"It is simply not true, as the authors of Guilty Men and Cassius assert, that the Labour Party, as a Party, was not pacifist, that its pacifism was limited to a few groups or individuals, that its pacifism ceased on the appearance of Hitler or did not continue long after his rise to power. From the first the Labour Party was riddled with pacifism. Its theory was pacifist. Its leaders were pacifist. Its members were pacifist, and its declared policy was pacifist. Disarmament it preached as party policy and because Conservatives were known to preach patriotism and strong armaments. As early as 1922 pacifism became the official doctrine of the Labour movement. At the Edinburgh Conference in that year a motion was carried that Socialist Parties everywhere should "oppose any war entered into by any government, whatever the ostensible object of the war". In 1923 the Party Conference at London pronounced in favour of "immediate Universal Disarmament by mutual agreement". There are even now Labour Members of Parliament who would fail to understand that such a policy must always put a premium on aggression, since it would give a would-be aggressor an automatic start. In 1926 the Margate Conference approved a policy of treason by general strike, calling on the workers to "meet any threat of war so called defensive or offensive, by organizing a general resistance, including the refusal to bear arms, to produce armaments, or to render any material assistance". At the Birmingham Conference, 1928, the Party's policy: "Labour and the Nation" was adopted. This included the renunciation of War, and Disarmament."
Quote Details
Added by wikiquote-import-bot
Unverified quote
0 likes
Members of the Parliament of the United KingdomLord Chancellors (United Kingdom)British peersGovernment ministersEducation ministers of the United Kingdom
Original Language: English
Available Languages (1)
Sources
p. 46
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Quintin_Hogg%2C_Baron_Hailsham_of_St_Marylebone
Revision History
No revisions have been submitted for this quote.
Categories
Quintin Hogg, Baron Hailsham of St Marylebone
1950 – 1963
53 quotes on TrueQuotesView all quotes by Quintin Hogg, Baron Hailsham of St Marylebone →
Related Quotes
"The British people must be strong. If we talk we must be ready to act. We must speak with the authority of the strong…"
"I believe that the proper way to approach this problem is not to wait until Herr Hitler makes more demands, but tell …"
"I have never believed in peace at any price."
"On the debate on the occupation of the Ruhr (Hansard, 13th–15th February 1923) the whole Left attacked France as "mil…"
"To our refusal to accept the French view of German duplicity and to our failure to regard the peace treaties as bindi…"
"The Manchurian incident was the direct result of the London Conference negotiated by the Labour Government in 1930 un…"
"If you can tell me there are no adulterers on the front bench of the Labour Party you can talk to me about Profumo."
"The truth which the Left would not face—and will not face, even now—is that from 1932 and probably from 1929 collecti…"
"The fact is that the 1935 election was fought very largely on the subject of armaments. The Government wanted to rear…"
"Our duty is to make our country so strong that no aggressor will challenge us."