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When I listen to Boris Johnson and hear Oswald Mosley

David Rosenberg - 10 September 2019

Political labels frequently deceive. In Austria, a populist-right, conservative nationalist party , formed initially by ex-Nazis, calls itself the “Freedom Party”. in Russia, a Far Right party that is neither liberal nor democratic calls itself the Liberal Democratic Party. When Oswald Mosley, a charismatic but typically arrogant member of the British upper class, founded the British Union of Fascists (BUF) in October 1932, he at least gave his party an honest, accurate name. They were fascists who advocated dictatorship. The party did exactly what it said on the tin.

During the extraordinary turmoil that has gripped British politics in the last few weeks, I have listened to Boris Johnson and heard Mosley. Not Mosley the Conservative, nor Mosley the Fascist, but Mosley of the New Party, the oddly named and rather menacing outfit he created and led for nearly 20 months after he left the Labour party and before he founded the British Union of Fascists... See more

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