There's a 'tea party' in Britain this Saturday. The Sarah Palin kind.
British Conservative MEP Daniel Hannan is looking to bring the anti-tax, anti-big government fervor embodied by the American Tea Party movement across the Atlantic by hosting the inaugural "British Tea Party" event in, of all places, his home in Brighton. And, yes, Hannan promises he will be actually serving "you know, tea."
Hannan explained his motivation on his blog at the Telegraph:
Labour has raised more than a trillion pounds in additional taxation since 1997. Yet, unbelievably, Gordon Brown has still managed to run up a deficit of 12.6 per cent of GDP (Greece's is 12.7 per cent). A far lower level of taxation brought Americans out in spontaneous protest last year.
The "Brighton Tea Party," as the event is known, is backed by the Freedom Association, a libertarian group that counts Hannan as a member. The American Tea Party movement has sent out an email promoting the British Tea Party. The email reveals they are also helping to organize the event.
In addition to being anti-tax and a vocal Eurospectic, Hannan is also well known for his outspoken criticism of publicly funded health care. Last summer he appeared on Fox News to bash proposals to fix the US health care system as well as rail against Britain's health services.
In an interview with EUObserver about the event, Hannan said he believes the Tea Party movement could have "enormous resonance across the EU."
"The paradox is that the US Tea Party movement is inspired by the slogan 'No taxation without representation' and they do actually elect their representatives. In the EU, there genuinely is taxation without representation," he told the EUObserver.
From the Freedom Association invitation:
The event will take place on the Conservative Party Spring Forum fringe, but is outside the secure zone, so all members of the public are very welcome to attend. Admission is free. Tea and other refreshments will be available at a small charge. Cash bar.Daniel, a Council Member of The Freedom Association, says, "you can't tax your way out of recession or borrow your way out of debt".
The Tea Party Movement in the USA has demonstrated the huge scale of public opposition to excessive taxation. In the UK, tax is much higher and, in addition, British membership of the democratically unaccountable EU raises the issue of "no taxation without representation".
From the Boston Tea Party to the Brighton Tea Party, it's time to demonstrate our opposition to excessive taxation.