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He's less well known because the British generally don't elect their charismatic fascists leader of the country. Instead he was jailed and his organization bann
by dboreham 1y ago
He's less well known because the British generally don't elect their charismatic fascists leader of the country. Instead he was jailed and his organization banned.
- deleted 1y ago[deleted]
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- lostlogin 1y ago> the British generally don't elect their charismatic fascists leader Hold that thought. Current UK politics have taken a turn and the combination of major party incompetence and rising anger might change that.
- JetSetWilly 1y agoFortunately in Britain we have moved far from the values of former labour MP and noted Europhile Sir Oswald Mosley. I would see reform as a fairly traditional conservative party, though I appreciate that there are many that are keen to shift the overton window so far that they can be described as somehow “far right”.
- graemep 1y agoI do not think many people are aware of his post-war politics: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oswald_Mosley#Post-war_politics https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oswald_Mosley#Post-war_politic... There are quite a few things there (e.g. that he wanted laws against marrying someone of another race, that he saw himself as left wing, etc.) that I did not know, although id did know of his involvement in the Union Movement. He was also a Conservative MP (later joining Labour)
- lostlogin 1y agoWould you describe the rally on Saturday as championing ‘conservative’ politics too? Or far right?
- graemep 1y agoThat was not Reform. It was Tommy Robinson, someone so politically toxic that Reform turned down a huge amount of money (a £80m donation) from Elon Musk because it came with the condition that they allowed him to join the party. The turnout was boosted by the murder of Charlie Kirk (yet another example of British people getting more involved in American causes than their own), and by some other things too I think, and although very big for a far right protest, it is far smaller than many causes have managed to organise over the years (anti-Iraq war, opposing to the fox hunting ban, both pro and anti Brexit, climate change...).
- graemep 1y agoI think not. The protests last Saturday got a boost from the murder of Charlie Kirk so the large turnout is misleading. The only British political figure willing to accept Elon Musk's backing is Tommy Robinson, and he is not a major player, just someone good at getting into newspapers. Very different from the US or continental Europe - for example Germany where AfD (which took Musk's money) has seats in both the national and European parliaments.
- mikestorrent 1y agoSorry, is there anyone at all in British politics that an international observer would consider charismatic? Can't remember one in my lifetime.
- lostlogin 1y agoGood point. I’d assumed that the rise of Farage was due to this - I don’t see him as charismatic, but can’t think of any other reason people listen to him.
- FearNotDaniel 1y agoIt’s a fundamental mistake that people make so often in politics, is to think that somebody they personally find repulsive or merely bland must be seen the same way by others. It can be a shock to recognise that figures like Boris Johnson and, yes, even Farage, have hordes of fawning admirers who don’t just agree with their policies and methods but also find them witty, charming and even attractive.
- graemep 1y ago> Instead he was jailed and his organization banned. He was interned during world war II as a security measure. He was released before the end of the war and never charged with anything.
- nabla9 1y agoBrits don't elect their PM in their first place. That might be the reason. The structure of British democracy kept fascists away, as well as anything new, not the British people. Sir Oswald Mosley was member of parliament before starting the BUF. He was the youngest member of the House of Commons when he started as Conservative. He eventually switched to Labour.
- harpiaharpyja 1y ago> The structure of British democracy kept fascists away, not British people. That sentence was particularly hard to parse. It read like you were saying that the structure of British democracy kept fascists away, but did not keep the British people away (???). I did manage to figure it out eventually though. I think you meant to write: It was the structure of British democracy that kept fascists away, not the British people.
- nabla9 1y agoGrammar Nazis are always attacking us Grammar Jews.
- lostlogin 1y ago> The structure of British democracy kept fascists away, as well as anything new, not the British people. There were fascists at all levels of British society, there occluding in parliament and in the royal family. What was it that stopped them having more political success?
- bshimmin 1y agoNot to worry, though: his grandson, Louis, is in charge of Palantir in the UK. Definitely nothing concerning about that!
- overrun11 1y agoWhy would that be at all concerning? His grandson is guilty by blood?
- anjel 1y agoAsk Marine Le Pen about her blood type as it might motivate her.
- modo_mario 1y agoFrom my experience guilt by blood is something that rears it's head surprisingly often even in progressive rhetoric. For specific people but even for populations. Adjust the population a bit to one perceived to be disadvantaged in the past or bring their thoughts to a certain context and often you can trick em into essentially almost quoting these guys stopping just short of blut und boden.