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In the 1980s it was noted for being more radical than the main party until it was disbanded by the then party chairman Norman Tebbit for publishing an article which accused former Conservative Prime Minister Harold Macmillan of being complicit in the massacre of Serbian prisoners of War in the aftermath of World War II. Another controversial position was the "Hang Nelson Mandela " slogans which were apparently worn by some leading members. There was some damage during the 1986 FCS conference at Loughborough, leading to press reports of a "riot". Some members were accused of glorifying death squads in Central America. The FCS received further embarrassment when one of its regional chairmen, William Beggs , was caught and convicted of the sexual murder of an 18 year old man Another former leading FCS activist, Lloyd Beat, committed suicide whilst being investigated for alleged paedophile offences."Married, dad-of-two Lloyd Beat, 36, hung himself after he was accused of sexually assaulting a 15-year-old boy. He left a suicide note to Scottish Tory leader David McLetchie." [http://www.scottishmediamonitor.com/articles2.cfm?ID=73 Scottish Media Monitoring from ScotsGay FACTIONALISM In its last years, the Federation of Conservative Students, perhaps reflecting the debate within the Conservative party of the 1980s and the generally fractious nature of student politics, was notably prone to factionalism. The three main factions were:
At various times during its history the FCS was the largest political student group in Britain, but the ruthlessness with which some of its factions pursued their aims brought the group notoriety. THE WET FACTION The wet faction had controlled the Federation of Conservative Students until the 1980s. Most of whom were members of the Tory Reform Group . Despite a relatively high number of supporters and control of some large student bodies they only really gained influence within the national federation through controversial alliances with the authoritarian faction. In many universities the Tory Reform Group organised itself as a competitor political society to the main Conservative group. This is a policy that the Tory Reform Group maintains today. THE AUTHORITARIAN FACTION The authoritarian faction centered around the student Monday Club . There was an alleged but unproved crossover between the membership of the authoritarian faction and the membership of both the British National Party and the National Front . These originated from the links between the authoritarian faction and the Monday Club and the short-lived membership of prominent authoritarian, Stuart Millson , in the BNP. Others have argued that the 'authoritarian' faction was the only grouping in the FCS that had any such tendency and represented less than a third of the Federation. The authoritarian faction was often seen as a kingmaker in FCS contests, sometimes siding with the wet faction while at other times propping up the libertarian faction. It was probably the weaker of the three main factions, although its influence tended to be enhanced by its "swing" status. Former leaders of the authoritarian faction, who do not share the all-round Americophilia of the libertarians and now tend to be highly sceptical of both American cultural influences on the UK and the policies of George W. Bush (especially the " War On Terror " and occupation of Iraq ), have tended to promote Euronationalist ideas in Right-wing groupings such as the Conservative Democratic Alliance and the UK Freedom Party . They are also highly influential on Right Now! magazine. THE LIBERTARIAN FACTION The Libertarian faction was closely linked to the Libertarian Alliance run by Chris Tame . Many former leaders of the Libertarian faction, such as Mark MacGregor , have gone on to hold senior office in the Conservative Party. The libertarian faction was the largest faction in the FCS in its last few years, for example at the Loughborough conference, shortly before the demise of the FCS, a libertarian motion was passed in favour of free migration, indicating it was stronger than the wets and 'authoritarians' combined. It was opposed by both the wet and the authoritarian factions. |
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