On the 8th March the Traditional Britain Group will be hosting a half day event, titled ‘Traditional Britain Seminars 2014’ at a prestigious club in central London from 1pm until 6pm, followed by an evening social until late.

For more details, see here.

Was Enoch Powell Right? – Seminar led by John Kersey

In today’s society it has become politically unacceptable to state that Enoch Powell was right – with the inevitable assumption that what he was right about was mass immigration, and that his Birmingham speech of 20 April 1968 was not merely a critique of the government policy of the day but a prediction of the conditions that such a policy was creating for his constituents and for the next generation. Significantly, Powell, a long-time critic of the United States, feared quite specifically that Britain was emulating the American problems of racial tension and lack of social cohesion that had culminated in the assassination of Martin Luther King earlier the same month as his speech.

Forty years on from that historic speech, how much of what Powell feared has come to pass? Mass immigration, particularly during the post-1997 period, has vastly exceeded the levels of 1968, and it is beyond dispute that areas of Britain have been profoundly changed as a result. One of Powell’s chief criticisms of immigrant populations was that although many thousands wanted to integrate into British society, the majority did not. Are such phenomena as home-grown Islamic terrorism part of the legacy he described?

As Powell was clear, mass immigration has been brought about with no overt consent from the populace, and indeed has been considered by many to be contrary to the interests of the settled population. Under New Labour, according to Lord Mandelson in 2013, “We sent out search parties to get them to come… and made it hard for Britons to get work.” Yet when Labour supporter Gillian Duffy told then-Prime Minister Gordon Brown that she was concerned about immigration from Eastern Europe, his response was to dismiss her as a “bigoted woman”.

There has been a concerted refusal by the mainstream political parties to address the views of their constituents on immigration, resulting in the electoral rise of the BNP and of UKIP, both campaigning on anti-immigration platforms, and even prompting some reforms to the immigration system under the Coalition government. But is any of this enough? What should our response be today both to continuing immigration to Britain and to those who are now here? Powell advocated voluntary repatriation on generous terms, but would such a remedy be even remotely practical, even if it were politically acceptable today? Can any alternative strategy be formulated that is both effective and politically acceptable? Can the Britons of today find a way to live together, or is cultural or even political separation of some sort inevitable?

In what will doubtless be a wide-ranging seminar, we will consider these and other issues from a traditional conservative viewpoint and endeavour to get to the roots of why this issue has proved so intractable that the most common response it receives from the establishment is censorship.

Honours and awards: Honorary Brotherhood in the Ordine Militare e Religioso dei Cavaliere di Cristo and Academic Membership “ad honorem” in the Accademia Templare di San Bernardo da Chiaravalle

On February 23, 2014March 28, 2020 By johnkerseyIn Honours and awards

I have been honoured by the Ordine Militare e Religioso dei Cavalieri di Cristo (Religious and Military Order of the Knights of Christ, abbreviated as OMRCC) in Italy. The OMRCC is a modern Order inspired by the historic Templar tradition, and is organized as a Public Association of the Faithful of the Roman Catholic Church. It is an active charitable body with numerous humanitarian projects worldwide and welcomes donations from those wishing to support its work.

The Grand Vicar International of the OMRCC, H.E. Frà Federico Righi, has been admitted as a Knight Officer of the Order of the Crown of Thorns under my Grand Mastership.

I have been awarded Honorary Brotherhood in the OMRCC and Academic Membership “ad honorem” in the associated Accademia Templare di San Bernardo da Chiaravalle, which has been established for the purpose of historical research into the Templar tradition and St. Bernard of Clairvaux.

The connexion with modern Templars today reflects the legendary foundation of the Order of the Crown of Thorns as a continuation of the Templar legacy, as well as the ecclesiastical succession of the Prince-Abbot from Bernard Fabré-Palaprat, founder of the Ordre du Temple in 1804, which is commemorated in the Ecclesia Apostolica Divinorum Mysteriorum within the Abbey-Principality of San Luigi.

Honours and awards: Grosses Verdienstkreuz in Silber from the Freundeskreis Hoch- und Deutschmeister, Mannheim/Baden, Germany

On February 14, 2014March 26, 2020 By johnkerseyIn Honours and awards

I have been honoured with the Grosses Verdienstkreuz in Silber from the Freundeskreis Hoch- und Deutschmeister, Mannheim/Baden, Germany. The Freundeskreis Hoch- und Deutschmeister commemorates the military tradition of the Deutschmeistern, who were established as a regiment by treaty of the Emperor Leopold I and the Grand Master of the Teutonic Order in 1696. Thereafter the military tradition of the Hoch- und Deutschmeistern is distinguished by numerous battle honours.

From the end of the nineteenth-century, former members of the regiment and related organizations formed a German confederation of associations under the protection of the Grand Master of the Teutonic Order. From 1986, this umbrella organization has been headquartered in Vienna. It includes German members, belonging to the federal government, who meet on St George’s Day each year at Bad Mergentheim. Since 1993, the Freundeskreis Hoch- und Deutschmeister Mannheim/Baden has been among their number, becoming a member of the central Vienna organization from 2010 onwards.

Honours and awards: Tennessee Squire

On February 3, 2014March 30, 2020 By johnkerseyIn Honours and awards

The Tennessee Squire Association was established in February 1956 by the famous Jack Daniel Distillery in Lynchburg, Tennessee.

Following World War II, the demand for Jack Daniel’s whiskey was higher than production could keep up with and their first National Sales Manager, Winton Smith, was looking for a way to keep customers around the country happy while supplies were low. He decided that loyal fans who had written the Distillery saying they could not get any Jack Daniel’s whiskey would instead receive a plot of land, a square inch of unrecorded property on the Distillery’s grounds. This would make them part owners, or Squires, and the first members inducted into the Tennessee Squire Association.

Today, the Tennessee Squire Association is an exclusive club, with many prominent members from the worlds of government, business and entertainment. To become a member, you must be nominated by an existing Squire. By tradition, however, each Squire can only nominate one member in his or her lifetime (thank you, Zackary). There is a secret room reserved for Squires at the Lynchburg Distillery, and not even the tour guides are allowed to mention it.

Ownership of a square inch of the Distillery land is generally unproblematic. From time to time, others request to graze their cattle on it, and occasionally there is trouble with skunks or possums. By and large, however, peace reigns.

The honour of Tennessee Squire is probably one of the more unusual distinctions around today. It goes without saying that it is the more valued because the quality of the product it commemorates remains second to none.

Honours and awards: Member of the Royal Society of Musicians

On February 2, 2014August 25, 2023 By johnkerseyIn Honours and awards, Music

I was a Member of the Royal Society of Musicians between February 2014 and November 2018. Membership was by election and payment of an annual subscription.

In 2018, the Society announced its intention to impose a Code of Conduct upon its members. I felt that this was contrary to the spirit of the Society and would hardly have been something of which a free spirit like Handel would have approved. Specifically, the proposed Code intended not to tolerate discrimination on the grounds of “level of intellectual or professional achievement”, which I found absurd given that in my view achievement should be the foundation of any society devoted to the practice of a profession and that elected its members from that profession.

Elsewhere, the Code proposed to give the Board of Governors the sole power to discipline or expel a member who had “acted in a way which is in conflict with the interests of the Society”. I had previously seen similar measures to this used elsewhere as an unsubtle means of quelling dissent in the ranks. Like other changes in the Society such as the unexpected sale of its historic headquarters, much seemed to be being implemented in a “top-down” manner that was not in my view the way that such an institution should be run. In my view, members of a professional society should be responsible for its major executive decisions by democratic vote, rather than most of the power resting with a less accountable elite.

I resigned from membership of the Society in November 2018.

Honours and awards: Kentucky Colonel

On February 2, 2014March 23, 2020 By johnkerseyIn Honours and awards

An honorary military commission is considered by some to be the American equivalent of being knighted. The honorary title of Colonel is conferred by some states in the United States of America. The origins of the titular colonelcy can be traced back to colonial and antebellum times when men of the landed gentry were given the title for financing the local militia without actual expectations of command. This practice can actually be traced back to the English Renaissance when a colonelcy was purchased by a lord or prominent gentleman but the actual command would fall to a lieutenant colonel, who would deputize for the proprietor. It has come to be associated in popular culture with the image of the aristocratic Southern gentleman, not least because of one of the most famous Kentucky Colonels, Harland D. Sanders.

Today, Kentucky Colonel is the highest title of honour bestowed by the Commonwealth of Kentucky, USA. Commissions for Kentucky colonels are given by the governor and the secretary of state to individuals in recognition of noteworthy accomplishments, contributions, and outstanding service to community, state, or the nation. The Governor of Kentucky bestows the honor of a colonel’s commission, through the issuance of letters patent. The commission is a legal act of the Office of the Governor and lifetime appointment. At the time I received my commission in 2014, it was only possible for a person to be nominated for the honour by an existing Kentucky Colonel.

Professor John Kersey

Month: February 2014

Traditional Britain Seminars 2014