November 4th 2008
A COPY OF ORWELL'S 'NINETEEN EIGHTY-FOUR' SENT TO EVERY MP
An Internet grass-roots campaign will this week deliver a copy of George Orwell's prophetic novel 'Nineteen Eighty-Four' to every Member of Parliament.
The books will be inscribed with the words, 'This book was a warning, not a blueprint', and will arrive at Parliament on or before November 5th -- a date of well known historical significance for that building.
---------------
Outraged by the continual attack upon civil liberties within our nation, a fortnight ago the Libertarian Party proposed reminding those in Westminster who they were elected to serve, and in whose interests the laws that they pass are meant to function.
Spread purely by word of mouth, a campaign to send each Member of Parliament their own copy of Orwell's dystopian classic met with overwhelming support on the Internet, with many more books pledged than the 646 required to ensure that every one of our elected representatives receive a personal copy. The Libertarian Party contributed just 75 books itself, with the remainder coming (directly, or via campaign donations) from people of all political parties, and of none.
The UK Libertarian Party leader, Ian Parker-Joseph, explained, "As the people of Britain become ever more spied upon and ever more heavily taxed, as the government attempts to control how much we should smoke, eat and drink, as the state legislates to regulate ever more the minutiae of our lives, the Libertarian Party want to remind people that we have the power, and that our elected representatives work for us.
"The Libertarian Party would like the people of Britain to remember that the state is the servant of the people, and not our master. Moreover, we wish to remind those in Westminster of this fact.
"Many constituents of these MPs will be adding their own personal messages to the books that they are sending," added Mr Parker-Joseph, "and it is a sad reflection of how far towards Orwell's vision our country has already slipped that some members of the public have expressed fear at the potential consequences of simply sending their MP a 60 year old novel. One correspondent wrote to me:
<<>>
"What sort of society are we living in where people are so afraid of their government? Something is very, very wrong here" concluded Mr Parker-Joseph.
NOTES FOR EDITORS
1) The Libertarian Party was founded on November 21st 2007 and officially launched on January 1st 2008. The party's website can be found at:
http://www.lpuk.org
2) Further details of the party's policies can be found in our manifesto:
http://www.lpuk.org/pages/manifesto.php
3) Libertarianism is a political philosophy based on support for individual liberty.
Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Libertarianism
4) The Party's blog regularly examines how the UK is slipping into the totalitarian vision portrayed by Orwell. See, for example, here:
http://lpuk.blogspot.com/2008/10/1984-arrogant-tom-harris-mp-just-doesnt.html
No comments:
Post a Comment