Paul Cox, Spring 2001
The upshot of the imagery of the survivors of the concentration camps was that public opinion detested all movements which appeared sympathetic to Fascist or Nazi ideology. The salient aspersion made against fascists was "a tendency to equate any extreme right-wingism with the horrors of the extermination camps", (Neil Nugent 'Post-war Fascism ?' in 'British Fascism' edited by Kenneth Lunn/Richard Thurlow 1980, p210), and hence a "supposed commitment to the physical extermination of Jewry", (Richard Thurlow 'Fascism in Britain: A History 1918-1985' 1987, p236).
On top of this there was the trial and subsequent hanging of William Joyce on January 3 1946 for treason, which once again created a public perception of guilt by association, past or otherwise. This perception tainted all the variants of fascist ideology which would resurface, including those of both Mosley and Chesterton, both of whom in spite of having had a close working relationship with Joyce at one time or another, had considered Joyce a traitor and thereby guilty as charged. In spite of growing public support for an outright ban on fascism, primarily from within the Labour movement and the National Council for Civil Liberties, the Labour government decided against any such action.
Consequently, after 1945 only four fascists of any significance resurfaced. John Beckett and his British Peoples Party; Arnold Leese with his newly formed National Workers Movement made up of a circle of ex-Imperial Fascist League members; Sir Oswald Mosley and his Union Movement; and AK Chesterton, a former supporter of Mosley, and his National Front after Victory formed in 1944. Little significance however should be given to the apparent limited numbers to resurface after 1945, nor indeed the total lack of any political impact for the next decade or so. The significance is in the followers they would attract and the pivotal role they would play in the development of this new breed of british fascists.
Limited anti-Jewish outbursts resurfaced in August 1947 after publicity given to the activities of Irgun Zvai Leumi (IZL) in Palestine/ Eretz Israel. The riots lasted no more than a week, and government, police and Jewish intelligence sources all agreed that "although fascist groups were willing to capitalise on the violence, they were not generally the instigators of the disturbances", (Tony Kushner 'Anti-Semitism and Austerity: The August 1947 Riots' in 'Racial Violence in Britain in the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries' 1996, p153). Renton however goes a little further than Kushner, suggesting that not only were the fascists capitalising on the events in Palestine, but that they had "galvanised the forces of British fascism", (Dave Renton 'Fascism, Anti-Fascism and Britain in the 1940's' 2000, p30).
In spite of his political pedigree, John Beckett and his British Peoples Party never really got off the ground after the war, thanks mainly to the Board of Deputies of British Jews. Relaunched in December 1945, the BPP was immediately the subject of the attentions of the 43 Group who broke up BPP meetings in uncompromising style. Anti-fascist intelligence on the activities of Beckett were helped by the antics of security service personnel working within the post office, such as on the occasion when a letter written to Beckett, detailing proposed fascist meetings, was suspiciously put back into an envelope addressed to Douglas Hyde, a journalist on the communist 'Daily Worker'.
The British Peoples Party represented the British equivalent, albeit unsuccesful, of the Parti Populaire Français (French Peoples Party), in what has been described as "the advent of these new 'fascist' movements from the Left", (Richard Griffiths 'An Intelligent Person's Guide to Fascism' 2000, p132), or as Renton would more accurately describe a "catch-all fascist party", (Dave Renton 'Fascism, Anti-Fascism and Britain in the 1940's' 2000, p26).
However in addition to those from the left the BPP included the usual array from the traditional right including economist Proffessor Frederick Soddy and Air Commodore Gerard Oddie, or as Beckett himself would wittily remark "his party had attracted all the oddies and the soddies", (John Beckett cited in Francis Beckett 'The Rebel Who Lost His Cause:The Tragedy of John Beckett MP' 1999, p188).
Griffiths theory is at odds with what Cross described as "a non-Fascist group with a policy that was part syndicalist and part social credit", (Colin Cross 'The Fascists in Britain' 1961, p194), or for that matter Beckett who suggested that the BPP "rejected fascist totalitarianism", (Francis Beckett 'The Rebel Who Lost His Cause:The Tragedy of John Beckett MP' 1999, p157). Linehan however still insists that there is "evidence of a more overt fascism and pro-Nazism" within the BPP, (Thomas Linehan 'British Fascism 1918-39, Parties, Ideology and Culture' 2000, p140).
In truth BPP policy was based strongly around social reform, but inevitably this was espoused with anti-Semitic references to "Aliens", a euphemism for Jews. It is this anti-Semitic "allusion to the 'alien influence and infiltration' into British life", which causes Linehan to conclude that the BPP was fascist, (Thomas Linehan 'British Fascism 1918-39, Parties, Ideology and Culture' 2000, p140). But anti-Semitism alone does not equate with fascism or nazism, indeed the political left has always contained a strong anti-Semitic element. What makes Beckett's anti-Semitism all the more interesting however is the fact that his own mother was jewish.
When Lord Tavistock died in a shooting accident in 1953, leaving no-one to fund Beckett's political activities, the BPP was wound up. The following year AK Chesterton approached Beckett with a view to his joining the newly formed League of Empire Loyalists, but he declined the offer, Beckett's zest for the body politic had gone.
The only event of any real significance had been when Beckett was invited to address a meeting at Cambridge University. It was not here so much Beckett whom is of interest, but the man responsible for the invite, a young man who had formed the Cambridge Nationalist Club in order to survey the political 'right' in Britain, that man was one Colin Jordan. Jordan made such an impact on John Beckett that he was immediately invited to join the National Council of the British Peoples Party. Jordan, in spite of accepting the invite to join the BPP, was also in close contact with Leese, having been an early recruit of Leese's. Indeed it has been suggested that Jordan admits to having "first contacted Leese in 1946", (Alexander Baron 'The Life and "Crimes" of John Colin Campbell Jordan' 1995, p37).
Arnold Leese was to remain on the lunatic fringe, indeed whilst most of Britain celebrated VE day with street parties Leese celebrated by publishing 'The Jewish War of Survival'. In 1944, Leese had begun publishing 'Gothic Ripples', an anti-Semitic hate sheet in which his rabid obsession with Jews would resurface time and time again. Addressing the german treatment of Jews, Leese wrote "we believe that as long as the extermination was done in a humane manner, it was done to the advantage of everyone", ('Gothic Ripples' No 96 14/1/53, p4). It is of little surprise therefore that Leese's modern day adherents within the fascist movement refrain from addressing such outpourings.
When William Joyce was brought to trial for treason Leese offered his services in defence of Joyce. Similarly during the Nuremberg Trials Leese, along with Henry Hamilton Beamish of the Britons, had offered himself as a witness for the defence, he himself boasting that his book 'The Jewish War of Survival' had been "offered through the International Military Tribunal to Herman Goering's counsel and accepted by him", (Arnold Leese 'Out of Step' 1950, p70). In 1947 Leese was gaoled for 8 months for his role in assisted 2 dutch Waffen SS prisoners of war who had escaped in their attempt to flee to Argentina.
In spite of his own later claim that he was by this time "too old to undertake successfully the management of an active anti-Jewish movement", (Arnold Leese 'Out of Step' 1950, p70), in 1945 Leese is alleged to have written to Chesterton suggesting "the formation of an underground movement which possessed arms and ammunition dumps, with a strict discipline enforceable by death", (Richard Thurlow 'Fascism in Britain: A History 1918-1985' 1987, p236). The allegation concerning whether or not Leese approached Chesterton is worth looking at in a little more detail, because it is a little questionable to say the least.
Colin Jordan, who we have already described as a later close associate of Leese claims no knowledge of any such approach, suggesting instead that "Arnold was caught up in some investigation regarding harbouring escaped German POW's. He might have approached Chesterton in this respect I suppose", (Letter from Colin Jordan to Author 26/2/2001). Likewise John Tyndall, who was to be a later close confidant of Chesterton suggests that "my recollection is that the scheme had nothing whatever to do with the use of arms" whilst agreeing with Jordan with regards to the POW theory, adding that the POW's would "be given secret sanctuary in Britain at homes of sympathisers provided for the purpose", either way according to Tyndall, Chesterton would have "dismissed this as political folly", (Letter from John Tyndall to Author 5/3/2001).
Thurlow himself has declined my request for information with regards to the source behind this apparently insubstantiated claim, and it would appear that not all academics are as quick as Thurlow to accept this theory. Baker, himself the author of an indepth study of Chesterton, whilst not totally dismissing any such approach from Leese, suggests that Chesterton "considered Leese to be quite mad and if he had received such a communication would have probably considered the suggestion crack-pot in the extreme and said so in reply", (E-mail from David Baker to Author 21/3/2000). Renton meanwhile suggests that "I don't know whether I find the story plausible or not. My impression is that people said that sort of thing in meetings, certainly c1938-9 for example, but didn't tend to put it down on paper", (E-mail from David Renton to Author 18/3/2001).
Quite apart from the academic standpoint or that of fellow travellers, we should also consider whether or not Leese might have had some degree of animosity towards Chesterton, who after all was the most senior British fascist to have escaped internment in 1940 ? The alleged correspondence between Leese and Chesterton was rumoured to be housed in the archives of the Wiener Library, I have checked this out and they are not, moreover it is debatable whether such correspondence even exists at all. Until further evidence to support Thurlow's allegation is presented the jury must remain out.
Relying a little too much on Leese's own claims, Cross has suggested that "Leese made no attempt after the war to run a political party", but that instead "movements came into being which acknowledged him as their mentor", (Colin Cross 'The Fascists in Britain' 1961, p199). This however is not quite the truth as Cross must surely have known.
By 1948 Leese's old guard had been brought together under the guise of the National Workers Movement, but the reality was that this appeared to be little more than a talking shop for venomous anti-Semities. The NWM was funded by the new leadership of the Britons, of which Leese himself and Maule Ramsay were the key protagonists. However, old wounds soon resulted in the demise of the NWM in January 1951 upon which Arnold Leese to all intents and purposes retired from active politics.
Following his forced absence as a result of Regulation 18b, Oswald Mosley re-entered the political fray in February 1948 when he formed the Union Movement, evolving around his new found policy of 'Europe a Nation'. Mosley had undoubtedly suffered personally during his 3 year detention and prior to his release on November 20 1943 on the grounds of ill health, and kept a low profile for a while, using a string of Book Clubs as a way of promoting his revised ideas to the public, albeit with the limited succees of reaching only the converted in Britain.
The Union Movement was the product of Mosley's new vision of a united europe rather than a stand alone Britain, and was the result of the unification of some 51 groups ranging from Mosley's Book Clubs to Jeffrey Hamm's British League of Ex-Servicemen and Women and the 18b Detainees (British) Aid Fund. The building blocks of a resurgent Mosley led fascist party had however been laid for some time, and as Renton quite rightly asserts there was "a degree of co-ordination that suggests careful planning", (Dave Renton 'Fascism, Anti-Fascism and Britain in the 1940's' 2000, p28).
In 1947 Mosley had penned 'The Alternative' which he used in much the same way as he had used 'The Greater Britain' in 1932, as a platform for his political vision and his subsequent return to the body politic. In language almost akin to the more recent political soldier rhetoric Mosley wrote "to evolve a higher type has become a practical aim. Once again we postulate that the prime necessity of our age is to accelerate evolution. This generation must play the midwife to Destiny in hastening a new birth", (Oswald Mosley 'The Alternative' 1947, p287). In response Hamm wrote "Oswald Mosley has given us The Idea, and it is up to us to build The Movement that will propogate The Idea", ('British League Review' Nov 1947). The Union Movement, Mosley argued, would "build where the old parties have destroyed...we will create a third empire after they have lost two empires", (Oswald Mosley at the inaugral meeting of the Union Movement 7/2/48, cited in Colin Cross 'The Fascists in Britain' 1961, p201).
In spite of this pontification from on high, much of the Union Movement propaganda had retained the BUF's pre-1939 tone, with headlines such as 'Life Blood Flows Out - Sewage Flows In' ('Union' 11/9/48), and references to "freshly imported spivs" and "Communist aliens", ('Union' 3/12/49). Allegedly attacks on the influx of immigrants from eastern europe, no matter how one reads it, the words were scant veiling of anti-Semitism. Nevertheless Benewick suggests that Mosley's anti-semitism was "more a weapon than a belief", (Robert Benewick 'Political Violence and Public Order' 1969, p134) It should be noted however that BUF members had been holding secret meetings as early as 1943, and that at this self same time the nazi slogan 'PJ' or 'Perish Judah' began to appear daubed on walls in London, although I am in no way implicating Mosley in these acts in anyway whatsoever.
In comparison with the heady years of the British Union of Fascists, the Union Movement carried little punch. Mosley had mellowed as a result of 18b, indeed he attempted to retire from active politics on several occasions, and the membership of the Union Movement presented an increasingly elderly profile of ageing fascist revolutionaries. Nevertheless Mosley's followers, many ex-18b internees, had developed a "freikorps spirit" and were dedicated to his concept of a "new Europe arising phoenix like from the ashes of the old", (Jeffrey Hamm 'Action Replay' 1983, p111).
Mosley also had been more cautious of the lunatic fringe although not always successfully. One such failure was that of Francis Parker Yockey, whilst another equally damning failure concerns Mosley's german advisor, one Alfred Francke Kriesche, whom the FBI noted had links with the Bruderschaft, an elitist underground society of ex-SS officers. Mosley's failings with regards to the integrity of others is perhaps no more obvious than in the cases of the many alleged Mosleyites that were working for the security services WED Allen (MI6), Mandeville Roe (MI5) and Major General 'Boney' Fuller (MI6), to name but three.
More significant were the actions of the press, which Thurlow admits had an "unofficial boycott of Mosley's meetings, and reported only the conflict and violence", (Richard Thurlow 'Fascism in Britain: A History 1918-1985' 1987, p245). In the early months the Union Movement suffered once again from violent militant opposition from Communists and more specifically members of the 43 Group. However, John Bean, at that time a rank and file Union Movement member, suggests that as a result of the violent attacks, the 43 Group "acted as recruiting agents for Mosley", with the attacks resulting in many more new recruits. These attacks were to all but cease by the end of 1949, with Bean suggesting that "the Communist Party must have received instructions from Moscow that Fascism in Britain no longer constituted a major threat", (John Bean 'Many Shades of Black' 1999, p60). Beckman, a then member of the 43 Group, has suggested that the attacks stopped because "we knew that the Union Movement had been completely defeated", (Morris Beckman 'The 43 Group' 1992, p203).
Furthermore Bean has suggested that "When the Communists and the 43 Group so abruptly ceased their organised attacks on the Union Movement, this was a greater blow to Mosleyites than all the bans on their marches... For it was only when a fight broke out at a meeting that they received any mention in the press", (p61). To reverse this trend the UM resorted to provocative marches, which as Bean concedes, were usually through areas with little support but were "either notorious as a Red stronghold, or had a large Jewish population", (John Bean 'Many Shades of Black' 1999, p61-65). When the publicity from marches stopped, then the UM changed its' tack to attacking meetings of the Communist Party controlled 'peace' movement. This pro-active strategy of violence would continue into 1951, when during the October General Election, UM activists attacked a march held by the Communist Party in support of their candidates contesting the seats in Stepney and Stoke Newington in London's' East End.
As early as May 1952 Mosley had spoken out against the influx of black immigrants from the West Indies, stressing that whilst he opposed "any offensive abuse of Negroes", he did advocate "apartheid" of the races, (Oswald Mosley 27/2/52 cited in Richard Skidelsky 'Oswald Mosley' 1975, p508). By the time of the race riots in Nottingham and London in the Summer of 1958 the Union Movement were distributing leaflets on 'The Coloured Invasion' and Jeffrey Hamm was addressing large crowds on London's street corners. The Trades Union Congress were quick to attack the Union Movement for stirring up racial hatred, but the truth of the matter was that the UM were "diverting racial hatred to anti-Government feeling rather than inciting violence", ('The Times' 3/9/58), this in spite of his occasional gutter rhetoric such as the notorious 'Kit-E-Kat' episode, in which Mosley suggested that immigrants lived on kit-e-kat pet food.
By the time of the 1959 general election Mosley once again believed that it was time for him to take up his rightful position in Parliament, and decided to risk his reputation by standing himself in the North Kensington constituency in London. In reality the Union Movement had been canvassing in the area since the Summer 1958 disturbances, and Mosley truly believed that the seat was his for the taking, with 'Action' predicting a vote of between 32.5% to 37% for Mosley, ('Action' No 55, 17/10/59), Mosley's powers of self delusion, evident since 1936, had not deserted him. The resultant vote of just 2,821 votes (8%), and a lost deposit for the first time in his life, was a devastating blow both to Mosley personally and to the Union Movement, and Mosley would later confess "It looked all over like a winning fight...It was therefore one of the chief surprises of my life when we polled only eight per cent of the votes", (Oswald Mosley 'My Life' 1968, p451).
Mosley would never regain the political initiative and would spend much of the next decade promoting his vision and the concept of a fascist international. Mosley's vision would see him trying to unite the forces of European fascism through such ventures as the conference in Venice in 1962 which resulted in the rather grandiose scheme known as the Declaration of Venice. Mosley suffered illusions of grandeur, but the time for Oswald Mosley had been and gone, the future direction of British fascism lay in the hands of followers of Arnold Leese and the former Mosleyite, AK Chesterton.
Of the four however, it was Arthur Kenneth Chesterton who was to play the key role amongst the British 'far-right', not with the National Front after Victory which floundered after an attempt to merge with Beckett's BPP was foiled by the successful infiltration tactics of the Board of Deputies of British Jews, but in the mid 1950's through the launch of the League of Empire Loyalists.
Founded by Chesterton in 1954, the LEL's origins go back as far as 1944 when Chesterton became Deputy Editor of 'Truth', the weekly journal founded in the 1870's by Henri Labouchere. It was during this time that Chesterton developed his polemic journalistic skills, which he extended to running 'London Tidings' and contributing to 'Peoples Post' in addition to his position with 'Truth'.
In April 1953 Chesterton became literary advisor to Lord Beaverbrook, and as such one of his duties was to contribute features and leaders to the 'Daily Express', 'Sunday Express' and 'Evening Standard'. That same year 'Truth' was taken over by Staples Press which pressed for "a new editorial policy in line with the internationalist thinking of the Conservative Party's post-war leadership", ('Candour' Vol 34 No 1 January 1983, p 4).
Chesterton resigned, simultaneously issuing a statement on the matter and launching an appeal for financial support to create a new journal in the old style of 'Truth'. After a meeting of sponsors in the Summer of 1953 and with promises of an additional £750 from supporters, Chesterton launched the successor to 'Truth' which was to be called 'Candour', the first issue of which appeared on October 30 1953. Within 48 hours of the launch of 'Candour' Chesterton was informed that his contract with Lord Beaverbrook would not be renewed.
Chesterton sought to a create an organisation which would embody a more active response to the aims of 'Candour'. Thurlow's description however of "a halfway house between an open reactionary right political movement and an underground clandestine operation fomenting civil disobedience, although not open terrorism", borders on the fringes of a fantasy world, having already acknowledged that the LEL "disowned political violence and terrorism", (Richard Thurlow 'Fascism in Britain: A History 1918-1985' 1987, p249). More accurate is Baker's description of League membership as "almost exclusively of middle-class Colonel Blimps, ex-Tories, disaffected neo-fascists and Nazi hangers-on", (David Baker 'AK Chesterton, the Strasser Brothers and the Politics of the National Front' in 'Patterns of Prejudice' Vol 19 No 3, 1985,p29).
On April 13 1954 Chesterton's League of Empire Loyalists was officially launched at Caxton Hall in Westminster. It's main concerns were the preservation of British sovereignty, defence of the Empire, opposition to the influx of coloured immigration and to the alleged Jewish conspiracy, and the revision of the monetary system with a move away from Bankers control of the economy. It should be noted however, and is widely accepted even amongst academics, that whilst Chesterton had retained his anti-Semitism, and would do so all his life, his opposition to nazism and his friendship with the jew Joseph Leftwich had watered down his anti-Semitism somewhat away from the genocidal tendencies of others on the exteme right.
In the early years the LEL activity was aimed at gaining maximum publicity. On United Nations Day in October 1955 at Trafalgar Square, LEL supporters hauled down the UN flag and trampled it in the mud amid strains of 'Rule Britannia', resulting in mass publicity both at home and abroad. At a Conservative rally addressed by Prime Minister Eden in Bradford the following January, Leslie Greene, cousin of novelist Graham Greene and the Director General of the BBC Sir Hugh Greene, approached Eden as if to give him a message, only to shout into his microphone, "The British Empire is the greatest force for peace the world has ever known and you are throwing it away", ('Candour' Vol 34 No 2 February 1983, p14).
This aggressive agitation continued during the State visit of Georgi Malenkov in March, a League loudhailer broadcasting "Keep the red beasts out of Britain". The following month during the visit by Marshal Bulganin and Nikita Khrushchev, just as Eden greeted his guests Greene and Colin Jordan proclaimed, "Sir Anthony Eden has just shaken hands with murder", after which both were arrested and fined, ('Candour' Vol 34 No 2 February 1983, p15).
Late 1956 saw the first sign of decline for the LEL, with the more extreme element either leaving or being expelled. The LEL was as a whole more reactionary than fascist with the majority of its' members being Conservatives, despite the undoubted presence of nationalists, racists and anti-Semites within its ranks. Chesterton by this time preferred the idea of an elitist Conservative Party pressure group to that of a fascist mass movement, his ideal was for the LEL to be "a thinking, articulate, politically active elite, fired by missionary zeal", ('Candour' Vol 34 No 3 March/April 1983, p24).
Chesterton's LEL meanwhile had fought it's first election campaign, with Leslie Greene receiving a derisory 1,487 votes in the North Lewisham by-election in February 1957, despite recognition and praise in both 'The Daily Mail' and 'The Times'. At best Chesterton could claim that the LEL had cost the Conservative Government the seat, Labour winning with a majority of just 1,100, in reality was yet another sign of the decline of the League.
Throughout the remainder of 1957 the LEL continued to attack the Government at every opportunity. Prime Minister Macmillan was intimidated whilst addressing a rally of Conservative's at Montford Hall in Leicester, Selwyn Lloyd at a NATO exhibition at Canterbury, Lord Hailsham at the annual meeting of the Primrose League and finally the customary LEL appearance at the annual Conservative Party conference. Baker concedes that the agitators were "ritually (and sometimes brutally) removed by stewards", (David Baker 'AK Chesterton, the Strasser Brothers and the Politics of the National Front' in 'Patterns of Prejudice' Vol 19 No 3, 1985,p29).
This practice continued into 1958, but was combined with exploits not aimed directly at the Conservatives, such as the illegal incursion into pirate television. With the aid of a transmitter based on the top floor of a Kensington boarding house, the LEL interrupted a BBC weather forecast with a denunciation of the Governments' decision to integrate Britain's' armed forces with NATO.
The long term contribution of the League of Empire Loyalists to fascism in Britain, was not the agitation with which it was synonymous, but the fact that the LEL had inadvertently become a training ground for a new breed of 'right-wing' neo-fascists and neo-nazis. Passing through the ranks of the League of Empire Loyalists were the future leaders of British fascism, John Bean, Colin Jordan and John Tyndall. The departures of this new breed in effect left the League of Empire Loyalists moribund.
Immigration increasingly came to the fore from 1958 and whilst the message was pretty much the same the packaging was disparate. Chesterton made sure that the LEL stayed well clear of the street level agitation of Bean, Jordan and Tyndall, preferring merely to call for an end to immigration and to "repatriate those who abuse their hospitality or become parasites of the Welfare State", ('Candour' October 3 1958). By 1961 the League of Empire Loyalists was in a total state of decline, membership which had peaked in 1958 at around 3,000 was down to about 300 around the time that General Hilton left the League to form the Patriotic Party. AK Chesterton would not hold the key position within the British fascist movement until 1967.
Colin Jordan had left the League of Empire Loyalists because Chesterton had rejected his proposal to ban Jews and non-whites from holding membership, to which Jordan subsequently launched his own organisation. Jordan's White Defence League began operating from Arnold Leese House in Notting Hill, from where he published 'Black and White News', the sole topic of discussion of which was the influx of black immigrants into Britain.
With headlines such as 'Blacks Invade Britain' (p1), it was clear that 'Black and White News' targeted the man in the street, low in intellect but high in working class fear for his home and his future and love for his country right or wrong. With similar headlines such as 'Blacks Milk the Assistance Board' Jordan argued that many of the newly arrived black immigrants were "bone idle and work shy" and that "money provided without work is one of Britain's big attractions for the coloured man, money provided by the National Assistance Board at the expense of the British taxpayer" (p5), ('Black and White News' No 1 November 1958, p1-5).
Behind the overt racially motivated economics of 'Black and White News' a more sinister form of lewd propaganda was to be found. Not content with playing on the fears of unemployment and on housing shortages, Jordan initiated a hate campaign against immigrants. With headlines such as 'Kings of the Drug Trade' (p1), 'Black Gets White Girl' (p3), 'Negroes Lead in Crime' (p4) and 'King of the Prostitutes' (p5), Jordan attempted to blame the increasing crime rate solely on the black community; whilst articles such as 'Negroes Lead in Illegitimacy' and 'Negroes Lead in V.D.' played the moral card arguing simply that "the more negroes, the more illegitimacy" and "the more negroes, the more V.D." (p3), ('Black and White News' No 1 November 1958, p1-5).
It is difficult indeed not to agree with the description of 'Black and White News' as "amongst the most scurrilous publications promoting race hatred", (Richard Thurlow 'Fascism in Britain: A History 1918-1985' 1987, p263). However, when one considers the fact that Jordan's political mentor was of course Arnold Leese, whose own propaganda was described as "equal only to Streicher's in nastiness", (Michael Billig 'Fascists' 1978, p112), then this is hardly unexpected if a little sad from an educated man. Jordan's ability to compose deeper political writings would not surface until the mid 1960's.
Jordan's departure from the League of Empire Loyalists was followed closely by John Bean who was expelled after trying to set up his own party whilst still a LEL member. Bean had written to Chesterton in late December outlining his belief that the LEL had a limited future and that he was "exploring the ground for the formation of a Nationalist Movement with the intention of contesting for power under our own name", (Letter from John Bean to AK Chesterton 27/12/57, cited in John Bean 'Many Shades of Black' 1999, p118).
Playing on his ego Chesterton somehow managed to keep Bean within the fold of the League a little while longer, but by April 1958 Bean had parted company with Chesterton, taking with him a young man by the name of John Tyndall, who with Bean had likewise been expelled from the LEL, and together they subsequently formed the National Labour Party. Chesterton's expulsion of Bean and Tyndall was however a retrospective act to ensure that they didn't take any more LEL members with them, although Tyndall believes that they were "quite rightly expelled from the League by AK Chesterton", (John Tyndall ' The Eleventh Hour' 1988, p182).
Tyndall has suggested that he and Bean had talked frequently whilst still within the LEL and that "Our talks established that we had much in common, particularly the idea that a political party should be formed", (p181). Furthermore on the apparent change in strategy Tyndall explained "We had despaired of trying to appeal to people of Tory bent and there was a feeling that the message should now be pitched in another direction. A vast number of people support Labour who are not natural leftists. Bean's reasoning was that we should break new ground in trying to reach these people with an image and a programme that were radical in scope, combining nationalism with a kind of popular socialism, shorn of left-wing ideology", (John Tyndall 'The Eleventh Hour' 1988, p181-182).
Jordan however was opposed to both the formation and the aims of the NLP, and was quick to express his criticism of the latter, "Your trouble, John, seems to be that you are still given to democratic ways of thinking, and that you have not yet managed to get the democratic obsession for head counting out of your system", (Letter from Colin Jordan to John Bean nd, cited in John Bean 'Many Shades of Black' 1999, p127).
In comparison to Mosley and his Union Movement, the NLP was of little significance and made no political impact, even failing to benefit much from the Notting Hill race riots in 1958. A limited street presence during the riots, evolved primarily around one petition and NLP leaflets attacking both the black community and more insidiously addressing the Jewish question, claiming that Britain was "steadily being taken over by the triumphant alien", ('Look Out' National Labour Party leaflet 1958, cited in 'Kensington Post 12/9/58).
The messages were not dissimilar, but the Union Movement was better organised, while Jeffrey Hamm was frequently addressing large crowds Bean concedes "we only had one meeting at Notting Hill gate, to an audience of about 18 plus a stray dog", (Letter from John Bean to Author 29/3/2001, p1). Ironically the role of the NLP was played up by an anonymously penned publication in 1974, when it was suggested that "the movements with which Tyndall was associated played a key role in aggravating the situation and participating in the street activities that followed", ('A Well-Oiled Nazi Machine' 1974, p8).
It was not just Jordan's White Defence League which resorted to gutter level rhetoric, the National Labour Party too spoke of "razor slashing and hatchet wielding of Negros" and of "coloured brothel keepers and drug peddlars", ('Combat' No 1 Autumn 1958, p1). Anti-Semitism too reared its' head once more with Tyndall writing that "If the European sole is to be recovered in our country and throughout Europe, it can only be done by the elimination of this cankerous microbe in our midst", ('Comrade' April/June 1959).
In spite of a core membership of some 250 by September, growing to some 500-600 by late 1959, the National Labour Party chose to work closely with the White Defence League. Jordan's WDL activists "held street rallies almost every night during that summer" and were "one of the primary factors which kept the antagonisms from dying down", (George Thayer 'The British Political Fringe' 1965, p16), and Jordan had become the unofficial spokesman of the white racist movement during the riots. In such a prominent position Jordan did not lose any opportunity to court the media, telling reporters that "I loathe the Blacks", ('Reynolds News' 4/6/59), and "If a Fascist is a person who wants to keep Britain white, then I am a Fascist and proud of it", ('Daily Herald' 15/6/59).
Following the actions of the Labour Party, which had taken out an injunction against the NLP, Bean duly commenced talks with Jordan with a view to a merger which had become a possibility following a relatively successful joint meeting on May 24 in Trafalgar Square, at which both Bean and Jordan had addressed a crowd of some 3,000, under a 'Keep Britain White' banner hoisted upon Nelsons Column. Another NLP rally followed on September 6 at Trafalgar Square, this time addressed by Bean and Tyndall, but not Jordan, as Bean now concedes "there seemed little point in providing him with a platform to bolster his own competitive movement", (John Bean 'Many Shades of Black' 1999, p128).
It would seem that much of 1959 was spent jockeying for a position of power within the proposed merged party. Tyndall had written to Bean in August on the subject, stating that "concerning the state of affairs in the WDL...the whole Jordan edifice is collapsing...Do not be the least bit surprised if C.J. comes to you shortly with an offer of reconciliation on the terms put forward by us earlier on this year", (Letter from John Tyndall to John Bean 20/8/59, cited in John Bean 'Many Shades of Black' 1999, p128).
Shortly afterwards, and in a clear attempt to harness racist opinion away from Mosley, the National Labour Party stood in the St Pancras North constituency during the October 1959 General Election. The NLP candidate received 1,670 votes (5%), some 500 more than the Communist Party candidate, but the national publicity had gone to Mosley's lost deposit in the nearby North Kensington constituency. For Bean however worse was to come as a result of the near riot at St Pancras Town Hall, resulting in his arrest and subsequent gaoling for one month in Brixton Prison.
Whilst in Brixton, Bean decided upon the urgent need to merge forces with Jordan so as to gain possession of party headquarters, Jordan's prize asset being the building at 74 Princedale Road, although with hindsight Bean now claims that "if we had not been so mesmerised by the desire to get an HQ...we would have been better to have continued with the NLP", (Letter from John Bean to Author 29/3/2001, p1). Bean was released from gaol in November, by January he had held a secret meeting with Jordan at Princedale Road to explore the possibility of closer co-operation between the two.
Whilst Bean and Jordan were negotiating unity, Tyndall resigned from the NLP, criticising Bean for his "failure to maintain firm leadership and discipline in the ranks", (Letter from John Tyndall to John Bean nd, cited in John Bean 'Many Shades of Black' 1999, p140). Bean did not consider Tyndall's departure to be a bad thing, believing, wrongly as it happened, that Jordan had lost a potential political ally in Tyndall. Furthermore, thinking that Jordan was more interested in pursuing his activities in the Northern League, than in the White Defence League, Bean suggested that he be National Organiser of the new party, with Jordan his Deputy but with responsibility for running an External Department in order to allow him to continue with his international links.
Bean was wrong on both counts. Firstly Jordan disagreed with Bean's proposal concerning the leadership of the new party, and after further discussions it was agreed that Jordan be National Organiser, with Bean his Deputy, and one Andrew Fountaine as President. Secondly, within a matter of months Tyndall had joined the new party and was supporting Jordan.
The result was the eventual merger of the National Labour Party and the White Defence League into the British National Party in February 1960, with a policy drawn up primarily by Jordan which "recognised the Jewish problem", ('Gothic Ripples' No 40 April 2000, p6). With the formation of the British National Party, a new chapter had opened in the history of the British 'far-right'.
Notes
For a full account of the career and trial of William Joyce, see JA Cole 'Lord Haw-Haw and William Joyce:The Full Story' (1964).
On July 22 1946, IZL (National Military Organisation) members had bombed the British Military Headquarters based in the King David Hotel in Jerusalem leaving according to some 91 dead, although IZL sources suggest "more than two hundred people were killed or injured", (Menachem Begin 'The Revolt', p295) but this resulted in no adverse anti-Jewish riots. However on July 30 1947 two British soldiers were kidnapped in an alleged revenge attack for the executions of IZL members, both were subsequently hanged with their bodies booby-trapped.
See Douglas Hyde 'I Believed' (1950) p169-180 for a good insight into how the Communist Party developed the anti-fascist struggle for the benefit of the Communist International.
It has been wrongly suggested that the Cambridge Nationalist Club was "a front for the BPP and controlled by the BPP secretary John Beckett", ( Francis Beckett 'The Rebel Who Lost His Cause:The Tragedy of John Beckett MP' 1999, p190). Jordan himself, whilst acknowledging that Beckett, Oddie and Tavistock had all addressed meetings, claims that it was he who founded the Cambridge Nationalist Club without "any explicit design to create a front for the British Peoples Party", adding however that "I have no reason to regard what Beckett's son said in this respect as being other than an honest assumption", (Letter from Colin Jordan to Author 2/12/2000).
John Beckett died on December 28 1963 . His political life had seen him travel from socialist with the Independent Labour Party to fascist with the British Union of Fascists. It is unfortunate that Beckett's contribution to British fascism is omitted by Oswald Mosley in his 'My Life' (1968).
Colin Jordan would in later years say of Beckett "Next to Arnold Leese, my prime political mentor, I rate John Beckett the most impressive political figure I then met" (Colin Jordan cited in Francis Beckett 'The Rebel Who Lost His Cause:The Tragedy of John Beckett MP' 1999, p190).
For a good honest account of the life and times of John Beckett see Francis Beckett 'The Rebel Who Lost His Cause:The Tragedy of John Beckett MP' 1999.
Henry Hamilton Beamish/the Britons...
Henry Hamilton Beamish had founded the Britons in 1919. The Jewish Question was without a doubt the main preoccupation of Beamish and in April 1923 he suggested the island of Madagascar as a potential Jewish homeland, an idea originally sanctioned by Paul de Lagarde in 1885 and later adopted by amongst others Alfred Rosenberg, the Nazi ideologist. Beamish would subsequently become a member of Leese's IFL, and join him in the formation of the National Workers Party after the Second World War.
For a brief insight into the career of Beamish and the Britons see the chapter 'The Britons' (p47-67) in Gisela Lebzelters 'Political Anti-Semitism in England 1918-1939' (1978).
In 1945 Arnold Leese operated under the guise of the Jewish Interest Bureau, but by the following year was encouraging people to join the British Peoples Party. By the Spring of 1948 Leese had decided to launch his own party, originally under the name National Workers Party with one Anthony Baron as leader, although Leese was the real power behind the group, but this group soon split into two with Leese taking the name National Workers Movement.
Thurlow has described the National Workers Movement as "a vehicle for about thirty ex-IFL members to vent their spleen against the Jews in private and to give the nazi salute at the end of their meetings", (Richard Thurlow 'Fascism in Britain: A History 1918-1985' 1987, p248).
For an indepth analysis of the career of Captain Maule Ramsay see Richard Griffiths 'Patriotism Perverted: Captain Ramsay, the Right Club and British Anti-Semitism 1939-40' (1998). As the title suggests this book covers the period leading up to the mass internment of British fascists.
Alternatively see Captain Ramsay 'The Nameless War' (1952) for his own theories concerning world events and internment.
For a short analysis of the career of Ramsay circa 1939 see Mad Dogs and Englishmen (part one) - the so-called fifth column.
Arnold Leese died in 1956.
For a good outline of the career of Leese see the chapter 'Imperial Fascist League' (p68-85) in Gisela Lebzelters 'Political Anti-Semitism in England 1918-1939' (1978), or John Morell 'Arnold Leese and the Imperial Fascist League:The Impact of Racial Fascism' (p57-75) in Kenneth Lunn/Richard Thurlow (ed) 'British Fascism' (1980).
Alternatively see Arnold Leese 'Out of Step:Events in the Two Lives of an Anti-Jewish Camel-Doctor' (1947) for his own brief essay on his political awakening/career.
British League of Ex-Servicemen and Women...
The League of Ex-Servicemen (later renamed the British League of Ex-Servicemen and Women) had been formed in 1937 by James Taylor, but within a short while was under the control of Hamm, who saw no harm in "extending its platform to include a defence of Mosley, and to prepare for his return to active politics", (Jeffrey Hamm 'Action Replay' 1983, p136). According to Renton, "Mosley... gave Hamm his blessing", (Dave Renton 'An Unbiased Watch? the police and fascist/anti-fascist street conflict in Britain, 1945-1951' in 'Lobster' No 35 Summer 1998, p13).
Of more interest here is Rentons theories concerning the
real controlling force behind the group in its' early days. According to
Renton "known fascists were still active in the secret service through
the period 1945-51"
and that the MI5 officer James McGuirk Hughes,
whose code-name was PG Taylor, might in actual fact be James Taylor, who
"remained on the executive of the British League of Ex-Servicemen from
1939 through to April 1945, when he disappeared", (Dave Renton 'Fascism,
Anti-Fascism and Britain in the 1940s' 2000, p126).
Therefore the question to ask is were the security forces
involved in promoting the resurgance of fascism after the war ?
18b Detainees (British) Aid Fund...
The 18b Detainees (British) Aid Fund was officially a registered charity, and had been established by British Union of Fascist members fortunate enough not to have been detained themselves. In reality it was however used as a co-ordinating force by former BUF members, ex-18b detainees and fellow travellers to "ensure the continued existence of fascist ideas and, ultimately, a rebirth of the movement after the war", (AnnePoole 'Oswald Mosley and the Union Movement:Success of Failure' in 'The Failure of British Fascism:The Far Right and the Fight for Political Recognition' edited by Mike Cronin 1996, p56).
Francis Parker Yockey was a one time member of the American War Crimes group at Wiesbaden in Germany, before he left to form his own ill-fated European Liberation Front in 1949, before finally linking up with Major General Otto Ernst Remer's Sozialistische Reichspartei in 1951. Mosley did eventually see the light and rid himself of Yockey.
See John George/Laird Wilcox 'Nazis, Communists, Klansmen, and Others on the Fringe' 1992, p252-255 for a brief but nevertheless interesting analysis of the career of Yockey, implying amongst other things that Yockey might well have worked for the Soviets.
See K Coogan 'Francis Parker Yockey and the Nazi International - A Preliminary Report' 1982.
WED (Bill) Allen, heir to the WH Allen publishing empire, was a one-time Ulster Unionist MP (1929-1931) who joined Mosley in the New Party and then subsequently the British Union of Fascists. Allen was a major financial backer of the BUF, financing Mosley's secret attempt to set-up a pro-german radio station. In recent times it was discovered that Allen had been MI6's chief informant inside the BUF.
Mandeville Roe had been a former member of the British Fascists, leaving at the same time as Francis-Hawkins to join Mosley in the BUF. In what was and still is common practice within both the political right and left in Britain, Mandeville Roe is thought to have taken with him "copies of the British Fascist membership and subscription lists", (Colin Cross 'The Fascists in Britain' 1961, p65).
He is thought to have worked closely with the Board of Deputies of British Jews, reporting to them on both Mosley, and was said to have been MI5's major source of information within the Mosley movement.
Major General 'Boney' Fuller...
Major General John Frederick Charles Fuller had been a friend of the occultist Aleister Crowley and had joined the BUF in 1934. He was a founding member of the White Knights of Britain (later renamed the Nordic League), which had been established by Nazi agents working for Alfred Rosenberg who directed NL activities from Berlin. According to Dorril, Fuller is said to have "written intelligence reports on British organisations and individuals" for both Joseph Goebbels and Heinrich Himmler, (Stephen Dorril 'MI6:Fifty Years of Special Operations' 2000, p442). More importantly Fuller was not detained under Defence Regulation 18b.
The 43 Group was formed by 43 Jewish ex-servicemen and women in March 1946 in response to the resurgence of fascism and anti-Semitism. Renton quite wrongly in my opinion defends the violence of the 43 Group when he refers to "the counter-violence of the anti-fascists...especially members of the 43 Group, would use violent tactics to make up for their lack of numbers", (Dave Renton 'An Unbiased Watch? the police and fascist/ anti-fascist street conflict in Britain, 1945-1951' in 'Lobster' No 35 Summer 1998, p14). More accurate is Walkers assertion that the aim of the 43 Group was to physically confront the fascists on the streets, and that the violence extended as far as the use of "tear gas bombs", (Martin Walker 'The National Front' 1977, p26).
Renton has suggested that in an effort to counter this violence the Union Movement "paid a gang of Maltese to repel the 43 Group, throwing potatoes stuffed with razors", (Dave Renton 'An Unbiased Watch? the police and fascist/anti-fascist street conflict in Britain, 1945-1951' in 'Lobster' No 35 Summer 1998, p14).
See Morris Beckman 'The 43 Group' 1992, for the groups unofficial 'autobiography'. However, it should be read with an open mind, the book includes unsubstantiated boasts of amongst other things an alleged plot to kidnap Mosley (p47). It also contains factual errors such a suggesting that Mosley was permanently living abroad in exile as early as 1949 (p203), when in actual fact he did not do so until 1951.
Mosley's powers of self-delusion...
It has been suggested that Mosley believed that during Edward VIII's addication crises in 1936, that the King, knowing of Mosley's support "would accept Baldwin's resignation and call upon Mosley to form a government", (John Beckett cited in Francis Beckett 'The Rebel Who Lost His Cause:The Tragedy of John Beckett MP' 1999, p141). This story may or may not be true but Mosley certainly believed that he would be elected to Parliament in 1959, so much so that not only could he "not believe that the British people had rejected him" but he went as far as to ask the High Court for "an inspection of the ballot papers", believing that his defeat was the result of a "'frame-up' to stop him getting back into Parliament", (Robert Skidelsky 'Oswald Mosley' 1975,p514).
Mosley's obsession with the concept of a fascist international, although he himself refrained from describing his ideas as fascist, should by the 1960's have been of little surprise. Mosley was after all well travelled, having met amongst others Juan Perón, Serrano Suñer (General Francos former foreign minister), Filipo Anfuso (Mussolinis last foreign minister), Otto Skorzeny (the former SS Colonel infamous for his role in the rescue of Mussolini in 1943), and Hans Ulrich Rudel (the former Luftwaffe german air ace).
Mosley's fellow travellers and signatories of the Declaration of Venice included Giovanni Lanfe of the Movimento Sociale Italiano, Adolf Von Thadden of the Deutsche Reichspartei and Jean Thiariart of the Jeune Europe (Belgium). The Declaration resulted in the formation of a National Party of Europe.
Mosley is at pains to highlight thatof the signatories of the declaration were "only a small majority who had previously been fascists or national socialists", (Mosley 'My life' 1968, p434). This alas is not true of the main protaganists.
A Mosleyite version of the Conference and the National Party of Europe can be found at European Declaration - National Party of Europe.
For an insight into the pre-war career of Oswald Mosley see Colin Cross 'The Fascists in Britain' (1961); or for a ultimate work on Mosley see Robert Skidelsky 'Oswald Mosley' (1975).
Alternatively see Sir Oswald Mosley 'My Life' (1968), although this is a lengthy insipid egotistical memoir.
Board of Deputies of British Jews...
Alarmed at the extreme anti-Semitism within the British fascist movement in 1939, the Board of Deputies of British Jews had successfully infiltrated the Nordic League with the aide of a retired Special Branch inspector named Povey. In 1945 the Board of Deputies reactivated their mole, effectively thwarting the proposed merger between the National Front After Victory and the British Peoples Party.
It has been suggested by Rosine de Bounevialle amongst others that Mandeville Roe was involved in this pre-emptive strike against Chesterton, but Baker believes this to be "a completely unsubstantiated assertion", (E-mail from David Baker to Author 21/3/2000). If this theory was found to be true however this would imply MI5 involvement.
The response was less than anticipated but included a cheque for £1,000 from one Robert Key Jeffery, an English millionaire domiciled in Chile. Jeffery continued to finance 'Candour' with cheques of £5,000 and £10,000, with which Chesterton not only halved the cost of 'Candour' but also gave out grants to small Right-wing groups such as the Britons Publishing Society and the Birmingham Nationalist Society. LEL income was substantially reduced upon the death of Jeffery in April 1961. Jeffery had donated some £70,000 to Chesterton and made him sole heir to his estate, but a matter of hours before his death in a drug induced haze changed his will making his illegitimate daughter sole heir. For the next decade Chesterton contested the new will which had been approbated only by the thumb-print of Jeffery, but his protestations were costly and to no avail.
In 1967 Chesterton merged his League of Empire Loyalists with the British National Party and the Racial Preservation Society in the formation of the National Front, with Chesterton becoming its first chairman, although he was later resign both from the leadership of the and the National Front in 1970. Chesterton died on August 16 1973.
For an indepth look into the career of Chesterton see David Baker 'Ideology of Obsession:AK Chesterton and British Fascism' (1996).
It has been wrongly suggested that Jordan was "expelled" by Chesterton because of his "intransigence over what he considered the League's lenient attitude towards the Jews", (George Thayer 'The British Political Fringe' 1965, p16). This however was not the case.
Jordan to this day insists that he had at first considered the League of Empire Loyalists "a useful vehicle", but that he had over time "become dissatisfied with its wishy washy attitude to race in general and the Jews in particular", (Letter from Colin Jordan to Author 2/12/2000).
Walker has suggested that during this period Bean was "discovered copying the League's membership and subscription lists", (Martin Walker 'The National Front' 1977, p31). Bean contests his innocence against this "complete distortion of the truth", claiming that it would be a "waste of a stamp" sending NLP literature to the "retired Brigadiers, Colonial administrators and various members of the lower orders of the nobility" that made up the League of Empire Loyalists, (John Bean 'Many Shades of Black' 1999, p120).
'A Well-Oiled Nazi Machine' is widely thought to have been the work of Searchlight. 'Searchlight' the publication originally surfaced in 1965 as an occasional, and relatively insignificant anti-fascist broadsheet. However in 1972 significant impact was made with the publication of the anonymous pamphlet 'The Monday Club - A Danger To Democracy', highlighting the activities of GK Young, ex-Deputy Head of MI6.
Two years later 'A Well-Oiled Nazi Machine', followed hot on the heels of the 76,429 votes received by the NF in the February 1974 General Election. 'A Well-Oiled Nazi Machine' was well received by anti-fascists, and 'Searchlight' the publication was duly relaunched in February 1975 under the editorship of Maurice Ludmer, one-time journalist for the Communist Party newspaper 'Morning Star'.
It is important to state here that there were varying degrees of anti-Semitism within the neo-Fascist/neo-Nazi movement in Britain. The Leesian variety can indeed be construed as genocidal, but Tyndall's rhetoric here is very much in a similar mode AK Chesterton's when he wrote 'The Apotheosis of the Jew', vulgar yes but in no way genocidal.
When Arnold Leese died in 1956, his widow made Colin Jordan his political heir, and gave Jordan control of Arnold Leese House, 74 Princedale Road. Jordan eventually sold the property in 1968.
Andrew Fountaine was a Norfolk landowner. He had fought for Franco in the 1930's and in the Royal Navy in during the Second World War, rising to Lieutenant Commander. He was adopted as Conservative candidate for Chorley in 1949, only to be ousted following an attack on the alleged prominence of jews within the Conservative Party. Undeterred, Fountaine stood as an Independent Conservative in the 1950 General Election, splitting the Conservative vote, and marginally losing by 341 votes. Fountaine formed the short-lived National Front Movement in 1958, was a founding member of the National Front in 1967. Fountaine died on September 14 1997.