My Life

My Life - Oswald Mosley21 - Action at Outbreak of WarImprisonment Under 18BLLOYD GEORGE had strenuously opposed a war in which Britain was involved,before he led and organised victory in the First World War. By his opposition to theBoer War he incurred extreme unpopularity and caused the circulation of suchlegendary episodes as his escape from Birmingham Town Hall disguised in apoliceman's uniform, for long afterwards the subject of Conservative caricature. Heissued at the time a defence of his attitude in the following words: 'Is every politicianwho opposes a war during its progress of necessity a traitor? If so, Chatham was atraitor and Burke and Fox especially; and in later times Cobden and Bright and evenMr. Chamberlain [Joseph], all these were traitors.' No one was incautious enough tocall me a traitor for my opposition to the Second World War, except a Norfolk M.P.,by name Sir Thomas Cook. It says much for the British judicial system that I was ableto sue him for slander while held in prison under Regulation 18B; he published ahandsome apology and paid damages when advised he had not a leg to stand on.Lloyd George was referring to a well-known fact of English history, that it wasregarded as a proper and patriotic habit for politicians to speak out if they believed awar to be a mistake. The Labour Party could not logically deny this right, becauseRamsay MacDonald had led the opposition to the First World War. This position wasreaffirmed at the time of the Suez crisis in 1956 by Mr. Douglas Jay, later President ofthe Board of Trade in a Labour Government: 'Don't let's forget that Chatham, CharlesJames Fox, Gladstone and Lloyd George all carried out full-blooded politicalcampaigns against what they judged to be unjust wars waged by Tory Governments. Itis an honourable British tradition to oppose such wars.' Why then were the LabourParty so strongly in favour of silencing me in the Second World War with a specialregulation to permit imprisonment without trial?A prominent member of the party supplied some answer. Hugh Ross-Williamson, theauthor and playwright, wrote: 'At the Bournemouth Conference of the Labour Party in1940 one of the main subjects of conversation which I heard at "unofficial" talks waswhether or not some Labour leaders had made the arrest and imprisonment of Mosleya condition of their entering the Government. The general feeling was that they had(or, at least, that they ought to) and, though the matter is, obviously, incapable ofproof, it is still accepted by many of us as the real reason for 18B.' A week later hewrote:'... May I be permitted to make an addendum to last week's letter on a matter offact. At the time of writing I had not, unfortunately, access to Hansard, and was lothto trust my memory in the matter of dates. The Amendment to Regulation 18B whichmade possible the arrest of Mosley was made on the evening of May 22nd, 1940(Hansard, May 23,1940). This was the second sitting-day after Labour joined theGovernment, and four days after the close of the Bournemouth Conference of theLabour Party.' Would we have been imprisoned if some Labour leaders had not madeit a condition of entering the government? Would we have been released, when all thefacts had been examined if political pressure had not been exercised? Mr. Churchillsaid to Lord Moran (November 30,1943): 'The government may go out over Mosley.Bevin is kicking.' Earlier Mr. Churchill wrote to Mr. Morrison: 'In the case of Mosleyand his wife there is much pressure from the Left, in the case of Pandit Nehru fromthe Right' (Second World War, vol. II, Appendix A).333 of 424