Bill of Rights. Idris Francis asserts that the right to silence has been removed for driving offences, and he is fighting to defend this fundamental right against any infringement, no matter how small. He has brought suit in British court, arguing that he has a right to be free from threats and intimidation that force him to accuse himself. In the case of drivers, the Government accuses them by virtue of their ownership of a car caught by a speed camera, and insists they are guilty and must pay a fine. Idris argues that the Government has no factual basis for assuming he was the driver of the car and cannot compel him to admit guilt, infringing on a fundamental British freedom merely because they find it convenient to do so. Now Idris has taken his case to the European Court of Human Rights. 2006 HOUSE OF COMMONS NARROWLY DEFEATS LABOUR'S RACIAL AND RELIGIOUS HATRED BILL The House of Commons defeats by just one vote (283 votes to 282) a bill that would destroy the freedom that Brits have died to obtain and defend. The Bill would have prohibited speech or artistic expressions deemed insulting by religious communities. The Labour Government claimed that the bill was “necessary” to make multicultural coexistence possible. In the House debate, William Pitt the Younger was quoted: “Necessity is the plea for every infringement of human freedom; it is the argument of tyrants; it is the creed of slaves.” Can God be insulted by mere man? Should freedom be destroyed because a person of faith cannot ignore a criticism? Rowan Atkinson of Blackadder fame and his supporters along with House members from all three parties win a victory for freedom of expression, as well as a victory for Parliament against a petty and hectoring Government. 2006 LAW LORDS FREE PRESS FROM LIBEL SUITS British laws have so carefully protected individuals from the unwelcome attentions of the press that the romance between reporters and investigative journalism has been jinxed. Reporters realistically worried that they and their papers would be hauled into court on charges of libel if their reporting was construed as defamatory of a powerful person or corporation. Much reporting is naturally defamatory because the truth is not a liar, but the thought of expensive and exhausting court cases with stiff fines understandably dampens a reporter's investigative ardour. In this century, an American newspaper chose to fight back. Britain's Law Lords heard the case of Jameel v. The Wall Street Journal, and unanimously overturned two lower-court rulings. They held that if the journalist acted "fairly and responsibly in gathering and publishing the information" and if the information was of public importance, the press would not face libel charges for publishing a defamatory statement whether it is true or false. The new ruling, which has just been issued, looks promising, but one wonders whether it will cut any mustard with the European Union, which has hounded journalists who tried to report on EU corruption. Is fear of defamatory proceedings by the EU the reason British newspapers have written so little about the European Union? And isn't their deathly silence likely to continue given that EU laws now trump British law? 2006 ARMY CHIEF SPEAKS BLUNTLY ABOUT IRAQ, BRITAIN, AND SPIRITUAL CRISIS General Sir Richard Dannatt thinks that the presence of British soldiers in Iraq may be exacerbating violence. Sensible people might also conclude that violent Islamists will continue to try to murder Iraqis in their effort to take over the country once the British force leaves. The Army Chief also bluntly says, "'When I see the Islamist threat in this country I hope it doesn’t make undue progress because there is a moral and spiritual vacuum in this country.'" 2007 TORY PEERS PEARSON AND WILLOUGHBY DE BROKE GIVE UKIP VOICE IN HOUSE OF LORDS Eurosceptic Tory Peers Lord Pearson of Rannoch and Lord Willoughby de Broke will create a UKIP group in the House of Lords in a sterling effort to take Britain out of the European Union. They pledge to recruit other members and to persuade leading Conservative donors to switch allegiance. This is a breakthrough. Polls show that the majority of people in Britain want to be free of EU shackles. However, their representatives in Parliament, even those who are Eurosceptic, rarely voice their views. Lord Willoughby de Broke bluntly said, "This country's best interests are served outside the European Union."
Ruth Lea, Director of Global Vision 2007 GLOBAL VISION CALLS FOR NEW RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN BRITAIN AND EU The polls tell Global Vision that the vast majority of people in Britain would like “a looser relationship with the EU.” They do not want Britain to be run by Brussels. Global Vision proposes that Britain enter a relationship with the EU similar to that enjoyed by Switzerland and Norway. Global Vision would have Britain leave the EU and reestablish a trading partnership only. Backed by some of the City’s most respected economists as well as the bosses of Debenhams, Somerfield, construction firm Sir Robert McAlpine and ad giant M&C Saatchi, Global Vision's chairman is Lord Norman Blackwell, formerly financial advisor to Prime Minister Major. Its Director is Ruth Lea, well-known as a broadcaster, Director of the Centre for Policy Studies, and Governor of the London School of Economics. Its leading consultant is Ian Milne, editor of the European Journal and eurofacts. You can find their website here. Once again we note that the push for freedom comes from individuals, whereas government, directionally confused, pushes in the other direction. This is the beginning of the reckoning. Winston Churchill speaking in Parliament in 1938. ~ When you contribute to this website,
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1st CENTURY BC - 17th CENTURY 1600-1644 » 17th CENTURY 1645-1699 »
James Bartholomew shows us how "compassionate" government can create sloth and misery. For UK orders:
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In summer 2006 an Iraqi blogger » writes: According to 2006 polls, a majority of Iraqis say Iraq is headed the right direction, but then, they don't see American newspaper and television reports.
His wit and insights on the major issues of the day make him compulsively readable: Mark Steyn Online » For UK orders: For US orders:
Booker and North reveal the people behind the European Union – how they despise democracy and voters, how they profit from the EU's corrupt unaccountability, and how they possess an Orwellian ability to promote themselves. For UK orders: For US orders:
Free speech is a right for everyone at all times in a free society. We despair when we hear free speech that is stupid, pornographic, or insulting. But once we start to crush free speech because it is offensive to some people, all words and thoughts will be stifled, because narly every thought and every word is offensive to someone. Free speech is too important to the best in our civilisation to let it be destroyed by a thousand small cuts.
Churchill's history is a gripping account of the events and personalities that created Britain. Andrew Roberts takes the story from 1900 into the 21st century. For UK orders: For US orders:
Melanie Phillips exposes breakdowns on every level — within the British government, intelligence community, and police — in defending Western values and peaceful British citizens against violent Islamists. For UK orders: For US orders:
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