The Young Britons’ Foundation’s Reagan-Thatcher Summer Conference Programme is a chance of a lifetime. Over three weeks you will get the chance to visit the heart of the American political scene, Washington D.C and the home of Ronald Reagan, Santa Barbara, California.
In your first week in the USA you will recieve the latest in activist skills and training whilst at the Leadership Institute.
In your second week you will attend the Young America’s Foundation, National Conservative Student Conference, hearing from speakers such as Newt Gingrinch, Ann Coulter and Michael Reagan. You will also get the opportunity to meet with like-minded American activists from around the USA.
The third week is spent in Santa Barbara, California. Students will have the opportunity to have a private tour of the Reagan Ranch, undergo training at the Reagan Ranch Centre, recieve a private tour of the Reagan Library & Museum (which includes a tour of Reagan’s Air Force One) and a tour of the Nixon Library.
Thanks to the generosity of the supporters of the Young Britons’ Foundation, substantial subsidies are provided to cover the conference fees, accomodation, meals and course materials.
This is an opportunity not to be missed!
Week 1: 24th – 31st July – A week at the Leadership Institute in Arlington, Virginia learning the latest in activist skills and training. Week includes tours of the Washington Monuments, White House and Congress.
Week 2: 1st – 8th August – A week spent with the Young America’s Foundation at their National Conservative Student Conference hearing from the biggest conservative speakers. Also includes a place at the British Embassy drinks reception in DC.
Week 3: 9th – 14th August – A week learning about Reagan in his own back yard. Includes tours of the Reagan Ranch, training in the Reagan Ranch Centre as well as tours of the Reagan Library and Museum, and the Nixon Museum.
In order to register your interest to attend 1,2 or 3 weeks with YBF in the USA please register your interest with donal@ybf.org.uk.
Last week YBF held its annual Parliamentary Rally. The event was great with the commitee room being filled with activists from around the country.
Douglas Carswell MP (Harwich & Clacton) – Began the day talking about the changes that are needed in British politics. Not only the changes in the present government but also the changes needed in the systems of government, making our elected representatives more accountable to the British public.
Alex Deane (Big Brother Watch) – Spoke about the problems of the Big Brother State brought upon us by our present government and that the British people need to stand up for their country and defend the freedoms of our nation.
Gerald Howarth MP (Shadow Defence Minister) – Talked of the armed forces who on a daily basis defend us as a nation and how we should be proud of them, support them and how a Conservative government would best equip them to ensure the defence of our nation abroad.
Jonathan Isaby (ConservativeHome) – Spoke about the many reasons why the Labour Party’s time in government is up and that this is the chance for activists to influence a change in government.
Andrew Rosindell MP (Shadow Home Office Minister) – Continued in his great patriotism towards the British way of life and spoke of why we should be proud of our country and be even more proud to stand up for the country we are so proud of.
Raheem Kassam (Student Rights) – Reminded the many students attending the rally that extremism is a large threat to the many university campuses across the country and it is time to stand up and stop that extremism with the help of Student Rights.
Harry Cole (Sunlight Centre for Open Politics) – Reminded us he does have a day job! Harry spoke of the great work the Sunlight Centre does in exposing the broken politics that many MP’s have exercised whilst in government.
Mark Wallace (The TaxPayers’ Alliance) – Spoke of the great work of the TxPayers’ Alliance and their continued efforts to ensure that the tax payers of our nation get the best deal from all levels of government by highlighting the waste our government produces.
Patrick McLoughlin MP (Chief Whip) – Gave the rally attendees a brilliant insight into the life of an MP. He talked of the many experiences he has had as an MP and gave the activists a rare opportunity to hear from the Chief Whip himself.
James Delingpole (Author & Polemicist) – Talking frankly about politics and the way in that socialism has taken over the country and that more activists should stand up for what they believe in. He also wrote a great piece on his blog the following week that you can read here.
Greg Hands (Hammersmith and Fulham) – Spoke of the importance of the general election and that the Conservative Party are looking to the youth in order to help the chances of the next government being conservative.
Shane Greer (Total Politics) – Showed the attending activists that whatever our individual politics at the present time we are all conservatives and should stand together and remove the present government.
Dr Liam Fox MP (Shadow Defence Secretary) – Talked about the Conservative Party’s foreign policy as we approach the election and how the support of our troops through the correct funding and other means is essential to help them succeed in their tasks abroad.
Iain Dale (Blogger & Publisher) – Iain talked of the election and the out coming challenges for a conservative government if there is to be one. He also talked of his insights into the political world from his viewpoint as a blogger. His message was to encourage people online to comment more on political blogs and make their views heard.
Eric Pickles (Conservative Party Chairman) – Gave an inspiring speech. His message to the many activists at the rally was that this is there time to make and impact and there is not a Conservative government yet. In the coming weeks they will have to work hard if they want to see the outcome they want.
Paul Staines (Guido Fawkes) – Also talked about the challenges ahead and along with Iain Dale answered questions on all aspects of the political news at present, from new media politics through to the pressing news stories of the day.
Samuel Coates (CCHQ) – Spoke about new media and how everyone can get involved in the online initiatives such as MyConservatives.com and by blogging, commenting online, and generally using the internet activists can help forward the conservative message.
Michael Rock (Conservative Future) – Was the final speaker of the day and his main message to all the gathered activists in the room was get involved. The more people get involved the more chance there is in a changing the government when we reach the General Election.
YBF would like to thank everyone who attended the YBF Parliamentary Rally from around the country. YBF would also like to thank all of the speakers that attended the event and gave up their precious time in order to speak to the conservative activists that attended the event.
Over the past week, the Young Britons’ Foundation has been at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Washington DC.
Executive Director Matthew Richardson spoke on a panel warning of the dangers of socialism and received a standing ovation from an audience of over 2500. The video was also broadcast on CSPAN around the world and is viewable below.
When did you first become an ‘active conservative’?
I have been an active Conservative for about three years and I have known I am a Conservative for about five or six years. It wasn’t until I went to University that I found opportunities to become involved in local campaigns and Conservative Future.
Describe yourself in 5 words
Outgoing, friendly, hardworking, caring and ambitious
What’s your favourite political moment in history?
That’s a really difficult question. I think I would have to say the Berlin Wall coming down which happened the year I was born. I think people of my generation owe a lot to the politicians of that time, in particular Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan, for providing us with freedom that we may not have had otherwise. It’s something that I don’t think my generation are educated enough about.
If you had to name the single biggest problem that Labour government has caused, what would it be?
For me it would be people becoming even more reliant upon the government. Its something I’ve seen happen all around me in the North East and I think it has been incredibly detrimental to society. This has occurred through people becoming reliant upon the welfare state and relying on the government to tell them what to do and when to do it. There just isn’t any emphasis on individual responsibility anymore.
If you could meet any political figure from past or present, who would it be?
I would love to meet Margaret Thatcher. She is a massive inspiration to me in terms of being a woman in politics. She taught people that you have to be yourself and not try to be what others think you should be- something that politicians today could learn from. She also made some incredibly difficult decisions in difficult times while facing criticism but she also stood by what she thought was right.
I would really like to have a happy and healthy family. I would also love to further my career in politics by either working behind the scenes or even running as a Parliamentary Candidate. I am also working on setting up a think tank at the moment with a couple of friends who are also based in Newcastle and would love to see that become as established as some other well known think tanks. Hopefully I will be able to achieve all this at the same time as remaining true to my Northern roots.
Tell us about Conservative Future in your area
Conservative Future in the North East has gone from strength to strength over the last couple of years, as has the main political party. I work with some incredibly talented and hardworking people who occupy various roles in CF who have helped to almost triple the number of branches that we have in the North East. We have been working on making sure that every Parliamentary Candidate has a CF branch who are dedicated to helping them run their campaign.
How best would you describe what it is to be a conservative?
Belief in the individual, freedom and free and open markets.
Why do you think we have seen such a large increase in Conservative Future members these days?
Because being a Conservative has become a little bit cooler than it once was. Young people also have a lot to say and CF gives them the stage and the ability to go out there and voice their opinions.
Tell us about your experiences of the Young Briton’s Foundation
I have attended two YBF conferences which were both very important to me in terms of growing as a Conservative. The first inspired me to come back to the North East and try and create as many opportunities as possible for others to become involved with Conservative Future. These have ranged from visits from people like Roger Helmer MEP to social events to organising action days and social action projects. The second was in October 2009 and I won the Eric Forth memorial award for activism- this was a huge moment for me and I feel it reflects the progress we have made in the North East thanks to the fantastic team of people that I work with. YBF have also visited us in Newcastle so we could partake in some of their media and campaign training which was invaluable when it came to the local and European elections. I also joined YBF in Washington DC for two weeks over the summer. These two weeks have had a huge influence over the way I know view myself as a Conservative and provided me with new skills that I have been able to pass onto other Conservative activists back in England.
Emma winning the Eric Forth Award for Activism at YBF6 after setting up a dozen new CF branches and a think-tank in Labour’s North-East heartland.
I am sure many of you were paying attention over the weekend and last week as the battle for the Christmas number one spot ‘raged’ towards Sunday. It was a very interesting battle with Rage Against the Machines ‘Killing in the Name’ eventually coming in at number one yesterday. The single became the first ever ‘download only’ Christmas number one in chart history thanks to an internet campaign that soared in the last week.
What is interesting for all activists is the relevance of the internet only campaign which resulted in a win for Rage Against the Machine. The campaign not only spread across Facebook but into the national media aswell. There are many lessons we can take and use from this campaign.
The campaign was firstly created on Facebook. As a social networking site we all often use Facebook to create groups and events, however, in order to make a campaign successful you need to make your campaign associate with a large number of people. This can be at a local level with a campaign that a lot of people in your local area feel strongly about or a national campaign. Either way people have to feel strongly about your campaign or they will not join and more importantly get involved!
Secondly the campaign also had a very simple but recognisable URL for people use across the internet. The URL – http://bit.ly/inthename is simple and memorable making it easier for people to spread the message across the internet.
There was also a brilliant use of other forms of social media and popular internet sites. The list for the Rage Against the Machine campaign is below:
DIGG us! – http://digg.com/d31BqlJ TWITTER short URL – http://bit.ly/inthename TWITTER hashtag – #ratm4xmas YOUTUBE – http://bit.ly/rageforno1, http://bit.ly/xfactormyarse WIDGET FOR YOUR MYSPACE/WEBSITE ETC – http://seed.sproutbuilder.com/4ADU3a7EHBhBlKpO
THE WRIGHT STUFF – http://bit.ly/thewrightstuff
The use of all these different internet mediums made it easy for people to follow and contribute to a campaign that gained 971,024 members on the Facebook group. In your campaign think how you can use some of these other mediums rather than just Facebook for a campaign.
Furthermore, there was a clever use of the media in order to further gather momentum in the campaign. Listed on the Facebook page are all the celebrities that endorsed the campaign. From the more obvious people like Kerrang! all the way through to people like Stephen Fry. This large following by celebrities plus the huge following by Facebook users caused the mainstream media in the UK to pay attention. On from that the band themselves then got involved. First through Twitter and then through radio and TV interviews further spreading the message. Think of people in your area that support your views and are willing to support your campaign. Whether it is your local MP, councillor or Mayor, their backing of your campaign adds credibility and can further spread the word about your campaign to other members of the community who will then also support your cause.
That alone, however, was not the reason that the campaign came to eventual success. More than anything else it was word of mouth that caused the shock result of Killing in the Name as Christmas Number One 2009.
So look at your political campaign as it stands and see where you maybe missing out. The ideas used by this campaign are ones that can be transferred into a campaign of your own at a local or national level.
Andrew Rosindell MP has just won a campaign for three Union flags to fly across Parliament all year round. At the moment just one flag is flown from the Victoria Tower of Parliament but not from the other two flagpoles.
“I hope that the hon. Member for Romford feels a proper sense of triumph at what he has achieved in this matter, which he has, as he indicated, pursued over a lengthy period with, if I may say, a tenacity reminiscent of a Staffordshire bull terrier.“
The Bruges Group is a self-described “independent all-party think tank” founded in 1989. The inspiration for their name and formation came from Lady Margaret Thatcher’s 1988 Bruges speech in which she said, “We have not successfully rolled back the frontiers of the state in Britain, only to see them re-imposed at a European level.”
To this end, The Bruges Group is devoted to critically analyzing the “ever closer union” forming in the European Union, and to guard against further integration and loss of sovereignty. Through research, publications, and events the Bruges Group seeks to lead the intellectual and political campaign to lessen British involvement with a single European state.
Because of it’s timely defense of British sovereignty in the face of the Lisbon Treaty and it’s continuing principled defense of a controversial position, the Rt. Hon Lord Lamont, former Chancellor of the Exchequer, commented, “The Group has become the most authoritative, thoughtful, and occasionally provocative of all the many different groups on European issues. Bruges Group publications are always characterized by clarity, and a willingness to think the unthinkable.”
High profile public meetings, debates, discussions, and conferences are hosted by the Group in order to educate and equip policy makers on the EU. Recent events have included “Europe, America, and Democracy” featuring John O’Sullivan, founder and Co-Chairman of the New Atlantic Initiative and Executive Editor of Radio Free Europe and “Repealing the Lisbon Treaty and Independence from the EU” which featured Frederick Forsythe CBE and Douglas Carswell, MP.
Beyond hosting events, the Bruges Group also provides a depth of research, articles, polls, and opinion pieces on the status of the European Union all accessed through their website. Papers include“Are the British a Servile People? Idealism and the EU” by Professor Kenneth Minogue and “How Much Does the European Union Cost Britain? 2007” by Gerard Batten, MEP.
For students wanting to participate in the fight against further integration with the EU, the Bruges Group has designed a portion of their website with as a resource center. They provide tips from how to write to local newspapers and MP’s, as well as how to approach lobbying politicians and policy makers.
On Interactiv-ist Wednesday this week we are back looking at Facebook. With Facebook changing its security settings to ones that are more basic, there are stilll a few things you need to keep and eye on!
Thanks to the beady eye of Big Brother Watch they have reminded us all today that Facebook will automatically index all account users’ information on Google. This allows everyone searching on Google to find and view parts of that information, unless the user actually opts out – the default setting is to allow this.
To change this option, when logged into Facebook, do the following:
Click on Settings
Click on Privacy Settings
Click on Search
Unclick the box that says ‘Allow indexing’.
Thanks once again to Big Brother Watch and there excellent work spotting this.
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’s Reagan-Thatcher Summer Conference Programme is a chance of a lifetime. Over three weeks you will get the chance to visit the heart of the American political scene, Washington D.C and the home of Ronald Reagan, Santa Barbara, California.
I am sure many of you were paying attention over the weekend and last week as the battle for the Christmas number one spot ‘raged’ towards Sunday. It was a very interesting battle with Rage Against the Machines ‘Killing in the Name’ eventually coming in at number one yesterday. The single became the first ever ‘download only’ Christmas number one in chart history thanks to an internet campaign that soared in the last week.
Furthermore, there was a clever use of the media in order to further gather momentum in the campaign. Listed on the Facebook page are all the celebrities that endorsed the campaign. From the more obvious people like Kerrang! all the way through to people like Stephen Fry. This large following by celebrities plus the huge following by Facebook users caused the mainstream media in the UK to pay attention. On from that the band themselves then got involved. First through Twitter and then through radio and TV interviews further spreading the message. Think of people in your area that support your views and are willing to support your campaign. Whether it is your local MP, councillor or Mayor, their backing of your campaign adds credibility and can further spread the word about your campaign to other members of the community who will then also support your cause.
Andrew Rosindell MP has just won a campaign for three Union flags to fly across Parliament all year round. At the moment just one flag is flown from the Victoria Tower of Parliament but not from the other two flagpoles.
On Interactiv-ist Wednesday this week we are back looking at Facebook. With Facebook changing its security settings to ones that are more basic, there are stilll a few things you need to keep and eye on!
The Cato Institute
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.