Battle For Britain was a satirical strip published in the satirical British magazine Private Eye. It was attributed to Monty Stubble, a nom de plume of editor Ian Hislop whose artistic collaborator was Nick Newman. To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... The examples and perspective in this article or section may not represent a worldwide view. ... Private eye may mean: Look up Private eye on Wiktionary, the free dictionary Private Eye a fortnightly British satirical magazine-newspaper, edited by Ian Hislop (as of 2005) A private investigator, a private detective for hire (see also crime fiction and detective fiction) Private Eye, a song by Alkaline Trio... A pen name or nom de plume is a pseudonym adopted by an author. ... Hislop on the set of Have I Got News For You Ian Hislop (born July 13, 1960) is the editor of British satirical magazine Private Eye; a team captain on the popular satirical current affairs quiz Have I Got News for You and a comedy scriptwriter. ... Nick Newman is a topical cartoonist for the British satirical magazine, Private Eye. ...

Publication

Battle For Britain was published fortnightly in Private Eye between 1983 and 1987. The strips were then published in book form by André Deutsch. Andre Deutsch (1917–2000) was a 20th century British publisher. ...

Premise

Set during Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher's second term of office, the series describes British politics of the time in terms of World War Two. The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is in practice the most important political office in the UK. He acts as the head of Her Majestys Government and like other Prime Ministers in Westminster Systems is (along with his Cabinet) the de facto... Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher, LG, OM, PC, FRS (born 13 October 1925) was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990. ... This article is becoming very long. ...

The Conservative government is shown as a Fascist organisation ruling the Fatherland. The Fuhrer, Herr Thatchler, is a paranoid megalomaniac served by her grovelling henchmen who include Von Gunner, Von Tebbit, Chancellor Herman Lawson and Lord Howe-Howe (a play on Foreign Secretary Sir Geoffrey Howe and Lord Haw-Haw). The Conservative Party (officially the Conservative & Unionist Party) is currently the second largest political party in the United Kingdom in terms of sitting Members of Parliament (MPs), and the largest in terms of public membership. ... Fascism (in Italian, fascismo), capitalized, was the authoritarian political movement which ruled Italy from 1922 to 1943 under the leadership of Benito Mussolini. ... Führer (often written Fuehrer or Fuhrer in English when umlauts are not used; also written with the German definite article included, der Führer) is a proper noun meaning leader or guide in the German language. ... Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher, LG, OM, PC, FRS (born 13 October 1925) was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990. ... This article or section may be confusing for some readers, and should be edited to be clearer or more simplified. ... Norman Beresford Tebbit, Baron Tebbit, CH, PC (born 29 March 1931) is a British Conservative politician and former MP for Chingford, who was born in Southgate in Enfield. ... The Chancellor of the Exchequer is the title held by the British cabinet minister responsible for all financial matters. ... Nigel Lawson, Baron Lawson of Blaby, PC (born March 11, 1932), a British politician, was Chancellor of the Exchequer between June 1983 and October 1989. ... The title of Foreign Secretary has been traditionally used to refer to the British Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs. ... Richard Edward Geoffrey Howe, Baron Howe of Aberavon, PC (born December 20, 1926), usually known before 1992 as Sir Geoffrey Howe, is a senior British Conservative politician. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Lord Haw-Haw. ...

The Labour Party, then in opposition, is portrayed as a bunch of British soldiers referred to as the Marauders. They are led by the inexperienced Corporal "Taffy" Kinnock and the turban-wearing "Darky" Chatterjee (a reference to Roy Hattersley's multi-racial constituency). Much of "Taffy"'s woes come from his own side, especially from left-wingers like "Barmy" Benn, and "Fatty" Heffer, whose "cruel cockney humour" was often referred to as lowering morale on his own side. The Labour Party has been, since its founding in the early 20th century, the main democratic socialist [1] political party in the United Kingdom. ... Corporal is a rank in use in some form by most militaries, police forces or other uniformed organizations around the world. ... Rt. ... Roy Sydney George Hattersley, Baron Hattersley, PC (born December 28, 1932), is a British Labour Party politician, published author and journalist from Sheffield, England. ... Tony Benn about to join March 2005 anti-war demo in London Anthony Neil Wedgwood Benn (born April 3, 1925), known as Tony Benn, formerly 2nd Viscount Stansgate, is a British politician on the left of the Labour Party. ... Eric Samuel Heffer (January 12, 1922 – May 27, 1991) was a British socialist politician. ...

The SDP-Liberal Alliance is referred to as the Allies and are led by the legendary 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 more dominant Owen. The SDP-Liberal Alliance was an electoral alliance of the Social Democratic Party and the Liberal Party in the UK that ran from 1981 to 1988, when the bulk of the two parties merged to form the Social and Liberal Democrats, later referred to as simply the Liberal Democrats. ... The Right Honourable David Anthony Llewellyn Owen, Baron Owen, CH, PC (born July 2, 1938) is a British politician and one of the founders of the British Social Democratic Party (SDP). ... Typical view of the defibrillator operator. ... David Martin Scott Steel, Baron Steel of Aikwood KT PC KBE (born March 31, 1938) is a British and Scottish politician and a Liberal Democrat member of the UK House of Lords. ... Spitting Image was a satirical puppet show that ran on the United Kingdoms ITV television network from 1984 to 1996. ...

Analysis

Puns and jokes featured in the strip, but the humour was mainly of the put-down variety with characters making cynical and unpleasant remarks to 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, are referred to by Thatchler's other henchmen as "Gumkopf" and "Archcreep schwein". Jeffrey Howard Archer, Baron Archer of Weston-super-Mare (born April 15, 1940) is the successful author of a number of popular novels, raised considerable sums for charities, was a former MP and Deputy Chairman of the Conservative Party, who was later convicted of perjury. ...

Some knowledge of Thatcher's second term of office is needed in order to better understand the jokes and events. Cleverly, Hislop and Newman managed to portray many of the events in contemporary politics as typical battles of World War Two:

• By-elections would be shown as the liberation of French towns. These would be renamed Chester-le-Field and Greneviche.

• When government ministers were dismissed from office, Thatchler is shown ordering them to be taken out and shot.

• The Miners' Strike is shown as "Sapper" Scargill leading "Taffy"'s marauders through some treacherous minefields.

• Bomber commander Patroech Junkers leads The Blitz and is opposed from RAF South Bank by Spitfire ace "Red" Ken. This takes place when Patrick Jenkin, the Environment Secretary, was out to abolish the Greater London Council, led by Ken Livingstone.

A by-election or bye-election is a special election held to fill a political office when the incumbent has died or resigned. ... Chesterfield is a historic market town and local government district in Derbyshire, a county in England. ... Greenwich (pronounced grenn-itch , or by the locals) is a town, now part of the south eastern urban sprawl of London, on the south bank of the River Thames in the London Borough of Greenwich. ... The miners strike of 1984–1985 was a major piece of industrial action affecting the British coal industry. ... Image:Http://pictures. ... A landmine is a type of mine which is placed onto or into the ground and explodes when triggered by a vehicle or person. ... Patrick Jenkin was an important member of Margaret Thatchers government. ... Heinkel He 111 German bomber over the Surrey Docks, Southwark, London (German propaganda photomontage) The Blitz was the sustained bombing of the United Kingdom by Nazi Germany between 7 September 1940 and 16 May 1941. ... RAF is an three letter acronym for: Royal Air Force -- the Air Force of the United Kingdom (see also Air Ministry) Red Army Faction (Rote Armee Fraktion) -- a German terror organisation Rigas Autobusu Fabrika -- a factory making buses in Riga, Latvia Rapid Action Force in India Računarski Fakultet RAF... The National Theatre is one of the collection of arts buildings that make up the South Bank Centre. ... The Supermarine Spitfire was a single-seat fighter used by the RAF and many Allied countries in World War II. Produced by Supermarine, the Spitfire was designed by R.J. Mitchell, who continued to refine it until his death in 1937. ... Ken Livingstone Kenneth Robert Livingstone (born June 17, 1945), is a British politician who has been the Mayor of London since the creation of the post in 2000. ... The Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs is a UK cabinet-level position in charge of the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, and the succesor to the positions of Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food and Secretary of State for the Environment. ... Arms of the Greater London Council The Greater London Council (GLC) was the top-tier local government administrative body for Greater London from 1965 to 1986. ...

Example

This cartoon was published in Private Eye in the middle of 1986 at about the time when Parliament was about to go into recess. The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislative body in the United Kingdom and British overseas territories. ... Children can be found playing on playhouses such as this during recess. ...

• Labour had just won the Newcastle-under-Lyme by-election [1]. Kinnock (holding the flag) had recently managed to expel Derek Hatton from the party [2]. Hatton (carrying the bag) is shown with fellow left-wingers Tony Benn (in the dress) and Eric Heffer.

• The Alliance had failed to gain the seat by about 800 votes. They complained that the media was not giving them enough coverage.

• Thatcher was being heavily criticised by other Commonwealth leaders for not supporting sanctions against Apartheid South Africa, led by President P.W. Botha [3].

• As a result, half the participant countries boycotted the 1986 Commonwealth Games being held in Edinburgh.

• The Conservatives were worried about their position in the opinion polls, especially since the general election was due next year.

Newcastle-under-Lyme, known simply as castle to many local people, is a busy market town in Staffordshire, England, not to be confused with the larger city of Newcastle upon Tyne. ... A by-election or bye-election is a special election held to fill a political office when the incumbent has died or resigned. ... Derek Hatton (born 1948), is a politician in the United Kingdom Hatton was a member of the Labour Party and deputy leader of Liverpool City Council in the 1980s. ... The Commonwealth of Nations (CN), usually known as the Commonwealth, is a voluntary association of 53 independent sovereign states, almost all of which are former colonies of the United Kingdom. ... A segregated beach in South Africa, 1982. ... P.W. Botha Pieter Willem Botha, (born January 12, 1916) commonly known as P.W. and as die groot krokodil (the great crocodile) was Prime Minister of South Africa from 1978 to 1984 and State President of South Africa from 1984 to 1989. ... The 1986 Commonwealth Games were held in Edinburgh, Scotland. ... Edinburgh (pronounced ; Dùn Èideann () in Scottish Gaelic) is the capital of Scotland and its second-largest city. ... Opinion polls are surveys of opinion using sampling. ... A general election is an election in which all members of a given political body are up for election. ...

The Series ends

The series ended after the 1987 General Election and was later published in book form.

It was replaced by Dan Dire, Pilot of the Future?, which took a similar view of politics, this time in terms of science fiction: Owen becoming Doctor Whowen and Thatcher was portrayed as the Maggon. Dan Dire was Kinnock and the questioning title was over whether or not he would ever be Prime Minister. Science fiction is a form of speculative fiction principally dealing with the impact of imagined science and technology, or both, upon society and persons as individuals. ... Doctor Who is a long-running British science fiction television programme produced by the BBC about a mysterious time-travelling adventurer known as The Doctor, who explores time and space with his companions, fighting evil. ... The Mekon was the arch-enemy of the British comic book hero Dan Dare, first appearing in 1950 in the Eagle comic. ... The return of the original Dan Dare in 1989 Dan Dare - Pilot of the Future is a classic British science fiction comic hero, created by Frank Hampson in 1950. ...

Book

• Stubble, Monty (1987). Battle for Britain. Andre Deutsch. ISBN 0-233981-36-5.