Battle For Britain appeared in Private Eye between 1983 and 1987. The series ended after the
1987 general election; this was explained by Private Eye as happening because Stubble "was tragically lost in action in the last week of the war, believed to have been hit by a stray pencil sharpener".
The collected strips were then published in book form by
André Deutsch.
Synopsis
The strip is considered[according to whom?] to rank alongside the best to appear in the magazine. It was a satirical presentation of the struggles of the
Labour Party opposition led by
Neil Kinnock against the
Conservative government led by
Mrs Thatcher. The style borrowed liberally from
Fleetway's War Picture Library comic series, and also
D. C. Thomson & Co.'s Commando. In such comics the Germans were typically portrayed as one-dimensional stereotypes, uttering phrases such as "Dummkopf", "Der Teufel", "Donner und Blitzen", "Gott in Himmel", "Schweinhund", etc. seemingly spoken in the accents used by
Nazi villains in British war films. This was reflected in Battle for Britain.
The
Labour Party opposition is portrayed as a
platoon of British soldiers referred to as "the Marauders", battling against superior forces and always being defeated. They are led by the inexperienced
Corporal "Taffy" Kinnock (
Neil Kinnock—"taffy" is common slang for
Welshman) and the turban-wearing "Darky" Chatterjee (
Roy Hattersley, who was
MP for
Sparkbrook, a multi-racial constituency in
Birmingham). The platoon is usually depicted as backbiting, inept, insubordinate and uncooperative, which is the main reason for its constant defeats. Much of Taffy's woe originates among his own followers, especially from left-wingers such as "Barmy" Benn (
Tony Benn) and "Fatty" Heffer (
Eric Heffer), whose "cruel cockney humour" often has the last word, lowering morale on his own side, and is a feature in almost every instalment.
The
SDP-Liberal Alliance (made up of the
Social Democratic Party led by
David Owen, and the
Liberal Party led by
David Steel) is referred to as "the Allies", led by Doc "Killer" Owen of the
paramedics and "Wee" Jock Steel, the
Tartan Terror. As in many satirical presentations (such as Spitting Image), Steel is shown as a weakling overshadowed by the dominant Owen. After failing to impress in the
1987 general election, the two parties merged to form the
Liberal Democrats in 1988; the "jokey" image of the Alliance put across by satirists was a major factor in what was seen as a search for more "gravitas".
The humour
The humour in the strip relied heavily on
puns and put-downs, with characters often making cynical and unpleasant remarks at others on their own side. "Taffy" Kinnock in particular is always mocked by "Fatty" Heffer's cruel cockney humour. Meanwhile, von Gummer and later Jeffroech Archer (
Jeffrey Archer) are referred to by Thatchler's other henchmen as "Gumkopf" and "Archcreep schwein". Hislop and Newman skilfully portrayed events in contemporary political life in terms of the fictional battle stories as depicted in the comic-books:
The campaign to abolish the
Greater London Council (a body led in
1985 by
Ken Livingstone) was fronted by
Environment SecretaryPatrick Jenkin. Monty Stubble depicted this as
The Blitz—a raid on London led by bomber commander "Patroech Junkers" (a pun on
Junkers Ju 88, a wartime German aircraft), opposed from
RAFSouth Bank (a reference to
County Hall, the GLC headquarters on London's South Bank) by
Spitfire ace "Red" Ken (with "Red" a reference to Livingstone's far-left wing attitude—and, in real life, a frequent nickname for him).
Example
This particular example of the strip was published in Private Eye in July 1986, at about the time when
Parliament was about to go into
recess.
Labour had just won the
Newcastle-under-Lyme by-election.[1] Kinnock (holding the flag) was in the middle of a struggle to assert his authority as party leader in the face of an attempted takeover by the
entryistMilitant group, and had recently managed to expel leading Militant activist
Derek Hatton from the party.[2] Hatton (carrying the bag) is shown with fellow left-wingers (but not Militant members) Tony Benn (in the dress) and Eric Heffer.
The Alliance had failed to gain the seat by about 800 votes.[3] They had complained that the media were not giving them as much coverage as they felt their campaign deserved, which they alleged cost them a famous win.
Thatcher was being heavily criticised by other
Commonwealth leaders for her mildly lukewarm support for sanctions against the
apartheid regime in South Africa led by President
P.W. Botha.[4]
The Conservative Party was worried about its standing in the
opinion polls, especially as speculation was starting to grow that a
general election was likely to be held the following year.
Aftermath
When the series ended in 1987, it was replaced by Dan Dire, Pilot of the Future?, which took a similar comic-book view of politics. This time, the model was
Frank Hampson's artwork for
Dan Dare, as seen in the popular 1950–1969 comic for boys Eagle. In keeping with the
science fiction theme, Kinnock became "Dan Dire" (the questioning title was over whether or not he would ever be
prime minister); Mrs Thatcher became "the Maggon" in reference to Dan Dare's arch-enemy
the Mekon; and Owen became "Doctor Whowen", a reference to
BBC sci-fi hero
Doctor Who.