Who’d be a liberal ? : Then and Now
The many tributes to the late Charles Kennedy, from all quarters, were unanimous in their appreciation of a decent principled man. A man who connected with people who strove throughout his life for the common good. A man with the courage to vote against the war with Iraq.
They also acknowledged his dark side, the alcoholism, which became the lever to oust him as leader of the Liberal Democrats. Legislation could not have saved him, decent men acting as he surely would have, might have done so.
How history repeats itself, one hundred years earlier another principled Liberal was forced from office. In May 1915, when the war coalition was formed, Lord Beauchamp was similarly ousted. His reluctance to sign the declaration of war and his desire for peace were the catalysts. Like Kennedy the Earl was a decent, caring man. High church but not high-handed he gave generously. His contra-establishment voice grew louder in 1917 with the fiasco in the Gallipoli Campaign in which 42,000 Allied deaths and a further 100,000 casualties, produced no gain. We should remind ourselves without denying his great achievements that Winston Churchill was the prime mover in this disaster. Not only that but the conflict and its aftermath sowed most of the seeds that are today’s problems in the Middle East. To be balanced we should recognise that Churchill’s dark side was necessary to the nation during the second world war; Earl Beauchamp’s and the Liberal viewpoint was savagely punished, the legislators made sure he stayed out of office until 1924. A seven-year sentence for not stampeding with the herd. His dark side as a homosexual was a factor in the punishment and led to his exile from society and the country to which he had given so much.
The parallel with 1915 goes deeper still. The prosecution of the war took its toll on the Liberal Party. It went into steep decline and by 1924 was out of office, even with the underpinning of Earl Beauchamp’s personal fortune.
It was Charles Kennedy who reversed that trend leading the largest number of Liberal MPs into the Houses of Parliament following the 2005 election. He had created the platform for the coalition government of 2010. Food for thought that 2015 should mirror the demise of the last Liberal Whig traditions of social reform and addressing issues of poverty.
Still another parallel, following the war years there were campaigns to change the voting system. Then as now the disenfranchised millions wanted their votes to count – a promise of Electoral Reform was a mainstay of the 2010 coalition negotiations with the Tory party
The legacy of 1915 and WW1: Men without jobs for years. Women, who gave up their suffrage struggle to support the war effort, denied the vote for a further decade. It is fair to point out that the first shoots of the welfare state emerged from this strife; regionally William Morris and others germinated the shoots that become the Socialist Movement. Pity this attempt to provide justice and equality is so reviled by today’s disciples of the “ancien regime”.
The MOMENT.press project is all about community, the glue that cements society. This comparison with then and now endeavours to illustrate that without the lessons of history we will continue to make the same mistakes. Looking back through the themes of the Moment centenary project we explore the changes in the culture, the landscape, the rural society and our heritage. We want to record the local experience so if your family has memories, stories, memorabilia or images do get in touch.
Amongst the themes recording the social and economic history of the local parishes are conscription, universal suffrage, the role of the Arts and Crafts movement and non-conformism in the rise of the labour movement.
John O'Keefe
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