The Freedom Association

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Not to be confused with freedom of association.
The Freedom Association
Image:Tfa01.gif
Founder(s) Viscount De L'Isle, Norris McWhirter, Ross McWhirter and John Gouriet
Type Pressure group
Founded 1975
Headquarters Bridgnorth, Shropshire, England
Key people Christopher Gill RD (President)
Vladimir Bukovsky (Vice-President)
Management Committee
Roger Helmer MEP (Chairman)
Professor Antony Flew (Treasurer)
TFA Council
The Rt. Hon. Sir Rhodes Boyson
Christopher Chope OBE MP
Winston Churchill
Caroline Cox, Baroness Cox
Philip Davies MP
Sir Ranulph Fiennes, Bt, OBE, PM
Teresa Gorman
Daniel Hannan MEP
Gerald Howarth MP
Professor Patrick Minford CBE, PhD
Malcolm Pearson, Baron Pearson of Rannoch
Andrew Roberts
Andrew Rosindell MP
David Stoddart, Baron Stoddart of Swindon
Walter Sweeney
Jillian Becker
Focus Conservatism, libertarianism, euroscepticism
Slogan For Freedom
Website http://www.tfa.net

The Freedom Association is a free market libertarian pressure group pledged to support individual freedom in the United Kingdom. The group has no formal affiliations with any political party but historically many members of the TFA have also been associated with the Conservative Party.

Contents

[edit] Origin

The Freedom Association was founded in 1975 as the National Association for Freedom by the Viscount De L'Isle, Norris McWhirter, Ross McWhirter (killed in the same year by the IRA) and John Gouriet [1] One of the founders was Alec Bedser, chairman of selectors when Basil D'Oliveira was left out of the England cricket team for the 1968-69 tour of South Africa, and the National Association for Freedom initially supported the apartheid system in South Africa.[2] The organisation changed its name to The Freedom Association (TFA) in 1980.

[edit] Core Principles

The Freedom Association has seven core principles:[3]

[edit] Leadership

The present Chairman of the TFA is Conservative MEP Roger Helmer. Hon Secretary is Tony Hilder. Campaign Director is Simon Richards.[4].

[edit] Campaigns

During the 1970s the power of the UK trade union movement was considered by many, including some Labour supporters, to be excessive and out of control. Soon after its formation the National Association for Freedom as the TFA was then known became involved in a number of industrial disputes providing support to both employers and non-unionised workers to counter to the power of the Trades Unions. The best know of these actions was Operation Pony Express during the Grunwick dispute[5]. Following the election of the Conservative government of Margaret Thatcher in 1979 the TFA became more low-profile.

More recently the group has campaigned against ID cards and the UK's membership of the EU. The TFA also speaks out in defence of free speech and civil liberties[6].

In April 2006 The Freedom Association launched Better Off Out -- a high profile campaign for the UK to leave the EU. This has attracted the support of a number of MPs, MEPs and Peers [7].


The main publication of the TFA is the bi-monthly magazine, Freedom Today.

[edit] References

  1. ^ http://www.tfa.net/pdfs/his01.PDF
  2. ^ Gemmell, Jon (2004). The Politics of South African Cricket. London: Routledge, 203. 
  3. ^ The Freedom Association
  4. ^ Who's who
  5. ^ http://www.tfa.net/pdfs/his01.PDF
  6. ^ The Freedom Association
  7. ^ Tory MPs sign up to anti-EU campaign - Telegraph

[edit] External links

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