The term 'liberal' needs to be taken back by true Liberals

There has been a common consensus in the past few decades that Liberalism is predominately a 'left of centre' political philosophy and especially in the UK and the US, it has been used as a form of abuse and utilised by those on the Right as an attempt to smear their opponents. This is a significant error on their part.

The principles of liberalism and in turn liberty are those of individual freedom, responsibility and trust in one another. A society built on these principles is in itself a 'free society'. Do these things sound like they would come from the mouth of the Liberal Democrats or other parties claiming to be 'Liberal'? Not likely.

I am a liberal and proudly so, I believe the government or indeed any government has no right to dictate what I or others must think, do or act like. Again, would the Liberal Democrats say the same thing? Admittedly there are some in that party that still cling on to real liberalism, but the majority are realistically more social democrats than liberals.

Real liberalism incorporates social freedom, political freedom and economic freedom. All go hand in hand and this is something that is sometimes if not always forgotten by social democrats or indeed anyone in politics. It is a contradiction to support say for example same sex marriage (something I fully support) and the freedom to do such a thing while opposing the freedom for an individual to use his or her earnings to do as they please or indeed prevent them from doing so through high taxation. Similarly, those on the right want economic freedom but oppose social liberty or as seen in the past, political freedom.

It is this 'selective liberalism' that has so harmed liberty. This belief that government has a role in everything and must intervene or the belief that government has a role in society but not the economy has damaged liberalism and liberals alike and those of us who still believe true liberty to be an essential asset to society must grasp the word liberal, pick it up and to paraphrase a character from the West Wing, wear it as a badge of honour.

We must do this before it gets further stamped into the political mud.