Simon Newman

LOCATION... Tooting, South London

SELF-DESCRIPTION... I was born in 1972 in Edinburgh.  I grew up in Northern Ireland during the Troubles, went to University in England and have lived here ever since. I teach Law, mostly to Postgraduates.  I've been married to an American from Tennessee since 1997, and I follow US politics as well as UK.

POLITICAL BELIEFS... On American-based Internet quizzes I come out as a mild Libertarian, around 60% liberal on both social and economic issues.  In American politics I'm generally a moderate Centrist/Democrat, and I supported the Democrat John Edwards for President in 2004.  This seems to put me somewhere on the right of the modern Conservative party.  Conversely I find that among American Republicans it's often now the "paleocons" who talk a lot of sense, the neocons having apparently abandoned empirical assessment of ascertainable reality.  I have a strong commitment to the scientific method, to empiricism and the truth generally, I don't believe in lies, even 'nice' ones, though telling the truth doesn't mean you have to be nasty about it! I joined the Conservative party after David Cameron was elected.  I'm enthused by his fresh and positive attitude and the possibility of renewal in Britain, whose Constitution and legal system have been seriously damaged under Labour rule.  My fundamental belief is in Liberty and the Rule of Law. This requires an inherently limited State, not an all-powerful State constrained only by bubbles of 'Human Rights' around individuals. I believe people should be equal under the law, and I believe in judging people by the content of their character.  I believe that the English and British common-law legal system as it has evolved is in most respects superior to the Continental systems based on the Codex of Justinian and the Napoleonic Code.  I believe that the European Union is not compatible with this system.  I believe in free speech.

POLITICAL HERO... Winston Churchill would have to be my greatest hero.

FAVOURITE BLOGS... My wife's, and Steve Sailer's controversial human biodiversity blog.

Comments

[David Banks]

Thanks for all your contributions on the ongoing torch/logo saga. glad to see youtoo are of the lions and shields persuasuion. Aren't Ash's design's impressive! although presonally i would like something a bit more monumental - but hey its all about compromise.

David Banks

[SimonNewman]

Cheers :)

I agree about Ash's logos. As I said, I think the trick in getting a good new logo will be to integrate the liony-shieldy and dolphiny-oaky elements...

[David Banks]

With this much wildlife it sounds like we need David Attenborough not David Cameron..

[SimonNewman]

A useful resource for understanding why the "War on Terror" isn't working is William Lind's 'on war' archive:

http://www.d-n-i.net/lind/lind_archive.htm

[Simon Newman]

Update 27th May 2007.

I feel this needs an update as my comment on Cameron - "I'm enthused by his fresh and positive attitude" - is no longer entirely accurate, given recent comments.

Here's what I posted today:

Matthew Oxley:
"It almost seems now as if the focus of the editor have shifted from giving the members a voice, towards keeping the members (particularly the right) quiet."

My impression is that it's more that the party leadership has lurched heavily to the left, into BBC-Observer-Guardian land, and this, for some strange reason, is making party members unhappy.

Personally I'm aghast, strange to think that when I joined the Conservatives at the end of 2005 I worried they might be too right wing for me!! I'm not sure what to think. This stuff might play well in the left wing media but it seems well to the left of what most of the people of Britain believe, at least outside of inner London.
Even if I weren't a Conservative I'd be worried about what it means for democracy when all three of the national parties are running on left-wing platforms.