The principled defence of freedom

The UK Conservative Party has had a proud history of defending the principles of freedom. And with regard to our current position in Government, liberty-loving members of the Party can feel cheerful about the fact that the Coalition deal contains much of the generally sound libertarian substance of the Tory Manifesto.

The Coalition should be praised for the job done thus far in attempting to tackle the deficit (the only concern being the VAT and CGT rises). But we also ought to remember that political parties exist a) to win elections and b) to stay in power as the government (once they are in) for as long as possible.

The price of freedom is eternal vigilance to those principles we hold dear - and should be manifested in the intelligent and gracious defence of the freedom philosophy. Much as we love our political parties, and their traditions, our longer-term support should be qualified by the degree to which they adhere to our cherished principles.

At the same time, we must be careful not to stand on the side-walk throwing stones. Lambasting our party for showing political pragmatism, or for not implementing the politics of freedom as quickly as we might want, is unlikely to be very effective in the long-run. In this context, I was somewhat surprised to hear the famous libertarian economist, Murray Rothbard (speaking in the 1980s) criticising Ronald Reagan and the Libertarian Party of that time for only advocating across-the-board tax cuts of 30 per cent!

But the spirit of constructive and principled criticism is deeply necessary for the defence of freedom and for holding our political representatives to account. Conservative Home, the grassroots website edited by Tim Montgomerie, serves this useful function - a committed, yet critical friend, it represents the 'conscience of the conservative movement' viz-a-viz the Parliamentary Conservative Party in Westminster and in Town Halls. In a similar manner, the principles of freedom can also be advanced through participation in any of those dedicated centre-right campaign onganisations that operate outside party politics. I recently joined The Freedom Association, an excellent bi-partisan political organisation that espouses the economic, social and moral case for the principles of liberty, and which probably comes closest to approximating the views of this blog.

Arguing from a position of principle, but with an understanding of political realities, we must defend freedom regardless of contemporary developments, whilst engaging with the political representatives of the day as far as possible to help promote and nuture our cause.