#tom waters

Our UK correspondent - Tom Waters - studying PPE at Oxford (serious genius) gives us some perspective on libertarianism in the motherland. It seems like we've still got a bit of a way to go here downunder. At least we don't have a Royal Family.

CC: Tell us a bit about libertarianism in the UK (we're tempted to mention The Clash, but we'll refrain).

Tom: I would say that it's fairly minimal, but it's growing. There are several libertarian think tanks (The Freedom Association, The Institute for Economic Affairs, The Cobden Centre and The Adam Smith Institute) which do a good job. The term 'libertarian' seems to come up more now in the mainstream press than it once did. There are also a few solid libertarian MPs. Most promisingly, there also seem to be quite a few youth libertarian movements - Liberty League, European Students for Liberty and the Young Britons' Foundation being the main ones - as well as lots of libertarian societies being set up in universities over the past couple of years

CC: We occasionally read the Telegraph to get our UK fix, what else should we be reading?

Tom: City AM, for sure. The Economist is pretty intelligent. Polly Toynbee's articles in the Guardian if you want a good laugh (http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/jan/28/children-legacy-debt-sure-start).

CC: Did you hear about the Aussie bogan who mooned the Queen when she was out here? What are your thoughts on an Australian republic?

Tom: No I didn't! Hahaha. Stick it to the Queen. I don't know if there's an awful lot of point to becoming a republic. The Queen doesn't have much influence. I mean I support getting rid of the monarchy, but it's small fry compared to the rest of the crap that government does.

CC: We're big fans of Samantha Cameron's “There is such a thing as society, just not the same thing as the state.” What are your thoughts on what to do when society breaks down (like the London riots, like “Occupy Wall Street”), do we need a government then?

Tom: I would suggest that both of those problems - the riots and OccupyLSX* - could be partly the result of excessive government. The people rioting were mostly youths with no hope who came from families who had been in the welfare trap for years, possibly generations. People are angry at LSX for the bailouts, and they should be. The state is more often the cause of social breakdown than the solution.

CC: Is the UKIP a fringe group, or is it a real alternative to the Conservatives?

Tom: I used to think it was fringe, but then I went to their conference. They started out as being a one issue party (anti EU), but they've evolved into a much more wide ranging party. They support a flat tax, have made pro-drug legalisation noises and want to cut spending. The main beef I have with them is that they're not exactly pro-immigration, but then I guess none of the parties are. They've been polling around 7% - which is quite something when you consider that the Lib Dems, one of the three main parties and in the coalition government, is currently polling about 9-10%.

CC: Do you really have a Bullingdon Club at Oxford?

Tom: Yes. It's pretty disgusting. They go to restaurants, get really drunk, and break stuff. You have to be invited to join, and only people who are proper aristocrats are invited. Legend has it that they turn up to your door to invite you to join, and if you say yes they just go into your room and smash all your stuff. Because, of course, only people who could afford to replace it all could join the Bullingdon club. These photos - http://iconicphotos.wordpress.com/2010/03/14/the-bullingdon-club - are quite worrying. Look at #2 and #8 on the first, and #1 on the second. Hmmm.

*LSX is the London Stock Exchange