Small government

Steve Hilton was plugging his book More Human on Start the Week this morning. Much of what he said sounded quite liberal and at odds not only with Labour's statist philosophy but also with that of the corporations which fund the Conservative party. It attracted favourable comment from Yasmin Alibhai-Brown in the Indy and a more than guarded welcome from Michael White in the Guardian.

There is a lot to be said for Hilton's analysis, but when he suggests that we adopt elements of governance from the United States and France, not the best-functioning of states, one has doubts.

Blood sports

It is interesting that the forces of reaction did not call for a referendum on hunting with hounds*, which they clearly felt they would lose. According to the Indy, they are instead confident of bouncing Parliament into repealing the Hunting Act 2004 on the back of the new Conservative majority.

It should be noted, however, that the manifesto commitment was to a free vote on the repeal. There are more known opponents of hunting on the Conservative benches than supporters of field sports within the opposition. It can be assumed that many others will be swayed by the correspondence they will receive from the League Against Cruel Sports and other humane organisations into abstaining, at least. Therefore, the non-participation of the SNP in an England-and-Wales-only matter should not matter. Further, the House of Lords is no longer dominated by the landed gentry so even if repeal passes the Commons, it cannot be assumed to have an easy passage through the upper house.

* As opposed to EU membership, where they seem confident of a majority in the country but not in the Commons.

Burundi

It is not obvious from the TV news bulletins, but the trouble in Burundi was sparked by an attempt by president Pierre Nkurunziza, in his final term of office, to hold on to power in contravention of the constitution.

Alice Nzomukunda, who leads the liberal Alliance Démocratique pour le Rénouveau, has called on Nkurunziza to take direct responsibility for the conflict and coup attempts in the country.

Liberal International reports:

Amid widespread public protests and deepening power struggle in the central African country, giving her appraisal of the crisis exclusively to LI News, Ms. Nzomukunda said: “President Nkurunziza and his gang have to be held responsible for all the casualties that have taken place in the last three weeks following their determination to violate the Arusha Accords and the Constitution of the Republic of Burundi.”

The former vice-president was clear that the responsibility for ending the conflict peacefully does not simply lie with the hands of the President. “The insurgent liberators of the population have to sit together with all political, civil and moral forces to decide on the future of the country”, insisted Nzomukunda.

Adding to her comment for LI News the former Vice-President also called on liberals from around the world to issue a declaration supporting the protest of the Burundian people and the respect for the core texts underpinning the functioning of the Burundian society.

In the World Today Resolution adopted by the 59th Congress in Rotterdam, LI called on the government of Burundi to respect all points contained within the agreed roadmap, in particular the agreement "to engage in inclusive dialogue before any changes to the constitution are pursued."

Human Rights Act: Tory incompetence

In moving swiftly to fulfill their manifesto promise to deny legal redress of abuse of human rights under the European Convention to ordinary people, David Cameron and Theresa May have overlooked the way that the Human Rights Act 1998 is intertwined with other legislation. In particular, the Scottish and Welsh constitutions are seriously affected as Wales Online reports.

Kirsty Williams has responded swiftly:

“The new Conservative Government is trying to deprive Welsh people of their human rights.

“As things stand, elderly people who are in conflict with a local authority over the care they receive can use this legislation to fight their case.

“If the Conservatives got away with taking away these rights, we would be worse off.

“But because the Human Rights Act is embedded in the Government of Wales Act 2006, it is not so easy for them.

“Under the Sewel Convention, the UK Government should ask the Assembly’s permission to remove the Human Rights Act from the Government of Wales Act.

“I’m sure the majority of AMs would not agree to that.”

In addition, more liberal members of the Conservative Party (yes, there still are some, though my Labour friends are difficult to convince) are threatening a revolt over the abolition, according to the Indy.

Be a council web-site tester

Take the survey on Neath Port Talbot's website and you will be invited to take part in user-testing of proposed upgrades of the council's pages.

The fightback has started

It was refreshing to attend the first meeting post-slaughter of the Aberavon and Neath Liberal Democrats earlier this evening. After a day watching the Labour Party tearing itself apart on TV and Facebook (and incidentally continuing to ignore the real reasons why they were never going to challenge the Conservatives), it was good to be among people who were looking forward, not back. There were positive contributions from new members (part of over ten thousand the party has put on in the last week, I understand).

Now all we need to do is persuade more young people that slogging round the streets with leaflets and clipboards is an essential part of the democratic process and that there are rewards at the end of the day.

Democratic Alliance leadership

The Democratic Alliance, of which the old South African Liberal Party was one of the ancestors, has made a song-and-dance about electing its first "black" leader.

I don't recall so much fuss being made about Lindiwe Mazibuko's becoming leader of the DA in parliament three-and-a-half years ago. Could it be that Ms Zille did not approve of her?

No sign of one-nation Toryism so far

The Prime Minister has made a speech about one-nation toryism which rings as true as Margaret Thatcher's inaugural promise to replace harmony with discord. The opposite will be true. He no longer has Liberal Democrat ministers to counter-balance the bone-dry Tories behind him. His first decision shows that he is taking no chances: David Cameron has reappointed the hard-line trio of Osborne, May and Hammond to their old top jobs.

The first fruits are highlighted in Peter Black's blog.