24/05/2026
Nationalism is not the answer.
REFORM/RESTORE: “But I want to live in the England I fondly remember”, even though rose-tinted glasses have been used extensively. How far should we go back?
Should we go back to the 1970s? Older readers would remember TV shows like “Love Thy Neighbour”, when immigrants were few. They would remember hunting for candles in the dark as the power cut out. They would remember Labour’s three day week as industry downscaled production to save power. They would remember the “Winter of Discontent” when rubbish piled up in the streets, uncollected and the dead went unburied. Surely not that England? At least we had decent music.
Should we go back to the 1980s? It was a decade that split the country. Conservative Margaret Thatcher was like Marmite to the masses – a harbinger of doom to the TUC, yet a beacon of hope for entrepreneurs. Her legacy includes economic liberalisation, privatisation, and weakening of the trade unions, but also the poll tax, deindustrialisation, and growing social inequality. Not that England? The music was still passable.
Should we go to the 1990s? 1993 saw the signing of the Maastricht Treaty. Conservative John Major was so wet and pro-EU, he should have been a Lib Dem. The “Common Market” as it was known, became the European Union. It laid the foundation for the Euro as the EU's single currency, established EU citizenship, enhanced the powers of the European Parliament, and introduced the convergence criteria that countries must meet to join the eurozone. Imagine wanting a government for your government. I’d assume most nationalists wouldn’t want to go there. Music? At least the old bands were still going!
So really, we come down to the fact that people are unhappy whoever lives here and whichever government is in power. The truth is that Freedom makes people happy, with less tax, less regulation and a willingness to engage with a world where developing travel is making it a smaller place.
The UK does have issues:
A complicated deal with the EU was not needed, All we required was withdrawal from the EU and leave it up to them whether we got free trade or not. As we are net importers, the EU stood to lose more, but we had weak politicians.
Immigration must slow. We have a housing crisis. The Welfare State needs to be limited to people already here legally. Finding out that there are no free homes and free money upon arrival removes the incentive for getting in a small boat. Yet if someone wants to invest in the country, or has a job lined up, they should be welcomed.
For the multinational corporations who are leeching wealth from the UK, then paying tax elsewhere, slashing regulations will allow small and medium enterprises (SMEs) to compete once more. The Libertarian Party is having ongoing discussions on how to even up and reduce taxation, which will encourage more corporations to pay in to the UK and increase the tax take. The Libertarian Party DOES understand the Laffer Curve.
Insular nationalism is not the answer. Looking at Reform policies, there are several mentions of nationalisation. Nationalism + Socialism = ?
Once again, the real answer is free trade - only that brings wealth to both parties.
Martin Day - Mercia Coordinator.