Kettle, Pot, Dictionary?

The Guardian and in this case, Martin Kettle really do not understand that of which they speak.

Brexit was a revolt against liberalism. We’ve entered a new political era

Liberalism is misused once again. The left is not liberal, it is deeply authoritarian. The Guardian in its pursuit of bans on everything from what we eat, to what we may say, is not a liberal newspaper, it is an authoritarian one. When it panders to Islam, it is pandering to an extreme authoritarian ideology. When it peddles identity politics, it is being authoritarian.

And Kettle, with his piece on Brexit and the EU and Hinkley point….(?). FFS! We had a vote, get over it already. The contempt with which these people have treated the outcome is deeply authoritarian. The EU is itself deeply authoritarian. It is the antithesis of liberalism. It is also undemocratic. The claim that because the commission and the council of ministers is selected by member governments, who are, themselves elected, and the parliament is an elected body, that this somehow excuses the democratic deficit simply will not wash. The parliament is a talking shop that produces nothing of value – the power rests with the unelected bodies, hence, the EU is not only undemocratic, it is not, by any stretch of the imagination liberal.

Liberalism is a Hydra-headed and extremely resilient creature. There are also few words in the political dictionary that mean so many different things in different contexts. Most of us consider ourselves liberals in some respects but not in others. Adherents of 60s social liberalism are not necessarily adherents of 80s economic liberalism, or vice versa. Nor is either liberalism quite as absolutist as is sometimes claimed. Most people are somewhere on a spectrum of views, whether on social issues or economics.

Risible bullshit. A liberal is a liberal; someone who believes that others should be free to live as they please within the constraints of the law of the land. Free speech, free association, freedom of religion, freedom of trade, assembly and movement. It means that if a guest house prefers not to have two gays sharing a bed, they may turn them away, it means that if a business prefers not to serve a woman with her face covered, they have the right to refuse, it means that if we detest a medieval death cult, then we have the right to say so, openly and freely without being charged with hate crimes. It means that we may offend people whenever and wherever we like and it means that those offended may respond in kind but no one is arrested for it. You don’t get to  pick and choose and no, it is not a hydra. It is, frankly, a very simple principle – live as you like and treat others as you find them. I will   defend the right of anyone to live as they wish, to speak as they see fit, even if I detest to my very marrow their sentiments. I am a liberal, Martin Kettle and his masters at the Guardian are not.