Oswald Mosley died 40 years ago and much in the world has changed since then. Fresh challenges have arisen and new dangers threaten the people of Europe. But much of what Mosley advocated in his lifetime is still relevant to the problems we face today – and the principles he stood for offer clear guidance towards making the 21st. century a Golden Age of prosperity, social justice and security.
Europe One Nation – Mosley advocated the policy of Europe One Nation stretching from the Atlantic to the Pacific. This self-sufficient area would contain all the raw materials, food, technology and manufacturing capacity it needs to be free of chaotic world markets and exploitation by global finance. Only by adopting a leading role in what will become the most powerful civilisation the world has seen can we hope to free Britain and Europe from subordination to the major power blocs of America, China, India, the EU. This is no time to become a small country. The present European Union is corrupt, bureaucratic and unaccountable. It should be replaced by a United Europe that speaks with one voice on foreign policy, defence and essential economics – and leaves everything else to the autonomous choice of its member states.
Multiculturalism – Mosley believed that multiculturalism is not a viable basis for society – it robs people of all ethnic backgrounds of their heritage causing a culture clash and a lack of social cohesion. Britain and Europe cannot become welfare centres for all the economic migrants of the world and the open door policy must end. The most valuable foreign aid we can give the Third World is the incentivised voluntary return of migrants to build prosperity in their countries of origin using the education and work skills they have acquired whilst here.
No interference in other zones of influence – Global conflict between nations is frequently driven by financial rivalries. This can be avoided by the creation of ‘zones of influence’ where the richer superpowers such as the United States, China, India and a greater Europe (which will include Russia) each taking responsibility for assisting with the development and growth of smaller countries within their geographic spheres. The existing free-for-all created by the present system where workers migrate half way across the world in order to earn a living wage would be replaced by economic and social planning initiated and financed solely by the assisting superpower in each ‘zone of influence’.
State ownership and market capitalism have both failed – Mosley supported a third system of Industrial Democracy in which employees would become stakeholders in the companies they work for and all profits would go to them and them alone. Absentee shareholders would be paid off – speculation in shares is not investment but a form of gambling with share certificates issued years ago. So employees of all companies over a certain size would become co-owners and elect their own representatives to serve on Boards of Directors. This redistribution of the ownership of industry and commerce will promote greater incentives among the work force – their share of the profits will depend directly on their enterprise and initiative.
Both central and local banking must be drastically reformed – Real investment is too important to be left to bankers driven by the size of their monthly bonuses: Government must have stronger controls over the money supply and the regulation of banking procedure. The end of absentee share holding means the banking system will have a more important part to play as the only source of all new investment. Both personal and company finance should be viewed as a service to the community – not an opportunity for gangster bankers to get rich quick.
We need a New Model Parliament to get things done – Mosley said the geographic franchise is 100 years out of date and should be scrapped. Instead of voting for M.P.s on a local franchise he advocated the occupational or vocational franchise. Under this system everyone who worked in healthcare would choose from healthcare candidates, teachers for teaching candidates, transport workers for transport candidates, retail workers for retail candidates etc. In this way we would create a parliament of experts – elected by experts.
Income Tax should be abolished – In his writings and speeches Oswald Mosley asserted that people should be taxed on what they spend and not on what they earn. So tax on essentials like fuel and clothing would be much lower than on luxury items like fast cars and foreign holidays in exotic locations. This would assist those on modest incomes by shifting the burden of taxation towards those in a better position to afford it. Zero income tax would also encourage saving. Most government income for public services would then be derived from taxation on company profits and luxury goods: spending money on essentials is a necessity – spending it on luxuries is optional.
No more products with built-in obsolescence – Many companies deliberately design and manufacture products with a limited working life before they need replacing. This is done to increase sales and boost their profits. But it also depletes natural resources, creates unnecessary pollution and offers customers poor value for money. In the campaign to combat climate change built-in obsolescence is environmentally unsustainable. We need to return to making products with pride and craftsmanship that are built to last. We should no longer accept consumer goods designed to be quickly replaced – or prematurely superseded by artificially created ‘fads and fashions’ backed by multi-million pound advertising campaigns.
Overpopulation is the real cause of climate change – Governments won’t focus on the real reason driving climate change and pollution: the massive increase in world population that our planet simply cannot sustain. Every human being brings with them a carbon footprint and the world’s population has more than doubled since as recently as 1970. So no matter how many tin cans and plastic bottles we recycle it’s negated by the arrival of another 250,000 humans every day. People must be encouraged to accept smaller families to reduce world population to a level the planet can support without causing further global warming. For a start we should stop rewarding people for having more children with child benefits and tax reductions. Global capitalism will always oppose population control because more people mean more profits.
Treat the housing shortage like an operation of war – A spiralling population and years of uncontrolled immigration have made decent housing unaffordable for large numbers of our people. Mosley advocated treating the housing shortage as an operation of war – Government should intervene to finance and build more homes to rent at a cost ordinary people can afford. These extra homes will also help to bring down the cost of renting and buying in the private sector by the law of supply and demand. Old factory and office sites that are no longer needed should be used for these new homes as far as possible and no building on the Green Belt should be strictly enforced.
