The article was originally published in the British Politics Review Volume 5 No. 4 Autumn 2010.

http://www.britishpoliticssociety.no/British%20Politics%20Review%2004_2010.pdf

British Politics Review is a quarterly newsletter issued by the British Politics Society, Nor

 

A change for the better

By Siv Jensen, Fremskrittspartiet (the Progress Party)

After having led the Conservative Party to their best election result since 1992, David Cameron was appointed as Britain’s new Prime Minister on 11 May 2010. I was excited to see Cameron succeed in leading his party to victory in the elections. A Conservative victory in Britain was of course a boost to a party struggling to get a change of political direction here in Norway as well. It is both important and interesting for me to follow the steps that Cameron’s new coalition government are now taking. After the end of the cold war we witnessed the dismantling of “hard socialism” in Europe, now we witness the dismantling of “soft socialism” in Europe. Apart from the shift in UK we should note the new or continuing centre-right victories in Denmark, Sweden, Germany and the Netherlands.

 

From Thatcherism to Blairism

Many remember how the Conservative Party in the UK was portrayed as the “nasty party”. Now history has shown us that the reforms Margaret Thatcher pulled trough were not only bold political moves, but also of absolute necessity for the British economy. It is worth reminding what Lady Thatcher answered when she in 2002 was asked what she considered to be her greatest achievement. She replied: “Tony Blair and New Labour. We forced our opponents to change their minds”. I was therefore very amused to read the confessions of former Prime Minister Tony Blair in his new memoirs A Journey, where he admits that while standing as a candidate for Labour in the election of 1983, he did not really hope for a Labour victory, because he thought that was not the best for the country.

The ideological shift in which Margaret Thatcher played such a central role has created some tremendous results. During the past three decades global trade has increased five times, average global income has increased by more than 50%, and hundreds of millions of people have left poverty behind. The policies of Thatcher helped break up the Soviet Empire and reverse socialism in the West, and it did not stop there. One of the most important moves, I believe, was her reform on housing policy in Britain. It was ingenious in being simple and market oriented. The policy of denationalisation or privatisation as part of the remedy for Britain’s poor economic performance was another important and tough move from the Thatcher administration. History has shown that individuals can make a difference and she surely did. I have to admit that alongside Ronald Reagan, Margaret Thatcher has inspired me more than any political leader. Earlier this autumn I had the honour of meeting with her in London. That was a moment I will never forget.

Power to the people

In 1971 John Lennon released the song “Power to the people”, allegedly as a follow up to an interview he gave to the Trotskyite magazine the Red Pole. I find both the song title and the song itself to be excellent, although Lennon himself was seen as belonging to the political left. To me politics is all about giving power back to the people, and that means reducing the power that now belongs to politicians or bureaucrats. Inspired by the ideas of classical liberalism, the Progress Party wants to transfer political and economic power from the government to the people. Limited government is about respect. Respect for the decisions made by the people. After the financial crisis hit us, we heard that capitalism had gone bankrupt and that what we needed now was more regulations and more government control. I can fully understand that old leftists would like to rewrite history because their own ideas have consistently failed. However, the only problem is that the financial crisis was not a proof of the failure of the free market and capitalism. Rather, it was the result of too much and wrong regulation and of politicians that just could not keep their hands off.

The failure of multiculturalism

As the chancellor of Germany, Angela Merkel recently said: Multiculturalism has failed. David Cameron has said that “state multiculturalism is a wrong-headed doctrine that has had disastrous results.” I agree with Merkel and Cameron on this. But let us be clear: A multiethnic society is a great thing, a multicultural one is not. I believe that some principles are more important than others. I will not accept any compromise on these principles, and that is why it is so important to establish clearly what the idea of multiculturalism is all about. It is about compromising on certain values and principles that we cannot compromise on. I believe in a multi-ethnic society, but I do not believe in a multi-cultural society. Multiculturalism has failed. As already said, the individual has certain rights. I believe these rights go above characteristics such as ethnicity, gender, sexual preferences, and religious beliefs. Relativism with regard to basic human rights is a dangerous path that can lead to serious consequences. A successful integration policy is not about allowing parallel societies, but the opposite.

Goodbye nanny state, you won`t be missed.

Britain`s new leader has characterised what is about to happen in Britain under his leadership as “a shift in power from state to society”. Cameron has also promised to take on the bureaucratic burdens facing entrepreneurs, and the new Secretary of State for Education, Michael Gove`s plans for reforms in the educational sector sounds to me very promising, especially his policy of establishing so called “free schools” – independent schools paid for over the state budget. In Sweden they have done something similar, in Norway we tried to, but it was stopped when the red-green government took power. The 21^st century should be the century of individualism rather than collectivism, and the century where the rise of the civil society coincides with the decline of the society that is state-run. The era of the nanny state should come to an end, and it will not be missed. We are done with the times when politicians decided everything in people`s daily lives and we are done with the times of state run monopolies. Although Norway is among the last ones standing of the softer socialist regimes in Europe, the time of soft socialism is about to end in Norway too. A change for the better is coming to Norway. The countdown has started.

About the author:

Siv Jensen is the Leader of the Progress Party (Fremskrittspartiet) and also the parliamentary leader for the Progress Party`s group in the Storting (The Norwegian Parliament). The classical liberal (libertarian- conservative) Progress Party is the second largest party in Norway and the leading opposition party. Ms. Jensen has been elected member of the Storting since 1997, representing the district of Oslo. Ms. Jensen is member of the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and Defence and member of the Enlarged Foreign Affairs Committee.