WHO REALLY CARES ABOUT THE OXFORD UNION, ANYWAY?
In 1933, the Oxford Union caused an international sensation when it passed the motion “This House will under no circumstances fight for King and Country. Travelling in Germany in early 1934, Patrick Leigh Fermor wrote “The stir it made in England was nothing.. to the sensation it made in Germany…There was a sorrowing note in all this.” (“A Time of Gifts” London: Penguin, 1977 p. 128). If the Germans took this as a serious reflection of the British mood, then perhaps the motion did embolden Hitler to tear up the restrictions of the Versailles Treaty.
Compare and contrast this to tonight’s Oxford Union debate, which featured notorious defenders of “fascism”, Nick Griffin, leader of the British National Party, and ‘revisionist’ historian and Holocaust denier, David Irving. The BBC reports that the planned debate had to be moved into two separate rooms after thirty protestors occupied the debating chamber. Frankly, the protestors were wasting their time. Britain is not heading towards a fascist future. In the 2005 general election, the BNP won 0.7% of the vote, and has no seats in Parliament, so I don’t imagine any jackboots will march down Whitehall in the near future. Ron Paul has far more likelihood of being elected US president. As for David Irving, no other reputable historian has backed up his claims that the Holocaust didn’t happen, so he is a footnote to the history of the Second World War.
Nothing that this notorious duo says will change anything that happens in the UK. So who cares about the Oxford Union, anyway?
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