I'm Backing Britain - Political Influence

Political Influence

At an after-dinner speech in Burnley on 8 January, Prime Minister Harold Wilson criticised those who were "complaining that the other fellow is not pulling his weight" including trade unionists who pointed to the failures of individual employers. Wilson declared "What we want is 'back Britain', not back-biting". Wilson, who later wrote that the campaign "was a helpful and robust response to the gloom and near-defeatism" after devaluation, put Edmund Dell, Under-Secretary at the Department of Economic Affairs, in charge of government assistance; Dell visited Colt on 8 January 1968, but kept his assistance largely concealed.

Cabinet minister Richard Crossman wrote in his diary on 7 January that the vigorously expanding campaign was a "political windfall", but that it was "something we should have nothing to do with". The Labour Party found itself in difficulty when it ordered 2,000 posters with the slogan "Back Britain with Labour" for local Labour Parties to display. After a complaint from a member of the Industrial Society the posters were withdrawn. The Industrial Society also reported resisting an attempt by the Conservative Party to "borrow" the slogan for political purposes.