Neglect from The Centre

".... but this has to be done --

Has to be done in one day.

And the new people announced.

Otherwise, there's no Authority at 

The Head of The Government."

The Night Of The Long Knives: 1962.

BBC Documentary written and presented 

by Michael Cockerell, about the most 

notorious cabinet reshuffle in the history of UK politics 

when the British Prime Minister, Harold Macmillan, 

sacked, with no warning, several long serving 

cabinet colleagues, including his 

Chancellor of the Exchequer, 

Selwyn Lloyd.

“I DID feel, very strongly that he was losing his grip a bit on public opinion and of The Party in general.

I was saying really that The Party had lost its sense of direction and it’s sense of conviction — and this was due to neglect from The Centre.

He wrote a polite letter of reply, but otherwise I don’t think there was any reaction at all —

It was [Criticism of his Leadership]! 

Party organisation and Party Inspiration are the secret of Electoral Success, and without Electoral Success, you don’t win elections!”

“ I wanna add that : History show us that NUTS are not the only ones capable of Evil Deeds — That Gentlemen of Principle and Power, and Genteel Manner, can  arrive at Very GRIM Decisions —

If They commit crimes, it’s not because they harbour murky, or perverse impulses, but because they feel compelled to deal with The  Dangers to their Way of Life.

This doesn’t mean that They are motivated by purely financial reasons — although, that is a very real consideration, I think  — but They equate their vital interests with the wellbeing of Their Society and The Nation : — in this case, the wellbeing of The Cause of Southern Rights.

And far from being immoral, or unscrupulous, they are individuals of Principles that are SO lofty, as to elevate Them above the restraints of ordinary morality —

They don’t act on sudden impulse — The Feeling grows amongst Them that ‘Something Must Be DONE — Something That is Best for All.’; that ‘The Situation is Becoming Intolerable.’

They move gradually towards The Position..... the change is gradual, and yet so compelling that when They •arrive• at their decision, They’re no-longer shocked by the extreme measures that They are willing to employ —

The Execution of The Unsavory Deed is made all-the-easier by delegating it’s commission down to more lower-level operatives.

Most of The Evil — most of The Evil in HISTORY is perpetrated, not by monsters or by LONE psychotics, but by Men of Responsibility and Commitment, whose most unsettling aspect is the apparent normality of their deportment..... 

It’s like, Child Molesters, we’re finding.....!

‘There’s Danger in The Stranger’ — it’s not The Stranger, we find, that you wanna watch out for......"