I spoke yesterday to the European Young Conservatives on the origins of the crisis in excess state power, deficit spending, debt and debasement. Here are the slides:
And this morning, I spoke on the morality of taxation alongside Syed Kamall MEP, Cllr J P Floru and Matthew Elliott of the TaxPayers’ Alliance. My remarks are here: PDF.
My central message was the same on both occasions: if we really care about human welfare, especially the welfare of the poor, we need to think extremely carefully about the size and role of the state and how it is funded.
Steve,
I loved your speech on the morality of taxation – I think you’ve hit quite a few nails on their respective heads. It has always been evident to me that socialism is a dehumanising force – one only has to deal with the NHS to see this in action.
Scream it from the rooftops – high taxes are immoral and hurt the poor the most. Spending our unborn children’s money is immoral and they won’t thank us for it either.
.
Thanks Peter
I also heard you on the morality of taxes – sorry I didn’t get chance to say hello. Your presentation, in effect, if I may paraphrase ‘I am a conservative because I care about the vulnerable in our society and recognise they have been badly served by a century of socialist interventions’ could win the next election if more of your colleagues in parliament would talk about the world from that viewpoint.