My Life

My Life - Oswald Mosley15 - Consensus for National Action: 1930 and Today?The Formation of the New PartyACTION, whether in 1930 or 1968, requires the means to act. I proposed a reform ofparliamentary procedure, giving the Government power to act by order, subject to theright of Parliament to dismiss it at any time by vote of censure. This policy I gave indetail to the Select Committee on Procedure and Public Business on June 4, 1931. Ihad already proposed the reform of the machinery of government outlined in myresignation speech, which has not yet been implemented, and had previouslysubmitted to a conference of Ministers in November 1929 a plan for a small Cabinetof action, as in time of war, assisted by an economic General Staff.At the time of my resignation I believed that all this could only be done by a nationalconsensus of the most vital elements in the country, and I entered into close relationswith Lloyd George and a number of the younger and abler men of all parties. Theeffort failed then because the degree of crisis was insufficient to secure so great achange; comparative figures of the economic position in Britain and other countrieswill illustrate the point. Our country never reached the same grave situation as hadprevailed elsewhere in Europe.The economic situation of the 1930s is now recurring, and it will be aggravated ratherthan ameliorated by the changes science has since brought and by the distortions warshave imposed on the economy of the world. Action of a drastic character willtherefore again be required, and it may be of interest to consider not only my longtermpolicy, but still more the changes in parliamentary procedure and the reform ofgovernment machinery necessary to meet the parallel situation, because they remaincompletely relevant.We may also do well to enquire why in 1930 every vital element in political life wasfrustrated in the attempt to secure action, why the dull lethargy of mediocritytriumphed in the coalition of Baldwin and MacDonald which commanded theConservative Party machine.There are only two ways to meet such a situation: a national consensus to secureaction—which we first attempted—or a grass-roots movement of the people, which Iset out to create when that attempt failed. It is right always to try with the utmostpatience to secure action by the gentle, English method of national agreement. Moredrastic action which bitterly divides the nation should only be undertaken if without itthe nation may die. This became necessary in my view in the early thirties because thedanger was not apparent enough to secure a national consensus, and yet might at anytime have become very grave indeed. What then occurred belongs to the rest of thisstory. I believe the danger this time will gradually become so apparent that aconsensus for national action will be possible for the limited period which will benecessary. Indeed, at a certain point it will be inevitable. All great nations whichretain vitality and the will to survive decide to save themselves by one method oranother at a certain point.That is why, for some time before writing this book, I advocated—and still do—agovernment drawn not only from politics but from business, the trade unions, theuniversities, the civil service, the fighting services, and other vigorous elements of220 of 424