Open letter to Harold Wilson, letter from the grave

John WWII (C) Rachel Mulberg

My great uncle John was born in Stepney in 1926. As a child he left school at a young age so he could help his father support their large family of eleven.

Also as a child he saw the Blackshirts march through the East End.

To many working people, politics was something that others did and they obeyed. To John’s young eyes, politics could be something very dangerous if left to its own devices.

Despite his lack of education he never stopped trying to gain knowledge. As an adult he immersed himself in books, music, and kept up on all current affairs. One thing I remember about him is his generosity in sending me every classic book he could think of. From my birth until his death in 2001, John was always encouraging me to learn, learn, learn.

In 1968 John enrolled in an O Level course to try and gain a promotion. After his death I found his coursework for this course, and felt as if I knew him better because of it. Yesterday I got it all out again and was gobsmacked at what I found.

This exercise, “If I were Harold Wilson”, could almost be parallel to the struggles the left face at this very moment.

Do we struggle with the same things consistently? Do we not progress, or do the right push us into the same battles every decade?

Whatever the reason may be, it was incredible to see his thoughts mirror mine and so many others, all those years before. If only he could’ve seen Corbyn.

I suppose all we can do, to make sure these things will one day, finally, become history, is to learn, learn, learn.

[The coursework in question is posted below with kind permission of Rachel Mulberg and John's family]

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If I were Mr. Wilson

The leadership of a nation in modern times is a complex business. I doubt if the great Machiavelli would have attempted to write a discourse on leadership for a Prime Minister’s enlightenment. The object of any Prime Minister is to govern well, to leave the nation in better condition than prior to his term of office. So simple a task, so difficult an achievement. My first major problem would be to govern the country with a united Labour Party behind me, not an easy exercise for any party of the left.

In 1967 we found it necessary to devalue the pound, and bring in a very unpopular budget to dampen home demand for goods. All actions unlikely to be forgotten by the voter. You cannot keep promising prosperity tomorrow; tomorrow always comes.

To the ordinary person living today in the United Kingdom, possibly the most difficult task will be to reassess the true position that Great Britain holds today in the world. There is very little red on the map, and the sun does set on the British Empire. Why should there be only two power blocks in the world? Would not a united Europe, including Great Britain, help to form a healthy counter-balance? Today’s wars are fought for the minds and hearts of the people. The nuclear bomb will destroy the world before it destroys a political theory. There is a far greater threat to this country from General de Gaulle, with his attempt to wreck Sterling as a world reserve currency, than from any Communist state. At this point in history, every major power accepts that in another world war there will be no victor.

The price we pay for our national security is alarming. Are we getting value for money? I would need convincing that we were. Could not this national resource be better spent on more schools and hospitals? Are we so rich that we can spend millions of pounds on defence, but expect the old to live on four pounds, ten shillings a week?

As Prime Minister I am not concerned with the historian or his attitude to my place in history. I take the action required in any circumstance. If I am to be remembered in history, let it be for getting this country back on its feet after two world wars, for giving youth a greater chance, for a fairer distribution of the wealth of the nation. For working towards that goal where poverty and ignorance will be looked upon as a relic of the dark ages, and for working towards a civilised twenty-first century.