My Life

My Life - Oswald Mosley12 - Parliament and the Labour PartyShaw the SeerPARLIAMENT is the basis of the British tradition, and most people tell me that Ishould never have gone beyond Westminster. I give my proposals for reform later, butsay now that I owe my whole start in life to the House of Commons, to which Iconsequently and naturally feel a debt of gratitude. Sir Donald Maclean put the pointto me well one night, walking home from Westminster after one of my early speeches:'There is only one royal road to success in the world: it is through the House ofCommons. Nowhere else can an unknown young man challenge all the old men andtheir cherished beliefs, with the result, if he is good enough, that he rises to the topand at once becomes a national figure'. He was a most experienced parliamentarian,Deputy Speaker, Chairman of Ways and Means, and for a time Leader of the LiberalParty, who was kind and encouraging to me in my early days. It is strange to reflectthat this name is remembered not for the distinguished father but for a son at presentin Russia; symptomatic perhaps of this period.Sir Donald was surely right, for if the House of Commons did not exist we shouldhave to invent some other institution for the discovery and promotion of new ideasand new men. In The Alternative I suggested a 'proposer, opposer, assessor' procedure,in which new men and new ideas could be tested and brought to the notice ofauthority and the public. As I have suffered disadvantage in life from suggestingmeasures which are too far ahead of the time, I am content to leave this necessity ofthe scientific future to the age in which it belongs, and to rely for the present on thetime-honoured method of discovering new talent which Maclean justly recommended.These survivors of the Asquith tradition all had a lively interest in the promotion ofability, and would at once notice and befriend anyone who came fresh to Parliamentand showed any gift for debate. The most conspicuous members of the pre-warAsquith administration in the Parliaments of my time were Lloyd George andChurchill. Others were Sir John Simon, leading lawyer of the age, Sir Alfred Mond,builder of Imperial Chemicals, and Sir Herbert Samuel, statesman and philosopher. Iknew the last two less well, but had a high regard for their talents and character. Thegovernment of 1914 was reputed by experienced parliamentarians to be the mostbrilliant administration of the twentieth century. Fools were not suffered gladly, anddid not long remain. Asquith, on the other hand, would always seek and promote theyoung and the able, and would put up with them even when they were a bit of anuisance; an example was his toleration and encouragement of the young Churchill,who would not have found things so easy in the Conservative or Labour Party. Thecharacter and attitude of the leadership in such matters is all important.Parliament is a judge of talent because it is a microcosm of the nation; every kind ofintellectual gift and every attitude to life can there be found. Each great party containsa diversity of character and talent. The Labour Party in my day ranged from PhilipNoel-Baker to Jack Jones the member for Silvertown. The former is now a NobelPrize winner and has probably worked longer and more assiduously for world peacethan any man alive. When I first knew him he was associated with Lord Robert Cecilin League of Nations work, long before his entry into Parliament. He was—in a senseincongruously —a famous runner and captain of the British Olympic Games team. Idid not know him then, as he was seven years older and his achievements were much177 of 424