Richard's Kingdom

I voted for the Tories in 1997. It was my first ever election, I was 18, and the Conservatives had been in power my whole life. I knew nothing about politics and I educated myself about neither the parties’ policies nor the local candidates. I voted Tory because I feared the unknown: the huge change [...]

Over the last two parliaments the British state has grown ever more authoritarian. Personal liberty has been sacrificed on the altar of public opinion for political ends. The false dichotomy of privacy versus security has been used repeatedly to justify robbing us of the former while failing to deliver the latter. Billions of pounds have [...]

The Gagged Geeks protest against the Digital Economy Bill in Sheffield yesterday exceeded all my expectations. Around thirty protesters handed out 300 leaflets – our entire stock – in less than 20 minutes. We were joined by Paul Scriven, leader of Sheffield Council and Lib Dem PPC for Sheffield Central, who handed out leaflets and [...]

Dear Harriet Harman I am writing to you in your capacity as Leader of the House of Commons. My MP Richard Caborn may have made representations to you already on my behalf however I wanted to emphasise how important this matter is to me. Please ensure the Digital Economy Bill benefits from the full scrutiny [...]

The Open Rights Group calls attention to a proposed Digital Economy Bill amendment that, if accepted, would allow the Government to censor the web in the name of enforcing copyright law. I have put fingers to keyboard once again, therefore, resulting in the following missive to the noble Lords who came up with the idea. [...]