Recently I
made a passing reference to the Cabinet of United Kingdom Prime Minister Boris
Johnson being something of which Oswald Mosley would be proud, hyperbole
perhaps, but I was seeking to make a point.
However,
what surprised me was the number of people who had never heard, or had only a
vague idea, of who I was referring to.
For those
who understood my reference to the pre-war leader of the British Union of
Fascists, there were others who thought I must be referencing some obscure
Parliamentary backbencher or perhaps a member of a current activist group.
Once again
I have to remind myself that in the technologically-driven 21st
century the study of history has been downgraded to the point where it has almost
disappeared from school curriculums.
As I have
said many times before, this is an extremely dangerous development, especially
in the increasingly perilous times in which we live.
An example
of this is the way no-one has picked up Johnson on his oft-quoted admiration
for the UK’s wartime leader, Winston Churchill.
Over the
years he has referenced Churchill many times, usually in respect to the bulldog
spirit of 1940 when the nation tottered on the brink of defeat.
What he
fails to mention, however, is that his hero was a convinced and dedicated
European who in those dark days was ready to offer France union in order to
keep it in the war and who afterwards, as Leader of the Opposition, advocated a
“United States of Europe” as a way of ensuring the continent was never again
plunged into war.
On
September 19 1946, a full decade before the Treaty of Rome founded what later became
the EU, Churchill delivered an address to the University of Zurich in which he
said that European conflicts had “wrecked the peace and marred the prospects of
all mankind”.
He urged
that the fabric of Europe be recreated with a structure under which all could
dwell in peace, safety and freedom.
“We must
build a kind of United States of Europe. In this way only will hundreds of
millions of toilers regain the simple joys and hopes that make life worth
living,” Churchill declared.
As I have
said, this was well before the nascent six-nation European Community came into
effect. The only contemporary example that could have been in Churchill’s mind
was the United States — a federal system far beyond what exists in the EU
today.
It is also
worth noting that Churchill’s hopes of Europeans living in peace, safety and
freedom have been fulfilled by the EU – in the more than 60 years of its
existence, no war has been fought between the nations within its borders.
There is
little doubt that leaders with a different world view seek to do the EU damage.
US President Donald Trump sees it as an economic competitor and cheers on
Brexit as a way of weakening it.
Russian
President Vladimir Putin’s intervention in Syria may well have been with the
intention of propping up fellow dictator Bashar al-Assad, but a welcome side
effect for Moscow has been the millions of Syrian refugees flooding into
Europe, straining the fabric of the continent and re-awakening nationalist
sentiments.
In his
speech Churchill’s refers to the Defunct League of Nations which he said failed
because its principles were deserted by those States which brought it into
being — “because the Governments of those States feared to face the facts and
act while time remained.
“This
disaster must not be repeated”.
Yet this
is exactly what is happening, with a UK Government now firmly in the hands of
opportunists and fanatics who place their reputations above the needs of the
community; their party loyalties above the future of their country.
No-one in
the new Cabinet really cares about what might happen after October 31. The
advice of experts is derided; the lessons of the past ignored.
It is
getting late for men and women of vision and principle to stand up against the
Brexit juggernaut, but there is still time. History will thank them for
it.
