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Politician of the Year – Nick Clegg

by Whaleoil on July 1, 2010

Nick Clegg is a shoe in for Politician of the Year with his suggestion that “people, not policy-makers” are the best judges of which “unnecessary laws” should be repealed.

During their 13 years in power, the Labour Government developed a dangerous reflex. Faced with whatever problem, legislation increasingly became the standard response. Something needs fixing? Let’s pass a new law.

And so, over the last decade, thousands of new rules and regulations have amassed on the statute book. And it is our liberty that has paid the price. Under the cover of pretending to act in our best interest, the state has crept further and further into people’s homes and their private lives. That intrusion is disempowering. It needs to change.

Wow, if only our National government would do the same here. Rodney might like to pick up this suggestion so that at the same time as capitalising on the fall out from the ETS we can get some positive action with our laws.

So today we are taking an unprecedented step. Based on the belief that it is people, not policymakers, who know best, we are asking the people of Britain to tell us how you want to see your freedom restored.

We are calling for your ideas on how to protect our hard won liberties and repeal unnecessary laws. And we want to know how best to scale back excessive regulation that denies businesses the space to innovate. We’re hoping for virtual mailbags full of suggestions. Every single one will be read, with the best put to Parliament.

It is a radically different approach. One based on trust. Because it isn’t up to government to tell people how to live their lives. Our job is to empower people, giving you the freedom and support to thrive. That belief is right at the heart of this Coalition. And both coalition parties recognise that Whitehall doesn’t have a monopoly on the best ideas.

So, finally, after years in the wilderness, freedom is back in fashion. This is our chance to redraw the boundaries between citizen and state. It’s your chance to have your say.

What a joy that would be to behold if we had a political party in New Zealand that would do the same. Fat chance of it being National.

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  • ummmm

    Nick Clegg’s position on rights is very interesting, but perhaps NZ is not ready for it. He wants to devolve a big whack of power from Parliament to the people.He advocates much greater powers for the Courts to protect peoples rights against legislative interference. This is a sea change for the Westminster system that says Parliament can limit whatever rights it wants and is accountable to the people only once in every three years. The Courts are powerless against Parliament, ask John Boscawen who tried to argue otherwise in the High Court.

    Ridiculously, England has long since abandoned the pure Westminster system but we ironically cling on to it like no other country in the world. Our judges now have the weakest powers of any jurisdiction in the Commonwealth when it comes to upholding rights of the people against Government interference.

    I don’t know if New Zealand is ready for such a devolution of power back to the people, as whenever the Courts have tried to trim Parliament’s power back in that direction, the dog-whistle cries of ‘judicial activism’ ring out.

    Strangely, New Zealand seems wedded to the idea that outside the three yearly election, Parliament holds all the power and the people hold none.

    A good first step would be getting rid of s4 of the Bill of Rights which requires the Courts to uphold unjustified limits on citizens rights. This would mean you could argue, with some prospect of success, that the name suppression laws are an unjustifiable breach of your right to freedom of expression. At the moment your rights don’t count for crap against that law.

    Dumping s 4 would involve expanding the justice budget and reducing the corrections budget.

    Repeal Section 4!!!!!

  • sickhealthysanemad

    It doesn’t matter what suggestions Rodney picks up anymore. He has no credibility. He took his fresh young totty on tens of thousands worth of taxpayer-funded-holiday while trying to perkbust every other fucker. He is the numero uno dickwad hypocrite. No one listens to him anymore except some scared and bewildered older people and the lesser-thinking provincial no-hoper. Notice how he’s moving into Winston’s territory?

  • ummmm

    The Victorian notion of ‘Parliamentary Sovereignty/Supremacy’ has been abandoned in England and Canada. The US has never had it, instead ‘the people’ have always been sovereign.

    We should consign tho history the servile notions that Parliament is some sort of aristocracy perpetuating some lord-master relationship with the electorate, when the reality is they are predominantly a bunch of tit-sucking make-weights.

    Lets run the razor over our rights restricting laws too. Redrawing the bound­aries between cit­i­zen and state means giving some basic powers to the Courts to police those boundaries.

  • jman

    Well that certainly is a remarkable statement. Especially coming from the leader of the lib dems who I always thought were a bunch of pinko socialists. Of course saying it is one thing. Actually following through is another. So I will be watching with interest to see what freedoms the British people regain.

  • robf

    All sounds very good but what are the chances of pulling it off. He is certainly talking the talk but can he walk the walk. As for here, light weight Non Key is struggling to pull the skin of his cold custard pudding.
    How do you devolve power from an all powerful state machine intent on strengthening its hold on everything? Controlled by an army of parasitic collaborators feathering their own nests. We can’t even have a sensible debate on a constitution that treats every New Zealander equally.
    Our current constitution is based on a historical racially divisive document (piece of toilet paper) that has been elevated to the level of founding document in recent years, with history being re written at an astounding pace. My interpretation of it was that it was put in place to prevent the complete genocide of a troublesome native race, without it Maori would have surely become extinct like the Moriori before them.
    Our court system is so ineffective and inefficient and actual justice is seen as a distraction to be avoided. How would such a flawed system uphold anybody’s rights when it is a full time job papering over the crack to try and maintain some sort of confidence in the system?

  • ummmm

    The Treaty boiled down simply confirms that the property rights Maori had in 1840 would continue to be recognised after the cession of Sovereignty.

    Most Maori aspirations, bar full autonomy, could be achieved through litigation if property rights were enshrined in the Bill of Rights. I understand ACT has also long supported the inclusion of property rights in the Bill of Rights, just not for Maori.

  • megashitstirrer

    sick­healthysane­mad

    I think I must agree with your inspired assessment of mr hyde or is it mr jekyll?