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kanishka

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babylm2-clean

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As a matter of fact I've been I've got a book now from the library we got last week that er about Moseley and er and his daughter, and it's good.

Are you right ?

Yeah.

There was a a s an Indian student came to and he was a prospective Labour candidate, but the Labour Party prevented him from being a candidate er because er his main theme in life was to try and get India free from you know the British Empire.

And er he he was having a conference in , course with dropping out of the Labour Party, the Labour Party finished with him and didn't bother and anyw he he someone I don't know who it was, it wasn't him himself but someone told me that he was looking for somebody to organize this conference in , so I said, Well I I'll do it.

And er so this student came to and I organized a conference and took the chair for him you know and er and helped him every possible way.

And he er and he was really delighted of course, so he said, Well I'm holiday and I'll come round with the caravan, so I had my holiday which didn't make much difference because there was had to you know we weren't working really, and I went round with him for this week, all round and the villages everywhere.

On the theme that India must be free you see.

And I can remember having a rubber stamp made and every letter that went out I insisted every one should have this frank on India Must be Free.

And er now this chap was , you never hear of him.

Well his name was , a very brilliant man, well w he'd be nearly as old as me of course.

And er I've heard it mentioned about him on on on people who have interviewed him on television.

And they said he never said much to them, well he perhaps didn't, he wouldn't do because he was like that you see, but pra before interviewing him on television, er of course the War came and India was given freedom, and er there used to be you know the Sweet people who used to have a big factory on Road, was a very famous sweet in them days, I don't think they are now, but was a very good sweet firm, and they'd got a daughter cos she was in the, during the War the Anglo-Soviet Friendship er she was one of the course they'd got hundreds but she was one.

And er the years went by and al all I know is that he said ooh she's she's married a London doctor, you see.

So I was waling through the bus station one day and I met this girl and er Ooh, she said, I'm glad I've seen you, she said.

She said er, I was at a reception in London at the Indian Embassy and when er I was introduced as coming from , she says, The High Commission said to me, You come from ?

She said, And and it were , of course.

He was the first High Commission for England in England, said, You come from , she says, Yes, he says, You don't happen to know Jack do you?

She says, I do, know him well, he said, Well I'll, I am pleased, he's alright?

Says, Yes.

He says, Well you tell him from me that I shall never forget.

You see that was nice wasn't it?

Mm.

And then he went from England as being High Commission, he went to Russia, to be the first Indian Ambassador in the Soviet Union and that were .

Do you remember much about other members of the I L P at the time, particular names ?

Oh yes.

Oh yes I do.

turn the fire up cos it's not very warm in here.

Aren't you, he says he's always warm .

I'm fine, thanks.

And I'm warm enough.

You'll see

Are you warm enough in there?

Can you find plenty to do?

Yeah yeah, I can, looking after you.

And anyway er er switch it on.

Er I l I left it on I can cut that bit out when I

I do oh I don't know I'd leave that, I mean what were

Talking about other people in the I L P

Oh other people in I L P.

Yeah.

Now in this little booklet that I've got about the er er the potted history of the Cosmopolitan Debating Society, it mentions a very brilliant man by the name of W H , now I was very friendly with him because he was th President of the I L P and I was the secretary.

And he was a brilliant man.

I've met a lot of brilliant people and and was one.

He was great.

He was a salesman for the Pencil Firm, you know a big pencil firm.

And I always remember he said said to me, he'd placed the biggest orders for pencils, of course in them, there were no ball pens, er he he received that from the London County Council by accident.

It was di , he used to, he he he'd got an office in London, and he went every day to London, catch the train about twelve o'clock, catch the train back about four.

He'd only go for a couple of hours to his London office.

A b on on one day he he went earlier and he had his lunch in London, he said, and there was another man on the table and er the both reached for the salt together and upset it and there was apologies and talks and then he discovered that he was the buyer for the London County Council.

So he placed an order with him for all these, and he had to come back to the factory, reorganize the factory, to meet this terrific order he'd got for pencils, you see.

That was .

And he s he said to me, he said er, at that time after the War, the Viennese, the Austrians, had er erected er working class flats in Vienna, something unheard of.

And we'd seen photographs of these and they were marvellous, and he said to me, I should like to see these fl these flats, he said er, I'm gonna convince the Board that it's necessary in the interests of the firm for me to go to Austria, you see.

So he said, But any road, before I go, he said er and my first nineteen twenty nine this was, and we went together on holiday, on the Continent which was unheard of, you know for working class people, but we went in nineteen twenty nine.

We went to er Ostend, and he went from Ostend at the end of this week's holiday to Austria, for the firm you know.

And er I I don't know where they've gone now but I had some lovely photographs of these flats.

An then a few months later he said, Well oh, he said, I'm I'm g I'll go to Canada, he says, er I'll tell them.

And he went and told them how necessary it was for him to go to Canada, in the interests of the firm.

He said, But, I said, Are you going?

He said, I'm going, he said, But, he said, I've got to, I've got to take the s the, this millionaire ran this firm and his name was if I remember right.

He said, I've got to take his stupid son with me.

So he had to go there to Canada you see and er and .

And it says in this booklet that W H was for one for a period, the prospective Labour candidate for er Central , as was then.

He said, but he never fought the election, well now I know he did, that's a mistake cos he did.

Because he he told me about the chap who was his agent.

This was before I was associated with him, was his agent.

And he said but the way I'd like to do it, he says I I'd love to fight it again, with er with you as me agent, instead of, I'm sure I could win it.

And i I remember going to the Empire to a debate we took with .

And er I think the Liberal was Norman , you know the great barrister.

And er a Tory.

And he were a lot better than the Tory, and he held his own with which was saying something, saying something.

But anyway, he died in his forties of er diabetes, he said sugar diabetes, and he died, which is a pity.

But his son I I kept in touch with his son for years, he was an architect.

He was on the Trades Council.

And er he he always used to say of me, he say, Well you know er he was on the Executive, he said of the Trades Council.

He says You know go ho I go home, he says, And I could never make out wether you praise me or criticize me.

He said I I'll I'll I'll never really know and I think now what was he was he praising me or blaming me, he said, And I'll never know.

You know it was fun though.

Very nice lad.

What did you think about about the the Parliamentary Labour Party at the time?

Well now the Parliamentary Labour Par , what what happened was that er oh I went to a conference at the the I L P in Carlisle, annual conference.

And er it was real great event, and of course Moseley was to speak in there.

On the committee of the I L P at that time, and John , and then er and then an MP from , er Birmingham, Fred .

One of one of one of the most charming speakers I ever heard, he was.

And er it was at that time that the Independent Labour Party left the I the Labour Party.

You see the majority er er at least half the er Labour MPs also was in membership with the I L P.

But when the I L P wanted to lay down more militant lines the Labour Party wanted to throw them out anyway, and so the I L P-ers all decided that er the best thing to do was to leave rather than get thrown out.

And which is different for today, but that that was what really happened.

Well and so it split the Labour Party and the from er at that time you know we got five hundred members in with the Labour Party.

And er we had our own hall in Street.

Own hall.

Where we had meetings, packed every Sunday night and dances, you know people more was er much more militant then, the people were, I don't know about the M P, but the people were much more militant.

I mean during the er, preceding the General Strike, I know that there were pubs in you know, ordinary working class pubs, and they used to close with the singing of the Red Flag.

You know amazing change.

My view of the General Strike is that if we'd have had a Lenin we'd have had a revolution.

The people were r they really were ready you know, I think so.

Mind you some people living through that, you know George ?

No.

Don't you?