Margaret Thatcher: The Authorized Biography, Volume 2

by Charles Moore

  CHAPTER 7: SALES OF THE CENTURY

  1. Interview with Lord Lawson of Blaby. This was the view held by a number of his colleagues, although not by Lawson himself. See Nigel Lawson, The View from No. 11, Bantam Press, 1992, p. 246; also Margaret Thatcher, The Downing Street Years, HarperCollins, 1993, p. 284. 2. Lawson, The View from No. 11, p. 271. 3. Ibid., p. 333. 4. Redwood to Thatcher, 27 January 1984, TNA: PREM 19/1197 (http://www.margaretthatcher.org/document/134125). 5. Interview with Lord Tebbit. 6. Ibid. 7. Interview with Lord Sterling of Plaistow. 8. Lawson, The View from No. 11, p. 336. 9. Lawson to Thatcher, 16 February 1984, TNA: PREM 19/1197 (http://www.margaretthatcher.org/document/134134). 10. Lawson, The View from No. 11, p. 323. 11. Turnbull to Butler, 10 February 1984, TNA: PREM 19/1197. 12. See Lawson, The View from No. 11, p. 323. 13. Interview with David Norgrove. 14. Turnbull to Thatcher, 23 January 1984, TNA: PREM 19/1197. 15. Walters to Thatcher, 1 March 1984, TNA: PREM 19/1198 (http://www.margaretthatcher.org/document/134157). 16. Turnbull to Thatcher, 24 February 1984, TNA: PREM 19/1197 (http://www.margaretthatcher.org/document/134144). 17. Ingham to Thatcher, 2 March 1984, TNA: PREM 19/1198 (http://www.margaretthatcher.org/document/134160). 18. Lawson, The View from No. 11, p. 357. 19. Guardian, 1 March 1984. 20. Hansard, HC Deb 13 March 1984, 56/286 (http://hansard.millbanksystems.com/commons/1984/mar/13/introduction). 21. Walters to Thatcher, 1 March 1984, TNA: PREM 19/1198 (http://www.margaretthatcher.org/document/134157). 22. Spectator, 17 March 1984. 23. Guardian, 14 March 1984. 24. Redwood to Thatcher, 20 March 1984, CAC: THCR 2/6/3/131 Part 1 (http://www.margaretthatcher.org/document/136305). 25. Interview with Oliver Letwin. 26. Interview with David Pascall. 27. Interview with Bob Young. 28. Interview with David Pascall. 29. Ibid. 30. Interview for The Times, 3 May 1983 (http://www.margaretthatcher.org/document/105091). 31. Thatcher note on Gregson to Thatcher, 25 October 1983, TNA: PREM 19/990. 32. Interview with Peter Warry. 33. Ibid. 34. Interview with Lord Tebbit. 35. Interview with Oliver Letwin. 36. Interview with John Redwood. 37. Interview with Ferdinand Mount. 38. Correspondence with David Willetts. 39. Ibid. 40. Interview with Lord Moore of Lower Marsh. 41. Ibid. 42. Interview with David Pascall. 43. Interview with Bob Young. 44. Interview with Lord Moore of Lower Marsh. 45. Interview with John Redwood. 46. Ibid. 47. Interview with David Willetts. 48. Interview with Lord Moore of Lower Marsh. 49. Lawson to Thatcher, 25 July 1983, TNA: PREM 19/989 (http://www.margaretthatcher.org/document/128139). 50. Interview with Lord Moore of Lower Marsh. 51. Lawson, Memo to E (A), Competition and Privatisation, 19 October 1983, TNA: CAB 134/4685. 52. Mount to Thatcher, 21 October 1983, TNA: PREM 19/990. 53. Redwood to Mount, 20 October 1983, TNA: PREM 19/990. 54. Interview with Bob Young. 55. Walker to Thatcher, 20 December 1983, TNA: PREM 19/990. 56. Redwood to Thatcher, 20 January 1984, TNA: PREM 19/990. 57. Interview with Lord Moore of Lower Marsh. 58. Interview with Sir Gerry Grimstone. 59. Cockfield to Thatcher, 23 January 1984, TNA: PREM 19/1195. 60. Interview with Peter Warry. 61. Mount to Thatcher, 17 December 1982, TNA: PREM 19/1100. 62. Quoted in Cecil Parkinson, Right at the Centre, Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1992, p. 241. 63. Nicklaus Thomas-Symonds, Nye: The Political Life of Aneurin Bevan, I. B. Tauris, 2015, p. 4. 64. Interview with Sir Peter Gregson. 65. The Times, 11 January 1985. 66. Financial Times, 28 January 1984. 67. Walker to Thatcher, 30 January 1984, TNA: PREM 19/1195. 68. Turnbull to Thatcher, 30 January 1984, TNA: PREM 19/1195. 69. Interview with Lord Lawson. 70. Interview with John Redwood. 71. Interview with Sir Martin Jacomb. 72. Ibid. 73. Interview with Oliver Letwin. 74. Interview with David Willetts. 75. Interview with Sir Martin Jacomb. 76. Interview with Lord Moore of Lower Marsh. 77. Ibid. 78. Speech to Joint Houses of Congress, 20 February 1985 (http://www.margaretthatcher.org/document/105968). 79. Interview with Lord Lawson. 80. See Lawson, The View from No. 11, p. 224. 81. Thatcher, The Downing Street Years, pp. 678–9. 82. Scholar to Rees, 8 April 1982, TNA: PREM 19/1162. 83. Gow to Thatcher, 24 May 1982, TNA: PREM 19/1162. 84. Gregson to Thatcher, 23 July 1983, TNA: PREM 19/1162. 85. Cockfield to Howe, 1 September 1982, TNA: PREM 19/1162. 86. Cockfield to Brittan, 6 October 1982, TNA: PREM 19/1162. 87. Wolfson to Thatcher, 15 November 1983, TNA: PREM 19/1162. 88. Redwood and Young to Thatcher, 21 February 1984, TNA: PREM 19/1162. 89. Turnbull to Nicholls, 12 September 1984, TNA: PREM 19/1163. 90. Sherbourne to Turnbull, 26 September 1984, TNA: PREM 19/1163. 91. For a full account of these efforts see Martyn Gregory, Dirty Tricks: British Airways’ Secret War against Virgin Atlantic, Little, Brown, 1994, p. 35. 92. Ibid. 93. Interview with Sir Oliver Wright. 94. Thatcher to Reagan, 29 March 1983, Exec Sec, NSA: Head of State, UK PM Thatcher, Box 35, Reagan Library. 95. Interview with Sir Rodric Braithwaite. 96. Reagan to Thatcher, 6 April 1983, Exec Sec, NSA: Head of State, UK PM Thatcher, Box 35, Reagan Library. 97. Sommer to McFarlane, 24 June 1983, UK-1983-06/16/83–07/11/83, Box 90424, Peter Sommer Files, Reagan Library. 98. 090908Z Nov 84, ‘Laker Investigation: My Meeting with PM Thatcher’, UK-1984-10/29/84–11/08/84, Box 90549, Peter Sommer Files, Reagan Library. 99. 14 November 1983 [sic, actually 1984], Extraterritoriality – Laker (1), Box 28F, Fred Fielding Files, Reagan Library. 100. Interview with Robert Kimmitt. 101. Ronald Reagan, The Reagan Diaries, HarperCollins, 2007, 16 November 1984, p. 278. 102. 170749z Nov 84, ‘Talking Points for WAW, November 18 1984’, State Department Archives, released under FOIA Case #200903260. 103. 172342z Nov 84, ‘Laker Case – Meeting with PM Thatcher’, UK: Vol. IV(1), Exec Sec, NSC: Country File, Box 91333, Reagan Library. 104. 181839z Nov 84, ‘Laker Investigation: Meeting with PM Thatcher’, State Department Archives, released under FOIA Case #200903260. 105. Ibid. 106. Thatcher to Reagan, 18 November 1984, CAC: THCR 3/1/42 (http://www.margaretthatcher.org/document/136658). 107. Thatcher to Reagan, undated, Exec Sec, NSC: Head of State, UK PM Thatcher (8407695-8409063), Box 36, Reagan Library. 108. 201317z Dec 84, ‘Your meeting with PM Thatcher’, Terrorism: US-British (11/20/1984–12/20/1984), Box 14, Oliver North Files, Reagan Library. 109. Interview with Roger Maynard. 110. Memcon, ‘Mrs Thatcher at Camp David’, 22 December 1984, Thatcher Visit – December 1984 (1), Exec Sec, European and Soviet Affairs Directorate, Box 90902, Reagan Library. 111. Interview with George Shultz. 112. Memcon, 22 December 1984, Thatcher Visit – December 1984 (1), Exec Sec, European and Soviet Affairs Directorate, Box 90902, Reagan Library. 113. Interview with Lord Powell of Bayswater. 114. Memcon, Private Meeting with PM Thatcher, 20 February 1985, Thatcher’s Visit Feb 1985 (2), Exec Sec, European and Soviet Affairs Directorate, Box 90902, Reagan Library. 115. Interview with Raymond Albright. 116. Redwood to Thatcher, 19 July 1984, TNA: PREM 19/1196. 117. Interview with Lord Lawson of Blaby. 118. Lawson, The View from No. 11, p. 214. 119. Interview with Sir Peter Gregson. 120. Ibid. 121. Lawson, The View from No. 11, p. 174. 122. Ibid., p. 215. 123. Peter Walker, Staying Power, Bloomsbury, 1991, p. 192. 124. Interview with Lord Moore of Lower Marsh. 125. Redwood to Thatcher, 19 July 1984, TNA: PREM 19/1196. 126. Interview with Sir Peter Gregson. 127. Interview with John Redwood. 128. Interview with Sir Peter Gregson. 129. Interview with Lord Young of Graffham. 130. Interview with Sir Peter Gregson. 131. Interview with Lord Turnbull. 132. Thatcher, The Downing Street Years, p. 681. 133. Interview with Sir Gerry Grimstone. 134. Interview with David Norgrove. 135. Interview with David Willetts. 136. Interview with Sir Martin Jacomb. 137. Interview with Sir Peter Gregson. 138. Interview with Lord Turnbull. 139. See David Parker, The Official History of Privatisation, vol. i, Routledge, 2009, p. 392. 140. Interview with Sir David Walker. 141. Thatcher to Wilson, 10 November 1980, TNA: PREM 19/1005 (http://www.margaretthatcher.org/document/137161). 142. Interview with Sir Nicholas Goodison. 143. Interview with Lord Parkinson. 144. Interview with Sir David Walker. 145. Interview with Lord Lawson of Blaby. 146. Speech by Mr Jacob Rothschild to Financial Times conference, 24–25 October 1982, TNA: PREM 19/1005. 147. Interview with David Willetts. 148. Interview with Lord Lawson of Blaby. 149. A full account of the OFT sequence of events appears in David Kynaston’s history, The City of London, vol. iv: A Club No More 1945–2000, Chatto & Windus, 2001, pp. 616ff. 150. Inte
rview with Sir Nicholas Goodison. 151. Interview with Lord Parkinson. 152. Ibid. 153. Interview with Sir David Walker. 154. Interview with Sir Michael Scholar. 155. Interview with Lord Parkinson. 156. Interview with Sir Martin Jacomb. 157. Daily Telegraph, 30 December 2014. 158. Interview with Sir Michael Scholar. 159. Ibid. 160. Interview with Lord Parkinson. 161. Interview with David Willetts. 162. Interview with John Redwood. 163. Draft statement by Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, 26 July 1983, TNA: PREM 19/1005. 164. Redwood to Thatcher, 18 October 1983, TNA: PREM 19/1005 (http://www.margaretthatcher.org/document/137178). 165. Redwood to Thatcher, 6 April 1984, TNA: PREM 19/1461 (http://www.margaretthatcher.org/document/137000). 166. Turnbull to McCarthy, 10 April 1984, TNA: PREM 19/1461. 167. Ibid. 168. Redwood to Thatcher, 6 April 1984, TNA: PREM 19/1461 (http://www.margaretthatcher.org/document/137000). 169. Turnbull to McCarthy, 10 April 1984, TNA: PREM 19/1461. 170. Interview with Lord Lawson of Blaby. 171. Interview with David Norgrove. 172. Griffiths and Willetts to Thatcher, 11 April 1986, TNA: PREM 19/1718. 173. Redwood talk to Policy Unit, 11 June 1984, TNA: PREM 19/1199 (http://www.margaretthatcher.org/document/134173). 174. Ibid. 175. Ibid. 176. Interview with Oliver Letwin. 177. Ibid. 178. Conservative Central Council, 15 March 1986 (http://www.margaretthatcher.org/document/106348). 179. The Times, 9 November 1985. 180. Speech to Scottish Conservative Party Conference, 15 May 1987 (http://www.margaretthatcher.org/document/106814). 181. Interview with David Willetts. 182. Interview with John Redwood. 183. Interview with Lord Lawson of Blaby. 184. Interview with Lord Moore of Lower Marsh. 185. Interview with Lord Turnbull. 186. Interview with Lord Lawson of Blaby.

  CHAPTER 8: GLASNOST IN THE CHILTERNS

  1. Thatcher to Alison, 31 December 1983, CAC: THCR 2/6/3/135 (http://www.margaretthatcher.org/document/131301). 2. Coles to Fall, 21 December 1983, USA, Henry Kissinger’s Visits to the UK. 3. Ibid. 4. Reagan, Address to the Nation and Other Countries on United States–Soviet Relations, 16 January 1984 (http://www.reagan.utexas.edu/archives/speeches/1984/11684a.htm). 5. Thatcher to Reagan, 19 January 1984, CAC: THCR 3/1/36 (http://www.margaretthatcher.org/document/136648). 6. Interview with Sir John Coles. 7. FCO steering brief, 24 January 1984, CAC: THCR 1/10/69 (http://www.margaretthatcher.org/document/133919). 8. Ricketts to Coles, covering note to FCO steering brief, 19 January 1984, Prime Minister’s Papers, PM’s Tours Abroad: Visit to Hungary (document consulted in the Cabinet Office); see also ‘Call on Mr Kadar’, c.3 February 1984, THCR 1/10/69 (http://www.margaretthatcher.org/document/133923). 9. Thatcher to Reagan, 8 February 1984, CAC: THCR 3/1/36. 10. Ibid. 11. ‘Handwritten notes re: Chequers 12 Feb 84’, VP Trip to Europe & USSR, Donald Gregg Files, Bush Library. 12. Interview with Lord Powell of Bayswater. 13. Interview with Lord Butler of Brockwell. 14. Written contribution from Tony Bishop, 9 September 2010. 15. Margaret Thatcher, The Downing Street Years, HarperCollins, 1993, p. 458. 16. Written contribution from Tony Bishop, 9 September 2010. 17. Moscow telegram 217, 14 February 1984, Prime Minister’s Papers, Soviet Union, Prime Minister’s Attendance at Mr Andropov’s funeral in Moscow (document consulted in the Cabinet Office). 18. Written contribution from Tony Bishop. 19. Archie Brown, ‘The Change to Engagement in Britain’s Cold War Policy: The Origins of the Thatcher–Gorbachev Relationship’, Journal of Cold War Studies, vol. 10, no. 3, Summer 2008, p. 20. 20. Interview with Sir Nigel Broomfield. 21. Powell to Thatcher, 28 June 1984, TNA: PREM 19/1394 (http://www.margaretthatcher.org/document/134689). 22. Reagan, Address to the 39th Session of the UN General Assembly in New York, 24 September 1984, Public Papers of the Presidents, American Presidency Project (http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=40430&st=&st1=). 23. Reagan to Thatcher, 26 September 1984, CAC: THCR 3/1/40. 24. Thatcher to Reagan, 26 September 1984, CAC: THCR 3/1/40. 25. Reagan to Thatcher, 3 October 1984, Exec Sec, NSC: Head of State, UK: PM Thatcher, Box 8491035, Reagan Library. 26. Thatcher to Reagan, 9 October 1984, CAC: THCR 3/1/41. 27. Powell note to Thatcher, undated, TNA: PREM 19/1394. 28. Appleyard to Powell, 16 October 1984, TNA: PREM 19/1394 (http://www.margaretthatcher.org/document/134701). 29. Thatcher to Reagan, 8 November 1984, Exec Sec, NSC: Head of State, UK: PM Thatcher, Box 8491070, Reagan Library. 30. Ibid. 31. McFarlane to President, 8 November 1984, UK 1984-10/29/84–11/09/84, Box 90549, Peter Sommer Files, Reagan Library. 32. Interview with Jack Matlock. 33. Appleyard to Powell, 19 November 1984, TNA: PREM 19/1394 (http://www.margaretthatcher.org/document/134706). 34. Ibid. 35. Andrei Grachev, Gorbachev’s Gamble: Soviet Foreign Policy and the End of the Cold War, Polity, 2008, pp. 50–51. 36. Sutherland, Moscow telegram 1382, 4 December 1984, TNA: PREM 19/1394 (http://www.margaretthatcher.org/document/134714). 37. Cradock to Powell, 11 December 1984, TNA: PREM 19/1394 (http://www.margaretthatcher.org/document/134724). 38. See Nicholas Elliott, With my Little Eye: Observations along the Way, Michael Russell, 1993 (especially p. 9). 39. For a full account, see Christopher Andrew, The Defence of the Realm: The Authorized History of MI5, Allen Lane, 2009, pp. 671–3. 40. Ibid. 41. Interview with Sir Colin McColl. 42. Ibid. 43. Ibid. 44. Interview with Sir John Scarlett. 45. Interview with Oleg Gordievsky. 46. Ibid. 47. Ibid. 48. See Andrew, The Defence of the Realm, p. 680. 49. Butler to Armstrong, 10 December 1984, TNA: PREM 19/1394 (http://www.margaretthatcher.org/document/134719). 50. Interview with Lord Jopling. 51. Mikhail Gorbachev, Memoirs, Doubleday, 1996, p. 160. 52. Written contribution from Tony Bishop. 53. Record of conversation between Thatcher and Gorbachev at Chequers, 16 December 1984, TNA: PREM 19/1647 54. Record of conversation between Thatcher and Gorbachev at Chequers, 16 December 1984, TNA: PREM 19/1394 (http://www.margaretthatcher.org/document/134729). 55. Ibid. 56. Ibid. 57. Ibid. 58. Jonathan Aitken, Margaret Thatcher: Power and Personality, Bloomsbury, 2013, p. 481. 59. Record of conversation between Thatcher and Gorbachev at Chequers, 16 December 1984, TNA, PREM 19/1394 (http://www.margaretthatcher.org/document/134729). 60. Written contribution from Tony Bishop. 61. Record of conversation between Thatcher and Gorbachev at Chequers, 16 December 1984, TNA: PREM 19/1394 (http://www.margaretthatcher.org/document/134729). 62. Thatcher, The Downing Street Years, p. 461. 63. Gorbachev, Memoirs, pp. 160–61. 64. Interview with Lord Powell of Bayswater. 65. Aitken, Margaret Thatcher, pp. 482–3. 66. Powell to Appleyard, 16 December 1984, TNA: PREM 19/1394 (http://www.margaretthatcher.org/document/134730). 67. Ibid. 68. Ibid. 69. Ibid. 70. Written contribution from Tony Bishop. 71. Martin Nicholson, unpublished manuscript (kindly made available to the author by Martin Nicholson). 72. Cited in Deborah Hart Strober and Gerald Strober, The Reagan Presidency: An Oral History of the Era, Potomac, 2003, p. 327. 73. Written contribution from Tony Bishop. 74. Ibid. 75. Interview with Lord Powell of Bayswater. 76. Correspondence with Sir Bernard Ingham. See also Bernard Ingham, Kill the Messenger, Fontana, 1991, p. 270. 77. FCO telegram 2529 to Hong Kong, 20 December 1984, TNA: PREM 19/1394 (http://www.margaretthatcher.org/document/134737). 78. Andrei Grachev, ‘Political and Personal: Gorbachev, Thatcher and the End of the Cold War’, Journal of European Integration History, vol. 16, no. 1, 2010, p. 50. 79. Interview with Oleg Gordievsky. 80. Ibid. 81. Interview with Sir John Scarlett. 82. Ibid., 83. Thatcher, The Downing Street Years, p. 463. 84. Powell to Appleyard, 17 December 1984, TNA: PREM 19/1394 (http://www.margaretthatcher.org/document/134733). 85. Washington Post, 21 December 1984. 86. 201317z Dec 84, ‘Your meeting with Prime Minister Thatcher’, 20 December 1984, Terrorism: US–British (11/20/1984–12/20/1984), Box 14, Oliver North Files, Reagan Library. 87. Thatcher’s report to Reagan on meeting with Gorbachev, 22 December 1984, TNA: PREM 19/1394 (http://www.margaretthatcher.org/document/134740). 88. Ibid. 89. Interview with Lord Butler of Brockwell. 90. Ibid. 91. Washington telegram 21, 20 December 1984, TNA: PREM 19/1502. 92. Annotation by Charles Powell, undated, Prime Minister’s Papers, PM’s Tours: Possible visit to Peking (document consulted in the Cabinet Office). 93. Memcon, Margaret Thatcher at Camp David, 22 December 1984, Thatcher visit Dec. 84 (1), EASD, NSC, Box 90902, Reagan Library. 94. Ibid. 95. Ibid. 96. Thatcher, The Downing Street Years, p. 466. 97. Memcon, Margaret Thatcher
at Camp David, 22 December 1984, Thatcher visit Dec. 84 (1), EASD, NSC, Box 90902, Reagan Library. 98. Ibid. 99. Record of a meeting between the Prime Minister and President Reagan, 22 December 1984, CAC: THCR 1/10/78 (http://www.margaretthatcher.org/document/136436). 100. Memcon, Margaret Thatcher at Camp David, 22 December 1984, Thatcher visit Dec. 84 (1), EASD, NSC, Box 90902, Reagan Library. 101. Interview with Lord Powell of Bayswater. 102. Memcon, Margaret Thatcher at Camp David, 22 December 1984, Thatcher visit Dec. 84 (1), EASD, NSC, Box 90902, Reagan Library. 103. Ibid. 104. Interview with Bud McFarlane. 105. Interview with Sir Bernard Ingham. 106. Lord Powell of Bayswater, Interview for The Downing Street Years (BBC1), 1993. 107. Interview with Lord Powell of Bayswater. 108. Untitled draft, Thatcher Visit 12/22/84, OA 11623, Robert Sims Files (Press Secretary), Reagan Library. 109. Interview with Lord Powell of Bayswater. 110. Ibid. 111. George Shultz, Turmoil and Triumph, Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1993, p. 509. 112. Interview with Richard Burt. 113. William Safire, New York Times, 24 December 1984. 114. Interview with Henry Kissinger. 115. Interview with Richard Perle. 116. Interview with Arthur Hartman. 117. Newsweek, 3 December 1990. 118. Interview with Roz Ridgway. 119. Correspondence with George Shultz. 120. Interview with Colin Powell. 121. Powell to Ricketts, 9 January 1985, Prime Minister’s Papers, USA, UK/US Relations, Part 3 (document consulted in the Cabinet Office). 122. Quoted in Washington telegram 593, 20 February 1985, Prime Minister’s Papers, USA, PM’s visit to Washington, February 1985, Part 4 (document consulted in the Cabinet Office). 123. Interview with Lord Powell of Bayswater. 124. Thatcher, Speech to Joint Houses of Congress, 20 February 1985 (http://www.margaretthatcher.org/document/105968). 125. Ibid. 126. Interview with Lord Powell of Bayswater. 127. Ronald Reagan, ‘Foreword Written for a Report on the Strategic Defense Initiative’, 28 December 1984, Public Papers of the Presidents (http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=38499&st=&st1=). 128. Thatcher’s Handwritten Speaking Cards, ‘Talks with President in Plenary’, CAC: THCR 1/10/81. 129. ‘Record of a meeting on Arms Control between the Prime Minister and the President of the United States at the White House on Wednesday 20 February at 1330’, CAC: THCR 1/10/81. 130. Ibid. 131. Thatcher, ‘Remarks Departing the White House’, 20 February 1985 (http://www.margaretthatcher.org/document/105969). 132. Interview with Lord Powell of Bayswater. 133. Ken Adelman, Interview for The Downing Street Years (BBC1), 1993. 134. Ibid. 135. Time, 24 February 1985. 136. Interview with Bud McFarlane.