Do We Desire To Bind Ourselves
THE absurd publicity which has been’ attached to the name Fascist recently, greatly owing to the publicity of the “Colonel Barker” case, has opened the eyes of some people to the large number of British Fascists who are to be found in this country.
The fact that “Colonel Barker” was never connected with the British Fascists did not seem, at the time, to be fully realised. Nevertheless it was a fact. Some five years ago, when the British Fascists were first inaugurated as the only body capable of adequately dealing with the Communist menace, it was only to be expected that one or two hot-heads should creep in among the seriously minded Patriots who form the nucleus of the organisation. But it did not take General Headquarters long to find out who these hot-heads were and to weed them out. This, of course, did not suit the books of those who were so dismissed, and the result was an almost Gilbertian body, who called themselves the National Fascisti, who guarded their Headquarters with wooden swords, whose language on the platform was forceful, but a trifle illogical and who adopted a uniform as closely approaching that of the :Italian Fascisti as it was possible to get. To give them their due, they did gradually settle down: at one time British Fascists General Headquarters were glad to see that they took their responsibilities a little more seriously.