My Life

My Life - Oswald Mosleyrevolutionary idea to power, while at the same time making the necessary money inbusiness without financial dependence on anyone; this achievement would be uniquein history, but what a labour to undertake. The opportunity came quite by chance, asmany big occasions do. A young member of the movement approached me who had abusiness opening in his locality, and I saw at once the full possibilities which were notapparent to him. We started simply as two individuals, without any connection withthe party; though I intended, of course, to use the proceeds entirely for the movement.From this relatively limited base I built in a few years a large concern which was onlyfrustrated by the arrival of war. After the war others did in different ways what I hadbeen doing, but all doors of that kind were then closed to me for a long period. It wasa great enterprise and I shall always be proud of my part in an attempt withoutprecedent. Some day far hence the full story may possibly be told; but not at present,or by me, for this would infringe my rule of never mentioning names and persons whowere not known to have any dealings with me. They were Englishmen engaged inlegitimate business and it would be wrong now to tell the story. In addition tospeaking at least four times a week all the year round, except for one month's holiday,and also organising our movement, I was engaged for several years in the building ofa big business.Meantime, while our branches were self-supporting, a number of people were alwaysbusy collecting for our headquarters. Their guide lines were to receive subscriptionsfrom any British people within the Empire, provided no strings were attached. Itseemed a just principle that funds should be raised for a movement within the spherein which it operates; our principal interest was then the British Empire. It is true thatall my life—as my very early speeches show—I felt myself an European, and that as amovement we were greatly interested in keeping peace between Europeans and also inthe gradual development of some common aims in European policies. It wouldtherefore have been quite legitimate in my view to raise money, also on the conditionthat no strings were attached, from other Europeans; certainly the charge of themovement raising money in this way and on these conditions would not have worriedme in the least. We should merely have been in the same position as so manymembers of the Second International, not to mention the Third.Suggestions were sometimes made that we received money from abroad, and werealways met by the direct challenge to produce evidence; with no response. Finally, inthe House of Commons Mr. R. R. Stokes—well known as a Minister in Labourgovernments—made the following statement during the war: 'In connection with theBritish Union, I must say a word about the chief protagonist of that organisation, SirOswald Mosley. I think it should be said, although I am not a sympathiser in any waywith their point of view or their activities. He appeared before the AdvisoryCommittee, and the Committee invited his solicitors to help them in discoveringwhether or not any foreign money was coming into the organisation of the BritishUnion. After a most exhaustive search, in which all the banks joined, the Committeeand solicitors had to admit that no foreign money of any kind whatsoever was cominginto that organisation.'— Hansard, December 10,1940, vol. 367, col. 839.After the war the Home Secretary, Mr. Chuter Ede, prefaced a reference to me in theHouse of Commons on June 6, 1946, with the curious observation for a Minister in asupposedly judicial position: ‘I can only hope this will be an instructive foreword tothe book he proposes to publish'. The book in question was called My Answer (1946);291 of 424