Greater Britain Movement
Encyclopedia
The Greater Britain Movement was a British
far right
political group formed by John Tyndall
in 1964 after he split from Colin Jordan
's National Socialist Movement
. The name of the group was derived from The Greater Britain, a 1932 book by Oswald Mosley
.
who had also been romantically involved with Tyndall. Tyndall himself has stated that the rift between the two men was actually a consequence of an ideological clash as he rejected Jordan's endorsement of straight Nazism
, preferring a more 'British' solution. During their spell as members of the British National Party Jordan had faced this criticism from John Bean
and Tyndall increasingly echoed these views, leading to a showdown at the April 1964 NSM conference when Tyndall demanded that Jordan give control of the movement to him. Jordan moved to expel Tyndall from the NSM on 11 May 1964 but the following day Tyndall claimed that he had now taken control of the group and that he had instead expelled Jordan. Tyndall however soon gave up his NSM membership and broke away along with most of the staff from the party's London headquarters. The new group was finally announced as the Greater Britain Movement in August 1964 when it started publishing its own magazine Spearhead
, a name taken from the NSM's largely failed attempt to set up a paramilitary wing. The GBM also gained the support of James McIntyre's National Student Front which until that time had been loyal to the NSM. Tyndall would later claim that he had formed the GBM merely as a stopgap to keep his supporters united, claiming he felt, even in 1964, that their future lay in working more closely with other similar groups.
, 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 new movement also advocated laws banning marriage between people of different ethnic groups and the use of medical procedures to prevent those with "hereditary defects" from having children. Tyndall's ideas have been characterised as an attempt to construct a specifically British national socialism, rather than following Jordan's route of simply transplanting the German version. Indeed such was Tyndall's desire to forge a specifically British form of Nazism that he was characterised by Jordan and other critics as a "John Bull
in jackboot
s".
attempted to assault President of Kenya Jomo Kenyatta
, a headline-grabbing stunt that also saw Webster serve a short spell in prison. Tyndall had also been present at the incident, which took place as Kenyatta exited a hotel in London at which he was staying, and Tyndall was given a £25 fine for the abuse he shouted into a megaphone during the attack.
The GBM's policy of provocative street activity meant that it faced frequent opposition. A meeting in the East End of London on 4 October 1964 was attacked by opponents, as was another in Dalston
the following October whilst earlier, in August 1965, Tyndall had been shot at five times whilst in the group's headquarters in Norwood
. The group's main benefactor was an antiques dealer named Gordon Brown and in late 1966 he gave Tyndall the funds to purchase a small shop in Tulse Hill
which Tyndall converted into the Nationalist Centre. The centre welcomed regular visitors from the BNP and League of Empire Loyalists
although, according to the BNP's Rodney Legg, some of the older LEL members were appaled by the Nazi ephemera and loaded guns on display.
In January 1965 Tyndall had attempted to make the GBM the leading lights in the World Union of National Socialists
but after getting in touch with the American Nazi leader George Lincoln Rockwell
Tyndall was dismayed to find that Jordan was still recognised as leader of the body and that the NSM were still the British chapter. The incident helped to push the GBM further away from the neo-Nazi fringe and towards the other groups on the far-right. Removed from the Nazi option and with the GBM individually failing to make much headway or attract much support Tyndall authorised GBM members to support the campaigns of the both the BNP and the LEL as well as the Patriotic Party
in March 1965. According to John Bean
Tyndall wrote personally to Oswald Mosley
, A.K. Chesterton and Bean around the same time suggesting that as their four movements had been co-operating unofficially on activities in support of Rhodesia
a more formal alliance between the GBM, Union Movement
, LEL and BNP should be agreed upon. Nothing came of these overtures however. Meanwhile Tyndall had not abandoned his attempts to build links internationally and instead forged an alliance between the GBM and the National States Rights Party, a far-right group in the United States
that had grown critical of Rockwell and the American Nazi Party
.
The GBM however remained one of the more extreme groups on the far right as was evidenced in 1966 when a number of members were imprisoned for an arson
attack on a synagogue
, with Tyndall later also jailed for possession of a firearm. The incidents derailed the GBM's drive for unity somewhat as LEL leader A.K. Chesterton was averse to such actions, preferring to maintain a legalist approach. As a result the GBM undertook negotiations with the BNP and Racial Preservation Society
in early 1966 aimed at effecting a closer union but these came to nothing, with the RPS in particular turning the request down flat.
in the 1996 general election
had opened up space for a new far right party with Tyndall arguing in Spearhead that there was "no longer any great political force representative of patriotic right-wing principles". Chesterton was impressed by the organisational skills demonstrated by Tyndall in the GBM, although he was also suspicious of his Nazi past whilst Andrew Fountaine
was opposed to any GBM membership, and so they did not invite GBM to join the National Front
in 1967. However before the year was out Chesterton relented and allowed the GBM to join the NF 'on probation', leading to the GBM ceasing to exist. In June of that year Tyndall told the GBM membership, which at that point stood at 138, that the movement was disbanded and that they should join the National Front as individuals.
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
far right
Far right
Far-right, extreme right, hard right, radical right, and ultra-right are terms used to discuss the qualitative or quantitative position a group or person occupies within right-wing politics. Far-right politics may involve anti-immigration and anti-integration stances towards groups that are...
political group formed by John Tyndall
John Tyndall (politician)
John Hutchyns Tyndall was a British politician who was prominently associated with several fascist/neo-Nazi sects. However, he is best known for leading the National Front in the 1970s and founding the contemporary British National Party in 1982.The most prominent figure in British nationalism...
in 1964 after he split from Colin Jordan
Colin Jordan
John Colin Campbell Jordan was a leading figure in postwar Neo-Nazism in Britain. In the far-right nationalist circles of the 1960s, Jordan represented the most explicitly 'Nazi' inclination in his open use of the styles and symbols of the Third Reich.Through organisations such as the National...
's National Socialist Movement
National Socialist Movement (1960s)
The National Socialist Movement was a British Neo-Nazi group formed on 20 April 1962, Adolf Hitler's birthday, by Colin Jordan, with John Tyndall as his deputy as a splinter group from the original British National Party of the 1960s.-Formation:...
. The name of the group was derived from The Greater Britain, a 1932 book by Oswald Mosley
Oswald Mosley
Sir Oswald Ernald Mosley, 6th Baronet, of Ancoats, was an English politician, known principally as the founder of the British Union of Fascists...
.
Formation
The roots of the split lay in the marriage of Jordan to Françoise DiorFrançoise Dior
Marie Françoise Suzanne Dior, also known as Françoise de Caumont La Force, Françoise Dior-Jordan, and Françoise Dior-de Mirleau , was a French socialite and post-war Nazi underground financier...
who had also been romantically involved with Tyndall. Tyndall himself has stated that the rift between the two men was actually a consequence of an ideological clash as he rejected Jordan's endorsement of straight Nazism
Nazism
Nazism, the common short form name of National Socialism was the ideology and practice of the Nazi Party and of Nazi Germany...
, preferring a more 'British' solution. During their spell as members of the British National Party Jordan had faced this criticism from John Bean
John Bean
John Edward Bean is a long-standing participant in the British far right, who has been active within a number of movements during the course of his life and is the voice behind the BNP election broadcasts.-Early life:...
and Tyndall increasingly echoed these views, leading to a showdown at the April 1964 NSM conference when Tyndall demanded that Jordan give control of the movement to him. Jordan moved to expel Tyndall from the NSM on 11 May 1964 but the following day Tyndall claimed that he had now taken control of the group and that he had instead expelled Jordan. Tyndall however soon gave up his NSM membership and broke away along with most of the staff from the party's London headquarters. The new group was finally announced as the Greater Britain Movement in August 1964 when it started publishing its own magazine Spearhead
Spearhead (magazine)
Spearhead was a British far right-wing magazine edited by John Tyndall until his death in July 2005. Founded in 1964 by Tyndall, it was used to voice his grievances against the state of the United Kingdom...
, a name taken from the NSM's largely failed attempt to set up a paramilitary wing. The GBM also gained the support of James McIntyre's National Student Front which until that time had been loyal to the NSM. Tyndall would later claim that he had formed the GBM merely as a stopgap to keep his supporters united, claiming he felt, even in 1964, that their future lay in working more closely with other similar groups.
Policies
The first issue of Spearhead stated that the new movement would adhere "without fear and without compromise to every tenet of the national socialist creed" albeit "in a manner more in touch with British affairs and much more in touch with British interests and aims". However whilst leader of the GBM, Tyndall wrote his Six Principles of British Nationalism in which he broke from the Nazism of Jordan, and called for a parliamentary strategy towards a government that would be corporatistCorporatism
Corporatism, also known as corporativism, is a system of economic, political, or social organization that involves association of the people of society into corporate groups, such as agricultural, business, ethnic, labor, military, patronage, or scientific affiliations, on the basis of common...
, racialist, and based on the principle of leadership. This state would be ratified by regular referendums, although liberal democracy
Liberal democracy
Liberal democracy, also known as constitutional democracy, is a common form of representative democracy. According to the principles of liberal democracy, elections should be free and fair, and the political process should be competitive...
would be brought to an end. The new movement also advocated laws banning marriage between people of different ethnic groups and the use of medical procedures to prevent those with "hereditary defects" from having children. Tyndall's ideas have been characterised as an attempt to construct a specifically British national socialism, rather than following Jordan's route of simply transplanting the German version. Indeed such was Tyndall's desire to forge a specifically British form of Nazism that he was characterised by Jordan and other critics as a "John Bull
John Bull
John Bull is a national personification of Britain in general and England in particular, especially in political cartoons and similar graphic works. He is usually depicted as a stout, middle-aged man, often wearing a Union Flag waistcoat.-Origin:...
in jackboot
Jackboot
The term Jackboot denotes two very different styles of military boot, the Cavalry Jackboot and the Hobnailed Jackboot, and its derivatives.-Cavalry Jackboot:...
s".
Development
The GBM did not contest any elections and rather became known for publicity stunts and criminal acts. An example of the sort of action they were fond of was provided soon after the group was formed when Tyndall's deputy Martin WebsterMartin Webster
Martin Guy Alan Webster is a former leading figure on the far-right in British politics.-Early political activism:An early member of the Young Conservatives, from which he claimed to have been expelled, Webster was associated loosely with the League of Empire Loyalists until he joined the National...
attempted to assault President of Kenya Jomo Kenyatta
Jomo Kenyatta
Jomo Kenyattapron.] served as the first Prime Minister and President of Kenya. He is considered the founding father of the Kenyan nation....
, a headline-grabbing stunt that also saw Webster serve a short spell in prison. Tyndall had also been present at the incident, which took place as Kenyatta exited a hotel in London at which he was staying, and Tyndall was given a £25 fine for the abuse he shouted into a megaphone during the attack.
The GBM's policy of provocative street activity meant that it faced frequent opposition. A meeting in the East End of London on 4 October 1964 was attacked by opponents, as was another in Dalston
Dalston
Dalston is a district of north-east London, England, located in the London Borough of Hackney. It is situated northeast of Charing Cross. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London...
the following October whilst earlier, in August 1965, Tyndall had been shot at five times whilst in the group's headquarters in Norwood
Norwood
- Australia :* Norwood Secondary College, Secondary School in Ringwood, Victoria.* Norwood, South Australia, suburb of Adelaide**Electoral district of Norwood, a state electoral district in South Australia...
. The group's main benefactor was an antiques dealer named Gordon Brown and in late 1966 he gave Tyndall the funds to purchase a small shop in Tulse Hill
Tulse Hill
Tulse Hill is a district in the London Borough of Lambeth in South London, England. It lies to the south of Brixton, east of Brixton Hill, north of West Norwood and west of West Dulwich.-History:...
which Tyndall converted into the Nationalist Centre. The centre welcomed regular visitors from the BNP and League of Empire Loyalists
League of Empire Loyalists
The League of Empire Loyalists was a British pressure group , established in 1954, which campaigned against the dissolution of the British Empire. The League was a small group of current or former members of the Conservative Party led by Arthur K...
although, according to the BNP's Rodney Legg, some of the older LEL members were appaled by the Nazi ephemera and loaded guns on display.
In January 1965 Tyndall had attempted to make the GBM the leading lights in the World Union of National Socialists
World Union of National Socialists
The World Union of National Socialists is an organisation founded in 1962 as an umbrella group for neo-Nazi organisations across the globe.-Formation:...
but after getting in touch with the American Nazi leader George Lincoln Rockwell
George Lincoln Rockwell
George Lincoln Rockwell was the founder of the American Nazi Party. Rockwell was a major figure in the neo-Nazi movement in the United States, and his beliefs and writings have continued to be influential among white nationalists and neo-Nazis.-Early life:Rockwell was born in Bloomington,...
Tyndall was dismayed to find that Jordan was still recognised as leader of the body and that the NSM were still the British chapter. The incident helped to push the GBM further away from the neo-Nazi fringe and towards the other groups on the far-right. Removed from the Nazi option and with the GBM individually failing to make much headway or attract much support Tyndall authorised GBM members to support the campaigns of the both the BNP and the LEL as well as the Patriotic Party
Patriotic Party (UK)
The Patriotic Party was a far right political party in the United Kingdom.The group began life as the True Tories in 1962 when Major General Sir Richard Hilton, formerly a leading member of the League of Empire Loyalists, set up his own nationalistic group with a membership largely made up of...
in March 1965. According to John Bean
John Bean
John Edward Bean is a long-standing participant in the British far right, who has been active within a number of movements during the course of his life and is the voice behind the BNP election broadcasts.-Early life:...
Tyndall wrote personally to Oswald Mosley
Oswald Mosley
Sir Oswald Ernald Mosley, 6th Baronet, of Ancoats, was an English politician, known principally as the founder of the British Union of Fascists...
, A.K. Chesterton and Bean around the same time suggesting that as their four movements had been co-operating unofficially on activities in support of Rhodesia
Rhodesia
Rhodesia , officially the Republic of Rhodesia from 1970, was an unrecognised state located in southern Africa that existed between 1965 and 1979 following its Unilateral Declaration of Independence from the United Kingdom on 11 November 1965...
a more formal alliance between the GBM, Union Movement
Union Movement
The Union Movement was a right-wing political party founded in Britain by Oswald Mosley. Where Mosley had previously been associated with a peculiarly British form of fascism, the Union Movement attempted to redefine the concept by stressing the importance of developing a European nationalism...
, LEL and BNP should be agreed upon. Nothing came of these overtures however. Meanwhile Tyndall had not abandoned his attempts to build links internationally and instead forged an alliance between the GBM and the National States Rights Party, a far-right group in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
that had grown critical of Rockwell and the American Nazi Party
American Nazi Party
The American Nazi Party was an American political party founded by discharged U.S. Navy Commander George Lincoln Rockwell. Headquartered in Arlington, Virginia, Rockwell initially called it the World Union of Free Enterprise National Socialists , but later renamed it the American Nazi Party in...
.
The GBM however remained one of the more extreme groups on the far right as was evidenced in 1966 when a number of members were imprisoned for an arson
Arson
Arson is the crime of intentionally or maliciously setting fire to structures or wildland areas. It may be distinguished from other causes such as spontaneous combustion and natural wildfires...
attack on a synagogue
Synagogue
A synagogue is a Jewish house of prayer. This use of the Greek term synagogue originates in the Septuagint where it sometimes translates the Hebrew word for assembly, kahal...
, with Tyndall later also jailed for possession of a firearm. The incidents derailed the GBM's drive for unity somewhat as LEL leader A.K. Chesterton was averse to such actions, preferring to maintain a legalist approach. As a result the GBM undertook negotiations with the BNP and Racial Preservation Society
Racial Preservation Society
The Racial Preservation Society was a right-wing pressure group opposed to immigration and in favour of white nationalism, national preservation and protection in the United Kingdom in the 1960s.-Background:...
in early 1966 aimed at effecting a closer union but these came to nothing, with the RPS in particular turning the request down flat.
Towards merger
During the summer of 1966 Tyndall and his movement grew close to A.K. Chesterton and the two soon agreed that the hefty defeat inflcited on the Conservative PartyConservative Party (UK)
The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
in the 1996 general election
United Kingdom general election, 1966
The 1966 United Kingdom general election on 31 March 1966 was called by sitting Labour Prime Minister Harold Wilson. Wilson's decision to call an election turned on the fact that his government, elected a mere 17 months previously in 1964 had an unworkably small majority of only 4 MPs...
had opened up space for a new far right party with Tyndall arguing in Spearhead that there was "no longer any great political force representative of patriotic right-wing principles". Chesterton was impressed by the organisational skills demonstrated by Tyndall in the GBM, although he was also suspicious of his Nazi past whilst Andrew Fountaine
Andrew Fountaine
Andrew Fountaine was a veteran of the far right scene in British politics.Born into a land-owning Norfolk family, Fountaine was educated at the Army College in Aldershot and was the son of Vice Admiral Charles Fountaine who had been naval ADC to King George V...
was opposed to any GBM membership, and so they did not invite GBM to join the National Front
British National Front
The National Front is a far right, white-only political party whose major political activities took place during the 1970s and 1980s. Its popularity peaked in the 1979 general election, when it received 191,719 votes ....
in 1967. However before the year was out Chesterton relented and allowed the GBM to join the NF 'on probation', leading to the GBM ceasing to exist. In June of that year Tyndall told the GBM membership, which at that point stood at 138, that the movement was disbanded and that they should join the National Front as individuals.