Is It Time for Civil Disobedience?

When times are good, the social contract makes for an attractive proposition: the citizen accepts the surrender of certain freedoms to the state in exchange for protection, maintenance of the social order, and representation come election time. It must be said however, that in Britain we are currently far from the best of times. If the past 14 years prove anything, it’s that the Conservative Party has reneged on its primary duty of protection (witnessed by its abject refusal to seal the border), while ramping up the demands upon the citizen – namely, draconian levels of taxation, obéissance to DEI policies, and serious incursions upon free speech.

Were we only dealing with a rogue administration, this would be remediable at the ballot box – but we aren’t. Every branch of government is now actively hostile to the express will of the British people – perfectly illustrated by its response to the Brexit referendum. Having told the public the precise ramifications of such a vote, the executive pretended not to understand what Brexit meant; the legislature repeatedly voted against its enaction, and the judiciary attempted to thwart it. It’s cold comfort that we are entreated every five years to the non-choice between a socialist government, and a socialist government with a blue badge.

As the enforcement arm of so biased a system, the police are the most obvious and dangerous indication that Britain is broken. It’s bad enough that the policing of crime takes a distant backseat to meaningless ‘hate crimes’, but the British constabulary are now so partisan it’s impossible to tell them apart from the left-wing activists they pander to, until they arrest you for attempting to do their job for them. Even if you genuinely consider the liberal worldview morally superior to conservatism, it’s impossible to compare the kid gloves shown to the pro-Palestinian protests with the riot police dispatched to the Saint George’s day parade, and fail to conclude that anything other than two-tier policing is in effect.

Neither is there any doubt over which protestors are in danger of having their collars felt. Immunity from police interference is automatically conferred by the sporting of Black Lives Matter, Just Stop Oil, or anti-Jewish insignia. On the other hand, lockdown sceptics, Jews with the temerity to look ‘openly Jewish’, and fathers who object to their daughters being gang-raped by Pakistani Muslims are all likely to be met with the full force of the law. Prioritising the whims of special interest groups while rendering the native population personae non gratae in their own homeland, is an unwise and untenable position for the authorities to take. 

In light of the police refusal to offer the taxpayer any form of protection in exchange for his patronage, it would appear illogical to obey them. Instead, it may regrettably be time for the British people to seriously consider civil disobedience. I am not talking about toppling statues, besmirching priceless works of art or calling for jihad against MPs – all of which passes for peaceful protest in the right hands. 

I’m simply saying that until such time as British citizens have priority access to healthcare over illegal immigrants; until the government closes the border; until the lives of future rape and murder victims are prioritised above the human rights of known foreign criminals; until every British institution stops discriminating against straight, white men, and until the police revisit their oaths of office, then there is no reason to comply with the law of the land.

At the very least, the citizenry should withhold payment of the police precept en masse (the section of the council tax bill allocated to law enforcement), unless of course you think you’re getting your money’s worth? Why fund both sides of an inexorable civil war if one has any ambition of winning? Naturally I recognise the severity with which such action will be met, but the authorities are leaving us little choice – and there is precious little dignity to be found in acquiescence to one’s own dispossession. The social contract is no longer being honoured by those in power – why on earth should the British people continue to reward them for such open contempt?

Frank Haviland is the Editor of The New Conservative, and the author of Banalysis: The Lie Destroying the West.

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