European Outlook # 16, April 2015

Our Changing Culture

Most people have given up drinking and smoking to excess in response to health education. Swearing was restricted to male company and only used for emphasis but now it’s routine for both sexes and regularly heard in films and on television. These are not important changes but they are part of the culture by which we live.

Traditionalists like the old ways of doing things but it can be taken too far. Things can be set in stone – like wigs and gowns for the legal profession, or black hats and coats for the clergy. Wearing a powdered wig does not make a lawyer any craftier and clerical attire won’t save a priest, or a rabbi, from Sin.

Some customs are frankly silly. Lawyers in procession carry a posy of flowers to ward off the plague. An official known as “Black Rod” is armed with a staff to control the geriatric inmates of the House of Lords. The Queen has to ask permission from the Lord Mayor of London to enter the City. All the swans in England belong to the Queen. And a Freeman of the City of London is entitled to drive a flock of sheep over London Bridge.

Other conventions are more recent. We have stopped using offensive names for minorities. Many people see this as “political correctness” but spiteful terms have always been avoided by civilized people. Calling a black man a “Nigger” is not the same as calling a Scotsman “Jock.”

But apart from changing words and phrases we are facing massive changes as non-Europeans continue to flood into Britain. We are now experiencing the same problems as Australia and the USA. 

The Australian Aboriginals have adopted all the white man’s vices but few of his virtues. Some of them have escaped the ghetto - like David Unaipon 1872-1967 the writer and inventor who features on the Australian $50 banknote - but far too many live on state handouts and poison themselves with cheap booze. It is not their fault, and it’s not the fault of white Australia, it’s what happens when Stone Age people are propelled into the twenty-first century. They can be educated but most of them spend their lives in ignorance and poverty.

The blacks in the USA have made impressive advances. They have a black president and a growing middle class but they are handicapped by a negative culture that celebrates crime and under achievement; a lifestyle promoted by Hollywood and the music industry.

People of all races can get along together if they have the space and the economic resources but forced integration is dangerous. The Rotherham child abuse scandal shows what can happen when an ideologically-driven council and a poorly-led police force turn a blind eye to organised crime.

In the UK we encourage immigrants to practice their own culture. We provide armies of interpreters and translate government documents into many different languages but we still suffer riots and terrorist attacks and our cities are divided. In France they encourage immigrants to speak French and embrace French culture but the results are just as disappointing.

In time the condition of the Australian Aboriginals will improve. In the USA the blacks have climbed up the social ladder only to be replaced by desperate Mexicans. In Europe we are trying to assimilate Third World immigrants but if their numbers are not controlled our social services and police forces will be overwhelmed. We will only overcome these challenges if our politicians stop living in a world of make belief.

Race and culture are not “social constructs,” they are the hallmarks of humanity. It is wrong to discriminate against people because of their origins but it is absurd to pretend that differences do not exist. Most people are not racists but they are alarmed by mass migration. The deceit of “political correctness” has failed.

Myths and Half Truths

The far-Right has created a culture of despair based on myths and half truths. According to them we are victims of a Jewish Conspiracy to destroy Britain in particular and the White Race in general. They accuse the Allied war leaders of being Jewish but there is not a scrap of evidence to support the accusation.

Winston Churchill (1874-1965) was the son of Lord Randolph Churchill, a British aristocrat, and Jennie Jerome who came from an old Protestant family that had been in New York since the days of Peter Stuyvesant.

FD Roosevelt (1882-1945) was the son of James Roosevelt, a member of the White Anglo-Saxon Protestant ascendancy. His mother, Ann Delano was an Episcopalian (Anglican) of French Huguenot descent.

Joseph Stalin (1878-1953) was the son of Besarian Jughashvili, named after Besarian, a Greek Orthodox hero. His mother, Ketevan Geladze, was a devout Christian who enrolled her son in the Greek Orthodox priesthood.

The ancestry of prominent people is just one of the things that they have got wrong. Nick Griffin of the British National Party was obsessed with Peak Oil. He predicted that we were running out of oil and that it would get so expensive that we would not be able to run our cars or heat our homes. In fact the world is awash with cheap oil. The price has more than halved, demand has slumped and America is once again a major energy exporter. Remember this was not just one of Griffin’s many ridiculous policies – like sinking refugee boats in the Mediterranean, or building a concentration camp in the British Antarctic Territory. He saw Peak Oil as a vote winner, together with the threat of a Muslim takeover. He tried to exploit the fears of his followers but he has been sacked for presiding over their downfall.

Unfortunately, the pessimism of the far-Right has survived and the remnants of the BNP are still preaching doom and gloom. They say that our armed forces are too small, but the last time we had three million men under arms was when General Eisenhower was Supreme Commander of Allied Forces. Since then British forces have been under NATO command and their task has been to enforce American foreign policy. In 1956 Britain and France conspired with Israel to attack Egypt. But America was not prepared to risk war with Egypt’s Soviet ally so they ordered us to withdraw. We promised never to disobey American orders again and accepted their nuclear protection. The French reacted by developed their “Force de Frappe” and distancing themselves from Washington.

Harold Wilson managed to keep us out of the Vietnam War on the grounds of bankruptcy. And Margaret Thatcher recovered the Falklands with American permission. But apart from those exceptions Britain has been the obedient servant of America for the past seventy years. This is the background of the far-Right’s campaign for a larger army.

There are plenty of things wrong with this country; we have a chasm between rich and poor, we need to build more houses, we need fast broadband coverage throughout the country, we are so crippled by liberalism that we allow Pakistani pimps to run child prostitution rackets in our big cities, our police forces are led by politicized officers, our politicians are mired in corruption, the BBC wastes our money on overpaid presenters, and endless courts of inquiry led by High Court Judges find that no one is to blame.

But for most people things are getting better. Britain’s performance is impressive. Our transportation system is second to none. It’s true that it is massively subsidized but so is ever major transportation system. Our National Health Service is constantly criticized but few countries can match it. We have a thriving motor industry; it is mostly foreign-owned but cars are built in Britain by British workers and the motor companies pay taxes into British coffers. We are world leaders in pharmaceuticals and scientific instruments. And our universities are recognized centres of excellence that attract paying students from all over the world.

Ukip have taken over from the BNP. They accuse the Poles of simultaneously claiming benefits and stealing our jobs. In fact, the Poles are an asset to this country. They are good workers and generally respectable people. It’s a great pity that we didn’t have Polish labour in the fifties and sixties when we were scouring the world for workers. Like us they are Europeans by blood and culture that are easily assimilated. Ukip’s hatred of foreigners is not a political policy but a mental illness. They try to disguise it by fielding ethnic minority candidates but they are only useful idiots for a party founded on petty racism.

This country needs a realistic patriotic party to campaign for Britain in Europe; a party that understands economics and the importance of self-sufficiency. But we can do without neurotic conspiracy freaks that have wasted a century chasing phantoms.

Mosley Remembered by John G. Wood (part two)

Good times and bad times.

Local elections were given a prominent place in all branches and I well remember my first introduction to them. As Branch Leader, I was expected to set an example and after a brief word of encouragement from my regional boss, I was persuaded to stand in my own ward. The encouragement, if I recall, was something like "I've got your nomination papers... Go and get them filled!" Frank Hamley again!

I found this new experience exciting and the night after I had become an official candidate, another member and I went out and I painted my first wall! The fact that we had to paddle across a river to get to the wall didn't dampen our resolve. We were spotted leaving the scene by a police patrol and I found myself riding pillion on a small motor scooter with no lights at two in the morning! We weren't caught, however; I think the police were after bigger fish that night! We had used a rubberised road-marking paint which one of the members had obtained and my companion, on looking at our slogans said to me, "That will still be around for your children to see." Little did we both realize that it would be still visible for my grandchildren to see!

As I have said, it was my first election and when the press approached me, I
gladly gave them an interview baring my very soul in order to put the message across. Silly, very silly! In those days I was naïve enough to trust them! You won't be very surprised when I tell you that what I said to the press was nothing on earth to that which was subsequently printed.

Although I didn't get the most votes in that particular poll, at least I beat the communist candidate and I reckoned that was victory indeed. I stood for election quite a few times after that; older, wiser and completely distrustful of any reporter! My wife also stood as a U.M. candidate several times; on one occasion, she was seven months pregnant! She was the first woman to stand as a nationalist candidate since before the war and the first to stand for either the BUF or UM.

These were good times; what happened next was certainly for me, a very bad time. I had been campaigning for an election while on holiday from work. When I returned, I was summoned into the Managing Director's office who told me that my career prospects in the company were nil and that I had better start looking for another job. I didn't give the man the satisfaction of firing me; I quit. This situation repeated itself later three more times. How could I fight for wrongful dismissal? Go to the Trade Union? I would have been as popular as a pork pie at a Bar Mitzvah!

In 1961, we fielded eleven candidates in the local elections. We booked the City Hall for a pre-election rally where OM spoke in Sheffield for the first time since the war. The great day of the meeting came and we were supported by a coach-load of London members. The meeting was reasonably quiet for Sheffield where anyone to the right of Lenin was considered to be the Devil incarnate! I found myself standing against Councillor Enid Hattersley, the mother of Roy Hattersley, the Labour MP. She was a formidable dragon of a woman and she stalked out as soon as I began my speech at the end of the election count. I didn't do too badly as a matter of fact. I got a very flattering 620 votes (22%) in a straight fight, as only Labour and the UM
were standing.

Reminiscences

I remember OM and I were crossing London one day from a meeting at the Great Eastern Hotel adjacent to the railway terminal. We had to get over to the headquarters in Vauxhall Bridge Road. OM strode out into the middle of the taxi-rank, pulled open a door and got in. He shouted Wood! In here! (He never used first name terms with anyone) I went to the cab and was hailed by jeers and mutterings. We had jumped the queue and it was a big one! OM never batted an eyelid. He looked at me and said "That's one fault the English have got. They invented the bloody queue!"

A couple of years later, Jeffrey Hamm told me that OM was in the habit of doing this regularly! That was OM though. Even in his sixties, he had the charisma and panache of a man half his age. Men respected him for it; women adored him!

At one meeting, a member of the Conservative Party asked him "If you saw a little Jewish baby in a pram, would you discriminate against it?" OM replied, "Of course not, I'd wait until he grew up and was putting his hand in my pocket. Then I would expose him for what he was!"

After one meeting in Sheffield, I had the honour of entertaining the Leader at home after inviting him for a meal. Again, my old friend Frank was there with us. This was the first of two visits to my home by the Leader. For many years afterwards, the chair that O.M. used at the table was regarded by fellow members with awe and pride. To be invited to sit on it was an offer reserved for the elite few! That chair is about sixty years old now and the seat has been recovered a couple of times since that memorable day. It is well past its sell-by date and is currently in the spare bedroom at home but it is referred to as O.M.s chair even to this day! That was a very good
day!!!

A little time later, the leader reciprocated and we were invited to dinner at Cliveden Court, his town flat in Maida Vale. Lady Diana and he made us very welcome and it was an enjoyable evening.

An interesting note here. When John Tyndall came to us for a meal in the 80s after we had been sharing a platform in Sheffield, we brought out the old chair for him to sit on. He wondered why we had given him the oldest chair at the table but after we had explained that the last nationalist leader to sit in that chair had been OM, he said that he felt most honoured!

Very recently, we entertained the Sheffield BNP branch leader and his daughter to dinner. The daughter is well-known on the BNP circuit as a very able and talented speaker even though she is still only 15 years old. My wife, to commemorate the occasion, prepared an almost identical meal to the one she had prepared for OM forty-five years earlier!

Since those days, I have been a member of other parties and supported similar organisations abroad. I have spoken at countless meetings up and down the country and met with many political leaders. I have never, however, found anyone to compare with the greatest of these leaders, O.M. and I know that I never will. It is said that A.K. Chesterton's last words in his biography, Portrait of a Leader, "Hail Mosley; patriot and leader of men," epitomised him. A description of him to me by an old fellow member, Fred Bailey, now deceased unfortunately, said it all in just one word: "Incorruptible!" Let that be his epitaph. JGW.

The Power of the Press

Newspapers are the major cause of misinformation in the UK. Mendacious rags like the Daily Mail are unaccountably popular with some of our readers. It is sad to see brave men, who defied screaming mobs of “anti-fascists” in their youth, tamely swallowing Zionist propaganda.

Melanie Phillips is the Daily Mail’s best writer. She writes interesting articles on a variety of subjects. She is a meticulous researcher and objective reporter but when it comes to Israel she turns into a raving Zionist fanatic. Only Israel suffers according to Melanie.

No doubt some newspaper addicts are ashamed of themselves but lack the willpower to quit. Please take it from an ex-smoker and drinker that you can stop if you really want to. It’s no good trying to cut down on newspapers; that will only prolong the agony. The only answer is to stop altogether. You may feel sick for a time. You may even experience painful withdrawal symptoms but you will survive. And once you have experienced a clear mind you will never go back.

The Daily Mail and The Sun are the most dangerous newspapers because they sell the most. The Daily Express and The Daily Telegraph are just as bad but hardly anyone reads them. But a special mention must be made of Ambrose Evans-Pritchard the delusional business editor of The Daily Telegraph.  He wrote the 1997 book “The Secret Life of Bill Clinton” in which he claimed that the FBI was responsible for the Oklahoma City bombing. He also claimed that Bill Clinton was at the centre of an international drugs and prostitution racket. Former White House press secretary Mike McCurry stated that Evans-Pritchard was the origin of every major Clinton scandal. But instead of seeking psychiatric treatment he is churning out conspiratorial nonsense for his gullible readers.

The newspapers promoted Nigel Farage and Ukip in order to drive the Tories to the Right; but their Frankenstein monster got out of control and they are now trying to stop him. The press barons all wave union jacks and make patriotic noises but they are loyal to America and Israel rather than Britain. Their ultimate objective is for Britain to be absorbed by the United States; a policy that was openly pursued by Conrad Black when he owned The Daily Telegraph.

The good news is that newspaper circulation is declining. The rise of satellite broadcasting and the Internet have completely altered the way we seek information. Newspapers are still dangerous but they become less so every day.

Eclipsed by Ukip

The UK is making a slow recovery but we are still spending nearly £90 billion more than we collect every year and our national debt is heading towards £1.4 trillion. The Old Gang parties have no answers; the far-Left is insignificant and the far-Right is totally fragmented.

People who are fed up with immigration and the EU are putting their faith in Ukip. They might gain a few seats in the coming general election but they will not overturn the system because they are discontented Tories wedded to laissez-faire capitalism. The only change is that Britain will join the rest of Europe in having a representative spread of parties.

Five years ago the BNP had two MEPs, dozens of councillors and a member of the London Assembly but today they are a spent force. The National Front is recovering from a damaging split and the British Democratic Party is still getting started. Their president Andrew Brons states:

“The United Kingdom must withdraw from all international organisations that encroach on our sovereignty, by taking executive legislative or judicial decisions on behalf of Britain. We would therefore withdraw the United Kingdom from membership of the European Union completely. Our membership of all other international organisations must be considered and, if necessary, renegotiated to prevent any undermining of our sovereignty.”

That’s easier said than done. Our armed forces are under NATO command and subject to the Anglo-French Naval Agreement of 2010. Our international trade is regulated by the World Trade Organisation and our economy conforms to the rules of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank. Our justice system is based on the UN Declaration of Human Rights and the European Convention. If we quit all of these bodies our trade would be limited and our currency would be unconvertible. We would be in the same position as North Korea – fiercely independent but bankrupt, starving and isolated. Britain is a nation of 63 million souls that imports half of its fuel and food. We cannot afford to play games with our future.

Ukip and the far-Right are hopelessly out of touch with reality. They still see the UK as a world power able to dictate commercial terms to the rest of the world. Some of them deny being anti-European but their simmering hatred is barely concealed. The more enlightened ones want the UK to quit the EU and join the European Economic Area with Iceland, Norway, Switzerland and Liechtenstein. That would be a cosmetic change that would still require us to pay our dues and obey EU directives without having any influence.

Dave Cameron is trying to trump Ukip by making eurosceptic noises but he doesn't really want to quit the single market. Europe is not the big issue; we desperately need affordable housing, secure jobs, improved health care, free education and a sensible immigration policy. The biggest threat facing Britain is the catastrophic decline of our native birth rate. We can mitigate the growing skills shortage by using automation and training workers but we will still need to import labour. This is available from Europe, Africa or Asia; the choice is ours.

Racial Socialism

Michael Woodbridge proposes a new interpretation of National Socialism that he calls Racial Socialism.

http://www.westernspring.co.uk/racial-socialism-the-search-for-a-new-ideology/

He is a National Socialist who has gone beyond nationalism. He calls himself a “racist” but that term is indelibly linked to hatred and oppression. That may be unfair but words are powerful and emotive. A man who innocently likes children would not call himself a “paedophile” – even though it literally means someone who likes children. Racial Socialism may be a perfectly respectable idea but it conjures up all the wrong images.

He is suspicious of Christianity because it preaches equality but he is attracted to the Church of the Creator, a collectivist cult strangely out of place in Libertarian America. Ben Klassen launched the Church of the Creator with his book Nature's Eternal Religion in 1973. He was an engineer who invented the wall-mounted electric can opener. But when his business failed he killed himself in 1993.  

New religions are seldom successful.  Major Clifford Hugh Douglas founded the Social Credit movement in the UK just after the First World War. It was devoted to economic reform and called for a National Dividend. All went well until John Hargrave became leader of the party in the 1930s. He dressed his followers in green shirts and submerged the movement in political mysticism. They practiced faith healing, prayed to the Sun and chanted “sunlight costs nothing.” The Greenshirts disappeared in the fifties as a new band of mystics emerged. Colin Jordan and John Tyndall were heavily into Muck and Mysticism. But they were rivals for the affections of Francoise Dior. Their short-lived experiment in historical re-enactment ended in farce and we were saved from a pagan revival.

Charlemagne was the Emperor of the West who defeated every invasion and insurrection. In 814, as he lay dying, he said: "Lord Jesus, into Thy hands I commend my spirit." The father of European unity had no religious doubts.

We live in a changing world where nation states have been replaced by empires and great corporations have immense power. We need a movement that combines European solidarity with social justice. But we must not disregards centuries of  belief. Christianity started in the Middle East but it has been a central pillar of European civilization. Our art, architecture, music and literature are essentially Christian expressions that are as much part of our European identity as our race.


Follow me on Twitter @Baillie1Bill.

European Outlook # 15, March 2015

A Government of National Unity

Pollsters predict that no party will achieve a majority in the coming election. Ukip are stealing Tory votes in England and the Scottish Nationalists are threatening the Labour Party in Scotland. The Lib Dems will be punished for forming a coalition with the Tories. And the Greens could gain another seat or two. We will probably have another coalition government but not necessarily the same as last time. It could be Labour with the Lib Dems, the Tories with Ukip, or even a German-style grand coalition of Labour and Tory.

Dave Cameron paints a rosy picture of Britain that is far from the truth. Unemployment has gone down but many of the jobs available are so badly paid that they’re hardly worth having. His efforts to reduce public spending have alienated doctors and teachers but they have hardly touched the budget deficit. He needs to increase taxes but he knows that it would be politically suicidal.

Whatever the result of the coming election we will face the same challenges. And since a coalition is almost certain we might as well go for a Government of National Unity drawn from all sections of society; a government of men and women acting in the interests of Country instead of Party. This was Oswald Mosley’s idea from the Seventies, when we faced another economic crisis. Then it was inflation and now it’s deflation but a GNU is still the best way forward.

                                               Sir Oswald Mosley

Such a government would harness the talents of the most gifted. Former chief executives with proven track records would replace politicians with no industrial experience. Outstanding ministers would be appointed regardless of party, and prime minister’s question time would make more sense if the people asking the questions actually knew what they were talking about.

The latest scandal involving former cabinet ministers Malcolm Rifkind and Jack Straw shows the extent of corruption in the old parties. Both men offered to sell their services to the Chinese in return for thousands of pounds.

Now that we have got a fixed term parliament it would be easy to install a Government of National Unity for a five year term. It should not be allowed to overspend or deviate from an agreed program or waste it’s time arguing. At the end of the five year term the nation could decide whether to keep it or revert to the party-political circus.

What’s going on?

The world is in such a state of confusion that it’s difficult to know what’s going on. The so-called Islamic State in Syria and Iraq is slaughtering innocent civilians and prisoners of war but they still manage to sell billions of dollars worth of oil. America, Britain and France are bombing IS targets but so are Israel and Iran. Saudi Arabia and the Gulf States pay lip service to American foreign policy but they appear to be on both sides at once.. Christians and Hezbollah supporters are fighting for President Bashir al-Assad of Syria and British-born Pakistanis are fighting for the Islamic State. Conspiracy theories abound. There is talk of “false flag operations” and “black propaganda” but there are more questions than answers. Does Israel really want a militant Islamic State on her borders? Will the Turks allow the Kurds to expand into their territory? Does America know the difference between Arabs, Kurds, and Iranians?  One thing’s for sure; Dave Cameron and the rest of the European leaders have absolutely no idea what’s going on; they are just following. America.

The US enforces her foreign policy by issuing dollars, manipulating credit and controlling markets. FD Roosevelt and Harry Truman rescued post-war Europe and Japan from starvation with the Marshal Plan. Dwight D Eisenhower used the threat of economic sabotage to humiliate Britain and France over the Suez invasion of 1956. Richard Nixon established the petro-dollar racket in 1971 forcing the world to use dollars to buy oil. Bill Clinton brought down the white regime in South Africa with economic sanctions in 1994. And now Barack Obama is forcing Europe into a dangerous and pointless confrontation with Russia.

We knew who we were fighting in 1914 and 1939 but the wars in Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya and Syria are not so clear cut. Dictators have been toppled but their states are in a worst condition than when we started. We are getting involved in conflicts all over the world that have nothing to do with us. This insane policy of “perpetual war” is designed to keep the American military-industrial complex in production. Wars need credit, tanks, planes, guns, missiles, uniforms, medical supplies, body bags and all the paraphernalia of mass murder. There are billions of dollars to be made in the name of “freedom and democracy.”

Julius Evola

In European Outlook # 11 we noted the views of Nietzsche, Spengler and Yockey on the subject of race. An excellent article by Tom Sunic shows that the Julius Evola (1898-1974) was also opposed to petty racism. www.theoccidentalobserver.net

“Evola writes that race represents a crucial element in the life of all humans. However, while acknowledging the clear-cut physical and biological markers of each race, he stresses over and over again the paramount importance of the spiritual and internal aspects of race – two points that are decisive for genuine racial awareness of the White man. Without full comprehension of these constituent parts – i.e. the ‘race of the soul’ and the ‘race of the spirit’ – no racial awareness is possible. Evola is adamantly opposed to conceptualizing race from a purely biological, mechanistic and Darwinian perspective. He sees that approach as dangerously reductionist, leading to unnecessary political and intellectual infighting.”

I reiterate that common sense is needed. We have a duty to defend our race and nation but hostility to non-Europeans is unacceptable. The intimidation of a black man by football hooligans on the Paris Metro was disgraceful. We have the technology to improve living conditions in the Third World and control mass migration. But such a grand project can only be achieved by international agreement. It cannot be done by little states motivated by racial supremacy. And it will not be done by driving wedges between the European nations.

Julius Evola realized the danger posed by unrestrained nationalism in his article “Spiritual and Structural Presuppositions of the European Union.”

“In our opinion, Varange (Francis Parker Yockey) is certainly correct when he announces the inadequacy of every federalist or merely economic solution of the European problem. As we have already said, a true unity can only be of the organic type, and for this the plan is quite well-known: it is that already realised, for example, in the European medieval oecumene. It embraces both unity and multiplicity and is embodied in a hierarchical participatory system. What this requires us to overcome and to leave behind is nationalism, in the sense of schismatic absolutisation of the particular; we must overpass, or retreat from, this to the natural concept of nationality. Within any national space, a process of integration should then occur - politically - which would co-ordinate its forces into a hierarchical structure and establish an order based on a central principle of authority and sovereignty. The same thing should then repeat itself in the supra-national space, in the European space in general, in which we will have the nations as partial organic unities gravitating into a "unum quod non est pars" (to use the Dantesque expression), that is to say into the field of a principle of authority hierarchically superior to each of them. This principle, to be such, should necessarily transcend the political field in the narrow sense, should be based upon itself alone, and should legitimise itself by means of an idea, a tradition, and a spiritual power. Then only would arise the Imperium: the free, organic, and manly European unity, really free from all levelling, liberalistic, democratic, chauvinistic, or collectivistic ideologies, presenting itself, by virtue of this achievement, in a precise separation from both 'East' and 'West', that is to say from the two blocs which, like the arms of a single pair of pincers, are closing themselves around us.”

Evola: Thoughts and Perspectives, Volume One, edited by Troy Southgate, is available from blackfrontpress@yahoo.co.uk  

Euro Nationalism

Europe is much more than the landmass between the Atlantic and the Urals; it is the motherland of European culture and the spiritual home of Europeans throughout the world. A European does not lose his identity by crossing the Atlantic, and an African or an Asian doesn’t automatically becomes a European by landing on our soil. People can be assimilated over generations but in general they belong to their ancestral homelands. Home is where the heart is.

Great Europeans such as Giuseppe Garibaldi, Otto von Bismarck, and Eamon de Valera fought for their respective countries but nationalism transcends borders to embrace ethnicity and culture. Kwame Nkrumah, who led Ghana to independence in 1957, was the father of African Nationalism. The Rev Ndabaningi Sithole wrote the book “African Nationalism” which inspired a generation. Nelson Mandela, the first black president of South Africa, belonged to the African National Congress. And the Jamaican national hero Marcus Garvey promoted African Nationalism in the United States and the Caribbean. Africans throughout the world are entitled to self-determination and so are Europeans.

Educated Europeans have always felt a sense of unity but it was not until the arrival of packaged holidays, open borders and cheap air travel that ordinary people have lived and worked throughout the continent. We have been moving towards unity for a very long time. Pope Innocent 111 (1160-1198) banned the use of crossbows between Christian nations but his edict was ignored and millions of Europeans were slaughtered in successive wars and revolutions. We must hope that the insular nationalism that led to two world wars has burned itself out; but even now we are sliding towards war with Russia over the future of eastern Ukraine.

If we dismiss Nazi racial theory and Cold War propaganda, we realize that the Russians are as European as we are. When Yuri Gagarin became the first man in space he struck a blow for Europe as well as Russia. His journey into space was a European triumph. The international co-operation in space research following the collapse of the USSR was entirely beneficial. But it is threatened by the current wave of anti-Russian hysteria from Washington.

Our perceptions are clouded by propaganda. We thought that Russian women were shapeless peasants but since the fall of the Soviet Union we have been dazzled by the beauty of Anna Kournikova. My childhood comics were full of cropped-headed Luftwaffe pilots with sabre-slashed faces being shot down by Spitfires; but sixty years later Angela Merkel is not so frightening.

                                     Anna Kournikova

The American government is dangerously provocative but it doesn’t necessarily reflect the views of the American people. “Democratic” governments are seldom representative. Two million UK protesters marched against Tony Blair’s war on Iraq but he simply ignored them. In the same way the European Commission is out of touch with the people but we cannot dismantle it anymore than we can dispense with the US Congress or the British Parliament.  

The right-wing parties banding together in the European Parliament are insular nationalists promoting a loose federation of nation states held together by treaty; more or less what we have at the moment. But leading economists such as Mario Draghi, President of the European Central Bank, and Mark Carney, Governor of the Bank of England, are calling for closer fiscal union. The EU will only realize its potential with a central government presiding over an integrated economy. In the meantime it’s important that we encourage a spirit of European solidarity. This blog therefore embraces all Europeans at home and abroad.

Mosley Remembered:

John G Wood

(John G Wood 1933-2007 was an English political activist who was a member of Union Movement until 1964 when he joined John Bean’s BNP. He was a founder member of the National Front, and John Tyndall’s BNP).

                                    John G Wood

I first became active in nationalist politics in the late fifties. Prior to that, I had been a typical young man from a Conservative-supporting family and my only forays into politics were to help out at the local Tory headquarters at election times. As a teenager, I was about as interested in politics as I was about Stone-Age cave paintings. I was not alone in my disinterest in the political scene; most of my friends and school-mates thought likewise. It was not until I entered university that I encountered people for whom political involvement was the norm. Unlike today, however, the politics of the university were mostly mainstream Conservative or Labour, with the odd Liberal and Communist rearing up now and again. My introduction to an entirely different world was when I picked up a discarded copy of Action on a tramcar; yes there were trams running in Sheffield in those days! The effect on me was astounding; never had I read anything like this before! Action, of course, was the magazine of Sir Oswald Mosley's Union Movement. At first, the news seemed too far-fetched to be credible; I hadn't seen articles so seemingly outspoken and such was the effect that this publication had on me, I immediately sent off for details.

I received a reply within a few days and, enclosed with the information pack, together with a membership application form, were several leaflets together with a current copy of Action, the paper that had started me off on the road to an alternative outlook. I quickly realized that although the paper was so very different from the Daily Mail, which I read every day, it was printing views and opinions that I, and many like me, had secretly been thinking for years. From that day forth, I was committed! Supporters and members soon approached me from the local U.M. branch and I started attending meetings and doing the obligatory newspaper selling.

Very shortly I was a full member of the branch and was an active participant whenever and wherever I was needed. I was greatly indebted at the time to the Yorkshire Regional Organizer, Frank Hamley. He had been with O.M. since the days of the New Party and had been incarcerated in a concentration camp on the Isle of Man during the war under the abominable Regulation 18b. I had never known that the British Government had, without trial, imprisoned loyal men because of their opposition to the war. I learned very quickly that the politics of the Establishment was a very dirty business indeed. After a relatively short time I was appointed Branch Leader and, under the guidance of the Regional Organiser, began to build up a very active cadre of enthusiasts.

This photograph (not available) was taken in 1958 and was my first attempt at wall painting! It was the first of many that appeared on walls all over the city, as in those days, it was the cheapest way of getting publicity.

Nowadays, this sort of activity is dying out but at that time, one could see slogans painted on busy flyovers, railway bridges and even one on a huge gasometer. That one stayed there for several years.

Early Days

It wasn't long after joining U.M. that I went to hear the Leader speak. I remember the first meeting I ever attended. It was outside Alexandra Park Gates in Manchester, not a stone's throw from Moss Side! In those days, the place was not as foully corrupted as it is now!

I listened to several speakers that day, George Webb was one of them and so was Frank Hamley; both rousing orators. The moment came for O.M. to speak; the climax of the occasion. As I listened and looked at him, I saw that this was a man I could follow, completely and without question. He was of a
different calibre of the politicians I had known before and the message came out crystal clear. This was a man! This was a patriot!

I was a newcomer in those days surrounded by men who had been with O.M. from day one, I still had an awful lot to learn but after meeting the Leader, life was never going to be quite the same again. Like most people, when listening to the news on radio or watching it on television, most of it went in one ear and out of the other but after even only a few weeks in U.M., I saw the news programmes in a different light; I realized that we, the general public, were being systematically brainwashed time and time again. I began to look for flaws and found great gaps; I searched for the truth and knew then that I wasn't going to get it; not from the B.B.C. anyway! It didn't take long to discover why U.M. in general and O.M. in particular were hated by those in power. They knew that Mosley had a terrible weapon at his disposal... He told the truth!!!

Even so, in the late Fifties and early Sixties, it was possible to hold meetings without too much trouble. In many places, we were allowed to steward our own meetings, which we did, to the chagrin of those who would disrupt us! In those days, we could hold very big meetings in places like
Birmingham City Hall, Manchester Free Trades Hall, Bradford Town hall and so on. Uniforms were a thing of the past but we adopted an unofficial style which most of us wore. It was a simple form of dress comprising black trousers, black tie and white shirt, complete with the Flash and Circle
badge, of course. We wore that garb with pride and never once was I challenged by the police for wearing it.

Looking back, I realised that we were far more advanced in being organized than many nationalist parties today. Even with a small branch as ours was in Sheffield totalling around thirty members, we were able to support our own headquarters that doubled as a bookshop. We could quite comfortably hold monthly branch meetings there and there was the added attraction of a pub with a sympathetic landlord a few doors away!

We always looked forward to the meetings in Manchester, both indoors and outside. Here, were to be found a great many old Blackshirt comrades from the days before the war and they used to regale us with yarns and experiences. In addition to the old pre-war members, there were quite a few of our own age among them and some a little older, who were among the most active in the country. I can remember with great fondness, an old comrade, Gordon Gee, who lived in Longsight in Manchester. He was a very voluble sort of man and would talk a glass eye to sleep if you let him. Sadly, Gordon is no longer with us.

I can remember once after a meeting in Manchester, I stayed the night at Gordon's home. The next day, Sunday, Gordon invited me to a drink at his local. He said he'd introduce me to the landlord. The name of the pub was Pity the Poor Struggler. We went along and we had a very pleasant lunchtime session. The landlord, an old friend of Gordon's turned out to be none other that Albert Pierrepoint. He had been the State Executioner for many years before his retirement. I found him to be a man of great wit and infinite charm.

We seemed to be far more active in those days; the 'phone would ring and it would be someone wanting help in sticking up posters or going on a painting expedition, etc. There always seemed to be something to do; someone to meet. Other areas would have a by-election and we'd flock there ready to put out leaflets or to go round the streets with a P.A. system on the car roof. The police were different in those days; rarely were we stopped when out canvassing or coming home late at night from a meeting or some other event.

(To be continued)

From Robert Edwards of European Socialist Action: www.europeanaction.com 

Dear Bill,

 

Jeffrey Hamm was never the leader of Union Movement. That was always OM's prerogative. Jeffrey put it to the Directorate after OM's death that he should be regarded as the leader. His proposal was rejected.

 

He became the Secretary of the Action Society after previously being the Secretary of Union Movement.

 

In a previous mailing you used the phrase 'European nationalists". We were never that. OM coined the phrase "National Europeans". I have never been a nationalist in my entire life. Sounds like you are pandering to the racial nationalists, again.

 

Another thing, Karl Marx did not hate Jews. He wanted Judaism abolished. Which is a different thing altogether. The phrase "nigger" was commonplace in those days, as was Yid, and is not remarkable, as such. In German, it is Neger, meaning 'negro'.

 

Other than that, all this reminiscing over the political fringe of the 1950s and 1960s has more than a touch of self-indulgence on your part. You still have not wrenched yourself out of this far right lunatic quagmire. They are all reactionary, you know.

 

When I attended the inauguration meeting of the National Front at Caxton Hall in 1965, as a Union Movement member, A K Chesterton sat at the far end of the stage and was visibly drunk. His head sank several times. So I don't know where you get the idea he never drank. Chesterton was alcoholic. His successors nearly all shared this moral weakness. 

 

Best wishes, Robert



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