Two More Questions To Ask Andrew Withers

Just in case I don't get there on time, here are two more questions for any loyalist Party members who are attending tomorrow's phony AGM to ask Andrew Withers:

Question 1: Andrew Withers was elected unopposed as a councillor in Clevedon last year. But he stood as in independent. Why did he choose to do this, instead of standing as a Libertarian Party candidate? That would have been an extremely easy win for the Party with no extra effort - our first elected councillor. Withers was still Party Leader when he submitted the nomination papers for his candidacy, and this was prior to the storm triggered by the Anna Raccoon blog. A party leader's job is to promote their party, and having people in elected office (even on parish councils) is generally thought of as being a good thing by small parties on the grounds that it enhances their credibility. So why did Whithers stand as an independent? I did send him a polite email at the time, asking him about this - the reply I got was rambling, incoherent and aggressive in tone. It did include the following statement: "My reasons for not standing as a Libertarian Party candidate in the local elections ? because I would not have secured a seat." And yet the election was unopposed, so what sense does that make?
Why would a party leader who sincerely wants to advance the interests of Libertarianism in this country not stand as a Libertarian candidate?

Question 2: During the run up to the local elections last year, in my capacity as North West Regional Coordinator (and therefore a member of the National Coordinating Committee), I asked how many candidates we had, who and where they were. After all, a small party needs to mobilise its members to support whatever candidates it has. Andrew Withers refused to disclose this information to the NCC. As a consequence of this, the information was not available to put on the Party website so that people could volunteer to help our candidate(s) by leafleting etc. And what else is a political party for, if it's not to support it's candidates? To this day I only have definite knowledge of one Libertarian Party candidate in last year's elections. Despite this betrayal by Andrew Withers, he actually got a fairly decent result.
Why did Andrew Withers betray our candidate(s) in this way?

Don't let Andrew Withers get away with his usual evasive replies and bully tactics. Get straight answers out of him for both these questions, it's your right to know. And don't forget to take a digital camera along to the "AGM" - I can put any digital video footage submitted to me on YouTube easily enough.

The AGM That Isn't, Run By The Leaders Who Aren't

Before the Libertarian Party website was taken down, supposedly “for maintenance”, it was announced – very quietly announced, in fact it was buried in the news section – that there was going to be an Annual General Meeting this coming Saturday. Here are the full details:

Party AGM 24th March 2012 10am
Committee Room 2 Clevedon Town Council
44 Old Street, Clevedon, North Somerset

Membership Card required for entry and £5 towards venue costs apply to membership@libertarianpartyuk.com

Federal Constitution to be approved

New Manifesto for 2012 In Process

There are several things wrong with this announcement:

1. The membership have not been directly informed – at least no member known to me has been emailed about this. Certainly I received no notification, which I certainly should have done being both a regional co-ordinator and long-standing member (Party Membership Number 12).


2. The last Libertarian Party AGM was held in late 2010. The Party Constitution says that AGM's must be held no further apart than 15 months.


3. The venue is extremely hard to get to.- the nearest railway station is nearly 4 miles away. Anyone would think the “leadership” didn't want ordinary members attending, especially in view of the early start time.


4. The requirement for membership cards to be produced. I know of only one member in the North West region who has received one. Have the majority of active and formerly active members been blacklisted?


5. The £5 entry fee. The group that is organising this event has no authority to ask for money.


6. “Federal Constitution to be approved”. Not debated, but approved. Again, the group calling the so-called AGM has no authority to do this. This has not even been discussed by the National Co-ordinating Committee – even then it would be up to a vote by the attending members.


7. “New Manifesto” - same as above. They have no authority.

Now the reason that the group organising this meeting has no authority to do any of this is that they're not the NCC. During the internal crisis that was triggered by the Anna Raccoon blog last year, former Party Leader Andrew Withers resigned and has never been re-instated. That's right, the man who currently claims to be both Party Leader and Treasurer isn't even a member. Withers was Party Treasurer until the last AGM, in 2010, then he was elected Party Leader and another member was elected Treasurer. Unfortunately – and for reasons best known to himself – Withers failed to turn over the accounts and control of the Party bank accounts to the new Treasurer. Why would he do this unless he has something to hide?

The upshot of all this is that control of the Libertarian Party bank accounts and – even more importantly – the membership list are no longer in the possession of the NCC. Instead they're in the hands of a small unelected group centred around Andrew Withers, Nic Coome and Ian Parker-Jospeph. This has left the Party completely paralysed since last year, and with no obvious prospects of recovery. People who really want to promote a libertarian alternative to mainstream politics would not act in this way – as a matter of fact, Withers' group did actually try to de-register the Party last year, without success.

So we have an unelected group holding a fake AGM in a place and time that most members will find it difficult to access. This looks very much like Withers and his gang trying to complete the coup they started last year. They won't profit from this.

Here's my advice to any Libertarian Party members who plan to attend this so-called AGM:

1. Don't pay the £5 they're asking for. Withers and his mob have no authority to ask you for any money, and there's no way of knowing how the money is going to be spent. The money raised by the Party prior to last year's implosion has not been properly accounted for, despite the best efforts of honest members to obtain this information.


2. Ask Withers for a full accounting of Party funds. It's YOUR money, you have the right to know how it's been spent.


3. Demand that Withers and his cronies surrender control of the bank accounts, financial records and membership lists to the legitimate NCC without delay.


4. Ask Withers why the IT contractor who was in charge of re-vamping the website doesn't seem to have been paid.


5. Make sure your questions, and any answers you receive, are properly recorded, preferably with a digital video camera. Andrew Withers, Nic Coome and Ian Parker-Joseph all have a history of dishonesty, so it's as well to record the proceedings. If there are two or three people with cameras and/or voice recorders present, so much the better.

I joined the Libertarian Party because I believed that it was necessary to have openly libertarian people taking part in the electoral process and promoting libertarian ideas in order to counteract the statist trend of the last century. I still believe this to be necessary – two years of relative inaction by the current government has shown that just getting rid of Labour was not enough. There's a lot of good work that can be done by an effective Libertarian Party, especially at local level. But the Libertarian Party will never be an effective organisation as long as it's resources are under the control of a gang of crooks.

North West Libertarians: Upcoming Meetups

The North West branch of the Libertarian Party has been holding a series of informal meetups in Carnforth and Manchester. Normally these are every month, but the schedule's had to be re-arranges slightly due to having to fit them round the upcoming AGM in Bristol, and also the fact that Christmas will soon be on us. The dates for the next two meetups have now been set:

On Saturday 21st November, there will be a meetup at the Kro 2 Bar, Oxford Road, Manchester, starting about 1.00pm. This is an easy pub to find, there are always tables available and the food's inexpensive if you want to eat. We normally grab a table near the bar, so we should be easy to spot. If you're coming by car, I recommend parking up in the multi-story car park on Charles Street, which is only a short walk away, and is very cheap at weekends.

On Sunday 13th December, there will be another meetup in the Lounge Bar of the Royal Station Hotel in Carnforth, starting about 12.30pm. This is just across the road from the famous railway station which was used as a location for the film "Brief Encounter". This is a nice bar that does decent food - the Station Burgers are both reasonably priced and very filling. It's also intended that this meetup should serve as the Christmas get-together for Libertarians in the region, as the next meetup's likely to be in January.

Both of these meetups are open to anyone if you'd like to come along, talk about libertarianism and see if we're the sort of party that you'd like to support.

Chris Mounsey at the Libertarian Alliance Conference

The Libertarian Alliance is an independent, non-party political thinktank that has been around for years. They have no direct connection with the Libertarian Party, but they did invite our Director of Communications, Chris Mounsey, to speak at this year's annual conference. It's a pretty interesting talk, in which Chris describes the development of the party so far, our first couple of election campaigns, and briefly outlines some of our policies.

LAConf09, Chris Mounsey: "The UK Libertarian Party" from Sean Gabb on Vimeo.

Libertarian Party AGM 28 November 2009

The Annual AGM/Conference will be held at the Gladiator Room, Gloucestershire Cricket Club, Nevil Road, Bristol BS7 9EJ 10.30am- 4pm November 28th 2009

The Conference will deal with matters of policy and constitutional matters to be put forward by members via their regional coordinators, and the election of officers for 2010, plus party organisation, aims and objectives

A business meeting dealing with end of year accounts and hand over to the new NCC will be held in January.

We need to know numbers attending by November 2nd. There will be a £5 charge to defray costs on registration so please help us by registering early, and as ever Donations will be happily received.

Contact members@lpuk.org

The Sportsman Pub is nearby where I understand the usual fare can be obtained.

There is carparking available for 100 vehicles.

Directions

By Road

From the North:

Exit Junction 19 on M4 onto M32 to Bristol

Exit at Junction 2

Take the 3rd exit off the roundabout, keep in right hand lane and follow brown
tourist signs to County Ground. Continue on Muller Road for approx.1 mile.

Turn left into Ralph Road, opposite Bus Depot.

At T junction, turn left and then take first right into Kennington Avenue.
At top of road, turn left (signposted) into Nevil Road and drive through the Grace Gates into the ground.

From Central Bristol :

From St. James Barton roundabout in the City Centre, take exit marked Horfield (A38)
Continue along Stokes Croft Road and onto Gloucester Road

After approx. 1.5 miles turn right into Nevil Road (Signposted)
The Grace Gates are at the end of Nevil Road

By Rail :

Bristol Temple Meads is in the centre of Bristol, approx. 2 miles from The County Ground
Bus no. 8 or 9 will take you from the station to the bus station and then take any of the buses as below

Bristol Parkway is on the northern side of the City and approx 4 miles from The County Ground

By Bus :

The Bus Station is located in the centre of Bristol.

Outside the Bus Station from The Travel Inn, services, 72, 73, 74, 75, 76 and 77 will take you along the Gloucester Road. The stop is Nevil Road, which is within 100yds from the Ground.

Libertarian Party launches online Supporters’ Section

On behalf of the Libertarian Party I would like to announce the launch of the Supporters' section of our website.

The Party have introduced the Supporters' section of the website to help diseminate information about the Party to all those who are interested in the cause of liberty -- not just Party Members.

The Supporter's section of the website is aimed at all those who support liberty and wish to keep up to date with the Libertarian Party. We believe it will be of most interest to people who wish to find out a little more about the Party before they become members. But it may also be of interest to liberals and libertarians living outside of the UK or members of other political parties.

To become a Supporter is absolutely free and open to everyone regardless of age, nationality and current party affiliation. As a supporter you will receive regular updates on party campaigns, events and how you can help us in our quest to restore liberty to the United Kingdom.

So if you wish to become a Supporter of the UK's only Libertarian Party please sign up here.



Rob Waller
LPUK Web Director

Gavin Webb crosses floor to join Libertarian Party

PRESS RELEASE

COUNCILLOR GAVIN WEBB OF STOKE ON TRENT CITY COUNCIL RESIGNS FROM THE LIBERAL DEMOCRATS AND JOINS THE LIBERTARIAN PARTY (LPUK)

Gavin Webb, who was selected as the Liberal Democrat prospective parliamentary candidate for Burton in 2008 and elected as a Lib Dem councillor on Stoke-on-Trent City Council in 2007, has today announced that he has resigned from the Liberal Democrats.

He says: "I have made a good many friends in my fourteen years of activism in the Liberal Democrats and I hope that those friendships will continue, but regretfully I have decided to resign from the Liberal Democrats.

"The party, like the Conservative and Labour parties, has become a party of the establishment. It has unfortunately firmly wedded itself to the belief that there are primarily government solutions to the problems facing our country, and in the process, they are adopting policies that undermine our rights and freedoms as individuals.

"As far as I can see, most political parties in the UK appear to trust individuals when it comes to voting for councillors, MPs and MEPs, but once comfortably in power they are reluctant to trust individuals when it comes to them making choices about their own lives.

"There is however one political party - the Libertarian Party - that believes in giving responsibility back to individuals over their own lives and their own finances; and it is this party that I have now decided to join.

"We are on the road of authoritarianism, where government is our ruler rather than us being the ruler of our government. It is time for each and every single one of us to make a stand against government and those who feed off it, and demand the reduction of its size and scope.

"From what I've seen from many Lib Dem parliamentarians and councillors I don't believe the Liberal Democrat Party has the inclination to argue for smaller government in defence of our individual rights.

"Though there are some good classical liberal and libertarian types in the party, with whom I hope to continue to have a good relationship, their voices are crowded out by people who believe it perfectly okay to dictate to people how they should live their lives. I don't wish any longer to be a part of that.

"As an active member of the Libertarian Party, I will campaign to inform people that there are more voluntary, rather than coercive ways in which to influence positive outcomes for themselves, their families and the wider community. I hope to impress upon people that though there may be a need for government of some sort, it doesn't have to be government of the size and expense we see today.

Libertarian Party Leader Ian Parker- Joseph said

It has been a pleasure over the past months to speak with Gavin on numerous occasions, and following a meeting with him last month can attest to his personal commitment to the libertarian values on which he was elected, a man of honour, integrity and a passion for doing the right thing for his constituents.

I am therefore very pleased on behalf of The Libertarian Party to welcome Gavin Webb into the only party that wholly and uniquely stands for libertarian ideals in the UK.

I know that there is a great sadness from Gavin that the Liberal Democrat leadership were unable to rise to the challenge of veering away from the belief that the State has the answers to all our ills. It is a sadness shared by many.

In that light I hope that there are many more who now see the time as right to make the same changes that Gavin Webb has undertaken, not just from the Lib Dems but also those in the Conservative Libertarian wing who are unsuccessfully looking for reforms that will never come, and instead to look to a party that believes in libertarianism as a way of life, rather than one which merely gives lip service to it.

The Libertarian Party is here to stay, and new members such as Gavin Webb can only enhance the message that his constituents so clearly wanted to hear, and that Gavin Webb is living on their behalf.

Libertarian Party Chairman Andrew Withers said-

"Whilst we have a number of Parish and Town Councillors, Gavin is the first City Councillor that has crossed the floor to a truly Radical Party, one that wants to change the relationship between State and the Individual to the point where the State is subordinate to the will of the people, not the people subordinate to the will of the State.

Furthermore, the Libertarian Party argues that State should be small and accountable.

"We welcome Gavin, and hope that his decision will galvanise other Libertarians in other parties to join with us on the long march back to individual Liberty."

ENDS

Gavin Webb Can Be Contacted On 07949 026660

Libertarian Party (LPUK) 0845 299 7650

Email Contact@lpuk.org

ENDS

I have long maintained that the doors of LPUK would remain firmly open to anyone who wanted to stop, take a step back and realise that trying to reform the existing Big Parties in the ways of Libertarianism was like banging ones head on a brick wall.

This is a door that Gavin has chosen to walk through, and I sincerely hope that with his brave first move, it will galvanise others who have been sitting on the fence watching, waiting to see who would be the first.

We have well formed policies, we put the people before vested interests, we put people before the wishes of the establishment and the EU, and the consistency of our policies means that we will not be issuing new policy documents every week as we see from the Conservatives and LibDems.

We are not fooled by the PR work of Cameron, the flip flopping of Clegg nor the increasingly desperate pronouncements from Downing St. We are clear and concise in what needs to be done for the UK, for its peoples to be free from government interference, to be free of daily suspicions, to be free from surveillance, to be free from privateers acting under legislative protection to levy and fine for every infringement of draconian rules, but to be able to live their lives as each sees fit to do so.

Gavin Webb has taken the first steps, we will be looking to you, your friends, family and neighbours to follow him in taking the next steps and making the Libertarian party a real political force in the UK.

North West Monthly Meetups

I had a bit of a longish drive from Manchester to Carnforth (near Lancaster) yesterday, for the latest meetup of Libertarian Party members in the North West of England. Although it wasn't a very big group that met there yesterday, it's always good to meet fellow Libertarians.

While sampling the beer in the bar of the Royal Station Hotel, we had some constructive discussions on the subject of organisation, and especially how we're going to support Gregg Beaman's campaign as our candidate for the Morecambe and Lunesdale constituency in the General Election.

We've also agreed to make Carnforth the venue of our regular monthly regional meetups on the last Sunday of each month, starting on the 27th September. These will be in the bar of the Royal Station Hotel (right across the road from the famous train station), starting about 12.30pm and finishing whenever people get bored or run out of beer money. The Royal Station Hotel is a nice boozer with friendly staff, and they serve really good food.

The meetups will be pretty informal. The North West branch of the Libertarian Party (which covers Greater Manchester, Merseyside, Cheshire, Lancashire and Cumbria) currently functions as a loose association of members in the region, but holding regular meetups is an important step towards becoming a properly constituted Branch with a constitution and elected officers. We also expect to start some campaigning activities in the near future.

As I said, these meetups are pretty informal at the moment, and they are not just open to Libertarian Party members. Anyone who is interested in living in a more liberal Britain and wants to see what we're about is welcome to come. So if you're within travelling distance of Carnforth on the last Sunday of every month (starting 27th September 2009), why not come and say hello? Free thinking people will always be welcome, and you may even decide you like us so much you want to join us!

Crumbs From Our Masters' Table

The Manchester Evening News reports that Manchester City Council are considering giving a one-off “handout” of fifty pounds to each householder in the city, supposedly in order to help people cope with the effects of the recession. This “handout” should really be referred to as a “handback”, since the money was originally extorted from the taxpayers – if this payment materialises at all, it won't be coming out of the councillors' pockets, it will simply be the return of a very small amount of our own money. It seems that this idea was originated by the “Liberal” Democrats and that their spiritual brothers in the Labour group have agreed to consider it – no doubt both parties believe that this gimick will buy them a few extra votes in the local elections next year.

The MEN goes on to report that the council underspent by 6.8 million pounds last year, and that the current low interest rates mean that the council's debt repayments have been dramatically reduced. That sounds like good news – so why did Council Tax go up again this year? Manchester's sky-high Council Tax is a major burden on the working poor in this town, especially those who are in debt and whose job prospects are uncertain – a large proportion of the population, in other words. Council Tax is an extremely unjust tax that has no relation to the individual's ability to pay, and therefore a Libertarian government would replace it with a tax on luxury goods. Obviously local councils have no power to do that, but the first priority of any responsible local politician should be to keep the burden of taxation to the absolute minimum necessary, consistent with keeping the council's core functions properly funded. Unfortunately, the Establishment parties think of your money as being theirs to spend as they choose. Like oldtime feudal lords, they'll throw some alms back to the poor and hope you don't notice that one of the reasons you are poor is the crushing burden of taxation that they impose on you.

The Libertarian Party recognises that your money is yours by right – it's what you've worked for, and the council has no right to take more than it needs. When the Libertarian Party has its own elected councillors, they will work to ensure that Council Tax is kept as low as it can be – frozen at least, reduced if possible. That one simple act of stealing a bit less money from the taxpayers is the best thing that the council can do to help the honest working people of Manchester.

Press Release 7th July 2009

NEWS RELEASE


Libertarian Party fields
youngest ever parliamentary candidate
at Norwich North


Thomas Burridge, aged 18, is the Libertarian Party candidate for the upcoming Norwich North by-election, and is set to make history as the youngest person ever to contest a Westminster seat. Thomas was accepted offically by the Returning Officer today.

Thomas is aware that his age may raise a few eyebrows. “People may ask what can I possibly know about anything at my age? Well, one thing I do know is that Labour excesses have left my generation with a massive debt that will take generations to pay off.” “It’s all the more painful because we were not given any say in the decisions that have forced us to spend the rest of our lives in debt.”

“Currently, the Tories and Labour are squabbling about cutting state spending by a pathetic 5 per cent. Whereas, the Libertarian Party want to scrap the whole rotten system. A system that has given us high personal taxes, squalid services and a corrupt parliament.” “I may not win this time, but I will be back in five years, and in another five years, if necessary. By which time, the guilty ones will be wallowing in their generous pensions – while my generation – The Debt Generation – will still be paying back the money that was squandered.”

The Libertarian Party believes in individual liberty, personal responsibility and freedom from government. Its most prominent policy is to scrap income tax, and transfer taxes to non-essential goods, leaving items such as food, heating and rent tax-free.

ENDS

For more information, or to arrange an interview, contact the Libertarian Party Norwich North Campaign Office on 01603 850573 or the media enquiries mobile on 07505 228618.

Further details are available on our campaign website: http://www.thomasburridge.com
Alternatively, visit the Libertarian Party website: http://www.lpuk.org

Our First Candidate For Parliament

Following on from our recent campaign in Wisbech South, the Libertarian Party has put up its first candidate for Parliament, in the Norwich North by-election, to be held on 23 July. This is a major step forward for the Libertarian Party, and will give us more experience of running an election campaign prior to the General Election and next year's locals. The following was posted on the East Anglian Libertarians blog:

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/

Posted by Jimmy Lee Shreeve

And here's a statement from the man himself:

My name is Thomas Burridge and I am eighteen waiting to go to University, I am the Libertarian Party Candidate for Norwich North.

Most sensible people will be saying what the hell does he know about anything- This is what I do know the last twelve years of Labour has left my generation in massive debt, my generation will be paying off the excesses of the last twelve years for the rest of our lives,
not only my generation, by our as yet unborn children. Did we have any say in spending the rest of our lives in debt ? No we did not.

Currently the Tories and Labour are arguing about cutting a pifling 5% of our current bloated State spending. The LPUK are talking about scrapping the whole rotten system, that has given us high personal taxes, squalid services, a corrupt Parliament and starting again.

I may not win this time, but I will be back in five years, and in another five years and in another five years, by the then guilty ones will still be wallowing in their pensions or will be long dead, but the debt will be there.

I am from the Debt Generation only the LPUK has fresh answers from a new Generation.

Of course Thomas is only the first of many Libertarians who will be standing for Parliament in the near future, as well as local councils. More volunteers are putting themselves forward for the selection process all the time. But electioneering costs money, and we're not one of the big Establishment parties, backed by shadowy businessmen with deep pockets. What money we have is freely donated by ordinary people. We need more of everything, more members, more activists, more candidates and more money.

So if you believe in what we believe, if you want the government to keep its nose out of your business and its hands out of your pockets, join us.

Failing that, bung us some money.

Or, in the true spirit of capitalism, buy stuff from us.

The money will be put to good use fighting against the corrupt political class and restoring this country to its classical liberal roots.

And if you happen to live in Norwich North, don't forget to vote for Thomas Burridge, your Libertarian candidate - and a vote for the Libertarian Party is a vote for yourself.