Musings of a Libertarian

  This week Reform announced that they would halt visas for nationals of countries demanding slavery reparations from the UK. In response, a number of Commonwealth politicians claimed that attempting to "punish" countries seeking "justice" for slavery would "harm and isolate" Britain. The United Kingdom's original role in establishing the transatlantic slave trade will forever be a stain on the history of this country, as a perpetrator of one of the most heinous crimes in history. Our role in the slave trade is rightfully taught in schools, as are the effects of the collectivist ideologies of racism and imperialism used to justify the practice. Less attention is given to the United Kingdom's leading role not just in abolishing the slave trade, but in enforcing abolition globally from 1807. While other nations continued enslaving their fellow man - with the Americans persisting until 1865 and Brazil until 1888 - the Royal Navy's West Africa squa...

  Motorists across the country are feeling the pinch as fuel prices skyrocket following the war in Iran. The most recent data from the RAC shows that since the war began, average petrol prices have risen by 6.81p to 139.64p a litre. Diesel has increased by 14.81p to 157.19p, and these prices are likely to go higher. Spare a thought too for rural dwellers dependent on heating oil, who have seen their prices jump by an even higher proportion. Some have been quick to condemn retailers for profiteering, failing to realise that over half the pump price is now made up of tax. Though much lower than on petrol or diesel, tax on kerosene for heating still makes up around 20% of the purchase price. The answer to lower prices is exactly the same today as it was two weeks ago: lower taxes and a government willing to back greater domestic energy production rather than standing in its way. If ministers were serious about shielding motorists and households from global shocks, they would stop bloc...

Saturday saw the deputy leader of a major UK political party - The Greens' Mothin Ali - join a pro Iranian regime demonstration in London calling to "globalise the intifada," among proudly displayed portraits of Ayatollah Khameini, as the party gained Gorton and Denton but lost Tehran in an eventful 24 hours. Now, freedom of assembly and freedom of expression are absolute - Ali committed no crime in attending this moronic gathering and he is welcome to spew whatever bile he pleases - hate speech is free speech - including in Urdu. The issue is that the irony of using his freedoms to defend a brutal dictator appears completely lost on him. Reports indicate that the Iranian regime gunned down over 30,000 of its own citizens during January's protests, the far left in the West remaining silent even as the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps stormed hospitals to finish off the wounded. The Islamic regime has ruled Iran with an iron fist since 1979, with Iran consistently ran...

On 12 February, Argentina’s Senate approved a Milei-backed labour reform bill allowing workdays of up to 12 hours under new flexibility mechanisms. While not yet law, it is widely expected to pass the lower house despite Peronist opposition. Predictably, parts of the left reacted with outrage, with some even describing the proposal as “slavery”. This ignores the simple reality that many workers already work 12-hour shifts or longer across both the public and private sectors. Crucially, the reform does not remove the 48-hour weekly limit. It merely allows hours to be condensed into longer days in exchange for more time off elsewhere — a practical, modern arrangement for sectors where workloads vary. The backlash says more about ideological hostility to deregulation than any genuine concern for workers. The economic results under Milei speak for themselves. Argentina has moved towards its first budget surplus in over a decade through spending discipline; inflation, which had spiralled ab...

With U-turn number 3167, Labour’s proposed treaty to transfer Chagos to Mauritius has now been pulled from ratification, at least for the time being. That pause is welcome, but it is an indictment that Starmer ever pushed this far. Chagos is a remote chain of islands in the Indian Ocean, best known for Diego Garcia, home to a major UK–US military base. The historical backdrop is shameful: the Chagossians were forcibly removed in the late twentieth century to facilitate the base, and then blocked for decades from returning. That injustice is real, and Britain owes them a serious remedy, not another elite stitch-up dressed as “decolonisation”. The recent political saga began under the Conservatives, who opened negotiations with Mauritius in pursuit of a diplomatic “settlement”. But it was Starmer’s Labour that chose to sign the deal: transferring sovereignty of the entire archipelago to Mauritius while leasing back Diego Garcia for 99 years, at huge cost to British taxpayers. Predictably...

In recent days we have seen a selection of proposals making it harder for people to drive, fitting neatly into Labour’s wider authoritarian, nanny-state instinct: the belief that everyday life must be managed, supervised, and regulated ever more tightly by the state, regardless of cost, evidence, or personal freedom. The first of these, additional eye-tests for the over-70s, seems reasonable — a precautionary safety measure — but still one that represents an additional burden on older drivers, imposed as a blanket rule rather than on the basis of individual need. Then there are proposals to reduce the drink-drive limit in England and Wales, bringing it down from the current 35 micrograms in line with the more restrictive 22 micrograms currently in force in Scotland. Regulatory alignment for regulatory alignment’s sake is not a logical argument, particularly when the SNP are involved. England and Wales already enjoy an enviable safety record, with 24 road deaths per million annually: th...