My Life

My Life - Oswald MosleyMr. Churchill had clearly considered the national consensus or Centre Party idea eversince our early meetings with him in the new members' group of 1919, and after manyvicissitudes, at that time in the early 1930s, still thought it a possibility. His relationswith the young Conservatives however were not good. Oliver Stanley in particulardisliked him, partly perhaps by reason of some little trouble between Mr. Churchilland his father, Lord Derby. Lloyd George, on the other hand, was more completely astranger to the young Conservatives, though no longer the object of the intense dislikehe had been to their slightly older generation. Apart from individual encounters, thetwo groups, so far as I knew, never met. I alone appear at that time to have beenpresent at the discussions with the older men as a representative of the youngergeneration. It was much easier to have a concentrated discussion in the younger thanin the older group; a situation which I believe in a really healthy society would bereversed. I felt that if we could get the young to decide on definite action, that wouldbe the moment to approach the old with a clear-cut proposal. This agreement amongthe younger men had been reached when all chance of their adhesion to a newcombination was shattered by events. In addition to the favourable situation of theyoung Conservatives, the simple mathematics of modern politics were operative; thedegree of crisis was inadequate to secure decisive action.The situation of the brilliant old men was different because they were alreadyeffectively excluded by their mediocre contemporaries, who commanded the partymachines. Discussions with them continued over a considerable period, usually atdinners given by L.G., but sometimes by Lord Rothermere, who was much interested.L.G. on these occasions sparkled, revolved and coruscated with his sensitive antennaefeeling in all directions. He knew what others were thinking and feeling, with theintuition supposed to be found in gifted women but usually rather the attribute ofoutstanding men. His wit and charm covered and mitigated the impact of aconcentrated purpose almost unique in his generation. Sometimes it would go a littletoo far, but he would always quickly recover. On one occasion, at the end of a dinnerparty, he handed round imaginary posts in the government which must be formed, andconcluded by turning to Lord Rothermere with a chuckling dig in the ribs: For you theGarter'. L.G. was so pleased with his little double entendre that he did not pause toenquire whether the Garter was the prerogative of the Crown or of the Prime Minister;he was never well versed in such niceties.If Lloyd George had been able to form an administration, I do not think that any of themen who took part in these discussions would have refused to serve; neither the oldnor the young. Churchill, as Chancellor, had taken a different line, which wasobligatory for a newcomer to the Conservative Party in that position at the time, buthe appeared subsequently to move nearer to Lloyd George and I felt their oldrelationship could easily be resumed. It was a formidable array, which included LloydGeorge, Beaverbrook, Rothermere and most of the clever young men in all threeparties, and to understand the reason for the success of the establishment and for ourfailure we must understand the logistics of politics. The question why we werefrustrated is not puzzling to anyone who has been able to study the science of realpolitics in the modern world.Normality always reigns until a real crisis occurs, and over long periods it canproduce some very dull and mediocre statesmen. British history could always havebeen written in terms of Britain awake or Britain asleep, with alternating moods230 of 424