But nowadays -- Our weakness for the last few years has been the ineffectiveness of the Opposition. This Labour Party has never had the quality of a fighting Opposition. It has just sucked the life out of Radicalism. It has never had the definite idealism of the Whigs and Liberals. 'Give us more employment and slightly higher pay and be sure of our contentment,' says Labour. 'We're loyal. We know our place. But we don't like being unemployed.' What good is that as Opposition? It's about as much opposition as a mewing cat. We mean more than that. I tell you frankly. Our task, I take it, my task, is to reinstate that practical working Opposition which has always been Old England's alternative line of defence... For the good of all of us...
About This Quote
About H.G. Wells
H.G. Wells was a 19th-century English writer. Herbert George Wells was an English writer, prolific in many genres. He wrote more than forty novels and dozens of short stories. Read more on Wikipedia →
Themes
- Politics — Governance, civic duty, and the structures of power