The new online journal The Commentator which aims to provide three core services:

“1) To select news of the type that is often missed or downplayed by other media outlets;

2) To provide original commentary, primarily offering fresh perspectives on issues of civilisational importance;

3) To be an aggregator service where we list the best and most interesting articles, commentaries and blogs available on the web and which fit the broad themes we wish to promote”

has featured several contributions by YBF graduates. Continue reading →

YBF is delighted to announce that last nights motion at St Andrew’s University which proposed a complete ban of the Officer’ Training Corps on campus has failed to pick up a single vote.

David Bean, a University of St Andrews Postgraduate student, commented “I’m delighted that common sense prevailed at the St Andrews SRC last night, with all members with the exception of the two proposers, plus one abstention, voting against it. Students at St Andrews recognise and celebrate the contribution of the British military, one of the finest in the world, and are delighted to support an Officers’ Training Corps that provides an excellent standard of training to its hundreds of student members.”

The Young Britons’ Foundation believes in supporting our troops who do such selfless and dedicated work.  If you find that your SU is planning a similar motion please get in touch.  We can provide you with campaign materials to ensure a repeat of the fantastic result seen at St Andrew’s.

A group that works to preserve and advance the legacy of Margaret Thatcher has begun the first stage of challenging the UK Film Council’s controversial decision to award £1,000,000 to the makers of a film that is anticipated to be disrespectful towards Lady Thatcher.

The film, which is set to star Meryl Streep and Jim Broadbent, is reportedly set to portray Lady Thatcher’s fall into dementia in a manner that the Young Britons’ Foundation consider will be “the very worst of voyeurism”.

The Young Britons’ Foundation, a non-partisan, not-for-profit organisation that identifies, educates, mentors and helps to place young conservatives in public life, has today sent a Freedom of Information Act request to the UK Film Council seeking copies of all documents related to the decision to award £1,000,000 to the makers of the anti-Thatcher film.

YBF has also written to the Culture & Media Select Committee to invite it to commence an urgent investigation into the grant decision.

YBF Chief Executive, Donal Blaney, said:

“The UK Film Council’s offensive decision was politically motivated and is a calculated attempt to trash her reputation as Britain’s most successful peacetime Prime Minister of the 20th century. Instead of insulting and demeaning Lady Thatcher, and upsetting her family and friends, the UK Film Council should have awarded the money to struggling film makers desperate for a break.”

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For further information, or to arrange a photograph or interview, please contact Andre Walker, Press Officer, on +44 7975 890770.

The left had had free rein on campus for too long, and their latest cause – banning the military – is a step too far. Now is the time to stand up and fight back for the ideas that we believe in.

With the help of YBF you can launch an effective pro-military campaign on your campus.

We have put together Campaign Packs that give you everything you will need to be seen and heard on campus.

These packs contain:

• Advice on pressuring the University to erect memorials for fallen alumni (of any conflict)
• Advice on holding fundraising events for Help for Heroes
• Advice on working with the OTC to organise welcome home parades for troops
• A draft motion of support to put to the Student Union, or a draft motion to overturn existing anti military policy
• Advice on holding a service of thanksgiving for servicemen and women in the university chapel.
• A 10 point briefing note for pro-military activism

as well as ten copies of the above poster.

If you would like one of these packs, free of charge (thanks to the generosity of our donors) then email donal@ybf.org.uk and we will send one out to you.

Together, we can reassert our values on campus and stand up to the anti-military issue-based protest politics that left are inflicting on students.

The Cato Institute was founded in 1977 by Edward H. Crane. It is a non-profit public policy research foundation headquartered in Washington, D.C. The Institute is named for Cato’s Letters, a series of libertarian pamphlets that helped lay the philosophical foundation for the American Revolution.

The mission of the Cato Institute is to increase the understanding of public policies based on the principles of limited government, free markets, individual liberty, and peace. The Institute will use the most effective means to originate, advocate, promote, and disseminate applicable policy proposals that create free, open, and civil societies in the United States and throughout the world.

The Cato Institute undertakes an extensive publications program dealing with the complete spectrum of public policy issues. Books, monographs, briefing papers and shorter studies are commissioned to examine issues in nearly every corner of the public policy debate. Policy forums and book forums are held regularly, as are major policy conferences, which Cato hosts throughout the year, and from which papers are published thrice yearly in the Cato Journal. All of these events are taped and archived on Cato’s Web site. Additionally, Cato has held major conferences in London, Moscow, Shanghai, and Mexico City. The Institute also publishes the quarterly magazine Regulation and a bimonthly newsletter, Cato Policy Report.

The Young Britons’ Foundation was entirely inspired by the success, drive and spirit of the American conservative movement.

First introduced to organisations such as the American Conservative Union, the Young America’s Foundation, the Leadership Institute, Collegiate Network and the Heritage Foundation at the annual Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), it was clear to co-founder Donal Blaney and Greg Smith that Britain was behind in the training and development of younger political activists.

Working together, US think-tanks, activist groups and training organisations ensure that the next generation of conservative activists are well-briefed on the academic backbone of conservative ideas, trained in campaign techniques, media skills and political organisation.  No one group claims a monopoly, but all contribute to conservatism in America through their own initiatives.  Equally, none of these groups are directly affiliated to or at all associated with the Republican Party.

What is most striking about all of these groups, however, is their belief in principled conservatism which can be dated back precisely to the candidacy of Barry Goldwater for President of the United States in 1964.  At that time, conservatives in America were beginning to recognise the importance of individual freedom, a strong national defence, free enterprise and traditional values.

Goldwater did not become President, but his platform acted as a catalyst to drive the conservative agenda forward, with groups such as the American Conservative Union, Young America’s Foundation and the Heritage Foundation being formed to provide the backbone of the movement. In Ronald Reagan, American conservatives found a candidate who could deliver this exciting agenda and in the lead up to and during his Presidency, the movement grew in stature and strength.  Today, with a conservative President and despite Democrat control of Congress, their success continues.

Every year, Young America’s Foundation introduces thousands of American youth to these ideas through conferences, seminars and speaker events on campus; the Leadership Institute trains them in campaigning and media skills; and the Collegiate Network gives them essential support in getting the message heard on campus through newspapers.

Conservatives in Britain also believe in the ideas of individual freedom, a strong national defence, free enterprise and traditional values, and the mission of The Young Britons’ Foundation is to recreate the spirit of those US organisations in the United Kingdom.

To change the political culture away from dependency on political parties to do all the work – and recognise that training and political development can often be more effectively delivered outside of the recognised political structures.

There is no better country than the United States for British conservatives to look for inspiration.  We share a “special relationship”, both of our peoples are freedom loving, we stand together firmly on the international war on terrorism.  Our American cousins are our best friends in the world and their training organisations have set a good example for us to follow.  It is time to follow their lead.

Ronald Reagan once said, “freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction.”  If the British youth of today are not given the opportunity to hear conservative ideas, then his grave prediction may yet come true.

YBF has recognized the generosity of the following individuals who are YBF’s Founder Donors. Without their generosity, YBF would not have been able to have been formed:

·       Kevin Fallon

·       John & Laura Midgeley

·       Paul Osborn

·       Paul Shea

·       Tom Scott

·       Chris Walsh

·       Sarkis Zeronian