They were, perhaps, not quite the figures which headline writers had in mind when the Daily Mail cleared its Thursday front page to ask, in bold red and black type: “Who will speak for England?”
Yet, 76 years after the Tory anti-appeaser Leo Amery issued his famous wartime invitation across the floor of the House of Commons over the shoulder of a hapless Neville Chamberlain, there appeared to be no shortage of new candidates now being suggested – from Zippy to Mr Bean.
They are just two among a deluge of suggestions on Twitter from users jumping on the hashtag #WhoWillSpeakForEngland to juxtapose the Mail’s sombre request with a range of characters who might speak for the UK on the question of its future in the EU.
Thursday's Daily Mail front page:
— Nick Sutton (@suttonnick) February 3, 2016
Who WILL speak for England?#tomorrowspaperstoday #bbcpapers #euref pic.twitter.com/BaBim27N85
Rather than the threat Nazi jackboot, the issue on this occasion is the question of Britain’s continued membership of the EU – although the Mail’s front page editorial stresses: “Nobody is suggesting there are any parallels whatever between the Nazis and the EU.”
Following a parliamentary grilling of David Cameron over his long-awaited proposals for EU reform, the catalyst for the Mail’s anger was the spectre of what it described as a Conservative party that had “thrown off all pretence of impartiality, proselytising for the EU in defiance of most of its rank–and–file members, who have grave doubts about Brussels”.
Some politicians did feature in the stream of suggestions on Twitter, including the Mayor of London, despite indications that Cameron is moving towards signing up Boris Johnson to his campaign to keep Britain in a reformed EU.
What Amery would make of it all remains a question that will never be answered. In September 1939, it was the acting leader of the Labour party, Arthur Greenwood, who the Conservative had in mind.
Rising just after Chamberlain had given his latest, and last, report on efforts to strike a deal with Adolf Hitler over the invasion of Poland, Greenwood was greeted by encouragement from MPs on all sides. The mutterings included the shout, traditionally attributed to Amery: “Speak for England, Arthur!”
And Amery’s verdict on what some records have described as a flustered response by Greenwood?
“No one could have done it better,” the Tory MP later wrote.
