Musings of a Libertarian

Yesterday the Commons heard about the “collective failure” to address concerns about the ethnicity of grooming-gang members. Casey’s report states: “Child sexual exploitation is horrendous whoever commits it, but there have been enough convictions across the country of groups of men from Asian ethnic backgrounds to have warranted closer examination. Instead of examination, we have seen obfuscation.” For libertarians, a defendant’s ethnicity or cultural background is of no concern. Individuals are individuals; the circumstances of their birth need not dictate their own actions or how they should be treated by the state. The problem with the grooming-gang crisis—as the full inquiry will no doubt uncover—is that concerns over the ethnicity of perpetrators resulted in the shameful white-washing, victim-blaming and inaction we have seen on one of the most horrendous crimes in recent history. This is a direct result of the woke left’s dominance in our judiciary and police forces—those like L...

Earlier this month, a group of Labour MPs—backed by "Labour Together"—publicly endorsed the introduction of a smartphone-based “BritCard.” On Saturday, reports indicated that the government, influenced by Starmer and Yvette Cooper, is “exploring” adopting the BritCard plan to tackle illegal migration and welfare fraud. Frankly this should come as no surprise given Starmer's authoritarian leanings and the fact that plans for Digital ID have been sitting quietly on the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology's website since the last election. Slightly more novel, most likely in response to Reform's positions in the polls, is Labour's illegal migration justification - though this too falls neatly into the Statist strategy of utilising crises to legitimise further control of citizens. Many people think a Digital ID is just your driving licence on a screen. It’s not. It’s your entire life—tax records, medical history, travel movements, social media, emplo...

As of Sunday, it is now illegal to purchase disposable vapes in the UK (though, somewhat perversely, it de facto remains perfectly legal to cross the Channel in a dinghy or publicly call for the murder of Conservative MPs). This latest instance of state overreach, arriving hot on the heels of Sunak’s progressive increases to the legal smoking age, prompts one to ask when legislation last – in this country – made people more free. There are, however, some strong arguments in favour of the ban: these small plastic sticks of joy (usually flavoured in revoltingly sweet “fruit” varieties) each contain a lithium battery — a finite resource that is costly and difficult to recycle. Virtually all disposable vapes end up in landfill (leaking toxins into the soil or catching fire during processing) or littering the streets like bright, tubular gutter flowers. Five million are thrown out every week. It is possible, of course, to manage them more effectively, but reality dictates that the average t...

First May, now Starmer. Whenever a Remainer strikes a "deal" with the EU, history shows the only winner is Brussels. As Boris was quick to tweet today, ‘T𝘸𝘰-𝘵𝘪𝘦𝘳 𝘒𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦 𝘣𝘢𝘭𝘭-𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘸𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘢𝘤𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘨𝘪𝘮𝘱 𝘰𝘧 𝘉𝘳𝘶𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘴.’ In just one afternoon, Keir Starmer has handed over our sovereignty in exchange for... well, it’s hard to say what exactly. Let’s break it down with some insights from the NCC: Regulatory Alignment The deal sees the UK aligning with EU regulations in areas like food standards and emissions trading. This so-called "dynamic alignment" effectively reduces Britain to a rule-taker—bound by EU laws with no say in their creation. London and SE co-ordinator Marco Bocci points out that while UK exporters into the EU may now avoid the Brussels' carbon border tax, he doubts "𝘪𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘭𝘦𝘧𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘰𝘸𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘮𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘱𝘢𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬 𝘳𝘦𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘳𝘦𝘥. 𝘉𝘶...

  What a penguin taught me about freedom: Libertarian themes in "𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘗𝘦𝘯𝘨𝘶𝘪𝘯 𝘓𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘰𝘯𝘴" As Trump announces new tariffs on foreign films, time for a review of a new British blockbuster: In the film adaptation of Tom Michell’s gentle memoir, The Penguin Lessons, a man rescues a dying penguin from an oil spill and smuggles it across South America during the prelude to Argentina's military dictatorship. His desire for a quiet life as an English teacher at a British school in Buenos Aires is challenged when a left-leaning colleague is abducted by the security services. Decades later, Argentina would elect Javier Milei—a libertarian economist who stormed to power on a promise to “chainsaw” the very bureaucracies that suffocated the country back then. In its quiet way, Michell’s story is a perfect metaphor for the values Milei now shouts from the rooftops: personal responsibility, moral clarity, and resistance to a State that too often rewards indifference and pun...

  For fun and cheer as we return to the work following the Easter weekend, a brief run-down of the UK's recent descent towards techno-authoritarianism: 2016: Investigatory Powers Act- The "Snooper's Charter" authorises interception of communications (e.g., phone calls, emails, texts) by agencies like MI5, MI6, GCHQ and police. Allows "bulk interception" of communications data and legalises State hacking of individuals' data. 2018: First use of facial recognition cameras by the Metropolitan police - Digital police line-ups for the crime of walking down the high street. 2023: Online "Safety" Act - Requires social media companies to monitor and censor content, effectively makes online anonymity a criminal offence. Main provisions come into force this summer. 2024: Data Use and Access Bill- Removes the requirement for police forces to justify the seizure of personal data, allows for outsourcing of decision-making to artificial intelligence sys...

  Last week former PM Johnson took to X to say: "I firmly believe Covid was caused by a lab leak. The Chinese owe us proper answers and our Government should start demanding them." Interesting timing, given the fact that only the day before it was revealed that a classified dossier compiled by Sir Richard Dearlove, the former head of MI6, was passed to then-Prime Minister Boris Johnson at the start of the outbreak in March 2020 which stated: ‘It is now beyond reasonable doubt that Covid-19 was engineered in the WIV’.” (Wuhan Institute of Virology) It appears then that Johnson is trying to cover his back, and have us conveniently forget how his CCP-inspired lockdown butchered our liberties and livelihoods. Go away Boris.