Dulce et decorum est- the continuing fight against fascism

by Julian Ware-Lane / @warelane

The seventieth anniversary of Britain’s entry into the Second World War this week reminds us all of the terrors that accompany war.

That conflagration has had a deep impact on the psyche and culture of this country and this is not surprising. At one point we were almost alone in standing up to the evils of fascism, but the justness of the cause together with the resilience and stoicism of the British, and terrific sacrifices from our Commonwealth friends, finally defeated Hitler and his allies some six years later.

Fascism, an evil combination of the excesses of nationalism and racism, is still with us today. Fortunately, the extremist forces are a minority, yet they are getting elected – a feat not achieved by either Oswald Mosley’s motley crew or the National Front. Toleration withered as a reaction to the economic stresses of the twenties and thirties, and there is some echo today. There is a cyclical nature to this – John Tyndall and Malcolm Webster’s evil National Front had a brief flowering at the end of an economically troubling 1970s.

I do not think we are about to descend into the madness of war in Western Europe again – a lasting and undervalued legacy of the European Union has been the peace we have enjoyed since 1945. However, the scapegoating of minority groups has become commonplace in some places in the media. Nothing sells like bad news. Add a sprinkling of apocalypse forecasting and mix in equal measures of envy, insecurity and viciousness and sales targets are met.

This is not to dismiss some very real concerns and problems. Sometimes it comes down to publishing the facts as a riposte to several of the more outlandish and ridiculous urban myths in circulation.

Reassurance for the working classes must mean strengthening organisations created for their protection, i.e. the unions. Phrases like ‘fairness’ and ‘level playing field’ are merely hot air if there is nothing to back them up. “British jobs for British workers” would have been better phrased as “British jobs at British terms and conditions”. Importing Italians into Lincolnshire was all about cutting costs – an argument that disappears if minimum standards can be enforced.

This is not a call for the return of irresponsible trade union leadership, or a wish to foister uncompetitiveness on our businesses. It is about tackling the real issue of immigrant labour being used to suppress wages and by-pass best workplace practises. (Is it ironic that the under-cutting of wages occurs exclusively on the shop-floor and not in the boardroom? I am prepared to destroy a bank for half the salary Fred Goodwin enjoyed.)

Fascism prospered in an era of economic insecurity – as well as working hard to ameliorate the worst excesses of the recession we must strengthen support mechanisms to ensure that today’s extremist organisations rot away most expeditiously.