One difficult decision which the Government, and particularly the Home
Secretary, must take is as to how much importance to attach to Sir Oswald Mosley and his activities. It will not do to disregard him altogether or to assume, tempting though the assump- tion is, that his egomania (witness the perpetual use of the first person singular at his Memorial Hall meeting on Saturday) will in itself alienate all rational men and women. Unfortunately, it is men and women who are far less than rational—incapacitated by paucity of knowledge and instability of judgement—that he is likely to attract. And there are far too many of them available. Dis- content with all political parties, particularly with the party in office, and a general sense of frustration caused by the economic situation, lends plausibility to the demand for a new party which will (time- worn profession) "get things done." There is, in fact, nothing in Mosley's programme, as outlined in his recent book, to base any new appeal on. Anti-Communism is everyone's policy except the Communists'. The development of Africa is being taken in hand more energetically by the present Government than it ever has been before. I forget what else there is in the programme ; certainly nothing very arresting. But, in fact, the programme is simply Oswald Mosley—a Mosley to all appearance as much wedded to the ideals and methods of Hitler and Mussolini as he was in the days when he appeared in triumph at the dictators' sides at the Nuremberg Rally or the Quirinal. Of course, Mosley or anyone else is entitled to agitate constitutionally. The only immediate danger and it is a minor one, is that the hostility which Mosley's campaigns provoke will result in constant disorder at his meetings and lay an unreasonable strain on the police.
Previous page
