Of course, the country is currently in need of "leadership that combines principle, vision and humanity with the capacity to mobilise and unify", but Churchill`s "principles" allowed him to "cross the floor" twice! Similarly, his "humanity" led to his attempts to control the BBC during the General Strike, his sending of troops to end the strike at Tonypandy, his infamous racist comments, including the ones ensuring the death of three million during the Bengal famine of 1943, and even his encouragement of the use of chemical weapons in the Middle East. At a time when foreign policy needs to be based on compromise and caution, when the threat of terrorist attack has to be met with conciliation rather than armed conflict, the last thing Britain needs now is Churchillian aggression. How much damage did his "Iron Curtain" speech do to east-west relations?
Fighting on in 1940 was a no-brainer, as the alternative was to lose the empire and face revolution at home; "very well, alone" stands out as one of the worst examples, both of our "colonial amnesia", and of the mythologisation of our so-called "glorious past". Rawnsley seems to have forgotten that Churchill was "unelectable" in 1945, as he would be now, and the millions, who have benefited from the NHS and the welfare state since then, have reason to be grateful for the wisdom of the postwar voters. In 1945, the Tories thought putting the Beveridge plan into action could not be afforded. Where have we heard that one before? In the election campaign, Churchill, in his first radio election broadcast, accused Attlee of wanting to behave like a dictator, despite his loyal service in the war cabinet. In order to put its plans into operation, Labour would, according to the Tory leader, "have to fall back on some form of a Gestapo"!
It will be difficult to take Rawnsley`s columns seriously in the future, knowing that his biased view of the past ignores so much relevant evidence.
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