What Price Freedom?

An interesting week in La Belle France is drawing to a close, well it can`t be bad when you can still get a five course lunch for two with a litre of vin rouge for 22 Euro things. We are now in Normandy before floating back to Blighty tomorrow, due back in good time for a Sunday roast.

Yesterday we visited the Bayeux Tapestry Museum, where I had to buy what looks a promising book on England`s five year resistance to the Norman occupation. We then visited Omaha and Juno Beaches, where the heroes of D Day landed to restore freedom to Europe with incredible bravery and sacrifice. Many thanks to Phil and Edwin for letting us know the result of the Irish referendum, just as we were looking at the remains of a Mulberry Harbour on Juno Beach, quite apt really. Thank you to the voters of Ireland, but prepare for the introduction of the major elements of the Lisbon Treaty anyway, by some devious mechanism or other.

I must also salute the bravery of David Davies for resigning his seat in protest at the erosion of our liberties, it`s a shame a few more politicians don`t have as much principle. What is annoying about the current erosion of our freedoms is the number of self-declared 'libertarians' who consistently vote for erosion of freedom. To hide behind 'voting the way my constituents wanted', as many of them do, demonstrates a serious lack of backbone and moral fibre. So if your constituents wanted the slaughtering of the first born in every household, would you vote for it? Thought not!

One thing to learn from this is that it is now quite trendy to label yourself 'libertarian', so we must be getting the message across. The other lesson is that it is quite easy to spot a charlatan masqerading as a libertarian, when it suits him.