The end of an era
Jul. 20th, 2005 07:13 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
peterbirks"A political giant". "He bestrode right-wing politics in Britain in the 20th Century". "He will be sorely missed".
Yes, these are three of a number of tributes that I can pretty much guarantee we will not hear about John Tyndall, who appears to have topped himself at the age of 72. Tyndall was an old-school racial supremacist who dressed himself up as someone concerned about the white working class because even he realized that devoting most of your time to praising the wonders of Adolf Hitler and the evils of the Judaeo-Communist conspiracy was unlikely to garner many votes in Oldham.
Dressing up in uniforms and mixing in a culture of like-minded males is always likely to attract people of a certain sexual persuasion, and the British National Party was no exception. It was never really established whether John Tyndall was fond of young working-class (white) chappies, but Martin Webster, who usurped him as the public face of right-wing nuttiness in the early 1970s, certainly was.
British fascism/nazism/right-wing nationalism suffered from the same problem found virtually everywhere bar Italy and Germany. If you were proud of Britain/France/insert European country of your choice, then showing naked admiration for an Austrian who ran Germany (and who was a vegetarian to boot) was an odd way to go about it. But since the economic revival generated by Hitler depended mainly on creating jobs that either entailed building roads or killing people, the macro-economic ideas behind applying all of this to Europe didn't really hold up.
Tyndall's politics were always a rag-bag of nonsense that only really seemed a danger in the early 1970s, when Webster managed to pull in the skinhead youth of the time and create something that looked like a coherent force. It never was -- one thing you could always guarantee about the BNP was that as soon as real success arrived, it would split into rival factions. They all secretly wanted to be loved like Hitler, you see. None of them wrote down: "I'd really like to be the power behind the scenes".
Yes, these are three of a number of tributes that I can pretty much guarantee we will not hear about John Tyndall, who appears to have topped himself at the age of 72. Tyndall was an old-school racial supremacist who dressed himself up as someone concerned about the white working class because even he realized that devoting most of your time to praising the wonders of Adolf Hitler and the evils of the Judaeo-Communist conspiracy was unlikely to garner many votes in Oldham.
Dressing up in uniforms and mixing in a culture of like-minded males is always likely to attract people of a certain sexual persuasion, and the British National Party was no exception. It was never really established whether John Tyndall was fond of young working-class (white) chappies, but Martin Webster, who usurped him as the public face of right-wing nuttiness in the early 1970s, certainly was.
British fascism/nazism/right-wing nationalism suffered from the same problem found virtually everywhere bar Italy and Germany. If you were proud of Britain/France/insert European country of your choice, then showing naked admiration for an Austrian who ran Germany (and who was a vegetarian to boot) was an odd way to go about it. But since the economic revival generated by Hitler depended mainly on creating jobs that either entailed building roads or killing people, the macro-economic ideas behind applying all of this to Europe didn't really hold up.
Tyndall's politics were always a rag-bag of nonsense that only really seemed a danger in the early 1970s, when Webster managed to pull in the skinhead youth of the time and create something that looked like a coherent force. It never was -- one thing you could always guarantee about the BNP was that as soon as real success arrived, it would split into rival factions. They all secretly wanted to be loved like Hitler, you see. None of them wrote down: "I'd really like to be the power behind the scenes".
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The glorious politics of the late 70's
Date: 2005-07-20 07:10 am (UTC)The person in question got disenchanted with the NF when he realised the "white supremacy" message which got put into the background by Webster was still the main goal of the leadership. Maggie was bashing unions by then so he was last time I heard of him a thatcherite.
I wouldn't at all be surprised to find him a "New Labour" supporter now, especially after the string of right wing home secretaries they've produced!
Must have missed it
Date: 2005-07-20 08:08 am (UTC)The NF/BNP message was always too close to Thatcherism for me, i.e.
the world is a better place and you achieve more if you scrabble over the backs of your fellow man to reach your goal of superiority. The NF/BNP seemed to care more about the superiority bit but it amounted to the same thing in my head.
Re: Must have missed it
Date: 2005-07-20 09:48 am (UTC)Mr Tyndall, 71, was due to appear at Leeds Crown Court on Thursday facing two counts of using words or behaviour intended or likely to stir up racial hatred.
He was found dead by his wife this morning at their flat in Hove, East Sussex.
A Sussex Police spokeswoman said there were no suspicious circumstances surrounding Mr Tyndall's death.
which is normally journalisticese for "killed himself".
Re: Must have missed it
Date: 2005-07-20 09:55 am (UTC)It was only mentioned in the DT as far as I can see.
Re: Must have missed it (Thatcherism that is)
Date: 2005-07-20 10:05 am (UTC)I feel any supposed political creed is whatever people make of it. As a young boy in the north east, I always thought socialism involved was the same thing, but done by those who professed to represent their fellow workers/voters etc.
Tyndall Death
Date: 2005-07-21 12:27 pm (UTC)