Standing up for free markets, deregulation, choice and liberty

Just a quick link to an excellent Q&A session from the Independent with Ken Clarke.

Very much worth a read, but one quote stood out for me that sums up why he is one of the more trustworthy and respected figures within Parliament. When asked about his affiliation with British American Tobacco and whether that left him in a moral bind, or that he was ashamed of his involvement, he replied:

"I am a strong believer in personal responsibility and freedom of choice. British American Tobacco is a responsible company, and I enjoyed working with them.

We only sold cigarettes to adults who were properly informed of the dangers and smoked cigarettes as part of their chosen lifestyle. I find it difficult to believe that there is any cigarette smoker who is not aware of the risks and has not decided that he is prepared to add those risks to the others that are associated with his chosen way of life."

Simply put, whether you agree with someone or not, you must act in a responsible manner, and above all, respect choice and freedom. Well said.

Sunday Indy Echoes of the Revolution

Just recalled the headline on yesterday's Independent on Sunday - "You can go and work in Europe, Mandelson tells strikers."

Anyone else think that sounds a lot like "Then let them eat cake"?

For the record, I actually agree with him. The whole point of a free market - and indeed the single market - is to ensure that provided you have the skills for the jobs, you can work anywhere there is an opportunity. In this case, the strikers may have a point - it seems very unusual in a project for all the labour to be sourced abroad, at least unskilled elements are usually sourced locally. While I don't think they're right to strike, I do think they deserve an answer. That Total have remained silent on this concerns me.

That aside, you can't say "British jobs for British workers", because that's discriminatory. What would be better said is "British jobs for the best skills". Now if the best skills aren't British, we really need to ask why. Maybe something to do with all those people who were sat on benefits instead of the Government spending the time and effort training them over the last ten years. Not that they're blameless, but the Government has helped to create this welfare culture, and in that they are culpable. For all their 'Education, education, education' spiel, New Labour have utterly failed to deliver.

Independent has some independent thinking...

Two very good articles on the Indy website today - one pointing out the spinelessness of politicians in their response to 'pakigate', the other a witty submission to the credit crisis and delusion of Flash Gordon's economic policy. Worth a read.