Read There is No Alternative Online
Authors: Claire Berlinski
There is No Alternative (58 page)
114
Thatcher,
The Downing Street Years,
pp. 173â174.
The Downing Street Years,
pp. 173â174.
115
Ibid.
,
p. 179.
,
p. 179.
116
Ibid., p. 178.
117
Ibid., p. 179.
118
Ibid., p. 179.
119
John Smith,
74 Days: An Islander's Diary of the Falklands Occupation
(Century, 1984).
74 Days: An Islander's Diary of the Falklands Occupation
(Century, 1984).
120
You may listen to this speech here:
www.margaretthatcher.org/archive/displaydocument.asp?docid=110946
.
www.margaretthatcher.org/archive/displaydocument.asp?docid=110946
.
121
Ali Magoudi,
Rendez-vous: The Psychoanalysis of Francois Mitterrand,
translated and reported in “The Sphinx and the Curious Case of the Iron Lady's H-bomb,” (London)
Times
, November 20, 2005.
Rendez-vous: The Psychoanalysis of Francois Mitterrand,
translated and reported in “The Sphinx and the Curious Case of the Iron Lady's H-bomb,” (London)
Times
, November 20, 2005.
122
TV interview for ITN, April 5, 1982, transcript, Thatcher MSS (digital collection), doc. 104913.
123
Thatcher,
The Downing Street Years,
p. 181.
The Downing Street Years,
p. 181.
124
April 8, 1982, House of Commons PQs, Hansard HC [21/1083â88].
125
James Rentschler's Falklands Diary, April 8, 1982, Thatcher MSS (digital collection),
www.margaretthatcher.org/archive/arcdocs/RentschlerPDF.pdf
.
www.margaretthatcher.org/archive/arcdocs/RentschlerPDF.pdf
.
126
Ibid.
127
Ibid.
128
Ibid., April 11.
129
Ibid., April 12.
130
“Falklands Victory âA Close Run Thing,'”
Guardian,
April 3, 2002.
Guardian,
April 3, 2002.
131
Thatcher,
The Downing Street Years,
p. 204.
The Downing Street Years,
p. 204.
133
Thatcher,
The Downing Street Years,
p. 214.
The Downing Street Years,
p. 214.
134
Speech to the Scottish Conservative Party Conference, May 14, 1982, transcript, Thatcher MSS (digital collection), doc. 104936.
135
“Reagan Asked Thatcher to Stop Falklands War,”
Sunday Times,
March 8, 1992, citing National Security Council files.
Sunday Times,
March 8, 1992, citing National Security Council files.
136
Thatcher,
The Downing Street Years,
p. 184.
The Downing Street Years,
p. 184.
137
June 17, 1982, House of Commons PQs, Hansard HC [25/1080â84].
138
Speech to UN General Assembly, June 23, 1982, Thatcher MSS (digital collection), doc. 104974.
139
Bernard Jackson with Tony Wardle,
The Battle for Orgreave
(Vanson Wardle, 1986).
The Battle for Orgreave
(Vanson Wardle, 1986).
140
June 19, 1984, House of Commons PQs,
Hansard
HC [62/137â40].
Hansard
HC [62/137â40].
141
Linda Sheridan, e-mail, May 14, 2007.
143
Sheridan, e-mail, May 15, 2007.
144
The reader who is wondering why I bothered should know that this has worked for me before. You would be surprised how many people will give in and talk to you if only you pester them enough.
145
The publishing titan Rupert Murdoch was so close to Thatcher that he was described by critics as “the phantom Prime Minister.”
146
Morning Star,
February 3, 1983.
February 3, 1983.
147
Sunday Times,
January 10, 1982.
January 10, 1982.
148
The New Left Review,
July/August 1975.
July/August 1975.
149
One may reasonably argueâand Trotsky didâthat in this sense Stalin was not a Marxist: The
central
prediction of Marxism is the inevitability of a spontaneous revolution in the industrialized world, led by the proletarian vanguard. This discussion is beyond the scope of this book; my point is that an important, relevant current of sympathy runs between Stalin's views and Scargill's.
central
prediction of Marxism is the inevitability of a spontaneous revolution in the industrialized world, led by the proletarian vanguard. This discussion is beyond the scope of this book; my point is that an important, relevant current of sympathy runs between Stalin's views and Scargill's.
150
Marxism Today,
April 1981.
April 1981.
151
LALKLAR, “Celebrating the October Revolution,” January/February 2000.
152
Seamus Milne, a journalist for the
Guardian,
argues that most of this money never reached the miners. The payment was authorized, he acknowledges, and sent to a Swiss bank, but the Kremlin developed cold feet when British courts ordered the union's assets sequestered and had the money recalled. See Seamus Milne,
The Enemy Within: Thatcher's Secret War Against the Miners
(Verso, 1994). After the fall of the Berlin Wall, well-placed Soviet officials confirmed claims that the Soviet Union had indeed funneled large amounts of cash to the union. Milne says those officials are lying and attributes their mendacity to post-communist factional infighting within the Kremlin. Milne may be right, for all I know. The essential pointâwhich Milne ignoresâis not whether the money in fact arrived, or when it arrived, or by which channel. It is that Scargill did not hesitate to appeal to Moscow for help, and Moscow was eager to give it, although understandably reluctant to risk the loss of hard currency and the diplomatic embarrassment should the transfer become public.
Guardian,
argues that most of this money never reached the miners. The payment was authorized, he acknowledges, and sent to a Swiss bank, but the Kremlin developed cold feet when British courts ordered the union's assets sequestered and had the money recalled. See Seamus Milne,
The Enemy Within: Thatcher's Secret War Against the Miners
(Verso, 1994). After the fall of the Berlin Wall, well-placed Soviet officials confirmed claims that the Soviet Union had indeed funneled large amounts of cash to the union. Milne says those officials are lying and attributes their mendacity to post-communist factional infighting within the Kremlin. Milne may be right, for all I know. The essential pointâwhich Milne ignoresâis not whether the money in fact arrived, or when it arrived, or by which channel. It is that Scargill did not hesitate to appeal to Moscow for help, and Moscow was eager to give it, although understandably reluctant to risk the loss of hard currency and the diplomatic embarrassment should the transfer become public.
153
Telegraph,
April 13, 1981.
April 13, 1981.
154
New Left Review,
July/August 1975.
July/August 1975.
155
Thatcher,
The Downing Street Years,
p. 339.
The Downing Street Years,
p. 339.
156
Morning Star,
June 27, 1983.
June 27, 1983.
157
From the annals of the Marxist wit and wisdom of Arthur Scargill: “In an attempt to prevent the movement of coal, Scargill appealed to the Communist General Secretary of the South Wales miners, Dai Francis, to send thousands of pickets to the Saltley coke works in Birmingham: âYes, we can organize them,' Francis told Scargill. âWhen do you want them?' âTomorrow, Saturday,' Scargill answered. Dai paused: âBut Wales are playing Scotland at Cardiff Arms Park.' There was a silence before Scargill replied: âBut Dai, the working class are playing the ruling class at Saltley.'” Patrick Hannan,
When Arthur Met Maggie
(Seren, 2006).
When Arthur Met Maggie
(Seren, 2006).
158
Pitmatic is the now-dying dialect of northeastern coal miners, e.g., “Te these canny lads we'd like to give a wee bit o' advice: Watch yersels, an' dee what's reet an' divvent be pit mice. We waddent like te see any o' yer ivver cum te grief. There's ne carl at arl te smash yersels or Rarfie's perminent Relief.” You can listen to a sample, as well as an interesting discussion of the dialect, here:
www.bbc.co.uk/radi04/routesofenglish/storysofar/ramfiles/roe1_ray1.ram
.
www.bbc.co.uk/radi04/routesofenglish/storysofar/ramfiles/roe1_ray1.ram
.
159
She is referring to Milne's
The Enemy Within.
Milne argues that Thatcher and her government went to extraordinary lengths to smear and discredit Scargill. I agree. Milne thinks this was a bad thing.
The Enemy Within.
Milne argues that Thatcher and her government went to extraordinary lengths to smear and discredit Scargill. I agree. Milne thinks this was a bad thing.
160
Sheridan, e-mail, July 14, 2007. I have standardized her punctuation.
161
George Orwell,
The Road to Wigan Pier
(1937). The full text is now available online:
www.george-orwell.org/The_Road_to_Wigan_Pier/index.html
.
The Road to Wigan Pier
(1937). The full text is now available online:
www.george-orwell.org/The_Road_to_Wigan_Pier/index.html
.
162
Thatcher's proposal to introduce a flat-rate poll tax was widely pilloried; indeed, it contributed significantly to her downfall. But the only difference between the poll tax and the coal tax was that one was out in the open, the other was hidden. Both were forms of taxation that targeted the rich and the poor equally. The unofficial coal tax cost the average Briton far more than the proposed poll tax.
163
Orwell,
The Road to Wigan Pier.
The Road to Wigan Pier.
164
This is only to say that the mines were now very dangerous, rather than unspeakably dangerous. Coal mining in the nineteenth century was an unmitigated horror. To better understand the militant culture of the miners' union, consider the Risca Blackvein Colliery explosion of 1860, which claimed the lives of 146 men and boys. A random sample of names from the Death Roll: “Brimble, Thomas, Aged 12, After Damp. Brimble, William, Aged 13, Burnt . . . Pearce, George, Aged 13, Burnt . . . Saunders, Llew, Came Out Alive, but died later . . . Skidmore, George, Aged 35, After Damp . . . Thomas, Llewellyn, Aged 15, Burnt.” It goes on for pages in this vein. The local newspaper reported only the “severe financial loss suffered by the mine owner, with the death of 28 pit ponies at an estimated value of £1,000” (
www.welshcoalmines.co.uk/
). Only thirty miners were killed in Britain in the year before the strike: This is what was meant by “an improvement.” If the cruelty of the mining industry is not enough to sour you on it, the environmental costs should do it. Anyone who believes that global climate change is a manmade phenomenon must of necessity accept that coal is a large part of the problem. Burning coal produces greenhouse gases in such quantities that the Environmental Protection Agency has declared coal-burning power plants to be the single worst air polluters in America. EPA studies suggest that coal emissions kill some 30,000 Americans a year, causing nearly as many deaths as traffic accidents. See Barbara Freese,
Coal: A Human History
(Perseus, 2003). Clean-coal technology has been developed, but it raises the price of producing coal considerably. Bring on the nuclear power, I say.
www.welshcoalmines.co.uk/
). Only thirty miners were killed in Britain in the year before the strike: This is what was meant by “an improvement.” If the cruelty of the mining industry is not enough to sour you on it, the environmental costs should do it. Anyone who believes that global climate change is a manmade phenomenon must of necessity accept that coal is a large part of the problem. Burning coal produces greenhouse gases in such quantities that the Environmental Protection Agency has declared coal-burning power plants to be the single worst air polluters in America. EPA studies suggest that coal emissions kill some 30,000 Americans a year, causing nearly as many deaths as traffic accidents. See Barbara Freese,
Coal: A Human History
(Perseus, 2003). Clean-coal technology has been developed, but it raises the price of producing coal considerably. Bring on the nuclear power, I say.
165
Interview for Thames Television's
TV Eye,
January 24, 1985, transcript, Thatcher MSS (digital collection), doc. 105949.
TV Eye,
January 24, 1985, transcript, Thatcher MSS (digital collection), doc. 105949.
166
Lawson,
The View from No. 11,
p. 142.
The View from No. 11,
p. 142.
167
Ibid., p. 143.
168
Ibid., p. 157.
169
Robin Renwick,
Fighting with Allies: America and Britain in Peace and War
(Macmillan, 1996), p. 230.
Fighting with Allies: America and Britain in Peace and War
(Macmillan, 1996), p. 230.
170
It's not hard at all; you'd have to be deaf not to hear how her accent changed. But Kinnock's Thatcher imitations are matchless, and I could hardly pass up an opportunity to hear more of them.
171
May 22, 1984, House of Commons PQs,
Hansard
[60/822â26].
Hansard
[60/822â26].
172
March 13, 1984, House of Commons PQs,
Hansard
[60/56/276â82].
Hansard
[60/56/276â82].
173
Thatcher,
The Downing Street Years,
p. 362.
The Downing Street Years,
p. 362.
174
Lawson,
The View from No. 11,
p. 144.
The View from No. 11,
p. 144.
175
It refused to pay. The court then discovered the assets were missing. They had been transferred abroad.
176
BBC documentary,
The Downing Street Years,
1993.
The Downing Street Years,
1993.
177
From script of “True Spies,” produced by BBC News, aired OctoberâNovember 2002.
178
Ibid.
179
October 30, 1984, House of Commons PQs,
Hansard
HC [65/1156â60].
Hansard
HC [65/1156â60].
180
Orwell,
The Road to Wigan Pier.
The Road to Wigan Pier.
181
Press conference for American correspondents in London, December 7, 1984, transcript, Thatcher MSS (digital collection), doc. 105810.
182
The Downing Street Years
, pp. 370â371.
, pp. 370â371.
183
Speech to Conservative Party Conference, October 11, 1985, Thatcher MSS (digital collection), doc. 106145.
184
Orwell,
The Road to Wigan Pier.
The Road to Wigan Pier.
185
Interview with CBI News, January 10, 1986, Thatcher MSS (digital collection), doc.106299.
186
Ibid.
187
Peter Walker claimed the flying pickets were paid forty pounds a day. My bet is that a pound a day is a lot closer to the truth.
188
The British National Partyâfascists.
189
The
Red Star
was the Soviet newspaper that gave Thatcher her nicknameâthe Iron Lady.
Red Star
was the Soviet newspaper that gave Thatcher her nicknameâthe Iron Lady.
190
The transcript, which I have shortened for the sake of economy, comes from the June 1993 International Civil Aviation Organization report.
191
Address to the Nation on the Soviet Attack on a Korean Civilian Airliner, September 5, 1983,
www.reagan.utexas.edu/archives/speeches/1983/90583a.htm
.
www.reagan.utexas.edu/archives/speeches/1983/90583a.htm
.
192
Thatcher to Reagan, September 15, 1983, NSA Head of State File, Thatcher: Cables (3), Box 35, Ronald Reagan Presidential Library, Simi Valley, California. Documents from U.S. presidential libraries cited in this chapter may be consulted at
www.margaretthatcher.com
.
www.margaretthatcher.com
.
193
“Nuclear War: Minuteman,”
Weekendavisen,
April 2, 2004;
The Red Button and the Man Who Saved the World
, LOGTV Ltd. & MG Productions,
www.logtv.com/films/redbutton/video.htm
.
Weekendavisen,
April 2, 2004;
The Red Button and the Man Who Saved the World
, LOGTV Ltd. & MG Productions,
www.logtv.com/films/redbutton/video.htm
.
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