The Freedom Association
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| The Freedom Association | |
| Founder | Viscount De L'Isle, Norris McWhirter, Ross McWhirter and John Gouriet |
|---|---|
| Type | Pressure group |
| Founded | 1975 |
| Headquarters | Bridgnorth, Shropshire, England |
| Key people | Management Committee Christopher Gill RD (Chairman) Professor Antony Flew (Treasurer) TFA Council Vladimir Bukovsky (Vice-President) 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 Roger Helmer 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 |
| Focus | Conservatism, libertarianism, euroscepticism |
| Slogan | For Freedom |
| Website | http://www.tfa.net |
The Freedom Association is a non-partisan conservative pressure group pledged to support individual freedom in the United Kingdom. It has seven core principles:
- Individual Freedom
- Personal and Family Responsibility
- The Rule of Law
- Limited Government
- Free Market Economy
- National Parliamentary Democracy
- Strong National Defences
It was founded as the National Association for Freedom in 1975, by the Viscount De L'Isle, Norris McWhirter, Ross McWhirter and John Gouriet [1] It became The Freedom Association (TFA) in 1980. It produces a bi-monthly magazine, Freedom Today.
The group's Honorary President was for many years the late Norris McWhirter. The former Conservative MP Christopher Gill is the current (2006) Honorary Chairman. The Russian dissident Vladimir Bukovsky is Vice-President of the Council. Professor Antony Flew, the philosopher, serves on TFA's management committee. Its Council Members include Sir Rhodes Boyson, Gerald Howarth MP and former MP Teresa Gorman[2].
[edit] Campaigning
The Freedom Association was involved in numerous anti-trade union actions in the run up to the election of Margaret Thatcher, including Operation Pony Express during the Grunwick dispute[citation needed].
More recently, the Association has campaigned against ID cards and the EU, in defence of free speech (e.g. during the Mohammad cartoons controversy) and civil liberties[citation needed].
In April 2006 The Freedom Association launched Better Off Out, a new mainstream campaign to leave the EU, which has so far attracted the support of a number of MPs, MEPs and Peers [3].
