by Kevin Meagher
David Cameron famously doesn’t believe in “green crap”, but that didn’t stop him recycling his New Year message slogan.
His pledge to focus on knotty social problems in order to build a ‘Greater Britain’ is a neat enough line, until you remember its unfortunate antecedents.
It was the title of Oswald Mosley’s 1932 tome extolling his vision of a British fascist state.
Meanwhile, the campaign group formed in the early 1960s by Britain’s most notorious post-war Nazi agitator, John Tyndall, was called the Greater Britain Movement.
Okay, it’s a small gaffe in the grand scheme of things. But it’s emblematic too of just how slack Cameron’s Downing Street ‘chumocracy’ is. It’s the kind of mistake that would never have been made under Blair or Brown (or, indeed, Thatcher).
It reemphasises how Cameron is beatable, but also how Jeremy Corbyn’s team should be much sharper in exploiting these kinds of miscues.
Kevin Meagher is associate editor of Uncut
Tags: David Cameron, fascism, Greater Britain, Kevin Meagher, Oswald Mosley
Greater Britain was also the name of a famous London and North Western Railway steam locomotive that pulled expresses from London to Liverpool a hundred years ago.
That must have been about the time when Mr Corbyn’s Socialism was being forged.
‘It’s the kind of mistake that would never have been made under Blair or Brown’
Yes it was the sort of mistake that did happen under Brown, most notoriously with ‘British Jobs for British Workers’, which was a BNP slogan he hurriedly flung in to a conference speech without thinking it through.
The phrase ‘Greater Britain’ line was also used by the Imperial Federation movement in the late nineteenth century, which was led by first Lord Rosebery (who was leader of the Liberal Party) and ultimately Joseph Chamberlain (who belonged to whichever party suited him best at the time). Even Asquith used it as a phrase. So it has multiple meanings.
Of course, none of Rosebery, Chamberlain or Brown are exactly happy examples for Cameron to follow either, but I thought it was mildly amusing an article that criticised Cameron for being careless in his fact checking appears to have failed to check some facts itself.
It’s not a slip, the idea of a “Greater Britain” isn’t from the far right, it’s Empire mentality which is exactly what he wanted to evoke.
This is just silly, & a bit pathetic. To me this seems like displacement activity, anything to avoid facing the reality of defeat.
So the expression ‘Greater Britain’ is a fascist saying now is it? How about ‘my fellow countrymen’ – routinely used by Hitler along with ‘one nation’.
Luckily, I’m all in favour of banning any slogans that have been used by fascists and nazis previously – mostly because it means the current pygmies and dross garbage in Westminster will have to have their tongues removed and gobs stitched up. Which on balance is a good thing.
Check out some of Tony Blairs sayings (which are remarkably similar in style position to those of Oswald Mosely):-
One Britain. That is the patriotism for the future.
Our challenge to be a young country is not just economic, it is a social and moral challenge.
It combines the dynamic urge to change and progress, with the authority, the discipline and the order without which nothing great can be achieved.
A young country that wants to be a strong country cannot be morally neutral about the family
Our task now is nothing less than the rebirth of our nation. A new Britain. National renewal…The task of building new Britain now to come
We need a new social morality.
We will speak up for a country that knows the good sense of a public industry in public hands.
I want a negotiated settlement and I believe that given the starkness of the military options we need to compromise on certain things.
Without an active interventionist industrial policy…Britain faces the future of having to compete on dangerously unequal terms.
Oh I don’t know, didn’t a few people try and claim that because some fascist used Third Way in a pamphlet at some point that Blair/Clinton were tainted by association.
“It reemphasises how Cameron is beatable, but also how Jeremy Corbyn’s team should be much sharper in exploiting these kinds of miscues.”
Do you want me to reply and make you squirm? Or reply and make you want to give up..?
I’ll be polite and say this:
It cannot be construed as extolling Mosley as there is no mention of him.. So you are really clutching at very thin straws. (I’ve never heard of the book before today)
Whereas you know that John McDonnell’s reply to the Budget was based on the Works of Chairman Mao. Because he said so and gave Osborne the book. And even I have heard of it.
Pretty poor attempt I suggest.. After all David Cameron said used the “Greater Britain” phrase at reg Tory Party Conference in October 2015.. http://tinyurl.com/q5y366q;
So it’s taken you three months to say it’s a blunder….Dinosaurs worked faster 🙂
If that is the most lethel anti-Cameron line anyone can come up with, he is safe for a long, long time.
Is this blog piece a joke ?
Kevin, if this is the best you can do then stop now. With all the issues the Corynista’s are creating and upcoming shuffle fallout, there is much to write about. So why pick this insignificant throw away strap line?
As others have pointed out Blair and other non-Tory politicians have used slogans associated with the less savoury historical figures. What is said 50 or 100 years ago does not share a meaning in todays world.