The Lion and the Unicorn by George Orwell

The Lion and the Unicorn: Socialism and the English Genius

 I was prompted to read this due the numerous references to it in Billy Bragg's Progressive Patriot in particularly as he pointed out that this is the source of the "old maids biking to Holy Communion through the mists of the autumn morning" which is such a vivid and oft used image that I was keen to see it in its original context.

It is always really interesting to read a piece of writing that is of its moment, and this is one such text, written early in the Second World War in the midst of the dark days of the Battle of Britain and the Blitz, days that have been commemorated all over our TVs in the last few weeks. Orwell is writing here with a very explicit political agenda and the skill he displays here made his argument a persuasive one.

But rather than go on and on about how wonderful Orwell was as a writer, as I am a big fan, I think what is more interesting is to search for what this work might say to us today.

In many ways we can see the establishment of the Welfare State, the wave of nationalisations, and the dismantlement of the Empire, after the War as the fulfilment of  Orwell's vision yet since 1979 we have, as a nation, turned our back on that vision.  But now the Thatcherite and Blairite projects are over, does the current financial crisis merit a reassessment of Orwell's socialist future?.

The first thing to acknowledge is Orwell's method, he is very clear in making the first part of the book, "England Your England", a review of the current situation because to talk about the future you need to understand the present - and we are not in the England of 1940 and so we need to be careful because the answer to the problem that Orwell saw in 1940 is unlikely to be the same as the answer we need today (although it might perhaps be similar).

The second thing to acknowledge is that Orwell clearly sees that the radical change he is advocating was only becoming possible because the threat posed by Hitler was psychologically so massive that it had a unifying effect on the country and allowed vested interests to be cast aside in favour of the common good.  However, for better or worse, the current crisis is not (or not yet) of the psychological magnitude to have the required galvanising effect to allow radical change.  That said if we look at Climate Change I think that we can begin to see signs of that kind of movement. 

And so, a little disappointedly, I find my self concluding (unlike Billy Bragg) that it probably doesn't have that much to say directly to our present times. That does not devalue it, it is still fascinating to read, bittersweet at those moments we see that Orwell is right that England will always be England - with the good and bad points of national character that he holds up just as strong today, and it can form an inspiration and a template to those trying to formulate a better future for us all.