Fred Tonge, Labour Candidate (Oct. 1951)
| Arash Norouzi The Mossadegh Project | March 27, 2025 |
Frederick Lionel Tonge (1896-1980), a British trade unionist and Labour candidate, made the following remarks on Iran during his keynote speech at the Chelsea Labour Party’s adoption meeting.
In a subsequent statement the day after, Tonge criticized Winston Churchill’s militaristic record. “The preservation of peace is the fundamental issue of this election”, he said. “Peace can best be preserved by the return of a Labour
Government. The Tories speak of peace but their past belies their words. . . . It is the Tories who are calling for strong-arm methods in Persia and Egypt. Can they, then, be trusted in this critical time to preserve peace? The
Labour Party believes in negotiation and cooperation between nations.”
During a debate in April which turned to the subject of Iran, Tonge said, “We cannot object to nationalisation. Many of us are rather disappointed by the present results of it at home, but we cannot yet see how it is going to work out
in Persia.”
Fred Tonge, Labour Candidate (Chelsea)
Chelsea Labour Party
October 18, 1951
“The Persians have a right to
nationalise their oil wells.”
“I am not supporting the present Persian Government, but patience is surely wise, and better than force.”
“Under the aggressive Tory plans the Abadan refineries might easily have been destroyed and Persia become a second
Korea, and the results of what the Conservatives had advocated would have
been quite horrible.”
“I believe that six years of negotiation is better than six minutes of war.”
Later, he said, “The Tories cannot understand why we think peace is essential. Their whole philosophy is imperialistic.”
“They did not realise that the under-privileged races were not content to remain underprivileged, nor that peace is vital to the country’s future.”
He concluded: “The issue is as plain as this. Either we go forward with a Labour government or we go back to Tory monopoly, unemployment, the dole, and all that that means.”
• Source: The West London Press (Chelsea, London, England), Oct. 19, 1951
Related links:
‘No Support’ If Britain Invaded Iran | John Parris (Oct. 1951)
The Desperate Situation In Persia | As the Earth Turns, July 19, 1951
British Premier Clement Attlee | Labour Party Manifesto Speech (Oct. 1, 1951)
MOSSADEGH t-shirts — “If I sit silently, I have sinned”
