Embed Size (px)
DESCRIPTION
Liberal Youth 1st edition e-zine
Citation preview
Children of the RevolutionWhere next for young peopleand the Liberal Democrats?
Home Office Failures on Darfur Creating a liberal drug policy Votes at 16
The LibertineISSUE ONEMARCH 2009
Welcome to the inaugural issue of The Libertine, Liberal Youth’s new quarterly e-zine.
The Libertine aims to fill the void left by its printed predecessor Free Radical in providing a space for
comment and debate among the membership of Liberal Youth.
It’s articles are written by members like you, for members like you, in order to reflect the diverse, liberal
views that make us up and we’re always open to contributions and suggestions. The Libertine has taken a
while to get up and running to this stage, and it’s still an evolving project, so do see below if you’d like to
get involved.
In this issue, published on the first anniversary of Liberal Youth, we look at where Liberal Youth should be
heading next. Alongside this, we look at the progress of the Votes at 16 campaign and what could be
achieve by taking a liberal approach to drugs in Britain among other things. I’d like to thank all our
contributors for the pieces and all those who have supported this project and helped out with hard work
over the past few weeks and months
Regards,
James Shaddock,
Editor
How to get involved:
If you have an article, comment or opinion piece you’d like to submit, including those that rebut or have anopposing view to articles published in this issue, please do submit them [email protected] (feel free to also use this email address to get in touch if you can helpout with things like editing, proofreading, design etc)
From the next issue onwards, we’ll be including a letters page, for those of you who wish to raise a point orissue, but don’t wish to write a full on article. Please do feel free to get send them in [email protected]
If you have an event you’d like us to publicise from by-elections to pub crawls, then email the details [email protected]
Finally, for all news items, such as elections wins, then send it to [email protected]
A View From The ChairHappy birthday to us!!
Congratulations everyone - we survived our first year as Liberal Youth: pat yourselves on the back!
Now, inevitably, a change of name, executive and impending General Elections makes people start
asking interesting questions about what Liberal Youth should and shouldn't be. I'm really glad this
debate has started in the wider membership, and there are a couple of interesting articles on the
subject in this issue. I look forward to reading some of the responses articles that will no doubt be
written for Issue Two!!But as well as the upheaval there's also been success. At Harrogate a few weeks ago, the party re-
affirmed it's commitment to scrapping tuition fees, after lobbying from ourselves and other party
members. Liverpool Liberal Youth got over 1,000 signatures on a petition against student debt;
Birmingham Uni branch ran a Save Darfur action day and Sheffield have organised the first of our
'Canvass a Uni in a Day' events.The launch of the Libertine is another step on the road to revitalising Liberal Youth. Not making it how
it was "back in the day", but making it a bolder, more energetic and more successful organisation than
it was before.
Please enjoy the content and then get writing for Issue Two!!
ElainePS: Have you got web skills?Then we need to hear from you...The party is currently writing it's new Youth Policy. As part of this process we're looking to set up a
special dedicated website where all young people (not just Lib Dems!) can talk about what they'd like
to see changed.If you've got any skills with technology at all, please get in touch with me at:
NewsWales Reborn
Saturday 18th April will see a new dawn inWelsh youth politics as IR Cymru (aka LiberalYouth Wales) is officially launched in Cardiff atWelsh Liberal Democrat Conference.
Elections were held in January and the new IRCymru Executive consists of:
Chair: Corey ShefmanSecretary: Sian CliffTreasurer: Edward WilsomCampaigns Officer: Leanne-Marie CotterRep to Policy Committee: Edward Mason
Wales as always had a strong liberal base, mostnotably in the fact it gave us David Lloyd George,the last Liberal Prime Minister. The Libertinewishes IR Cymru
If you’d like to attend Welsh Liberal DemocratConference and take part in the launch of IRCymru, the contact Corey Shefman [email protected]
Urgent Call for nominations - Congress in Rome
The next European Liberal Youth (LYMEC - www.lymec.org) Seminar and Congress is from the 5th - 10thMay 2009 in Rome.
The deadline for nominations was set on the 24th of March and is close; the 5th of April. The seminarruns from the 5th – 8th May and Congress from the 8th – 10th May.
Participation costs will be €100 for the congress and €120 for both congress and seminar.
We will nominate up to two people for the seminar, and there is no limit on nominations to the congress.Nominees to the seminar will be expected to attend the congress.
There is a travel subsidy for the nominees to the seminar of up to €250 euro’s and 80% of total costs. Iregret that there is no travel subsidy for congress participants. Participation fees are payable directly toLiberal Youth in advance of the deadline and are the responsibility of the individual participants, feescover hotel and subsistence costs.
If you are interested then please contact the international committee chair [email protected] as soon as possible
Victory for GEM
Liberal Youth General Executive Member JenniClutten certainly had something to celebrate on19th February , when she was elected toLewisham Council in a by-election for Downhamward.
Jenni, who is also President of Goldsmiths LiberalYouth, was elected alongside fellow LewishamLib Dem Duwayne Brooks in what was a doubleby-election caused by the standing down of twoLib Dem councillors.
The Libetine congratulates both Jenni andDuwayne for their success and wishes both ofthem continued success in their work for thepeople of Downham.
Comment
We Can’t Fix the World Until We’ve Fixed LiberalYouth by Simon Radford
All of you reading this should be angry. Screaming. Perhaps crying. Around 16 per cent of adults, or 5.2million people in England, can be described as "functionally illiterate". There are 500 million new cases ofmalaria, the world’s most preventable disease, every year. Help the Aged report that more than 1 millionolder people in the UK ‘are often or always lonely’. These are human tragedies on a colossal scale. It is themark of a compassionate person that they don’t have to subscribe to Stalin’s dictum that ‘One death is atragedy and 1 million is a statistic’.
Some of these problems are difficult to solve:
‘Just return to a better past’. ‘Blame it all on America, the rich, government or some other bogeyman’. Asliberals we worship at the temple of human creativity and potential, socruelly denied in the statistics above, but don’t think that freedom is azero-sum game. We might need to spread opportunity to those that lack itby asking for the better-off to have broad shoulders, but we don’t leveldown wealth. We realise that there are multiple forces - economic,societal and political - that act on individuals, and that concentrating onone is to only see a partial picture.
Over my time in Liberal Youth (or LDYS as was), we have become a lotmore thoughtful. The forums have some of the highest quality politicaldebate among young people on the internet.
Our responses to proposals are circumspect and considered rather thanknee-jerk, anti-leadership, or designed to shock. Anyone who has spenttime at NUS conference or on Conservative forums would recognise that
we have brains to be reckoned with, just like our party at Westminster. Over the same time period theparliamentary party seems to have become more grown-up too. Gone is the ‘symbolic’ policy of a pennyon income tax, here is a pupil premium designed, by education spokesman David Laws, to target taxpayers’money at those who need the help most. Gone is a health policy designed by doctors, here is one thatrealises that patients have to be at the heart of what a health system does. Gone too is the tedious call forever higher spending from our Treasury team, and arrived is the meticulous and respected voices of ourShadow Chancellor Vince Cable and Party leader Nick Clegg saying that unsustainable spending and creditrisks leaving the cupboards bare when the famine arrives.
Now Liberal Democrats have ideas fit for government we need an internal culture that will get us there,without undoing any of the good work. We need to re-find our voice when it comes to campaigning. Wehave coherent philosophy, of spreading opportunity to those that lack it, and thought-through policy, butwe are becoming prone to the feeling of powerless provoked by the triangulating politics of the two otherparties that we so rightly oppose.
If Liberal Youth is to be relevant, it needs to be necessary. It needs a time commitment and coherentstructures, so that campaigns devised on liberal values can be rolled out by branches around the country.That means using the effectively using the tools of press releases, sample Op-Eds, and online videos.
Perhaps even more important is rediscovering the tools, we used successfully in the past, such a databaseof speakers for events, routinised press contacts and regular calls to all of our branches.
It means training at conferences, and a Chair who will travel the country getting people excited aboutdelivering liberal campaigns, helping branches to get out there and change minds. It also means that everysingle thing we do has to be about maximising our exposure to people who are not members. People haveput in hard work, but if you were not reading this magazine, would you know what Liberal Youth has donefor the last year? Would you know what it stands for or what its members care about? This is a countrywhere, in comparison to activists, the average person consumes a minuscule amount of politicalinformation. So, how do we hope to convey complex ideas powerfully and reengage people with theircommunities? If you are someone sceptical about politics, how do you know that we stand for somethingdifferent to all the others? That we’re angry? That we’re serious about doing our part to change people’slives?
I have been on a member of the LDYS Executive in the past. I edited a predecessor magazine. I’ve beeninvolved one way or another in liberal politics for almost 10 years. Issues of massive incompetence havehamstrung the organisation for years. There have been some personalities just out for personal gain Therehave been really good people put off by a dysfunctional organisation - including one former Chair I know….Yet, we’ve come out the other side with a newly-named organisation that has vowed to do thingsdifferently. This is not just the job of the Chair, or the Executive, or just 'members' - it's your job. Volunteer.Offer to help. Ask for exec minutes and hold people to account. Roll out Liberal Youth’s campaign whereyou are. Get some stories in your student newspaper or the local press. Deliver some leaflets. Sign up afriend. Write a blog about the issues.
So, let’s ditch Stalin and take on board some Lenin. We might not be communists, but we are (in our ownway) revolutionaries. As Lenin once put it, we must learn to have ‘the heart on fire, the brain on ice’. Bothare as important as each other.
We've got a list of demands . . . by Robson Brown
I've not been involved in Liberal Youth long, mostly because I had no idea it existed before University. Butnow I am, I'm already involved in trying to make it work better for everyone.
Let me try and explain. What I like is the huge potential of Liberal Youth - not the Lib Dems. We havededicated people working all over the country who meet up, talk about what's happening in the world, andcampaign about what we want to change – tuition fees, youth crime, surveillance, climate change, Darfur,homophobia.
And yet we've had huge problems with keeping people interested. We have a headline retention rate – thenumber of people who renew their Liberal Youth membership every year – of just 5%. When they are ableto renew their membership for £1 at a university or college Fresher's Fair, and don't, then you knowsomething is wrong. We've had problems with finances that led us to abandon our People & Politicsproject, a website and Liberal Youth relaunch that have gone nowhere, and failing to recognise talent thatwe can use within ourselves, unless they win an award for recruitment.
The three co-founders of the Holborn manifesto want this to change. We want the whole organization tobe able to work as hard and as effectively as the city branches do, and work together more. Is that toomuch to ask?
Summing up what “the Holborn Manifesto” really means isn't easy – it recognises that the usual ways wetalked and took action at the upper level quickly got bogged down through a lack of teamwork andcommunication. We've since had discussions on the Liberal Youth constitution – yep, we have one! - onwhether adopting a Students Union style “sabbatical” approach to our exec officers is a good idea, and onjust how we can make Liberal Youth more “professional” in terms of having aims and getting results.Increasingly we believe the results should be measured in how young people are benefiting and how weget the voices of young radicals and liberals heard more. At the same time, we have immediate demandsthat we feel must be met – a series of simple targets to make Liberal Youth efficient and keep people up todate on its progress, with regular updates and branch calls (definitely without New Labour styleprescriptions!) In talking to and engaging with all our members we will find the energy and ideas we needto move forward with.
The co-founders are myself, Simon Radford, and Richard Wilson. Simon is the experienced one , with a long-time involvement in the organisation, so in typical southerner fashionhas named it after Holborn, when Richard and I live in the North!Richard has been involved for a few years and is seeking to be electedas a GEM on the 2009/2010 Executive. He may (or may not) be onthe front line of seeing the Manifesto's demands become real change.I guess that leaves me as the idealistic member of a few monthsinvolvement, who has some ideas of how things should work.We've been talking to lots of former chairs of Liberal Youth – theyhave literally been coming out of the woodwork to talk to us - and wehear the same issues coming through: teamwork, communication,over-work, and a lack of direction. We know in our own modest way our demands can help change LiberalYouth.
The Manifesto is the starting line. The race for action starts tomorrow.
Join in the discussions at http://www.tinyurl.com/holborn
Votes at 16: a campaign that’s finally coming of age?by Ben Rawlings
Votes at 16 was a Liberal initiative in 1985. With increasing political and societal support, 16 and 17year olds voting in Europe and the British Isles, and a Government Commission looking specifically at theissue, could 2009 finally see success?
Knife crime, youth violence, underage sex and drinking –young people are often in the news these days, andrarely in a good way. But with more and more urgencyaround these “youth issues”, there’s less and less of ayouth voice. Poll after poll shows that young people arekeenly aware of political issues and have strong opinions –but they don’t feel they have any way of making themknown, or making a difference, and they’re increasinglyturning their backs on formal politics.
Liberals were the first to recognise the case for Votes at16 in 1985, when the youngest Liberal MP (now the Lord)Jim Wallace tabled a Private Member’s Bill on youthparticipation that included lowering the voting age to 16.It took some years for others to catch up with this liberalcause – the Votes at 16 Coalition was set up in 2003 to bring together political and civic organisations inthe shared cause of enfranchising 16 and 17 year olds. Since then the campaign has gone from strength tostrength, and the case for Votes at 16 has become overwhelming.
Giving 16 year olds the rights and responsibilities of adults – from starting a family and getting married, togetting a job, paying taxes and joining the army – yet withholding the right to vote is as unfair as it everwas. The introduction of citizenship education has created the first generation to ever be taught aboutdemocracy, voting and citizenship – but we continue to prevent them putting all that knowledge andenthusiasm into practice for at least two years (and sometimes up to seven years). Some politicians stillignore those who can’t vote, and many others find it difficult to engage with 18-24 year olds who are oftenhighly mobile in transient or multi-occupancy accommodation, and who lack many of the traditionalcommunity links that parties and politicians use to speak to voters. The enthusiasm that young peoplehave about getting involved and making a difference drops dramatically after they leave school, leading torecord lows in election turnout among 18-24 year olds. Capitalising on that enthusiasm at 16 and usingschool structures to reach young people and encourage them to take part in formal democracy has neverbeen more important.
Unstoppable momentum?
The last 18 months have seen huge steps forward in the campaign. With Austria, the Isle of Man, Jerseyand Guernsey all lowering the voting age to 16, it has become a reality in Europe and the British Isles – 16year olds will be voting in the European Parliament elections this year. Politicians of all parties and at alllevels are coming out in favour. Even Gordon Brown, in his first Parliamentary speech as Prime Minister,openly stated his intent to look seriously at Votes at 16.
Last year, the Welsh Lib Dems secured overwhelming (and all-party) support in the Welsh Assembly fortheir motion to lower the voting age in Wales, and the Scottish Government reaffirmed the commitmentto lowering the voting age in Scotland. Neither body has the power to change the law – but both have senta very strong message to Westminster.
The campaign couldn’t be in a stronger position as the Government’s Youth Citizenship Commission sits toconsider the voting age. They are due to report back this spring, and we have every reason to be optimisticabout their recommendations: as a senior Minister said at a young person’s lobby last year; “we’ve cometoo far to go back now”.
A liberal cause: a Lib Dem victory?
Votes at 16 is a liberal cause in its intent and its history,and it is a cause that has long been linked to the LibDems in the popular mind. 20 odd years ago, Liberalsraised the issue and fought for it as a matter of principle,in the face of political and public derision. Times havechanged, and we find ourselves backing a causesupported by almost all major youth and democracyorganisations, with widespread public support andsignificant media interest. As the campaign has gotmore popular and prominent, its support has grownacross the political spectrum. What remains for us as amatter of principle is now for others a matter of politics.
Young Labour, despite being recent converts to the cause, claimed victory in pushing the policy throughLabour’s internal processes, and are fighting it as a major campaign issue. Senior Labour figures have beensuggesting the idea as though they’d just thought of it. Labour councillors are assuring young people acrossthe country that they support the campaign. At the same time, it has become such an article of faith forLiberal Democrats of all ages that it is rarely spoken of. We are giving away a key policy that we haveworked hard for, just as its time is coming. We owe it to ourselves and to those who went before not onlyto ensure the success of the campaign, but also to ensure we get the credit that we are due.
Act now: make history
We’ve come so far over the last few years, and are so close to making history and securing the right to votefor 16 and 17 year olds. The next 10 months will be critical in securing the success of the campaign, and inestablishing Liberal Youth’s role in that success. We’ve won the argument – and hopefully the YouthCitizenship Commission will confirm this. Now, our challenge is to step up the demand on the governmentto act.
We need mass demonstrations of public support – individuals of all ages, local and national organisations,youth organisations from school and youth councils , to student unions and local councils. This is whereLiberal Youth come in. There is a clear and consistentdemand from young people for Votes at 16 – why aren’twe out there telling them that the Liberal Democrats wouldgive them that, and have been fighting for it for years?Why aren’t we making sure that Liberal Youth members aresigned up in support, getting up-to-date information theycan use for campaigning? Why aren’t we making sure thatevery Liberal Youth branch and Lib Dem-led council isbacking the campaign? Not only would this ensure thesuccess of the campaign, and secure due credit for LiberalYouth and the Lib Dems as a whole – it should also be a keyplatform for recruiting more members and supporters.
So this is a call to arms. Votes at 16 is our idea, our campaign – let’s make it our success!
A time to cut by Paul Matthews
Following the fortunes of the Liberal Democrats over the past ten years hasfelt rather like watching a poorly directed West End musical at times, withconstant shuffling to the left invariably followed by jumps to the right. Andwhether you’re a seasoned politico or a committed floating voter, you’d beforgiven for feeling a little bewildered by leader Nick Clegg’s sudden desire tocut £20 billion from the UK tax burden.
Add to this the question of how the savings are to be made. All the publicwere given in Clegg’s rousing speech at the party conference in Bournemouth last autumn was a promiseto halt the ID card scheme (a sure-fire vote winner amongst the party’s left-wing hinterland), getting rid ofchild trust funds and the vague, if well intentioned, pledge to scrap “a department or two” in Whitehall.
Rewind three years to the last general election, and things looked very different. Under Charlie Kennedy,the party continued its long established (if electorally unsuccessful) proposal of raising the top rate ofincome tax to 50%. In preceding elections Liberal Democrats pursued such headline-grabbing tax policiesas the 'penny on the basic rate' to subsidise education; a proud social democratic mark of distinction.
Things began to change as Ming Campbell, turned the lessons of 2004’s free market doctrine, The OrangeBook: Reclaiming Liberalism (to which Clegg was a major contributor) into active party policy. Proposalscentered on cutting taxes for low and middle income earners, whilst raising the threshold at which peoplebegan to pay tax, paid for by squeezing very high earners with a higher top rate - classical social democracy.Such a move would however have been fiscally neutral; despite most people benefiting from the basic 4pcut in income tax (some 90% of the population according to party sources at the time), the resultingshortfall would have been made up by the proposed 50% top rate levy on earnings over £100,000. Therewas therefore no overall lowering of the tax burden. Clegg however seems a savvier operator than both ofhis predecessors. His tax cut pledges would fundamentally reduce the overall burden, in an effort not onlyto redistribute wealth to lower earners but also to stimulate demand and rekindle poor retail sales. Such amove would also be more popular in the City and amongst high earners, as it doesn’t rely on directlypenalising the rich to give to the poor, and therefore leave the party open to accusations of destroying thebasis of wealth creation.
In the 80s, Reagan and Friedman’s adherence to the Laffer Curve saw the US (and in its wake, the worldeconomy) recover from a grim period of stagflation, as supply side reforms complemented swingeing taxcuts and lower public spending. The policies were a phenomenal success; median incomes rose, along withnet tax receipts, due in large part to higher consumer spending. In a dismal economic climate, it istraditional for both the public and the major parties to shift their political sympathies inherently to theright; the focus is no longer on green issues or foreign policy, but on domestic spending, tax and otherissues much closer to voters’ homes – and their wallets. This bold move by Clegg therefore represents “notso much a lurch to the right, but a stagger all the way across the political spectrum” as one commentatorput it.
On paper however, perhaps social democrats ought to be as buoyed by these plans as they were byKennedy’s proposed tax reforms at the last elections, which culminated in the Liberal party’s best electoralperformance since the 1920s. “This is the most redistributive tax plan we've ever proposed - more thantwice as redistributive, in fact, than the proposal for a top 50p income tax rate we campaigned on in the2005 general election” as Clegg wrote in The Guardian. Certainly the cuts seem most directly to benefitlow and middle income earners, people who gain from the proposed cut in the basic rate, but who will beless likely to suffer from the increase in capital gains tax which (in part) pays for it. Such a move, Clegg andthe Orange Bookists feel, ought not only to give money back to those who have less to begin with, butshould in turn stimulate flagging demand and help rejuvenate the economy. The fact that Clegg got theproposals past his conference without too much of a struggle suggests that the party – and, they hope, thecountry – agrees with him.
The fires still burn in Darfur – and lives are still beinglost by Martin Shapland
On the 16th of March this year Adam Osman Mohammed, 32, was killed in front of his son and wife by theSudanese security forces. This murder proves, without doubt, that despite international attention, thearrest warrant for Sudan’s president, Omar al-Bashir , and campaigns from Waging Peace, Aegis Studentsand Liberal Youth, a genocide continues.
Alongside these unfolding tragic events, Liberal Youth’scampaign to Save Darfur also continues. First launched atLiberal Democrat Federal Conference in September 2007 wesay that the Labour government has disgracefully let downthe people caught up in what has been widely acknowledgedby world leaders as a genocide.
Jacqui Smith as Home Secretary is currently appealing acourt decision which, if the Border and Immigration Agency wins, will allow the UK Government to sendAsylum Seekers back to Sudan using force. A key component of the Liberal Youth campaign, and LiberalDemocrat policy as created by Liberal Youth, is to bring about a moratorium on deportations back to theSudan until the current regime is replaced or neutralized, and recognized as such internationally.
This is in light of the fact the government already shirks its responsibilities to those who seek ourprotection in escaping this genocidal regime. Asylum Seekers are left destitute when they come to the UKfor protection, and, in the case of Hassan Ismail, only an 11th hour effort by Campaign Groups, lettersfrom Liberal Youth members to their MP’s, and the personal intervention of Liberal Democrat MPs EdDavey and Chris Huhne, halted his return to an unknown fate of torture and imprisonment.
David Miliband as Foreign Secretary has consistently failed to undertake a serious committment tostopping a modern day genocide. The United Nations - African Union (UNAMID) peacekeeping mission inDarfur has appealed repeatedly for member states to provide helicopters. Without their availability thedeployment and effective operation of peacekeeping units is completely hamstrung. As Ban Ki Moon,United Nations Secretary-General said to the UN security council last month, "I reiterate my appeal tomember states who are in a position to provide these mission-critical capabilities to do so without furtherdelay"
Ed Davey as Shadow Foreign Secretary has continued to question why the Foreign Office has yet to provideone single helicopter to support the successful intervention of peacekeeping troops . David Miliband had
agreed that such support was appropriate with such an'urgent' situation in January 2008 - and over 12 months laterthere is still no sign of help.
The Labour Government it seems can 'talk the talk', but hasshamefully failed to 'walk the walk' when it comes toproviding real help to intervene in a continuing massacre.
Alongside these unfolding tragic events and monumentalfailures, Liberal Youth’s campaign to Save Darfur continues.
We say as Liberals that too little has been done by UK Politicians to try to change what has been widelyacknowledged by world leaders as a genocide. It might seem like individuals can contribute little to thesolution, but by working together to ensure that the victims of the war are not forgotten we can help to
change the attitudes of world leaders and bring an end to a conflict which has caused so much suffering.
Liberal Youth members at Birmingham University held an action day in March 2009, and will be bringing amotion to their Guild council to commit to divestment for Darfur. At Liberal Youth Spring Conference, 70members marched at Warwick University in support of the Save Darfur Campaign
Liberal Youth has set up a petition site to demand that thegovernment cease its efforts to return asylum seekers whohave fled a war zone – you can sign it here:http://campaigns.libdems.org.uk/savedarfur. You or yourbranch can take action to help with this campaign, bycontacting Liberal Youth's International Committee Chair [email protected] We can help you draftmotions to pass at your Student Union, produce petitionsto take round campus, or organise an action day or speakerto come to your University.
We must all act to ensure that the United Kingdom upholdsits responsibilities as a democratic and liberal country, and does the right thing by those who have fled oneof the worst humanitarian situations on earth.
Together, we can work to douse the flames which ignited this conflict.
A bold liberal drugs policy by Tom Osborn
Well for a magazine whose title I suspect has been somewhat influenced by Pete (or as he prefers Peter)Doherty, I’m going to go with the subject that for most people in Britain Mr Doherty is most associatedwith. Drugs. Of course what I mean here are the illegal recreation type, not general pharmaceuticals,which in public discourse is everything from cannabis to heroin. Generally the consensus view amongstpoliticians of nearly all stripes is that 'drugs are bad'. They are addictive, causing long term dependencywith addicts feeding their habit through crime. Even if individuals do not become addicts, drugs are stillnevertheless extremely harmful. They ruin the health of takers both physically and mentally. Surely anygovernment should stop them falling into the hands of the naïve and vulnerable? None of the above isfalse. Recreational drugs are dangerous, yet nevertheless, current drug policy is ripe for liberal reform.
Problems with the status quo
Now I am subject to some personal bias. So, to start with, I will admit to having an ‘ordinary universityexperience’ as David (or as he prefers 'Dave') Cameron puts it.Such a statement in public must be a bit like I’m coming out to being gay; yet for most people eitheroutings are rapidly losing their stigma.
As far as I can tell earlier consumption has had absolutely no long terms negative effects on me. Whilst Iused to take quite a few different illegal drugs these days I don’t, and I have a very limited inclination totake any in the future. So of course I am biased because I am ‘lucky’, in that drugs have not ruined my life.How lucky am I? Am I special case? Well first, I am sure there will be plenty of readers of this piece in asimilar position to myself. Indeed ‘successful’ and ‘has used drugs’ are no longer phrases solely attached tocreative types such as musicians, actors and artists. We see elites in the most serious of professions suchas politics and business ‘coming out’ on their earlier experiences. Barack Obama, Steve Jobs, MichaelBloomberg, Boris Johnson, Alistair Darling, Richard Branson, and even Home Secretary Jacqui Smith haveadmitted taking at least one illegal drug. The point is that it is quite possible to try illegal drugs and notsuffer horrendous consequences, and in most Western societies you can have taken drugs and still make itto the top.
It is not just a small section of the population whoare capable of using drugs without calamity. TheBritish Crime Surveys constantly show that around 3million of 16-59 years old have used at least oneillegal drug in the preceding year. This is 10% of theentire adult population. It must also be anunderestimation, as some people would almostcertainly cover up the fact when questioned, andthe BCS sample does not include institutions such asprisons and university halls of residents. Maybe it’sme, but I can’t think of any places more likely tohave people taking drugs than prisons or student
halls! It is also reported that approximately 11.5 million people in England and Wales have ever tried illicitdrugs. That is over 25% of the adult population of the UK, and again let’s remember that is just a minimum.The sheer numbers of people who take drugs is almost proof of the limited harm of taking them. Would somany millions consume these substances if they were as dangerous as we are constantly told? All thisevidence is backed up by Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs which has recently recommended alower level of classification for Ecstasy and Cannabis, a recommendation ignored by Government ministers.
The fact that millions of people are routinely breaking the drug laws suggests laws which are in trouble.The reality is that no matter how much money is thrown at the police, customs and other drug
enforcement agencies, people are still taking drugs. I’ll admit to not being an expert on drug trafficking,but despite any severity of punishment given to the suppliers of drugs, as soon as one is removed from thechain there still seems to be a willing pool of applicants ready to replace them. This is of course just basiceconomics. Drugs are very very rarely given away for free. They are purchased by people who want to buythem. So where there is demand there is supply. On the demand side we have had three decades ofGovernment ‘education’, with negligible changes in the levels of consumption.
But just because a law is inevitably broken by the populace we should not abandon it as ‘unworkable’.Sadly numerous murders, rapes and other ghastly offences will be committed this year, and with alllikelihood into perpetuity. We do not disregard these laws because they are unrealistic. As a civilisedsociety it is vital that we have laws of principle. But what is the principle behind current drugs policy? Itappears to be ‘that we should stop individuals from harming themselves’. The problem is that in excess,virtually everything is harmful. The same logic that drugs should be illegal because of their harm wouldlead to similar bans on alcohol, tobacco, fatty foods, Coca-Cola and deep fried Mars bars! One of the keyfeatures of liberalism is that we allow individuals the right to decide for themselves what is in their bestinterest. As our recent policy briefing on Civil Liberties starts ‘The Labour Government treats us all likechildren, who need to be checked up on and monitored at every turn.’ Quite. We should not treat adults aschildren.
What I have tried to set out here is that drugs are not as dangerous as the traditional political consensuswould lead us to believe, and in both implementation and in principle, drugs laws lack validity. I’ve donemy best to set out the problems with the status quo. But I’m fairly sure that readers of this piece willalready be well aware of the gap between drugs reality and drugs policy. Others have elaborated thesearguments more persuasively and coherently that I have done. What I really want to raise is what weshould do about it. The Liberal Democrats have to our credit opposed the Government’s reclassification ofcannabis after it rejected scientific evidence. But I believe we should be a lot bolder. We should put clearyellow water between ourselves and the other parties. As I’m sure is blindly obvious I am going torecommend legalisation. But not just of cannabis, of ALL drugs.
A liberal policy.
With legalisation comes regulation. We do not hand out alcohol and tobacco to children and so to weshould regulate drug availability. Here though we come to the gaping hole in the discussion of previoussection. I did not draw the distinction between different drugs. Anyone with two ounces of sense knowsthat using cannabis is utterly different from using heroin. We can apply regulations specific for each drugand there are of course a range regulations that we can apply. When I say legalise with regulation, I meaneye-watering tight regulation, and there are two broad areas of regulation that I believe would be highlyadvantageous.
First, I believe it is vital that drugs consumption is regulated so that it canonly legally occur within specifically designated licensed rooms orbuildings. So for example, Heroin would only be legally consumed withinin NHS supervised clinics. Cannabis would only be legal only inAmsterdam style coffee shops. Individuals in possession of drugs outsideof these designated areas, or caught trying to smuggle them out, will beas heavily prosecuted as drug dealers currently are. Any premise found inbreach of its license will be prosecuted. I believe this licensed premiseregulation to be essential, but we could also add other useful specifics.First, only one drug per licensed premise. A group of curious students wanting to try some pot would notbe sat down next to hardened crack smoker. Second, the price of drugs within our regulated premiseswould through taxation be equivalent to current street prices. Third, adults who wish to consume drugsmust attend a medical examination (perhaps at their own expense) before being allowed. Finally, we could
add individual rations to limit the likelihood of drugs being smuggled outside and reducing the harm of thedrugs by enforcing some degree of ‘moderation.’ These are only vague provisional ideas and more detailones would of course be needed.
The second key aspect of regulation that I would strongly advocate is the provision of powers over thelicensing to local councils. Such a move would be very much in keeping with our tradition of localism. Soone can imagine a few ‘coffee shops’ springing up in Camden or Brighton. Fair enough. But the citizens ofTunbridge Wells would have nothing to fear. Again fair enough. Councils would be perfectly within theirpowers to allow inner city areas to house heroin clinics but not allow any premises for softer drugs. Thekey point is that those deciding on drug availability in a local area are accountable to the local electorate.
Indeed I would add that following the passing of the legalisation legislation, no council may license anypremises for drugs consumption without an intervening local election. Licenses would require annualreview and newly elected councils would have the power to revoke them with immediate effect. Animportant point that I will come back to is that it would be completely within a council’s rights to refuselicenses for any drug consumption premises whatsoever within it’s locality.
Benefits
I believe there are numerous benefits to society of allowing the legal and open consumption of drugsregulated in the manner described above. Drugs consumed in safe and secure environments will providesubstantial benefits to users of any drug. Deaths from contamination and overdoses will be virtuallyeliminated. In our drug consumption rooms clean needles would halt the transmission of HIV and hepatitis.Pre-rolled cannabis joints would contain filters to reduce the tar and lung damage. At a wider societal levelthe revenue from the sale of drugs, now in the hands of the state, could be ring fenced towards drugeducation, treatment and enforcement. Organised crime that has profited so lavishly from the sale ofdrugs would be put into a severe recession. Narco-states from Columbia to Afghanistan would find theirdifficulties in maintaining law and order dramatically reduced. From a purely political perspective the gapbetween rhetoric and reality that so disillusions voters is reduced. Finally, it is very difficult to say whetherconsumption would increase or decrease, as we simply don’t know current levels of consumption. Butexcessive consumption and consumption by the most vulnerable should decline. Indeed removing theglamour and criminal mystique may well reduce overall levels as well.
But let us also talk realpolitik. I also believe that such a policy would provide tangible political benefits toour party. First, as I’ve highlighted previously it would give us a highly distinct message against themainstream parties. A real alternative. To be frank since the Iraq War the media’s obsession with ‘Yaa-Boo’politics has starved us of the oxygen of publicity (Vince Cable aside). But surely there is no way that themedia could ignore such a radical break with the current status quo.
I believe the issue would also prove to be hugely difficult for the Conservatives, split between between‘ordinary university experience’ Cameron’s and the old blue rinse brigade. In his period before andimmediately after winning the Conservative leadership, drug reform was salient to Cameron’s rebrandingof the Tory party. It was however quietly dropped and traditional ‘war on drugs’ positions were adopted inresponse to the Advisory Council’s recommendations. Cameron’s personal authority on the matter is fuzzy,and for him to follow a radical liberal lead would surely provoke uproar from the Conservativebackbenches, grassroots and core supporters. However, to launch an all out hard right attack would smackof hypocrisy whilst potentially severely tainting the centrist and compassionate image he has worked sohard to create for the party. The value of a substantial setback for the Tories should not be underestimated.At this stage in the political cycle I strongly believe that it is the Conservatives not Labour who present thegreatest threat and opportunity to the Liberal Democrats for both seats and votes. Labour, as with anylong incumbent, is shedding votes. It will almost certainly lose seats at the next election. It is between usand Tories who benefits.
Second, I believe that most of the spectrum of public opinion will be supportive, or at worse ambivalent.The only extremely hostility will be on the wild Anne Widdecombe right. And let's be honest, we are neverlikely to be picking up reams of hard right votes anyway. However, including local council regulation willmean that we do not automatically lose socially conservative constituents. We are often accused oftailoring our messages to difference audiences but on this issue at a local level we should do just this. Inrelatively socially conservative areas we simply reflect the views of the electorate. Do we seriouslyenvisage a cannabis cafés in every rural village? We can be upfront and open. Drug licenses premises willnot be appropriate for most parts of country. Where there is not local support we will oppose theircreation.
Conclusion
What I’ve attempted to outline is this article is that there is a very strong and valid case for a LiberalDemocrat policy that explicitly calls for the legalisation and regulation of all drugs. I believe this wouldprovide real benefits to the country as a whole and to us as a party. Our radical and liberal traditionsenable us to contemplate such a move. It will require a lot of guts, and some degree of risk. There willinevitably be a strong reactionary attack, accusing us of sending out the wrong message to the public. Butthe fact is that year on year ‘government messages’ on drugs are utterly ignored by millions of ordinarycitizens.I will end by reiterating the point on the value of local variance. For some communities the licensing ofpremises for drug consumption will be acceptable, for some it will not. A ‘one size fits all’ drugs policy willend in failure. We should not try to persuade people to have something they do not want. It is completelyacceptable for local citizens to not want drugs to be available in their community. We must utterly respectthis desire. Indeed through legalisation and regulation I believe we will actually greatly increase the powerof individuals to live in areas without drug consumption and where drugs are not obtainable. Reform islong overdue. If we chose to tackle it, let us be bold.
TrainingCommunication in Liberal Youth - Nationally andLocally
As a member of Liberal Youth you should know the ways you can use the organisation to get informationyou need, and how to communicate it to other members! Here we give you a quick run down of thevarious communication tools at your disposal in the national youth movement for the Liberal Democrats.
Online all the time
* This is a useful tool to provide regular updates of whatLiberal Youth is doing on a national basis, including links torelevant articles or pages on our website. * If you have a twitter account you can comment on LiberalYouth’s announcements as another method to feedback your
views.
Liberal Youth Forums
* These allow members and those of all political, or non political, persuasions an opportunity to initiateand engage in debates about broad political problems and specific issues. This is a great opportunity toengage in debates about liberal philosophy or our chances in the next election (or anything else you wantto talk about!). * Joining the forums is a great way to advertise things in your area or branch (Leafleting a by-election,social events or constituency jobs) . * You can also search for topics that answer questions you have about how to achieve something (‘Iwant advice on getting funding for an event from my local party‘) or post a brand new thread. Manyexperienced Liberal Youth members can share their knowledge as activists in response.
* Access to the closed forums is for Liberal Democrats members only; you can register using yourmembership number, and they are administered by forum users and Liberal Youth members.
Liberal Youth Website
* The Liberal Youth website is being re-launched in 2009 and will host various features members andbranches can use, including: * Pages on the national governance structures of Liberal Youth. This will tell you who are the variouselected officers are who make decisions on your behalf. They will provide details of what their individualresponsibilities are, along with contact details so you can target any questions or ideas to appropriateofficers. * Events calendars - with details of national and branch level events most relevant to Liberal Youthmembers. Again, individuals and branches can submit things that might be suitable such as a speakerevent, action day or branch AGM. * Dedicated campaign pages, that will feature regularly updated news about campaigns' progress, andways in which members and branches can get involved.
* Information about how Liberal Youth produces its policies, the work of policy committee, an up-to-date record Liberal Youth policies, and most importantly - how you can contribute.
We come to you!
Yell! Monthly
* This is the Liberal Youth e-newsletter that is prepared by the Vice ChairCommunications, and sent to all members with a valid email on a monthlybasis. * Generally Yell! is to let members know about national campaigns andbranch progress, and showcase success in terms of activism and social events. * The Vice Chair Communications will happily include submissions frombranches or individuals that report on activism and social events that havetaken place - and please include pictures! * Yell! can therefore keep you in touch with examples of how otherbranches and members go about getting things done well! You can always
email the Liberal Youth Office if you want to get in touch with any personor branch featured to ask for advice (contact published on each Yell!).
The Libertine
* The Libertine is Liberal Youth’s e-magazine that publishes submissions from members, and alsocommissions pieces on specific issues or themes. If members fancy themselves as budding writers,section editors, photographers or art and design boffins then get in touch with the editor! * As its primary aim is to prompt debate and reflection amongst the membership the Libertine is agood opportunity for members and branches to put forth, rebut or comment on ideas about LiberalYouth, Liberalism, campaign priorities and political thought! * As this article indicates, The Libertine will also include training articles for members to provideguidance and improve the skills of activists. If you or your branch think there is a burning training issue
you would like to see published - for example ‘How to use social events to maintain and build onyour Freshers recruitment’ - the get those suggestions sent to the editor as well!
* Facebook groups have replaced dedicatedwebsites for many of Liberal Youth’s campaigns, with
the advantages that they allow us to update groupmembers without separate emails and generate linkedevents. * Adding other members as Facebook friends afteryou meet them is a good way of maintaining personalcontacts. * Liberal Youth members can create their own groupsto generate debates and express views of yourself oryour branch on specific issues. * Executive members and Honorary Officers shouldhave a dedicated Facebook groups - that members canuse for suggestions, compliments and complaints -
that are linked to the main Liberal Youth Facebook‘page’.
Face to face to touch base
Action Days
* These will be announced in Yell!, on theLiberal Youth website and via Facebook * These are a great opportunities formembers and branches to network with LiberalDemocrats and other Liberal Youth members,and to learn more about campaigns and theissues involved. * If you or your branch would like toadvertise an action day to support a localelection or to further a Liberal Youth campaignthen contact the Vice Chair Communications. * If you would like to attend an action daythen keep an eye on the Liberal Youth websitecalendar for those that are coming up. Don’tforget, if an action day is tied in to localelections members or branches may be
entitled to some expenses reimbursementfrom the local party.
Liberal Youth Conference
* Liberal Youth conference takes place twice a year,usually between February to April for Spring and
September to November in the Autumn, although theexact dates are determined by conference committee andpre-advertised in Yell! and on the Liberal Youth website.The next conference will be in Portsmouth this Autumn, sokeep your eyes peeled for more details. * This is a fantastic opportunity to communicate withother members in person, and to promote any issues thatconcern you or your branch. * Calling notice pre-announces conference and allowsmembers to put any issues they want debated toconference in the form of policy - which Policy Committeecan advise in drafting (See advice and contact details forChair of Policy committee on the Liberal Youth website). * Similarly if you feel there is an issue, campaign ordebate that you would like to be raised to the Liberal Youthmembership, then you ask Conference Committee if you
may set up a fringe event during the conference, inwhich you can communicate directly to members.
Federal Party Conference
* Again, these take place twice a year, in March andSeptember, and first time attendees and students are entitled
to a discretionary rate. * Liberal Youth has a stall at the conference venue from whichit promotes its campaigns and runs fringes and social events; it isanother great opportunity to meet members from across the UK. * Finally, Liberal Youth is entitled to nominate members to actas voting representatives on behalf of the organisation. You maynominate yourself to be a voting representative, which theexecutive will vote on. This would allow you to vote on thepolicy of the Liberal Democrat party, and communicate theviews of yourself or your branch at the highest level.
So, as you can see there are a variety of ways for you to findout information and communicate what you think is
important to other members, branches and electedofficers!
