24 November 1999

Representatives of the media are cordially invited to attend the eighth annual conference of the Natural Law Party of the United Kingdom. The conference will take place on Saturday & Sunday, 27-28 November, at the Maharishi Golden Dome, Woodley Park, Skelmersdale, Lancashire.

This year's conference promises to set a new tone for the party. "Now, is the time for us to challenge the government and alert the people to the dangers of continuing with the old and failed policies of government," says party leader Dr Geoffrey Clements. "For years, since the founding of the Natural Law Party in 1992, we have informed everyone, including the old political parties, of the proven benefits of our programmes and policies for all areas of society. Despite this, government policy is still running along the old road of problems and mistakes, and is failing to bring to the people of this country effective solutions to the problems that we face in every area of administration."

The weekend will include special discussions with guest speakers and party leaders tackling important topics of global significance, including world peace and the arms trade, human rights, poverty, GMOs, waste management, and drug abuse. The conference is open to the public and the media. It will be attended by leaders, candidates and supporters of the Natural Law Party from throughout then UK. Party leaders from other countries will also speak.

"The Natural Law Party is a real party, with real solutions, not just a dream of a better future. We want to expose the weakness of current government policy, which ignores the effective, practical, and scientifically validated solutions of the Natural Law Party," Dr Clements said. The world peace discussions will, in particular, focus on exposing the fraud and hypocrisy of Western governments who talk of peace and human rights but at the same time promote violence in order to protect their own interests.

"Innocent people are being completely mismanaged by those who seem to have the power of destruction," Dr Clements said. "Such trends should no longer be allowed to go unchallenged." He pointed out that it is a principle of nature that the destroyer is eventually destroyed. "It is vital that we alert the government and the people of this country to refrain from the kind of destructive activity we have seen in Yugoslavia and elsewhere."

There will also be a special focus during the weekend on gearing up the party to reach a much wider public with the message of Natural Law, as has been achieved recently in the USA with some candidates receiving as much as 30% of the votes. In the UK, major campaigns are being planned for next May's local elections and for the new post of Mayor of London, for which Dr Clements will be standing.

A world peace concert of Maharishi Gandharva Veda music will conclude the weekend on Sunday evening. World renowned Gandharva musician, Professor Debu Chaudhuri, will perform this beautiful classical music that creates peace and harmony throughout Nature.

Press contact: Deirdre Warburton Tel: 01622 815380 (until Thurs 25 Nov); Mobile: 0411 311616

Welcome and introduction: Richard Johnson, Chairman of the Natural Law Party

Dr Geoffrey Clements, Party Leader, "A challenge to Western governments: Introduce policies that favour improvement of life"

Ben Humphries, World Development Movement, North West England, "People before profits: Reform of the World Trade Organisation, resolving the international debt problem, and defending the world’s poorest farmers against GMOs"

Dr Guy Hatchard, sociologist, "Vedic Economy – A formula for sustained, broad-based economic development the Maharishi Effect. Research conducted in New Zealand, Norway, UK, USA, and Mozambique"

Dr Reinhard Borowitz, Secretary General, Maharishi International Council of Natural Law Parties, "Natural Law-based solutions to problems of world peace, human rights and globalisation"

Speakers include:

Lynda Brown, campaign organiser for Joan Ruddock, MP. "Women say no to GMOs"

Mark Griffiths, Natural Law Party Spokesman for the Environment, "Campaign to ban GMOs – Global update"

Dr Geoffrey Clements, Party Leader

Dr Reinhard Borowitz, Secretary General, Maharishi International Council of Natural Law Parties

Global inspiration: Live conference telephone links with NLP leaders around the world, including the USA where the party is campaigning for next year’s Presidential and Congressional elections

World-wide web: Presentation of new UK NLP website, and discussion of use of the Internet to promote the Natural Law Party

Local elections and London mayor campaigns 2000: How to succeed in winning mass public support for the Natural Law Party. Open discussion with leaders and delegates; candidates’ reports of successful strategies; local structure of the party

Discussion chaired by Peter Warburton, Deputy Leader of the Natural Law Party

Discussion continued from Saturday morning

Brian Plant, Amnesty International, North West Representative, "Amnesty International and human rights"

Discussion chaired by Patricia Saunders, Deputy Chairman of the Natural Law Party

Simon Cohen, Retd. Asst. Chief Probation Officer for Dorset, Chairman of the Maharishi School, "Natural Law offers best programmes to protect young people against drug abuse"

William Hite, businessman and author, "Drugs – The real problem. Natural Law Party – The real solution"

Keith Collins, economist, Director of Ecologilla and London Recycling Consortium, "Handling Britain’s waste in an intelligent way"

John Collins, Deputy Chairman NLP, "Action plan to end violation of Natural Law by the British waste industry"

Closing remarks, Dr Geoffrey Clements, Party Leader

World Peace Concert of Maharishi Gandharva Veda music

With world renowned sitarist Professor Debu Chaudhuri, accompanied by Prateck Chaundhuri (sitar) and Somnath Mukerjee (tabla), performing the classical music of the ancient Vedic civilisation that enjoyed heaven and earth.