Mosley, known to his followers as The Leader, modelled his leadership style on
Benito Mussolini and the BUF on Mussolini's
National Fascist Party in
Italy, including an imitation of the Italian Fascists' black
uniforms for members, earning them the nickname "
Blackshirts". The BUF was
anti-communist and
protectionist, and proposed replacing
parliamentary democracy with executives elected to represent specific industries, trades or other professional interest groups – a system similar to the
corporatism of the Italian fascists. Unlike the Italian system, British fascist corporatism planned to replace the
House of Lords with elected executives drawn from major industries, the clergy, and colonies. The
House of Commons was to be reduced to allow for a faster, "less factionist" democracy.
[2]
The BUF's programme and ideology were outlined in Mosley's
Great Britain (1932) and A. Raven Thompson's
The Coming Corporate State (1938). Many BUF policies were built on
isolationism, prohibiting trade outside an insulated
British Empire. Mosley’s system aimed to protect the British economy from the fluctuations of the world market, especially during the
Great Depression, and prevent "cheap slave competition from abroad."
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