Melanie Phillips is firing on all cylinders about the working time directive and junior doctors. "Once, British citizens died to defend the sovereign powers of Parliament. Now they are dying because Parliament gave those powers away — and all without a shot being fired," she writes.
This is an issue that also gets the Europhiles squibbling, rushing to the defence of their precious construct as they realise that this is an issue that could turn public sentiment against their heroes.
They point out that there are subtleties and complications to the way the legislation is implemented, which means that the EU is not entirely to blame (or at all in the minds of some of the little darlings).
But who cares. This is a propaganda game. There are many things which the EU does for which it completely escapes blame, so it is a kind of rough justice if it gets blamed for things for which it is not entirely responsible. On this, one can take the advice of Hitler:
A lie that is a good lie (that is, an effective one) is always a better lie if it is a whopper! The capacity of the masses for absorbing an idea is limited. So make it simple. And give it to them in black and white, no half-tones! For otherwise you miss the entire purpose of propaganda, which is to present a clear view of the situation on which the masses are willing to act.The important point of this counsel is "make it simple" – give it to the masses in "black and white, no half-tones!" A generation brought up on "strictly", "corrie" and "big brother" is not going to be into sophistication any more than were its predecessors. The message: "EU kills" is as good as any, and conveys the essence of the message we want to convey. It obeys the Hitler rules, so you can see why the Europhiles would get heated.
Actually, the ultimate irony here is that Hitler framed his rules after evaluating British techniques. Looking at the way they handled the First World War, compared with the Germans, he wrote:
How well the British understood the way to appeal to the idealistic side of men! While Germany fought for daily bread, Britain fought for ‘freedom’ – not even for herself but for little nations! The German propagandists had not the slightest conception of the nature of the forces which lead men to their death of their own free will. When a man fights only to fill his belly he quickly comes to the situation when he will fight – or not fight – for anyone who will provide that much for him.It was thus that he framed his advice on using the big lie, the "whopper". Small lies tend to get found out. Big lies – like "government is good for you" - are the ones that survive. Nazi propaganda was successful only in the sense that the Germans had learnt to emulate British techniques.
Melanie Phillips, a Jewess, might thus be accused of using Nazi propaganda techniques in her current piece and in her clear determination to "make it simple" perhaps she is. But the crucial thing to bear in mind is that Hitler learned his lessons from the masters. We need to do likewise. How about this for a slogan:
The EU kills – kill it before it kills you!
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