Greater Britain Movement
The Greater Britain Movement was a political group formed by John Tyndall and Martin Webster in August 1964 after they split from Colin Jordan's National Socialist Movement. The split was caused by the marriage of Jordan to Françoise Dior who was originally Tyndall's fiancée.[1] She married Jordan while Tyndall was in prison to avoid being expelled from the United Kingdom as an undesirable alien. Tyndall himself has stated that the split was actually a consequence of an ideological clash as he rejected Jordan's endorsement of pure National Socialism, preferring a more 'British' solution.[2]
Whilst leader of the GBM, Tyndall produced his Six Principles of British Nationalism in which he broke from the National Socialism of Jordan, and called for a parliamentary strategy towards a government that would be corporatist, racialist, and based on the principle of leadership. This state would be ratified by regular referendums, although liberal democracy would be brought to an end.
The GBM did not contest any elections and rather became known for its public actions. A number of members were imprisoned in 1966 for an arson attack on a synagogue, with Tyndall later also jailed for possession of a firearm.[3] Alongside this however Tyndall authorised GBM members to support the campaigns of the 1960s British National Party, the League of Empire Loyalists and the Patriotic Party in 1965.[4]
A.K. Chesterton was impressed by the organisational skills demonstrated by Tyndall in the GBM, although he was also suspicious of his "National Socialist" past whilst Andrew Fountaine was opposed to any GBM membership, and so they did not invite GBM to join the National Front in 1967.[5] However, Chesterton soon changed his mind, and, in October of that year, Tyndall symbolically left the GBM and advised the entire membership--reported to be 138[6]--to do the same and join the National Front. The vast majority did, ending the GBM and establishing a hard core of racial nationalists within the National Front.
Notes
- ↑ S. Taylor The National Front in English Politics, London: Macmillan, 1982 p. 15
- ↑ S. Taylor, ibid, p. 55
- ↑ S. Taylor, ibid,p. 55
- ↑ M. Walker, The National Front, Glasgow: Fontana Collins, 1977, p. 62
- ↑ David Boothroyd, Politico's Guide to the History of British Political Parties, 2001, p. 94
- ↑ Fascism in Britain: A History, 1918-1945, by Richard Thurlow, page 231
See also
Bibliography
- S. Taylor, The National Front in English Politics, London: Macmillan, 1982
- M. Walker, The National Front, Glasgow: Fontana Collins, 1977
- J. Tyndall, The Six Principles of British Nationalism, 1966
- J. Tyndall, The Eleventh Hour, Welling: Albion Press, 1998
