European Outlook # 74 May 2022

Fallen Empires

The troubles in the Middle East can be traced back to the fall of the Ottoman Empire. Under the Caliphate, Turks, Kurds, Armenians, Arabs, and Jews were all subjects of the Sultan. Equality was guaranteed in return for loyalty, but any revolt against the empire, such as the Armenian rebellion,  was put down with extreme violence.

The war in Ukraine results from the demise of the Soviet Union but its roots go much deeper. Before the First World War, Ukraine was divided between the Austo-Hungarian Empire and the Russian Empire. The Soviet Socialist Republic of Ukraine was founded by Vladimir Lenin during the Russian Civil War.

India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and Myanmar were all part of the British Empire. Today, Kashmir is disputed between India and Pakistan, the persecuted Rohingya people of Myanmar are fleeing to Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka is recovering from bitter fighting between Sinhalese and Tamils. All these nations were ruthlessly kept in check under the Britsh Raj. The Indian Mutiny of 1857 cost the lives of 6,000 Britons and 800,000 Indians.

Empires were harsh masters but they provided centuries of stability. Since they were broken up their constituent nations have fallen prey to nationalism, racism, and bigotry. New empires are emerging in the form of the European Union, the Russian Federation, China, India. and the United States. If they can agree on their respective spheres of influence we could have world peace, but if one empire wants to dominate the rest it could lead to war: nuclear war.

With good will, political, racial, and religious differencies can be overcome. The real problem is America's addiction to 'exceptionalism', the belief that they should run the world. If that can be controlled humanity might have a chance.

Censorship 

I have recently fallen foul of 'Community Standards' on three different social media platforms. I thought that a hostile blog inspector was reading my posts, but I am told that an algorythm is to blame. I am being monitored by mathematical methods.

There has been an increase in censorship of late, and the government is planning even stricter rules. Former prime minister Gordon Brown's dictum: "British Jobs for British Workers," will almost certainly become illegal, and so will "Britain for the British." Anyone advocating an end to non-European immigration is liable to be arrested, charged with 'hate crime', and confined to a prison dominated by violent aliens.

I have always maintained that we can express our opinions without breaking the law, just by being careful, but it's getting harder. Any mention of the high crime rate in 'enriched' areas is likely to aggravate the algorythm, and any enquiry into the Holocaust is met with screams of 'antisemitism.'

Being barred from social media is an inconvenience but some naive youngsters have recieved long prison sentences just for belonging to a student group called National Action. This is the first time that a political party has been proscribed since Oswald Mosley's BUF in 1940. The state pulled the same trick then by using anti-terrorist laws to ban a political party. Defence Regulation 18B was designed to stop the IRA, and the Counter-Terrorism Act is supposed to stop the current wave of terrorists with Middle East connections.

This savage censorship goes against the tide of liberalism. Things that used to be unspoken are now disgussed, but race and nation are practically tabboo subjects. Even old films shown on the Talking Pictures TV channel carry a warning if they are thought to contain racist or offensive language. 

The war in Ukraine has prompted the government to ban Russian Television. We are not allowed to hear the other side of the argument. According to mainstream media, President Putin is mad, old, dictatorial and warlike, but President Zelinsky (pictured) is young, handsome, courageous, and peaceful. Isn't democracy wonderful? 

Spies and Traitors

Nick Griffin, the former leader of the British National Party, no longer has a professional website, a trashy newspaper, and a glossy magazine but he is still trying to make an impression on social media.  He is abused by disappointed former supporters who blame him for the collapse of the BNP; instead of admitting that it was eclipsed, first by UKIP, and then by the lunatic fringe of the Tory Party.

There's very little difference between the narrow nationalist policies of the various factions of the far-right. They all want to stop free movement of labour within Europe, they all support Brexit, and they all wave Union Jacks at every opportunity. A simple-minded populism that appeals to the brainwashed masses.

Nick Griffin is accused, amongst other things, of being a state agent. This is par for the course, almost every nationalist leader has been suspected of treachery, but even agents provocatuers can be good writers, speakers, and organisers. William Joyce was an informer for the British Army in Ireland who almost certainly worked for MI5 when he defected to Germany to broadcast Nazi propaganda, but nobody doubts his courage and sincerity.

The so-called far-right in the UK has been riddled with government agents since the British Fascists was founded by Miss Rotha Lintorn-Orman in 1923. Charles Maxwell Knight (pictured), was a MI5 officer who was appointed BF Director of Intelligence in 1924, to protect them from infiltrators! Every subsequent fascist movement has been similarly spied on, and some of them were actually founded by MI5. Nationalist leaders are protected by caeserism, but political movements essentially founded on paranoia are bound to be suspicious, and hero worship can easily turn to hatred.

When Oswald Mosley announced that Jews were welcome to join Union Movement some of his members were upset. One old Blackshirt told me that he never expected a long line of Jews at 302 Vauxhall Bridge Road seeking membership, but  he was afraid that it would let in spies. 

Rufus of the 'News From Atlantis' blog summed up the situation in 2019:

"I broke with the organised supremacists years ago. I spoke out against National Action before they were banned. Taking a step back allowed me to see the mess of the totally compromised far-right, with its mixture of paid state agents (including undercover police), mentally unstable alcoholics/drug addicts, low life losers, hobbyists and dangerous cranks. The few good people involved risk their personal safety, and their liberty by associating with people who are only ever a pint away from inviting police attention through acts of provocation and/or outright stupidity. We dont need to put ourselves at risk. We can stand strong with friends, with family, looking out for each other, helping each other in real terms - giving physical and emotional support to others when in need. The likes of NA, EDL, Tommy Robinson, Daily Stormer, racist Gab users, apologists for Brenton Tarrant are a gift to those who seek absolute control. Avoid them like the plague that they are. Build our communities, look after each other. The struggle is now really a struggle for survival. The cranks have never been any help, and will always be a weapon against us. Make connections online to be sure, but make a difference in the real world - the only one that matters."

Will Wright wrote on the Anglo Celtic blog:

"National Action – has been declared to be a terrorist group, by Home Secretary, Amber Rudd. This was because they applauded the assassination of the Searchlight/Hope Not Hate-supporting Labour MP, Jo Cox by a mentally unwell man. Masked men giving stiff right arm salutes is not the right path for nationalists. The Establishment is looking for any excuse to ban nationalist groups. Islamic terrorist supporters are crying out for ‘even-handedness’ – they want nationalist groups banned. It is idiocy to give the Government that excuse. In any case, terrorism cannot succeed. Only a mass movement and a political party can effect the necessary change to our country. NA is a dangerous dead end and authentic nationalists should avoid it like the plague."

Crime and Corruption

Some years ago an Englishman serving in the Hong Kong Police was found guilty of corruption on the simple evidence of his bank account. The authorities knew how much he earned, what he was spending, and how much he was saving. If the same test was applied to local government officers, senior police officers, and members of parliament, we would need to build a dozen more prisons to accomodate them.

With breathtaking hypocrisy we Brits accuse foreigners of corruption but we seldom acknowledge our own shortcomings. Prime minister Tony Blair was questioned three times by the police in 2006-7 about the Cash-for-Honours scandal, but he wasn't charged.  All governments have been suspected of taking bribes but Boris Johnson's regime is riddled with corruption. He dishes out peerages and lucrative contracts to his mates without a trace of embarrassment; he accepted massive donations from Russian oligarchs, and he lied to parliament about parties at No 10 during the Covid lockdown.

Public opinion is made by the mass media which generally turns a blind eye to corruption. Could it be that the proprietors of the popular press and television channels are part of the web of criminality covering the establishment?

The UK is run by a small group of extremely wealthy landowners who send their children to the same exclusive schools and mix in the same circles. They are often related, well connected, and unbelievably greedy. Marriages are made for money and conventional morality is unknown to them. The leading families can be traced back to the Normans who came over with William the Conqueror in 1066. They used brute force to steal everything they could lay their hands on, and their descendands are still robbing us a thousand years later.

When crime or corruption is suspected in the UK a court of inquiry is set up to look into it. This usually consists of law makers and enforcers that crawled out of the same swamp as the subjects of their enquiries. It's therefore unsurprising when they find that nothing nefarious has taken place.

More drastic measures have been used by authoritarian regimes. According to Human Rights Watch, President Saddam Hussein of Iraq disposed of 250,000 people suspected of corruption when he came to power in 1979.

Somewhere, between our soft approach and Saddam's tough justice, lies the correct level of judicial action to achieve a decent society.   

Five Questions

Back in 2011, I asked my readers five questions; Who are you? What do you believe in? If you could direct government policy what would you do? What are you proud of and what do you regret? How would you like to be remembered?

I received replies from;

John Bean, NR # 76, Feb 2011

Robert Edwards, NR # 77, Mar 2011

Bill Baillie, NR # 78, Apr 2011

Michael Woodbridge, NR # 96, Sep 2012

Eddy Morrison, NR # 97, Nov 2012

Robert Best, NR # 98, Dec 2012

Arlette Baldacchino, NR # 99, Jan 2013

Alexander Morana, NR # 100, Feb 2013

Rufus, NR # 101, Mar 2013

Pete Williamson, NR  # 103, May 2013

Claire Khaw, NR # 106, Aug 2013

Jane Edwards, NR 107, Sep 2013

Vic Sarson, NR # 109, Nov 2013

Jez Turner, EO # 13, Jan 2015

Michael Walsh, EO # 32, Aug 2016

Seth Tryssen, NR 146, Dec 2018

Ahmed, NR # 166, Aug 2020

To add your name to this impressive list please reply to nationrevisited@gmail.com  

Birth of a Nation

DW Griffiths' epic film The Birth of a Nation was premiered in Los Angeles in 1915. It was the world's first full length feature film, lasting over three hours, and using new techniques such as close ups, moving cameras, and long shots. DW Griffiths who was the son of a Confederate colonel was an unapolagectic racist. His film glorified the Ku Klux Klan, the 'Invisible Empire', that was shown rescuing a town from maurading blacks.

I watched this historic film, all three and a quarter hours of it, with a growing sense of unease. It's the only film I have ever seen that is positively pro white. I expected the plot to suddenly change to show the Klan as thugs and murderers, but it never happened. The carpetbagger politician was shown as a corrupt coward, his mulatto accomplice was a power mad drunk, and the rioting blacks were savages, as opposed to the  plantation servants who were brave and loyal.  

Birth of a Nation is a silent film (the first Talkie was made in 1927) and some of its captions are memorable. When Union veterans combine with Southerners to fight the blacks, the caption reads: "North and South stand together to defend their Aryan heritage."

If DW Griffiths made this film today he would be hounded out of Hollywood, charged with a catalogue of federal offences, and locked up in a Supermax prison for life. The wonder is that it was made in 1915, just thirty years before I was born.

European Outlook

All articles are by Bill Baillie unless otherwise stated. The opinions of guest writers are entirely their own. We seek reform by legal means according to the UN Declaration of Human Rights, Article 19:

"We all have the right to make up our own minds, to think what we like, to say what we think, and to share our ideas with other people."

 

 

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European Outlook # 48, December 2017

All articles are by Bill Baillie unless otherwise stated. The opinions of guest writers are entirely their own. This blog is protected by the UN Declaration of Human Rights, Article 19: "We all have the right to make up our own minds, to think what we like, to say what we think, and to share our ideas with other people."
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Personal Manifesto

Despite years standing for European solidarity I still get messages from petty nationalists who campaigned against our membership of the EU. They accused the East Europeans of simultaneously claiming benefits and stealing jobs, but government statistics show that they contributed more than they received. When I worked in the Construction Industry, I found them to be hardworking, honest and reliable. I am therefore baffled by far-rightists who think that I am on their side. 

So, for the avoidance of doubt, I state my basic beliefs.

1) I distrust Parliamentary Democracy because it's controlled by big business, the trade unions, and various lobby groups such as the Zionists. I cannot recommend an alternative system but I believe in leadership and good government.

2) I believe in free speech and I like Oswald Mosley's idea that newspapers should publish replies from people they have defamed.

3) Race is more than just a social construct but it's not everything. Patriotism is fine but racism is unkind and unnecessary.

4) I believe that the union of Europe is inevitable. Even if the UK leaves the EU we will still be Europeans in every respect and eventually, our continent will unite. Most of the Little Englanders are elderly and it's only a matter of time before the younger generation prevails.

5) I believe in freedom of religion and I despise arrogant atheists who think that everyone agrees with them. Church attendance may be declining but that doesn't mean that people have stopped believing in God.

That's it. The world is driven by economics and the answer to almost everything is education. America got to the Moon because Jack Kennedy persuaded Congress to put enough money into the project. A similar effort could produce a cure for cancer, or wipe out starvation in Africa. We could easily build enough houses for everyone in this country if we really wanted to.

We are stuck in the past and still act as though we've got a great empire patrolled by the world's biggest navy. Half a century after the Suez fiasco we still have military bases in Cyprus and Gibraltar to defend the sea route to India; which we abandoned in 1947.

The UK is a fine country with a proud record of achievement but we probably have the worst newspapers in the world and our political system is corrupt and archaic.

I do not follow any party line or particular philosophy and I would be surprised if anyone agreed with me on everything. My sole purpose is to encourage free thinking.

Parliamentary Standards

We've got used to MPs fiddling their expenses and occasionally getting caught but recent events have reminded us of their sexual frailty. Every workplace has got a groper and explicit language is commonplace, but from time to time we suffer an outbreak of moral indignation and dirty old men are obliged to resign.

Michael Fallon has admitted inappropriate behaviour but a Tory spokesman has denied reports that a Front Bench Minister exposed himself at a Cabinet meeting and said: "What do you think of this Theresa?"

Unfortunately, sex makes fools of us all. Usually, rational men and women risk their careers and reputations for a fumble in the stationary cupboard. Such goings on are ideally suited to  Parliament which employs men and women dispenses alcohol and provides hundreds of carpeted offices.

This dangerous combination of drink and women is known in the Catholic Church as "Punch and Judy." The Church has its fair share of sinners, but Parliament is the only place where our guardians fornicate while passing laws to stop us enjoying ourselves. Fallen priests, of all denominations, confine themselves to hypocritical sermons. 

The Prime Minister has called for a Parliamentary Code of Conduct but it seems likely that rich and powerful men will continue to put their hands up the skirts of journalists. And healthy young women will continue to make themselves available to politicians, bishops, film producers, window cleaners and milkmen.

Before we succumb to fits of moral outrage we should remember that Lloyd George, one of our greatest prime ministers, was a serial adulterer, and so was our national hero Lord Nelson. Let those without sin cast the first stone.

The Art of the Possible

Otto von Bismarck (pictured) said: "politics is the art of the possible." Sometimes we should settle for what we can get.

Immigration is out of control but the National Front policy of rounding them up and shipping them out is not going to happen. We could devise a sensible immigration policy, deport undesirables, and resettle volunteers. We could also change our tactics. Ethnic minorities should be treated fairly but there should be no special privileges for immigrants, no 'positive discrimination' or employment targets. English must be spoken and justice must be administered by British courts. We should appoint a Minister of Resettlement to handle deportation and emigration, and his decisions should be final. That might not satisfy the NF but it's the best we can do.

The banks were responsible for the financial crash of 2008. They ran out of money and the taxpayer had to bail them out. But new legislation will stop them from overtrading and massive fines will teach them a lesson. Many people want to nationalise the banks but that's unlikely to happen. Well established banks operating within the law contribute £35 billion a year to the Exchequer. Usury is wrong but banks are entitled to charge reasonable rates of interest. We will not be arresting Mark Carney, the Governor of the Bank of England, anytime soon.

As a result of Dave Cameron's kamikaze referendum, we are about to leave the European Union. But we are an island just off the mainland of Europe and our economy is dependant on our trade with the EU. Just like Norway and Switzerland, we will arrive at a solution that satisfies the petty nationalist without ruining our economy. Once again that may not be what we want but it's what we are going to get.

We are proud of our armed forces but we need to ask ourselves what they are for. They should be for the defence of this country but they are used to back up American foreign policy under NATO. Instead of quitting NATO we should assert our joint European independence. Donald Trump would probably agree to an American withdrawal. We can't go back to the forties with a massive conscript army but we could be part of Eurocorp, the army founded by France and Germany in 1992. This may look unlikely with Brexit on the horizon but we are already tied to France under the Anglo-French Defence Treaty of 2010.   

We can dream about what we want but we must settle for what we can get. Every political system harbours rich and poor citizens. Redistributive taxation has helped to alleviate poverty but it's still with us. We are finding scientific solutions to our problems but human greed and corruption undermine our efforts. We need is a charismatic leader to show us the way - someone like Otto von Bismarck - but until he steps forward we shall just have to do what we can.


Spies and Traitors

Anyone who doubts that minority parties are infiltrated with spies and traitors should read 'Maxwell Knight, MI5's Greatest Spymaster' by Henry Hemming. The first fascist movement in the UK was the British Fascists founded by Miss Rotha Lintorn-Orman in 1923. It was infested with government agents and every patriotic movement since then has been subject to state interference. 

Apart from police spies, there are also agents provocateurs belonging to the opposition or rival movements, and people with mental problems who can't resist plots and conspiracies.
In every gathering of the far-right, there is likely to be a Special Branch informer, someone from Hope Not Hate, an undercover press reporter, a member of a rival movement, and a sprinkling of nutcases. It is said that a meeting of the Communist Party of America in the fifties was abandoned when they realised that everyone present was a government agent.

Most spies are non-violent but some are criminal thugs who specialise in intimidation and physical violence. Apart from picking off individuals after meetings their favourite tactic is to publish names and addresses of members in the hope of causing them problems with their employment.

Government agents usually keep a low profile but some of them like causing mischief and spreading rumours. Derek Johnson was a foul-mouthed drunk who kept a junk shop in Battersea that sold Nazi tapes and films long before the days of the Internet when such things were hard to come by. He was revealed to be working for the 62 Group, a Jewish anti-fascist gang, but he was also a Special Branch informer. And so is Matthew Collins, a prominent member of the NF who came out on television in 1992.

Members of patriotic movements are advised to be careful but not to become paranoid. These spies and traitors are more of a nuisance than a threat.

Ted Davey (pictured) was a popular fellow who befriended members of Union Movement and most of the far-right parties over the years. But when he died we discovered that he was a Special Branch agent. Nevertheless, his dying wish was for his ashes to be interred at Berchtesgaden, the Fuhrer's favourite place.

Keep it Simple

The following letter was sent by National Front organiser Milton Ellis to a South Wales newspaper. He uses data on intelligence to support his case that Africans are intellectually inferior to Europeans. But East Asians score higher than Europeans and the worst performing group in Britain are young White males. Economic and cultural factors account for much of the ignorance in Africa. Just as, the single-minded determination of Asian parents helps to produce the doctors, dentists and opticians that dominate our high streets. Data aside, there are plenty of African graduates and far too many uneducated Whites. I am opposed to non-European immigration because it is unnecessary. We could man every job from within Europe, and avoid the cultural friction associated with multiracial immigration. There are plenty of arguments against non-European immigration without getting involved in genetics and linguistics; subjects that are beyond the comprehension of most people. We should keep it simple.

Dear Sir,

Theresa May has recently had a Race and Equality audit in which it had been found that there is a disparity in racial performance between the white majority and ethnic minorities, in education, homeownership and unemployment etc. If everybody is equal then there should be no disparity. But what if the doctrine of racial equality is not scientific but only a Marxist pseudo-science?

In 2012 an international team of scientists found a gene HMGA2, which determines intelligence and achievement and completely displaces the nurture and cultural argument of the followers of Franz Uri Boas. There are differences in IQs and cognitive abilities, and an 11% overlap between races, but equality would require there to be 50%. The African languages have only a present tense, no past or future tense and a very limited vocabulary and this indicates an inability to plan for the long-term.

A requirement of an IQ of about 160+ is absolutely vital if there are to be sufficient numbers of engineers, inventors, mathematicians, Scientists etc. Most Europeans have an IQ of about 100 and Blacks of about 70. The consequences for all this we can see in Zimbabwe and increasingly in South Africa today. The Africans will always be dependent on outside help for development whether that is from Europeans or the Chinese.

All this is the brutal hard truth. No amount of silly denial can alter this; by denying racial differences the cowardly politicians are flogging a dead horse, in the pursuit of doctrinaire equality, and doing a disservice to the British people in the process.

Yours Sincerely, Milton Ellis (Newtown).

Father Frank Gelli
Rant Number 747 - Music and the Devil

Your teenage offspring announces: 'I am giving up listening to music'. Aghast, do you rush to tell the cops? You might. Because it is a sign of 'radicalisation'. A clue the boy is plotting mischief. Inclining towards terrorism. Joining ISIS. Maybe driving a van into pedestrians - God forbid! The notorious Prevent anti-extremism strategy claims that much. Chilling, eh?

'I am a Muslim. I don't listen to music'. A fellow named al-Wahab revealed during a seminar I attended in Islington. 'Because the Qur'an forbids it. It's like hearing the Devil's whisperings. Intrigued, I asked for the reference. He obliged. Surah Luqman, ayat 6. I looked it up. The voice from Heaven promises 'a humiliating torment' for those who engage in 'idle talk' or tales to mislead from God's ways. That's what it says in Arabic. Music and songs are the commentator's take. (Naturally, it is a Salafi-Wahhabi annotation.) Other translations say nothing about music. Too bad for naïve al-Wahab.

Can some music have a negative, demonic influence on people? Giuseppe Tartini's violin sonata, The Devil's Trill, resulted from a dream in which the composer sold his soul to the Devil in exchange for the score, hence the sonata's alleged diabolical influence. Legend has it that if you listen to it something strange will occur afterwards. I did and zilch followed. Maybe crafty Tartini indulged in a PR stunt? And Tolstoi's novella, The Kreutzer's Sonata tells of a man who murdered his wife after discovering her affair with a violinist. The two lovers had played Beethoven's composition together. Then the husband felt that music was an awesome thing. The Kreutzer's Sonata, he believed, should not be played before women misbehaving, so next day he stabbed his wife to death. A story about jealousy, certainly, but about evil music? Hhhmm...

Philosophers too have taken a dim view of some music. In his blueprint for a righteous society, The Republic, Plato talks about it as part of education, as an accompaniment to songs. Socrates, Plato's mouthpiece, distinguishes several types of music and links them with different feelings and moods. Some are fine for soldiers, to represent courage and discipline, others not. And Socrates declares a preference for the lyre, the instrument of the god Apollo, as opposed to the flute, favourite of satyres, the ithyphallic companions of Dyonisus. (A satyr, Marsyas, challenged the god to a contest. Apollo won and skinned Marsyas alive.) You can imagine what Plato would have made of Eminem and bands like the Rolling Stones, Black Sabbath, Iron Maiden or even Michael Jackson. Pity Apollo wasn't around to flay alive that lot.

As to Aristotle, he held that music served a fourfold end: amusement, moral education, recreation and purification. Art can use any of those ends but mere amusement cannot be an ultimate goal. Too bad for the universal line: 'That was fun'. It wouldn't have pleased the great philosopher a little bit. No wonder Aristotle was a snob.

Even if the Qur'an does not condemn music, what about the hadiths? Sharia, Islamic law, is a blending of Qur'an and hadiths and there is a prophetic saying, of an eschatological flavour, and reported in Salafi-Wahhabi notes to the Qur'an, which declares musical instruments (ma'azif in Arabic, probably meaning drums) unlawful, along with men wearing silk. Debate rages about it. However, even hardline Sunni 'Popes' like Yusuf al-Qaradawi permit instrumental music. Moreover, what about the Turkish Mevlevi Order of Dervishes? They danced the Sema', a mystical and musical ceremony, as well as being the crack units of the Ottoman armies that got to the gates of Vienna. The examples of Moghuls and Persian Safavid also militates against any Islamic ban on instrumental music. And even the puritanical Saudis dance the Sword Dance - a favourite of Prince Charles. 

Even the dumbest fundamentalist could never invoke the Bible against music or dancing. The psalms are religious songs. Many with musical directions, addressed to the choirmaster, including 'with string instruments'. When the Ark of the Covenant was brought to Jerusalem, King David himself danced 'before the Lord', girded with only a loin cloth (11 Samuel: 14). St Matthews's Gospel says that Jesus and the disciples sang a hymn after the Last Supper. And in Church tradition, the psalms feature in settings like Vespers by Monteverdi, Vivaldi and Mozart. Gregorian chant is one of the glories of monastic spirituality. I confess, it bores me a bit but then music was never the priest's ruling passion - God so willed it.

After knocking al-Wahab's scriptural exegesis. I must agree with him on the radicalization issue. Rightly or wrongly, he believes that his faith and music are incompatible. An opinion to which he is perfectly entitled. It may be extreme but why extremist in the sense of violent extremism? Or, for that matter, even non-violent extremism? Why should he be harassed by Prevent? Jehova's Witnesses have peculiar ideas about blood transfusions but the British government doesn't treat them as 'extremists'. Mormons don't believe in sex before marriage or homosexuality, yet they are an all-American, hard-working, supremely law-abiding lot. Does President Trump brand them as extremists?

The Prevent strategy is loopy. It led someone to report two Muslim students because the didn't look at females. Given the present hysteria about men touching women's knees, that is perhaps rather reassuring.

As to his satanic majesty, the Devil. He is man's eternal enemy and gets up to all sorts of tricks to make humanity stumble, as he did in the Garden of Eden, but music per se isn't one of them.

Nation Revisited

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European Outlook # 30, June 2016

Us and Them

After the Second World War the class system in the UK began to break down. In 1970 Edward Heath, the son of a builder and a pupil of the local grammar school, became prime minister. He was followed by a succession of middle class people who made it to the top; Harold Wilson, Margaret Thatcher, and John Major. It seemed that things were changing for the better but now, under Dave Cameron, we have gone back to being ruled by upper class millionaires who know nothing about ordinary people.

                                    Oswald Mosley

Some aristocrats had a social conscience. Oswald Mosley was tipped to be prime minister but he resigned from the Labour Government in 1931 when it refused to adopt his proposals to cure unemployment. Harold Macmillan, like Mosley, had fought in the trenches of the First World War and understood working people. But Dave Cameron and his chums have no such affinity. They have been forced to drop changes to tax credits, disability benefits, and academy schools because of their ignorance of public opinion. They tried to go too far too soon.

The class system was eroded by generations of social engineering but the aristocracy survived taxation and death duties and has now been reinforced with pop stars, footballers, pornographers, drug dealers, financiers and property speculators.

In days of old our lords and masters were expected to raise regiments and lead us into battle but the present lot are under no such obligation. They still have their private armies but nowadays the pikes and muskets of their hired thugs have been replaced with the smartphones and tablets of their sharp-suited accountants and lawyers.

The recent Panama disclosures confirm that we are not "all in this together". Working people have to pay their taxes but the rich hide their money in overseas accounts. Our society is profoundly unequal and getting worse.

Major Tim Peake

Photo European Space Agency

Helen Sharman became the first British astronaut when she served aboard the Soviet Mir Space Station in 1991. NASA astronaut Michael Foale was born in Britain, but Major Tim Peake is the first Briton to serve on the International Space Station as a European Space Agency astronaut. He is due to return to Earth on June 18. 

We have long been at the forefront of scientific achievement but we can't afford an independent space program and it's vital that we contribute to the ESA and pan-European projects such as Airbus and Eurofighter - all of which would be threatened by our withdrawal from Europe.

A long list of British inventions have been sold to America for want of development capital. We pioneered television, radar, the jet engine, vertical take-off aircraft and many other scientific achievements only to see them sent abroad. We spent so much money on the Blue Streak rocket program that we were forced to abandon it and buy American missiles; first Skybolt, then Polaris and now Trident.

The Tory Party has sold its soul to McDonnell Douglas, the makers of Trident, but thousands of British jobs depend on our participation in joint European aerospace projects. Major Tim Peake's brave contribution to scientific research is the living proof of our commitment to Europe.

Spies and Traitors

Patriotic parties have always been infiltrated with spies and traitors. The pre-war movements collaborated with the State until it turned on them in 1940. They have been more careful since the war but according to Joe Owens the police have informers in all of them.

Bernard O'Mahoney states in his book Hateland that anti-fascist groups have no trouble recruiting discontented nationalists. So it's likely that the police and the anti-fascists have got every group covered.

A meeting of the Communist Party in America during the fifties was famously abandoned when it was realized that everybody there was a government agent. And a recent case against the NDP in Germany was thrown out when those accused of promoting racial hatred were unmasked as security policeman.

Ray Hill was an active nationalist who split British Movement in 1982. He stood as the BNP candidate for Leicester in the 1983 general election where he got 469 votes. But in his 1988 book The Other Face of Terror he boasted of his career as an agent provocateur and general nuisance.

British nationalist leaders are routinely accused of being  enemy agents, especially when their parties collapse following disappointing election results. Some of them might be guilty but we should remember that Adolf Hitler was assigned to military intelligence when he joined the German Workers' Party - the rest, as they say, is history.


What Can We Do?

British nationalist candidates did badly at local elections throughout the country. They didn't beat the record set by Commander Bill Boaks who got 5 votes standing as an Air, Road, Public Safety, White Resident in the March 1982 Glasgow Hillhead by-election; but they came close and they will now have to reconsider their tactics and policies.

Mosley's Union Movement in the fifties and sixties and the National Front in the seventies were forced to use marches and demonstrations because they were refused access to meeting halls and denied press coverage. But street politics has had its day and modern methods of communication are called for.

Union Movement marching along Dalston High Street in 1952

We are not living in the sort of revolutionary times that gave rise to the March on Rome or the election of the National Socialists to power in Germany. We haven't got millions of unemployed ex-servicemen looking for a leader. But things are not as good as the Tories would have us believe. Our economic recovery depends on cheap labour and government borrowing. Chancellor George Osborne is trying to balance the annual budget by 2020 but the overall national debt is £1.56 trillion, which costs us £43 billion a year in interest payments.

Populists parties are gaining representation throughout Europe as a result of mass migration but most of them have no idea of how to run a country.

Tony Blair realized that nationalization was making the Labour Party unelectable, so he dumped Clause Four and won the next three general elections in a row. If we want to succeed we must be just as ruthless. Marches, drums and banners will have to go, and so will long-winded articles on genetics and conspiracy theory that serve no purpose except to turn off the general public who are worried about their jobs and mortgages. 

China, Japan and the Gulf States now dominate global investment. The Jews are still influential and the Israeli occupation of Palestine is a brutal reality, but we cannot blame them for everything.

We need a party that respects race and nationality without being obsessive. We need a leader blessed with courage, charisma, intelligence and plenty of money. But first we must educate the public who are so confused by liberal propaganda that they are frightened of being British.


Law and Order

Home Secretary Therese May has been prevented from deporting terrorist suspects to Algeria by the Special Immigration Appeals Commission. This decision is being used by the popular press in their campaign against the EU. But they should be asking why we let these people into the country in the first place. We would risk our seat on the United Nations Security Council if we reneged on our international obligations. The usual suspects would celebrate our dismissal from the UN, Nato, and the EU but an island nation with an immigrant-swollen population of 64.1 millions needs to trade and communicate with the world.

Sovereign parliaments are no guarantee of democracy. Every tin-pot dictatorship has got a parliament but only an independent court can protect us against tyranny. This principle was suspended during World War Two when thousands of men and women were detained under Regulation 18B. And again during the troubles in Northern Ireland when detention without trial was used. 

                               European Court of Justice

The courts only uphold laws that are passed by politicians. If our government has got a problem with European legislation they should instruct our people in Brussels to do something about it. Jonathan Hill is our Commissioner, David Lidington is our Minister and we are represented by 73 MEPs. Admittedly, 22 of them are Ukip MEPs who seldom turn up and take very little interest, but that's the fault of the British electorate not the EU.

The xenophobic Tories and their allies should consider the consequences of their policies. Their distrust of foreigners could reduce our nation to a pariah state subsisting on the edge of Europe without friends or trading partners. Their North Korean mentality has no place in the modern world.

Global Capitalism

Every political system has been tried over the years from absolute monarchy to representative government. They all have their pros and cons but most people would prefer to live under a democratic system. A peasant in the good old days was probably happy enough unless he was drafted into the King's army or sold into slavery for being behind with the rent. A citizen of Nazi Germany was glad to have bread on the table after the Great Depression, unless he happened to be a Jew or a Communist. And a Soviet worker was better off under Comrade Stalin; unless he upset him.
  

The rich can survive under any political system but the poor are not so fortunate. Attempts to redistribute wealth were made by the command economy of the Soviet Union and by market forces in the West but both systems fell victim to greed and corruption. Governments of every persuasion are manipulated by big business but the rise of the Internet and a worldwide dissatisfaction with politics offers some hope for the future.

We cannot allow our industries to be wiped out by unfair competition but before we start erecting tariff walls we should remember that armies cross frontiers that are closed to trade. That's why we need international bodies such as the European Union and the World Trade Organization to stop nations from settling their disputes on the battlefield.

Talks are being held between the EU and the USA on the proposed Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP), and between the Asian nations and the USA on the Trans-Pacific Partnership. It's hoped that these talks will stimulate world trade and revive a flagging global economy. But whatever happens Britain must be engaged. Neoliberalism will eventually be replaced by geo-political self-sufficiency but until such time we need to keep talking and take an active part in world affairs. 

Five Questions Answered

Followers and contributors to Nation Revisited and European Outlook were asked five questions;

Who are you? – What do you believe? – If you could direct government policy what would you do? – What are you proud of and what do you regret? – How would you like to be remembered.

The following people have replied:

John Bean – NR #76, Feb 2011
Robert Edwards – NR # 77, Mar 2011
Bill Baillie – NR # 78, April 2011
Michael Woodbridge – NR # 96, Sept 2012
Eddy Morrison – NR # 97, Nov 2012
Robert Best – NR # 98, Dec 2012
Arlette Baldacchino – NR # 99, Jan 2013
Alexander Morana – NR # 100, Feb 2013
Rufus – NR # 101, Mar 2013
Pete Williamson – NR # 103, May 2013
Claire Khaw – NR # 106, Aug 2013
Jane Edwards – NR # 107, Sept 2013
Vic Sarson – NR # 109, Nov 2013
Jez Turner – EO # 13, Jan 2015

To read these replies go to the relevant blog and use the archive feature. Readers are welcome to submit their answers, not just leaders and writers but anyone with something to say. Please send your replies to - mailto:bill.baillie1@btinternet.com

A European Army

Jean Claude Juncker, President of the European Commission, has called for the creation of a European army. He said that getting member states to combine militarily would make spending more efficient and encourage European integration. This was immediately rejected by a British government spokesman who said that there was "no prospect of the UK agreeing to the creation of an EU army." He was followed by a succession of furious objectors. Ukip MP Douglas Carswell said: "Why would we hand over our defence to the EU, which cannot even properly manage its currency, the euro? The only way to guarantee we stay out of this EU army is to vote Leave."

Meanwhile, a report by the Royal United Services Institute has warned that thousands of soldiers, sailors and airmen will face the axe in the next parliament regardless of which party wins the general election. Rusi said that it was inevitable that Britain's defence spending would drop below the Nato target of 2% of GDP in the face of continuing austerity cuts and warned that the heaviest cuts would leave the armed forces with a combined strength of just 115,000 by the end of the decade. Even if defence spending is given the same level of protection being promised to health and schools, it said the forces are still likely to shed 15,000 personnel during the next parliament.

Few people outside of military circles appreciate the extent to which the British armed forces are integrated with our allies. The Anglo-French Defence Agreement of 2010 signed by Defence Secretary Philip Hammond and his French counterpart Jean-Yves Le Drian provides for a Combined Joint Expeditionary Force capable of carrying out co-ordinated military operations.

Nato is 70% funded by the United States but Donald Trump has promised to quit the alliance if he becomes President, and the American public is becoming increasingly isolationist following a series of failed military interventions in the Middle East. Nato without America would be a European army.

If the major states of the EU each contributed 100,000 servicemen we would have an army of a million men and a formidable navy and air force. It will be difficult for those still fighting the last war to get their heads round this proposal but economic necessity will make it happen, and our soldiers, who are used to Nato exercises, will hardly notice the difference. They stormed the Normandy Beaches under American command, invaded Egypt in 1956 together with the French, and fought in Afghanistan and Iraq as part of an international coalition. There's nothing new about our armed forces serving with their allies.


The Referendum

This blog doesn't usually encourage voting but we will make an exception for the European Referendum. It would not be the end of the world if we quit the EU but it would be an unnecessary dislocation of the economy and a dangerous concession to petty nationalism.

In or out of the EU we would still be part of a global capitalist system that ships goods and people around the world to make a profit. Inside of the EU we have some social protection but outside, and under a Tory government, we would find ourselves back in the Dark Ages.

We have heard all the arguments for and against but the real question is whether we feel European or not? Those of us who do will vote to remain but those who reject Europe will vote to leave.

The personalities involved are evenly matched. The quitters are led by Boris Johnson and the stayers are led by his old school chum Dave Cameron. So whatever happens, we are guaranteed to have a prime minister sprung from the loins of the nobility and nurtured on the playing fields of Eton. God help us.

Nation Revisited

Our sister blog is posted on http://nationrevisited.blogspot.co.uk