Lib Dems: Woodies Through & Through?

The Election Series

Hello. We all know that Woodcraft Folk and the District Fellows Movement ain’t allowed to support specfic political parties no matter how closely their policies might align with our aims and principles. Neither are we allowed to speak out against specfic parties. However this does not mean we are an a-political organisation. Far from it! Woodcraft Folk has a complex and rich tapestry of principles and ideas that make us pretty unique in what we stand for. This article is the first in a series of articles that each take a political party and build a case for why they are most in tune with Woodcraft Folk beliefs.

DISCLAIMER: The views presented in this series are of the individuals not of the organisation. Woodcraft Folk and The District Fellows Movement remain party politically neutral.

Liberal Democrats – Woodies Through and Through.

by Kieran Ford.

“We champion the freedom, dignity and well-being of individuals, we acknowledge and respect their right to freedom of conscience and their right to develop their talents to the full. We aim to disperse power, to foster diversity and to nurture creativity”

The Liberal Democrat’s Constitution

What does it mean to be liberal?

Well, the term has lost it’s meaning, found new meanings and in many ways the meaning is used inappropriately, potentially ignorantly today. The original meaning of liberal encompassed both a personal liberty (personal freedoms, civil liberties etc.) but also an economic liberty that, certainly historically, the WCF is staunchly against – free markets, no trade barriers between countries, capitalism and globalisation. Yet, as I say, the term has changed it’s meaning and as such, the party doesn’t hold the liberalism that we as a folk, should be wary of.

Liberal these days means to be left-wing, free, open, inclusive, multicultural and especially in the last point, contradicts entirely the original meaning of liberal – to be truly multicultural means to accept group rights (such as letting those of the Islamic faith not work on Fridays) whereas to be liberal would be to assert the same rights for all (such as employing an entire workforce to work Monday to Friday.). The original one-size-fits-all approach of liberalism no longer applies either to this party or to the folk. We no longer simply state that everyone has the equal right to participate in folk business but instead eagerly embrace people from all walks of life to involve themselves. The difference, though subtle, is huge. Liberalism, traditionally, embraces competition and liberals such as Adam Smith simply acknowledge that competition inevitably breeds failure, loss and inequality of outcome. But this is not the liberalism of the Lib Dems nor the WCF.

One clear concept that the Lib Dems and the WCF share is the lack of a clear identity. In the way that the WCF is often labelled ‘the hippy-scouts’ which could easily be translated as ‘the liberal alternative to the conventional scout movement,’ as indeed historically, it was (though perhaps without the word liberal); the Lib Dems are also seen as simply ‘the liberal alternative to the conventional two party choice.’

As a folk, like the party, we are not liberal. Not in the traditional sense. But in many ways we are Lib Dem. We are a left-wing approach to a conventional way of doing things, and we are an organisation that is also struggling with the lack of identity endemic in the left-wing political sphere.

However, rather than these similarities turning us to despair and angst, the general election provides us with a fascinating opportunity of thrusting left-wing politics right back into the limelight, and as such create an identity for ourselves in mainstream political life. It is looking increasingly likely that we will have a hung parliament after the election (where no party has a clear majority over all others) and as such, for the first time in a generation or more (since the 1970s), the Lib Dems have a truly great part to play in politics – becoming the deciding factor in decisions where the two main parties disagree. If we vote for the Liberal Democrats, now is the time when policies truly in line with the values of the WCF will be lobbied for in parliament and the left-wing or ‘liberal’ politics that both organisations stand for will be given an air of legitimacy once more.

The Lib Dems have recently outlined a “shopping list” for the policies they will rally for in the next parliament, especially in a hung parliament, and it seems quite clear that these are the kinds of policies that we at the WCF should be looking to get heard in parliament. These are:

• Investing extra funds in education through a pupil premium for disadvantaged children.

Education is vital to the folk and not only are the Lib Dems focussing on education, they are also making sure that all education is available to all – reducing any chances of the country gaining an educated elite. This isn’t the liberal outcome of inequality but an embracing of the equality of opportunity. As many of us are either accruing or facing the debts of university life or vocational training, the Lib Dems (as they have successfully implemented in Scotland) are also the only major party committed to scrapping tuition fees in their entirety and look to overhaul the vocational training system in the country.

• Tax reform, taking 4 million out of tax and raising taxes on the rich by requiring capital gains and income to be taxed at the same rate.

Basically, the Lib Dems are fixed on not letting bankers and rich capitalists get away with such large bonuses and incomes as before and will impose higher taxes on them, in a move towards a greater sense of justice in the tax system. This seems to be right in line with the broadly socialist principles of the folk – the Lib Dems are quite clearly the fiscal Robin Hood, and we as a folk should embrace this. It also demonstrates the great void between modern liberal politics and the traditional liberal politics of Adam Smith, John Stuart Mill and others.

• Rebalancing of the economy to put less emphasis on centralised banking and more on a new greener economy.

Sustainability is vital to DFs, having introduced a sustainability rep this Althing and are committed to doing all we can to reduce our emissions – the Lib Dems totally agree. Not only this but, I quote from their website “nuclear has a dirty legacy and increases global security risks. We oppose construction of further nuclear power stations” The Lib Dems agree with the folk that nuclear has no part to play in the future of this nation and the world in general.

• Political reforms, including changes to the voting system and a democratically elected Lords, that go further than proposed by Labour.

The Lib Dems are the only major party that seem to embrace democracy almost as much as we as a folk do. They advocate a move towards proportional representation, not the first-past-the-post system we currently use, lowering the voting age to 16 (embracing all of the DF movement!) and making both houses of Parliament accountable to the electorate.

The Liberal Democrats may not be liberal, but looking closer, neither are we. We are both left-wing, non-mainstream organisations working towards a better world in the name of shared values of freedoms, equality, justice and fairness. It seems clear to me, that regardless of personal identities the two organisations are symmetrical on many levels and that is why, as a member of the Woodcraft Folk, come May, I shall be voting for the Liberal Democrats.