The battle lines are drawn in the Norwich North by-election fight to nab the seat left empty by Labour’s Ian Gibson, who was forced to resign over the MPs expenses scandal.
The odds-on favourite to win the hotly-contested seat, which will be fought on July 23rd, is 27-year-old Conservative Chloe Smith, who has fierce ambition for a career in politics written all over her (this isn’t a good thing, in case you were wondering).
The hapless Labour candidate, Chris Ostrowski, a member of Labour’s Christian Socialist movement (Christ, not more Christians), isn’t considered to have a hope in hell - even Gordon Brown is tetchily refusing to discuss his chances.
David Cameron, who has visited Norwich North twice to support Chloe Smith, thinks his party has the contest in the bag.
Well, I wouldn’t be so sure, Dave...
The Libertarians have come to town in the form of 18-year-old Thomas Burridge. He vows to make Chloe Smith and her brand of career Conservatism "history."
OK. He might not do it this time round. But the likes of Chloe Smith, who represent the "old guard" of professional politicians, will go the way of the dinosaurs one day (arguably in less than a decade).
Why?
Because no substance, image-only politicians like Chloe Smith (and her puppet master David Cameron) are NOT relevant to Britain’s society today. They are not interested in life experience. All they are after is a career in politics.
In other words, they have their sights on YOUR (tax) money. Yes, they might do a token job of cleaning up MPs expenses. But make no mistake, professional politicians like Chloe Smith and David Cameron will find a way of getting their "squeaky clean" mits on your tax dollars (I’d should have said pounds, but it never sounds as good).
Why are the Libertarians any different?
Because Libertarians do not believe in career politics. Nor do they believe in big, bloated government - local or national. They believe in low taxes and freedom of the individual to live his or her life as they choose, so long as it does not harm others in any way.
What’s more, Libertarians encourage self-reliance and entrepreneurship. Unlike the Tories and Labour, they don’t maintain a welfare system that makes if more lucrative for a million or more people to languish on incapacity benefits, rather than gain the self-respect of earning money through a job or by being self-employed.
But wait, the Norwich North Libertarian candidate is only 18...
You could argue that a kid of 18 hasn’t got any life experience. And you’d have a fair point. But if you bear in mind that 1 million 18-24 year olds in Britain have no training and no jobs, you could argue that Thomas Burridge is a valid spokesperson for his generation - unlike the Tory Cloe Smith who, as I’ve said, is merely looking to feather her nest as a professional politician.
Ian Parker-Joseph, leader of the Libertarian Party UK, puts it this way:
"One of the things that has been made clear, especially by the younger members of our party, is that the so called ’experts’, the ’professional politicians’ and the older generations have seriously let them down, left them with debts that they will probably never be able to repay and they are mightily hacked off about it.
"They now want their say, in the places that matter, in those places where the decisions are made, and Thomas is one such young man, who having now completed his exams in political studies is ready to stand up and be counted.
"It comes down to the old adage, If you keep voting the same, you will continue to get the same. So it is time for new, fresh faces with fresh ideas to come forward to keep these older politicians on their toes, to start putting forward policies that put the people first, that honestly take care of our rights, liberties and freedoms that the older generations of politicians have eroded, and are continuing to undermine and erode."
Lastly, all I can say is: Don’t vote for career politicians like Chloe Smith, they’ll only rip you off for yet more taxes (the Tories aren’t really the party of low taxes, any more than Labour is).
Instead, vote Libertarian. Vote for individual freedom. Be all that you can be.
Visit: http://www.lpuk.org/
Perhaps all the disaffected people between 18 and 25 who dont vote will be encouraged by an 18 year old standing for them.
ReplyDeleteHenry North London said...
ReplyDeletePerhaps all the disaffected people between 18 and 25 who dont vote will be encouraged by an 18 year old standing for them.
02 July 2009 02:54
Seriously? Or are you just taking the piss? Voting should be restricted to those over 35, who are taxpayers and homeowners, and are male. We would then have sensible, low tax, administration. Just like the Victorian era.