A story of how free speech gets you into trouble in the LibDems, I echo the views of my fellow Libertarian citizenstuart

UNDER-FIRE COUNCILLOR FACES SACK

IAIN ROBINSON

IAIN.ROBINSON@THESENTINEL.CO.UK

09:4021 April 2008

City
councillor Gavin Webb could be thrown off a school's board of governors
after making controversial calls to legalise heroin and prostitution. 
Liberal Democrat (Libertarian) councillor Gavin Webb's position is
being reviewed after publicly expressing controversial views.

Thistley Hough High School, in Penkhull, could now decide to sack him from its board of governors.

The
chair of governors, Gill Miller, said she is seeking advice on Mr
Webb's position in light of complaints about comments he has made.

She
said: “I have alerted the governing support unit at the city council
and the governing body is currently considering Mr Webb's position.”

Talking about drugs, Mr Webb said: “I believe we should legalise the lot, including the most harmful substance heroin.”

He has also described the police's drug-busting Operation Nemesis as a “waste of money”.

He
has also said: “The only person one can trust in protecting one's own
life, is oneself. That is why I also advocate that individuals should
have the right to carry a handgun.”

Other
controversial views expressed by Mr Webb include that drink-driving is
not a crime, that brothels should be legal and that
Britain's borders should be opened up to anyone who wants to enter the country.

Stoke-on-Trent
City Council's Liberal Democrat group leader, Councillor Jean Bowers,
said she was concerned about some of the comments Mr Webb has made in
recent weeks. She said a member of the public had contacted her to
complain about some of his views.

Mr Webb, pictured, said he is aware that some of his views were unpopular, and could even jeopardise his position as a governor.

He
said: “I am getting flak from various people, but part of the role of
politicians is to tell people to take responsibility for their own
lives, instead of blaming other people.”

“At the end of the day, it's up the board of school governors whether they support me or sack me.”

Many of Mr Webb's controversial statements were made on The Sentinel's website.

Mr
Webb is also being investigated by the Standards Board of England after
an alleged four-letter outburst at a fellow councillor.

Terrible, eh?  Imagine a free-thinking individual
with classical liberal views having responsibility for helping to
educate kids!  Imagine where that could lead – you could have a
generation of kids growing up with the habit of thinking for themselves
instead of relying on their “betters” in the political and media
classes.

Notice that the leader of the Liberal Democrat group was quick to stab Councillor Webb in the back.  I understand from Ziggy Encaoua of the Open Liberty Alliance that
Councillor Webb has now been suspended from his party.  It seems the
“Lib” Dems aren't too tolerant of people expressing liberal views.

Councillor
Webb, if you happen to read this – there's a good home waiting for you
in the Libertarian Party if you want it.  We're small, we're
underfunded and we don't yet have a political organisation to match the
“Lib” Dems – but we are allowed (encouraged, even) to think and speak
for ourselves.


A story of how free speech gets you into trouble in the LibDems, I echo the views of my fellow Libertarian citizenstuart

UNDER-FIRE COUNCILLOR FACES SACK

IAIN ROBINSON

IAIN.ROBINSON@THESENTINEL.CO.UK

09:4021 April 2008

City
councillor Gavin Webb could be thrown off a school's board of governors
after making controversial calls to legalise heroin and prostitution. 
Liberal Democrat (Libertarian) councillor Gavin Webb's position is
being reviewed after publicly expressing controversial views.

Thistley Hough High School, in Penkhull, could now decide to sack him from its board of governors.

The
chair of governors, Gill Miller, said she is seeking advice on Mr
Webb's position in light of complaints about comments he has made.

She
said: “I have alerted the governing support unit at the city council
and the governing body is currently considering Mr Webb's position.”

Talking about drugs, Mr Webb said: “I believe we should legalise the lot, including the most harmful substance heroin.”

He has also described the police's drug-busting Operation Nemesis as a “waste of money”.

He
has also said: “The only person one can trust in protecting one's own
life, is oneself. That is why I also advocate that individuals should
have the right to carry a handgun.”

Other
controversial views expressed by Mr Webb include that drink-driving is
not a crime, that brothels should be legal and that
Britain's borders should be opened up to anyone who wants to enter the country.

Stoke-on-Trent
City Council's Liberal Democrat group leader, Councillor Jean Bowers,
said she was concerned about some of the comments Mr Webb has made in
recent weeks. She said a member of the public had contacted her to
complain about some of his views.

Mr Webb, pictured, said he is aware that some of his views were unpopular, and could even jeopardise his position as a governor.

He
said: “I am getting flak from various people, but part of the role of
politicians is to tell people to take responsibility for their own
lives, instead of blaming other people.”

“At the end of the day, it's up the board of school governors whether they support me or sack me.”

Many of Mr Webb's controversial statements were made on The Sentinel's website.

Mr
Webb is also being investigated by the Standards Board of England after
an alleged four-letter outburst at a fellow councillor.

Terrible, eh?  Imagine a free-thinking individual
with classical liberal views having responsibility for helping to
educate kids!  Imagine where that could lead – you could have a
generation of kids growing up with the habit of thinking for themselves
instead of relying on their “betters” in the political and media
classes.

Notice that the leader of the Liberal Democrat group was quick to stab Councillor Webb in the back.  I understand from Ziggy Encaoua of the Open Liberty Alliance that
Councillor Webb has now been suspended from his party.  It seems the
“Lib” Dems aren't too tolerant of people expressing liberal views.

Councillor
Webb, if you happen to read this – there's a good home waiting for you
in the Libertarian Party if you want it.  We're small, we're
underfunded and we don't yet have a political organisation to match the
“Lib” Dems – but we are allowed (encouraged, even) to think and speak
for ourselves.


A story of how free speech gets you into trouble in the LibDems, I echo the views of my fellow Libertarian citizenstuart

UNDER-FIRE COUNCILLOR FACES SACK

IAIN ROBINSON

IAIN.ROBINSON@THESENTINEL.CO.UK

09:4021 April 2008

City
councillor Gavin Webb could be thrown off a school's board of governors
after making controversial calls to legalise heroin and prostitution. 
Liberal Democrat (Libertarian) councillor Gavin Webb's position is
being reviewed after publicly expressing controversial views.

Thistley Hough High School, in Penkhull, could now decide to sack him from its board of governors.

The
chair of governors, Gill Miller, said she is seeking advice on Mr
Webb's position in light of complaints about comments he has made.

She
said: “I have alerted the governing support unit at the city council
and the governing body is currently considering Mr Webb's position.”

Talking about drugs, Mr Webb said: “I believe we should legalise the lot, including the most harmful substance heroin.”

He has also described the police's drug-busting Operation Nemesis as a “waste of money”.

He
has also said: “The only person one can trust in protecting one's own
life, is oneself. That is why I also advocate that individuals should
have the right to carry a handgun.”

Other
controversial views expressed by Mr Webb include that drink-driving is
not a crime, that brothels should be legal and that
Britain's borders should be opened up to anyone who wants to enter the country.

Stoke-on-Trent
City Council's Liberal Democrat group leader, Councillor Jean Bowers,
said she was concerned about some of the comments Mr Webb has made in
recent weeks. She said a member of the public had contacted her to
complain about some of his views.

Mr Webb, pictured, said he is aware that some of his views were unpopular, and could even jeopardise his position as a governor.

He
said: “I am getting flak from various people, but part of the role of
politicians is to tell people to take responsibility for their own
lives, instead of blaming other people.”

“At the end of the day, it's up the board of school governors whether they support me or sack me.”

Many of Mr Webb's controversial statements were made on The Sentinel's website.

Mr
Webb is also being investigated by the Standards Board of England after
an alleged four-letter outburst at a fellow councillor.

Terrible, eh?  Imagine a free-thinking individual
with classical liberal views having responsibility for helping to
educate kids!  Imagine where that could lead – you could have a
generation of kids growing up with the habit of thinking for themselves
instead of relying on their “betters” in the political and media
classes.

Notice that the leader of the Liberal Democrat group was quick to stab Councillor Webb in the back.  I understand from Ziggy Encaoua of the Open Liberty Alliance that
Councillor Webb has now been suspended from his party.  It seems the
“Lib” Dems aren't too tolerant of people expressing liberal views.

Councillor
Webb, if you happen to read this – there's a good home waiting for you
in the Libertarian Party if you want it.  We're small, we're
underfunded and we don't yet have a political organisation to match the
“Lib” Dems – but we are allowed (encouraged, even) to think and speak
for ourselves.


The President of the European Parliament, Hans-Gert Pöttering, on
Wednesday strongly condemned an assault on Irish MEP Prionsias De Rossa
by a group of protesters against the Lisbon Treaty, calling it “an
attack on the freedom of speech”.
Quite a hypocritical 'do as I say, not what I do' remark considering
Hans-Gert Pöttering's own silencing of 'free speech' by MEP's calling for Referendums in the European Parliament last month.

According to the Irish Labour Party, De Rossa, 67, suffered
bruises in Monday night's attack outside Liberty Hall, a Dublin
riverside landmark that houses labor unions and left-wing debates.

De
Rossa had been one of several Labour politicians in Ireland who spoke in favor of
the treaty, which faces Europe's only referendum test on June 12.

They lie, they cheat, they deny you the right of free speech.

Demand a referendum on the Lisbon Treaty.

UPDATE:

It was Mr. De Rossa who Attacked – The Facts Footage (video) *

We Are Change Ireland & Youtube
17.04.2008

We are releasing this footage because of the misinformation about the event in the media

Mr. De Rossa was not attacked, he was asked a question: why at the
EU Parliament did he vote not to respect Ireland’s referendum decision?

The video shows de Rossa being approached slowly by the cameraman and another We Are Change Ireland activist who asks, “Why did you do it?” to which de Rossa responds, “When are you going to grow up?”

Earlier, de Rossa had called for Irish
citizens to support the sovereignty-stripping EU Lisbon Treaty, which
is a re-packaged version of the European Constitution that was already
summarily rejected by voters upon introduction.

The two begin walking down the street
and de Rossa is the first to physically put his arm on the activist as
he moves him out of the way to cross the street.

De Rossa then lunges for another cameraman and then begins running towards him.

De Rossa clearly then appears to trip and fall to the ground as he reaches out for the cameraman.

We Are Change Ireland flagged down a
police van themselves to report the incident and, even as media reports
are forced to admit, after questioning eyewitnesses, the police made no
arrests. If anyone should have been arrested for assault it was de
Rossa himself.

Watch the video.

Bearing in mind what actually happened as seen on the video, look at how the media reported the incident.

Under the headline Anti-EU gang assaults Irish MEP, the BBC reported,
“Irish former minister Proinsias de Rossa was knocked to the ground
after a public meeting in Dublin on Monday night, according to the
Labour Party.”

The Labour Party being bastions of honesty, of course.

“Labour leader Eamon Gilmore said the MEP was
confronted by a group of men who screamed abuse at him before knocking
him over and pinning him down,” added the report.

Watch the video again. Who exactly knocks de Rossa
to the ground? The invisible man? It is clearly de Rossa’s out of
control temper and his shock at the audacity of citizens asking
questions of a politician that led to him falling flat on his face.

The Belfast Telegraph went a step further, claiming de Rossa had been “attacked”.

Again – police investigated the incident and interviewed eyewitnesses before making no arrests, proving that no “assault” or “attack” on de Rossa ever took place. No crime had been committed.

The Associated Press seized on the purported “assault” to smear anti-EU groups.

“The episode highlighted hostility in Ireland’s hard
left to the European Union, which requires a “yes” vote from Ireland
for the treaty, the product of several years’ negotiations, to become
law,” according to the report.

Again this reflects a fundamental ignorance of the
fact that We Are Change Ireland were born out of the 9/11 Truth
Movement, which revolves around the central issue of the 9/11 attacks,
and not any prescribed political partisanship.

Why were the media so keen to perpetuate such a
giant fraud and smear the activists as violent thugs while exalting the
pro-EU MEP as an innocent victim?

Because a “no” vote in Ireland, the only EU member
nation to allow a referendum on the issue, would signal the death knell
for the Lisbon Treaty, and the press -
especially the BBC who routinely propagandize for the expansion of the
EU and have received over £141 million in loans and grants from Brussels

- have to engage in dirty tricks and smear campaigns to try and reverse
public opinion which has always been anti-European Union.

The President of the European Parliament, Hans-Gert Pöttering, on
Wednesday strongly condemned an assault on Irish MEP Prionsias De Rossa
by a group of protesters against the Lisbon Treaty, calling it “an
attack on the freedom of speech”.
Quite a hypocritical 'do as I say, not what I do' remark considering
Hans-Gert Pöttering's own silencing of 'free speech' by MEP's calling for Referendums in the European Parliament last month.

According to the Irish Labour Party, De Rossa, 67, suffered
bruises in Monday night's attack outside Liberty Hall, a Dublin
riverside landmark that houses labor unions and left-wing debates.

De
Rossa had been one of several Labour politicians in Ireland who spoke in favor of
the treaty, which faces Europe's only referendum test on June 12.

They lie, they cheat, they deny you the right of free speech.

Demand a referendum on the Lisbon Treaty.

UPDATE:

It was Mr. De Rossa who Attacked – The Facts Footage (video) *

We Are Change Ireland & Youtube
17.04.2008

We are releasing this footage because of the misinformation about the event in the media

Mr. De Rossa was not attacked, he was asked a question: why at the
EU Parliament did he vote not to respect Ireland’s referendum decision?

The video shows de Rossa being approached slowly by the cameraman and another We Are Change Ireland activist who asks, “Why did you do it?” to which de Rossa responds, “When are you going to grow up?”

Earlier, de Rossa had called for Irish
citizens to support the sovereignty-stripping EU Lisbon Treaty, which
is a re-packaged version of the European Constitution that was already
summarily rejected by voters upon introduction.

The two begin walking down the street
and de Rossa is the first to physically put his arm on the activist as
he moves him out of the way to cross the street.

De Rossa then lunges for another cameraman and then begins running towards him.

De Rossa clearly then appears to trip and fall to the ground as he reaches out for the cameraman.

We Are Change Ireland flagged down a
police van themselves to report the incident and, even as media reports
are forced to admit, after questioning eyewitnesses, the police made no
arrests. If anyone should have been arrested for assault it was de
Rossa himself.

Watch the video.

Bearing in mind what actually happened as seen on the video, look at how the media reported the incident.

Under the headline Anti-EU gang assaults Irish MEP, the BBC reported,
“Irish former minister Proinsias de Rossa was knocked to the ground
after a public meeting in Dublin on Monday night, according to the
Labour Party.”

The Labour Party being bastions of honesty, of course.

“Labour leader Eamon Gilmore said the MEP was
confronted by a group of men who screamed abuse at him before knocking
him over and pinning him down,” added the report.

Watch the video again. Who exactly knocks de Rossa
to the ground? The invisible man? It is clearly de Rossa’s out of
control temper and his shock at the audacity of citizens asking
questions of a politician that led to him falling flat on his face.

The Belfast Telegraph went a step further, claiming de Rossa had been “attacked”.

Again – police investigated the incident and interviewed eyewitnesses before making no arrests, proving that no “assault” or “attack” on de Rossa ever took place. No crime had been committed.

The Associated Press seized on the purported “assault” to smear anti-EU groups.

“The episode highlighted hostility in Ireland’s hard
left to the European Union, which requires a “yes” vote from Ireland
for the treaty, the product of several years’ negotiations, to become
law,” according to the report.

Again this reflects a fundamental ignorance of the
fact that We Are Change Ireland were born out of the 9/11 Truth
Movement, which revolves around the central issue of the 9/11 attacks,
and not any prescribed political partisanship.

Why were the media so keen to perpetuate such a
giant fraud and smear the activists as violent thugs while exalting the
pro-EU MEP as an innocent victim?

Because a “no” vote in Ireland, the only EU member
nation to allow a referendum on the issue, would signal the death knell
for the Lisbon Treaty, and the press -
especially the BBC who routinely propagandize for the expansion of the
EU and have received over £141 million in loans and grants from Brussels

- have to engage in dirty tricks and smear campaigns to try and reverse
public opinion which has always been anti-European Union.