Leo Amery

Leopold Stennett Amery was born on 22 November 1873 in Gorakhpur, India to an English father and a Hungarian Jewish mother who had come to India from England. Her parents had settled in England and converted to Protestantism. Leo Amery was educated at Harrow, where he was a contemporary of Winston Churchill, and gained a First at Balliol College, Oxford. He was elected a fellow of All Souls College. Undoubtedly bright, he could speak Hindi at age 3 and could converse in French, German, Italian, Bulgarian, Turkish, Serbian and Hungarian.

During the Second Boer War he was a correspondent for The Times. In 1901, his articles in the Times on the reform of the army in southern Africa and specifically attacking the British General Sir Redvers Henry Buller contributed to the sacking of the latter. He later edited the Times History of the South African War. In 1911 he was elected as a Conservative Member of Parliament (MP) for Birmingham South. During the Great War his language skills meant that he served as an Intelligence Officer in the Balkans. As an under-secretary in Lloyd George's national government he helped draft the Balfour Declaration (1917). He also encouraged Jabotinsky in the formation of the Jewish Legion of the British Army. He was First Lord of the Admiralty (1922 - 1924) under Andrew Bonar Law and Stanley Baldwin then later Colonial Secretary (1924-1929).

In the 1930s Amery, along with Winston Churchill, was a bitter critic of appeasement, often openly attacking his own party. It is commonly believed that when Neville Chamberlain announced his flight to Munich to the cheers of the House, Amery was one of only four members who remained seated (the others were Churchill, Anthony Eden and Harold Nicolson) There is, however, some debate as to whether Amery did in fact remain seated, or whether he just appeared to due to his being so short!

He is famous for two moments of high drama in the House of Commons early in World War 2. On 2 September 1939, Neville Chamberlain had spoken in a Commons debate and said he would not declare war on Germany immediately for having invaded Poland, a speech which greatly angered Amery and was felt by many present to be out of touch with the temper of the British people. As Labour Party leader Clement Atlee was absent, Arthur Greenwood stood up in his place and announced that he was speaking for Labour. Amery called out to him across the floor, 'Speak for England!' -- which carried the undeniable implication that Chamberlain was not.

The second incident occurred during the notorious Norway Debate in 1940. Amery famously attacked Chamberlain's government, quoting Oliver Cromwell at the end:

You have sat too long here for any good you have been doing. Depart, I say, and let us have done with you. In the name of God, go!

This debate led to 42 Conservative MPs voting against Chamberlian and 36 abstaining, leading to the downfall of the Conservative government and the formation of a national government under Churchill's premiership. Amery himself noted in his diary that he believed that his speech was one of his best received in the House, and that he had made a difference to the outcome of the debate.

During World War II he was Secretary of State for India, despite the fact that that fate of India had been a keen issue of dispute between Churchill and Amery for many years. Amery was disappointed not to be given a post in the War Cabinet, but he was determined to do all he could in the position he was offered. At the 1945 general election, he lost his seat to Labour's Percy Shurmer, a Post Office worker. He was offered but refused a peerage because this might when he died cut short his son Julian's political career in the House of Commons. However, he was made a Companion of Honour. In retirement, Amery published his autobiography, My Political Life (1953).

Amery distanced himself from his Jewish origins, probably due to anti-Semitism among the British establishment which he sought to join. It is quite likely he never informed his children of their Jewish heritage. His son, John Amery (1912–1945), had a troubled early life and between 1942 and 1945 made pro-Nazi broadcasts from Berlin. After the war he was tried and executed for treason. Another son, Julian Amery (1919–1996) was a Conservative politician who served in the cabinets of Harold Macmillan and Edward Heath.

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References

Faber, David Speaking for England: Leo, Julian and John Amery: The Tragedy of a Political Family, Free Press, 2005, ISBN 0-7432-5688-3

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