Margaret Thatcher: The Authorized Biography, Volume 2

by Charles Moore

  CHAPTER 15: TBW

  1. Evening Standard, 28 January 1986. 2. The Times, 31 January 1986. 3. Spectator, 15 February 1986. 4. Woodrow Wyatt, The Journals of Woodrow Wyatt, vol. i, Macmillan, 1998, 9 February 1986, p. 87. 5. Margaret Thatcher, The Downing Street Years, HarperCollins, 1993, p. 436. 6. Thatcher Memoirs Materials, CAC: THCR 4/3. 7. The Times, 25 March 1986. 8. Tebbit to Thatcher, 25 January 1985, Prime Minister’s Papers, Industrial Policy, The Future of British Leyland, Part 8 (document consulted in the Cabinet Office). 9. Thatcher Memoirs Materials, CAC: THCR 4/3. 10. Turnbull to Butler, 7 June 1985, Prime Minister’s Papers, Industrial Policy, The Future of British Leyland, Part 10 (document consulted in the Cabinet Office). 11. Warry to Thatcher, 29 November 1985. Ibid. 12. Brittan to Thatcher, 25 November 1985. Ibid. 13. Warry to Thatcher, 29 November 1985. Ibid. 14. Lansley to Norgrove, 27 January 1986. Ibid. 15. ‘Press Digest’, Ingham to Thatcher, 4 February 1986, CAC: THCR 3/5/53. 16. Hansard, HC Deb 5 February 1986, 91/326–8 (http://hansard.millbanksystems.com/commons/1986/feb/05/british-leyland). 17. Ibid. 18. Thatcher, The Downing Street Years, p. 440. 19. Ibid. 20. ‘Press Digest’, Ingham to Thatcher, 7 February 1986, CAC: THCR 3/5/53. 21. Charles Moore, private note of conversation, February 1986. 22. Thatcher to Petersen, 14 February 1986, Prime Minister’s Papers, Industrial Policy, The Future of British Leyland, Part 10 (document consulted in the Cabinet Office). 23. Petersen to Thatcher, 5 March 1986. Ibid. 24. Thatcher Memoirs Materials, CAC: THCR 4/3. 25. Sir Robert Armstrong, Cabinet Secretary’s notebooks, 20 February 1986 (document consulted in the Cabinet Office). 26. Ibid. 27. For Gaddafi’s support for the IRA and the NUM see Chapter 6. 28. ‘Vice President’s Meeting with British PM Margaret Thatcher, Friday, July 26 1985’, Meetings with Foreigners, Donald Gregg Files, Bush Library. 29. Press conference for American correspondents, 10 January 1986 (http://www.margaretthatcher.org/document/106300). 30. Woodrow Wyatt, unpublished diaries, 5 January 1986 (kindly made available to the author by Diana Rawstron on behalf of the estate of the late Lord Wyatt of Weeford). 31. Press conference for American correspondents, 10 January 1986 (http://www.margaretthatcher.org/document/106300). 32. Sommer to Poindexter, ‘Presidential Reply to Mrs Thatcher: Libyan sanctions’, 16 January 1986, Exec Sec, NSC: System File, 8600439, Reagan Library. 33. Appleyard to Powell, 17 January 1986, Prime Minister’s Papers, Libya, Relations, Internal Political Situation, Part 4B (document consulted in the Cabinet Office). 34. Record of conversation between Thatcher and Mitterrand, 20 January 1986. Ibid. 35. Appleyard to Powell, 10 February 1986. Ibid. 36. Ibid. 37. Brian Davis, Qaddafi, Terrorism and the Origins of the US Attack on Libya, Praeger, 1990, p. 115. 38. Reagan to Thatcher, 8 April 1986, Libya–El Dorado Canyon (1), Box 91747, James Stark Files, Reagan Library. 39. Percy Cradock, In Pursuit of British Interests: Reflections on Foreign Policy under Margaret Thatcher and John Major, John Murray, 1997, p. 74. 40. Thatcher interim reply to Reagan, 9 April 1986, Prime Minister’s Papers, Libya, Relations, Internal Political Situation, Part 4A (document consulted in the Cabinet Office). 41. Thatcher, The Downing Street Years, p. 443. 42. Interview with Howard Teicher. 43. Ibid. 44. Reagan to Thatcher, 9 April 1986, Libya (Fortier File) (6), Box 91673, Donald Fortier Files, Reagan Library. 45. Ibid. 46. Interview with Lord Powell of Bayswater. 47. Powell to Galsworthy, 10 April 1986, Prime Minister’s Papers, Libya, Relations, Internal Political Situation, Part 4A (document consulted in the Cabinet Office). 48. Powell to Galsworthy re ‘further meeting’ of ministers and officials, 10 April 1986. Ibid. 49. Thatcher to Reagan, 10 April 1986. Ibid. 50. Reagan to Thatcher, 11 April 1986, Libya (Fortier File) (5), Box 91673, Donald Fortier Files, Reagan Library. 51. ‘RSVP: Nitze meeting with PM Thatcher’, 23 April 1986, State Department Archives, released under FOIA Case #200801161. 52. Interview with Lord Powell of Bayswater. 53. Ibid. 54. Interview with Sir Percy Cradock. 55. Interview with Sir David Goodall. 56. Vernon Walters, The Mighty and the Meek: Dispatches from the Front Line of Diplomacy, St Ermin’s Press, 2001, p. 147. 57. Powell to Galsworthy, 12 April 1986, Prime Minister’s Papers, Libya, Relations, Internal Political Situation, Part 5 (document consulted in the Cabinet Office). 58. The Times, 14 April 1986. 59. Interview with Lord Armstrong of Ilminster. 60. Speaking note for OD: Libya, 13 April 1986, Prime Minister’s Papers, Libya, Relations, Internal Political Situation, Part 5 (document consulted in the Cabinet Office). 61. Interview with Lord Powell of Bayswater. 62. Pattison to Thatcher, 12 February 1982, Prime Minister’s Papers, Home Affairs, Review of the Restrictions on Shopping Hours and Sunday Trading, Part 1 (document consulted in the Cabinet Office). 63. Turnbull to Taylor, 8 March 1985. Ibid. 64. Griffiths to Thatcher, 5 November 1985. Ibid. 65. Ibid. 66. Interview with Dr Michael Schluter. 67. Booth to Thatcher, 4 March 1986, Prime Minister’s Papers, Home Affairs, Review of the Restrictions on Shopping Hours and Sunday Trading, Part 2 (document consulted in the Cabinet Office). 68. Interview with Lord Griffiths of Fforestfach. 69. For more on the religious and political feelings involved in the Sunday trading debate see Eliza Filby, God & Mrs Thatcher: The Battle for Britain’s Soul, Biteback, 2015, pp. 229–32. 70. Alison to Thatcher, 4 March 1986, CAC: THCR 1/3/20. 71. Interview with Howard Teicher. 72. Reagan, Address to the Nation on the United States Air Strike against Libya, 14 April 1986, American Presidency Project (http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=37131&st=&st1=). 73. Sir Robert Armstrong, Cabinet Secretary’s notebooks, 15 April 1986 (document consulted in the Cabinet Office). 74. Ingham to Powell, 24 April 1986, Prime Minister’s Papers, Libya, Relations, Internal Political Situation, Part 6 (document consulted in the Cabinet Office). 75. Ibid. 76. Interview with Lord Powell of Bayswater. 77. Interview with Andrew Lansley. 78. Interview with Lord Tebbit. 79. Sherbourne to Thatcher, 15 April 1986, CAC: THCR 1/10/99. 80. Hansard, HC Deb 15 April 1986, 95/724 (http://hansard.millbanksystems.com/commons/1986/apr/15/engagements). 81. ‘Libya – Support from PM Thatcher’, 16 April 1986, State Department Archives, released under FOIA Case #200903792. 82. Powell to Galsworthy, 15 April 1986, Prime Minister’s Papers, Libya, Relations, Internal Political Situation, Part 5 (document consulted in the Cabinet Office). 83. Ibid. 84. Financial Times, 16 April 1986. 85. Financial Times, 17 April 1986. 86. Hansard, HC Deb 16 April 1986, 95/875 (http://hansard.millbanksystems.com/commons/1986/apr/16/libya). 87. Interview with Sir Percy Cradock. 88. The Times, 17 April 1986. 89. Newsweek, 28 April 1986. 90. Wyatt, The Journals of Woodrow Wyatt, vol. i, 20 April 1986, p. 124. 91. Price to President, 21 April 1986, United Kingdom–1986–04/21/1986–04/24/1986, Box 90901, Peter Sommer Files, Reagan Library. 92. Powell to Galsworthy, 24 April 1986, Prime Minister’s Papers, Libya, Relations, Internal Political Situation, Part 6 (document consulted in the Cabinet Office). 93. Powell to Galsworthy, 26 April 1986. Ibid. 94. Ibid. 95. ‘Libya Raid: UK Perception 2 weeks on’, 29 April 1986, State Department Archive, released under FOIA Case #200907365. 96. Interview, Paul Bremer, Frontline, PBS, September 2001 (http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/target/interviews/bremer.html). 97. Interview with Howard Teicher. 98. Poindexter to President, Letters to Senators Lugar and Dole, United Kingdom – 1986 – 04/21/1986–04/24/1986, Box 90901, Peter Sommer Files, Reagan Library. 99. Interview with Lord Powell of Bayswater. 100. 221653z Apr 86, 21 April 1986 (US Action in Libya, 1986) (4/4), Box 91747, James Stark Files, Reagan Library. 101. Reagan to Lugar, 22 April 1986, The American Presidency Project (http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=37172). 102. Reagan, Radio Address to the Nation on Terrorism, 31 May 1986, American Presidency Project (http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=37376). 103. President’s Telephone Conversation with Prime Minister Thatcher, 17 July 1986, Terrorism; United States–British, Box 14, North Files, Reagan Library. 104. Thatcher Memoirs Materials, CAC: THCR 4/3. 105. Powell to Thatcher, 30 May 1986, Prime Minister’s Papers, USA, UK/USA Relations, Part 4 (document consulted in the Cabinet Office). 106. Ibid. 107. Interview with Lord Sharkey. 108. Ibid. 109. Interview with Lord Dobbs. 110. Interview with Lord Sherbourne of Didsbury. 111. Interview
for TV-am, 7 June 1985 (http://www.margaretthatcher.org/document/105826). 112. Interview with Lord Dobbs. 113. Interview with Lord Sharkey. 114. Interview with Lord Sherbourne of Didsbury. 115. Interview with Lord Dobbs. 116. Interview with Robin Harris. 117. Interview with Lord Young of Graffham. 118. Interview with Lord Sherbourne of Didsbury. 119. David Butler Archive, Interview with John Sharkey, 16 June 1987. 120. Interview with Lord Dobbs. 121. Ibid. 122. Interview with Lord Bell. 123. Interview with Lord Dobbs. 124. Interview with Lord Wakeham. 125. Interview with Lord Sherbourne of Didsbury. 126. Interview with Lord Tebbit. 127. David Butler Archive, Interview with John Banks, 21 July 1987. 128. Interview with Lord Young of Graffham. 129. Interview with Lord Dobbs. 130. Interview with Robin Harris. 131. Thatcher Memoirs Materials, CAC: THCR 4/3. 132. Interview with Lord Dobbs. 133. John Biffen, Semi-Detached, Biteback, 2013, p. 374. 134. Ibid., pp. 390–91. 135. Ibid., p. 394. 136. Ibid., pp. 399–400. 137. Interview with Sir Bernard Ingham. 138. Interview with Lord Biffen. 139. Biffen, Semi-Detached, p. 403. 140. Interview with Lord Biffen. 141. Thatcher, The Downing Street Years, p. 562. 142. Speech to Scottish Conservative Party Conference, 16 May 1986 (http://www.margaretthatcher.org/document/106394). 143. Addison to Wicks, 20 June 1986, CAC: THCR 2/6/3/129. 144. Thatcher, The Downing Street Years, p. 563. 145. Interview with Lord Biffen. 146. Interview with Lord Wakeham. 147. Griffiths to Thatcher, 11 April 1986, CAC: THCR 1/15/14. 148. See Minutes of the Strategy Group, 23 June 1986, CAC: THCR 2/7/5/6. 149. Minutes of the Strategy Group, 30 June 1986. Ibid. 150. Interview with Robin Harris. 151. Sherbourne to Thatcher, 26 June 1986, CAC: THCR 2/7/5/6. 152. Sherbourne to Thatcher, 10 April 1986, CAC: THCR 2/7/5/1. 153. The Times, 10 March 1986. 154. Thatcher Memoirs Materials, CAC: THCR 4/3. 155. Interview with Robin Harris. 156. Sherbourne to Thatcher, 29 July 1986, CAC: THCR 2/6/3/57. 157. Interview with Lord Sherbourne of Didsbury. 158. Interview with Lord Dobbs. 159. Interview with Barry Strevens. 160. Sherbourne to Thatcher, 6 August 1986, CAC: THCR 2/6/3/57. 161. Wicks to Thatcher, 8 August 1986. Ibid. 162. Tebbit to Thatcher, 8 August 1986. Ibid. 163. Wicks to Thatcher, 8 August 1986. Ibid. 164. Ibid. 165. Interview with Lord Tebbit. 166. Ingham to Whitmore, 7 May 1980, Prime Minister’s Papers, Broadcasting, Legislation on Broadcasting, Part 1 (document consulted in the Cabinet Office). 167. Norgrove to Thatcher, 14 October 1986, Prime Minister’s Papers, Broadcasting, Television Licence Fees, Part 3 (document consulted in the Cabinet Office). 168. McIntyre paper, undated, Prime Minister’s Papers, Broadcasting, Television Licence Fees, Part 1 (document consulted in the Cabinet Office). 169. Ingham to Butler, 14 December 1984. Ibid. 170. Barclay to Taylor, 9 January 1985. Ibid. 171. Ibid. 172. Brittan to Thatcher, 28 February 1985. Ibid. 173. Butler to Taylor, 6 March 1985. Ibid. 174. Warry to Thatcher, 20 December 1984. Ibid. 175. Douglas Hurd, Memoirs, Abacus, 2003, p. 369. 176. Interview with Lord Griffiths of Fforestfach. 177. See Jean Seaton, ‘Pinkoes and Traitors’: The BBC and the Nation 1974–87, Profile Books, 2015, p. 313. 178. Interview with Lord Tebbit. 179. Tebbit to Barnett, 30 October 1986, Prime Minister’s Papers, Broadcasting, Television Licence Fees, Part 3 (document consulted in the Cabinet Office). 180. Interview with Dame Patricia Hodgson. 181. Ibid. 182. Ibid. 183. Interview with Lord Waldegrave of North Hill. 184. Interview with Lord Birt. 185. Griffiths to Thatcher, 24 October 1986, CAC: THCR 2/7/5/6. 186. Interview with Lord Griffiths of Fforestfach. 187. Wicks to Thatcher, 13 November 1986, CAC: THCR 2/6/3/61. 188. Sherbourne to Thatcher, 13 November 1986, CAC: THCR 2/6/3/61. 189. Norman Tebbit, Upwardly Mobile, Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1988, p. 257. 190. Interview with Dame Patricia Hodgson. 191. Quoted in Nigel Lawson, The View from No. 11, Bantam Press, 1992, p. 374. 192. Hansard, HC Deb 18 March 1986, 94/183 (http://hansard.millbanksystems.com/commons/1986/mar/18/income-tax). 193. See Lawson, The View from No. 11, p. 375. 194. Thatcher, The Downing Street Years, p. 673. 195. Speech to Conservative Party Conference, 10 October 1986 (http://www.margaretthatcher.org/document/106498). 196. Thatcher Memoirs Materials, CAC: THCR 4/3. 197. Interview with Francis Maude. 198. Interview with Robin Harris. 199. Private information. 200. Interview with Lord Hamilton of Epsom. 201. Interview with Lord Tebbit. 202. Interview with Lord Brooke of Sutton Mandeville. 203. Interview with Lord Butler of Brockwell. 204. ‘Ms’ to Sir Robert Armstrong, Cabinet Office Papers, undated (document consulted in the Cabinet Office). 205. Armstrong to Duff, 13 January 1986, Cabinet Office Papers (document consulted in the Cabinet Office). 206. Armstrong to Wicks, 22 June 1987. Ibid. 207. Interview with Barry Strevens. 208. Ibid. 209. Interview with Lord Hamilton of Epsom. 210. Ibid. 211. The Times, 14 November 1986. 212. Thatcher Memoirs Materials, CAC: THCR 4/3. 213. Interview with Sir Bernard Ingham.