alternatehistory.com

Part XIII:


♤ Bernard Ingham, Kill the Messenger, (HarperCollins, 1994):

"I have no wish to comment on Mr. Clark's pornographic literary excretions."


♣ Bill Rodgers, Call Me What You Will, (Politico's, 2000):

"When I had heard Alan Clark's kept a diary and would get it published, I laughed. Then read the first two months of them and laughed harder. Then I, I suspect like most MPs, immediately flipped to the index, hunting for my name. I only got one reference. He commented favorably on my view of mobile warfare in a speech I did not recall making. Praise from Caesar. I got off lightly and resumed reading."


♥ Bryan Gould, Hard Labour, (Penguin Books, 1989):

"Mr. Clark's diary impact on the polls cannot be underestimated. The Tories dropped by 5% in a week."


♡ Cherie Booth, Speaking for Myself, (Little, Brown, 1998):

"I wished I could say I did not read the Diary or looked for my name in the index. But I did. I was mortified to have been referenced. Mr. Clark objectified me in terms I will not reprint here, but given his choice of words to describe other women I fear I got off lightly."


♤ David Mellor, My Moment, (Fourth Estate, 2000):

"I do not think Mr. Clark's diaries had much impact on our electoral chances much. While it was an entertaining (and racy) read, and no doubt damaging to some of the individuals named within them, it was but a blip. As to the talk of Mr. Clark caused a nationwide swing in a single week, I would caution all to remember the book was released in the third week of June. On June 22, the English team was robbed from victory in the World Cup by Maradona. A much less controversial defeat in '70 Cup was said to have sealed the fate of Mr. Wilson. The government always suffers when national prestige is hit. And in our isles, football will always have impact more than diaries of a lecherous Cabinet minister. Though his description of Mr. Heseltine made me laugh repeatedly."


♥ Denis Healey, Silly Billies, (Penguin Books, 1990):

"I wish I could tell you I did not laugh out loud while reading them, but I did. My next thought was to put a motion before NEC to ban the publication of any diaries by any member of the Shadow Cabinet unless cleared beforehand by the NEC. But since Tony Benn kept a much more drear political diary and all knew of it, I understood the measure would not pass and did not bring it up. As to my characterization in the Diary, I am delighted by it. Though my dear wife was, and is, not."


♣ Dick Taverne, Vagabond, (Weidenfield & Nicolson, 1988):

"Of course I read 'The Diary' and of course I looked up myself in the index. I rated but a single reference, while he was ogling Cherie Blair. My physical description was apt if not particularly kind and his view of my politics was not incorrect. All in all, I have no qualms with Mr. Clark's efforts."


♥ Eric Hammond, Union Man, (Penguin Books, 1987):

"Two dozen copies of the book arrived at our press centre on the same day. Everyone was quite sheepish about having ordered them, but I was not. I picked my copy right away, flipped to the index and was rewarded with three references. They were scatological, but funny."


★ Joe Trippi, Sleepless Summers, (Faber, 1998):

"I became aware of the Alan Clark Diaries when one of my interns brought me a copy to autograph. I read the parts about me and my role in Rochdale first of course, then devoured the whole thing in a single weekend. Nothing like that has ever been written in American politics and I would pay good money to get a Republican to replicate it."


♣ Michael Gallagher, Wanderer, (Penguin Books, 1989):

"I got one lousy reference and had to share it with Dick Taverne and Cherie Blair."


♠ Michael Mates, Where There’s a Will, (Hamish Hamilton, 1995):

"Being in my heart an immature prat I naturally quoted choice lines from 'The Diaries' to my colleagues for days and was each time rewarded by the quote being finished for me."


♤ Nigel Lawson, The View from No. 11: Memoirs of a Tory Radical, (Bantam Press, 1990):

"Alan (Clark) should have never been promoted to anything resembling ministerial rank, much less be made a Secretary of State. But Margaret had a soft spot for him, and thus she was rewarded."


★ Peter Mandelson, The Revolution Will be Televised, (Faber, 1996):

"I at once drew up a proposal to secure TV rights for 'The Diaries' for Granada TV. The then Deputy Chairman of the Tory Party Jeffrey Archer's meandering 'First Among Equals' political novel proved a successful TV series adaptation in spite of itself. The potential for The Diaries was much more."


❥ Peter Shore, Leading the Left, (Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1993):

"As someone who had to slog through Tony Benn's revisionist history diaries when they were published you can well imagine by pleasant surprise when Alan Clark's proved a hundred fold more readable, a thousand times more honest and a million times more entertaining."


♥ Roy Hattersley, Roy from Yorkshire, (Penguin Books, 1992):

"An ugly book from an ugly man. It meant less than nothing."


♣ Roy Jenkins, Centre Ground, (Harper Collins, 1991):

"The Alan Clark Diaries cannot be compared to anything other than the work of Samuel Pepys. Nothing so remarkably profane, lewd and honest has been written about politics for the last three hundred years and one hopes will not be written for another three hundred. I was appalled and much amused."


★ Azucena Ozols, My Alan Clark Diary, (Bantam Press, 1987):

"I was neither appalled nor amused by the things Al (Alan Clark) wrote about me in his published diaries, though I did feel pangs of envy when reading of his lusting for other women while we were seeing one another. My more detailed comments on his diaries shall follow later in the book, but for now I do wish to point out I found it curious there was not a single reference to Jeff (Jeffrey Archer), which is quite odd all things considered. I think Al self-edited to save his friend embarrassment. Though as we all know that did not quite work out."


☆ John Bercow, Thatcher, Thatcherism, and Thatcherites, (Faber, 1998):

"In October of 1986, Mr. Archer resigned as Deputy Party Chairman and Secretary of State for Energy when 'The News of the World' reported he had paid Monica Coghlan, a prostitute, £2,000 through a bagman at Victoria Station. 'The News of the World' was quite careful not to allege Mr. Archer paid to have sex with Ms. Coghlan. 'The Daily Star' had no such qualms and was promptly sued by Mr. Archer for libel, who claimed to have a cast iron alibi for the night in question."


♤ Nigel Lawson, The View from No. 11: Memoirs of a Tory Radical, (Bantam Press, 1990):

"Jeffrey was Margaret's pet, neither I, nor Willie (Whitelaw) nor Norman (Tebbit) could stand him."


♥ Roy Hattersley, Roy from Yorkshire, (Penguin Books, 1992):

"Adam Raphael at the SDP rag 'Daily News' asked a question so simple it frustrated me for I had not thought of it first: could the government account for Mr. Archer's whereabouts on the night in question? Mr. Archer was after all not just the Deputy Chairman of the Party, he was also a Cabinet minister and a minister may not just duck out on a Tuesday morning while the Parliament is in session without clearing it first with someone and making sure people knew where to reach him, at all times. In the post-Westland Westminster no one was in any great hurry to fall on their sword for anyone else and it quickly emerged Mr. Archer's alibi was the stuff of nonsense. He resigned. But the attempted alibi and the false lawsuit for libel dragged him further down. Then came more of course."


★ Alastair John Campbell, The Claret Revolution, (Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1993):

"While Mr. Archer's libel trial ended before it could start, the libel trail of Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food Neil Hamilton dragged on before settlement out of court. Mr. Hamilton was suing BBC for alleging he had given the Nazi salute while in Berlin in 1983. During the course of the trial Mr. Hamilton's ties to several far-right groups were publically proven and published. Mr. King requested and received Mr. Hamilton's resignation. Shortly afterwards Mr. King also requested and received the resignation of the Secretary of State for Employment Michael Brown as well. It was alleged Mr. Hamilton and Mr. Brown were paid by the US Tobacco lobby to pressure the government into lifting regulations on the introduction of and sale of chewing tobacco. This was then followed by Mr. King asking for and receiving the resignation of the Secretary of State for Trade Paul Channon for conflict of interest when it was revealed Mr. Channon was a member of the Guinness family and stood to gain financially should the investigation by his ministry find Guinness be allowed to takeover Distillers using inflated stock value via third parties. On the heels of Mr. Channon's step down from Cabinet it was revealed Mr. Keith Best, Tory MP for Ynys Mon, was under investigation for fraud for improprieties over his application for the shares of British Telecom. This was then followed by a series of articles regarding Mr. Harvey Proctor, Tory MP for Billericay. The articles made various allusions to his private life, none of which I see fit to reprint here, but which did great damage to his reputation."


♤ Norman Lamont, Inside Westminster, (Andre Deutsch Ltd, 1996):

"There's a price to pay for ridding your government of its most experienced hands due to paranoia."


♣ Bill Rodgers, Call Me What You Will, (Politico's, 2000):

"'The Sleaze,' as the papers called the sudden explosion of scandals engulfing the nascent King administration, initially buoyed our spirits, as did the two subsequent by-election wins for the Alliance. But I was wary. Mr. King could not go on as he did. The threat of an annual election in November of 1986 was only mitigated by the collective horror the Tory MPs felt using the instrument so quickly after Mrs. Thatcher's removal. Two options loomed, Mr. King would resign or do something equally drastic to prolong his reign. He chose the latter option."


☆ John Bercow, Thatcher, Thatcherism, and Thatcherites, (Faber, 1998):

"On 11 February, 1987, Mr. King held a press conference to ostensibly laud the privatization of British Airways and its listing on the London Stock Exchange. He then announced his new Cabinet."


★ List of the Tom King's ministers (February, 1987):

♤ Tom King - Prime Minister

♤ Lord Atkins - Lord President of the Council and Deputy Prime Minister

♤ Peter Brooke - Lord Privy Seal (and Chairman of the Conservative and Unionist Party)

♤ Lord Young of Graffham - Chancellor of the Exchequer

♠ Douglas Hurd - Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs

♤ Norman Tebbit - Secretary of State for the Home Department

♠ Alick Buchanan-Smith - Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food

♤ George Younger - Secretary of State for Defence

♠ Kenneth Baker - Secretary of State for Education and Science

♠ Kenneth Clarke - Secretary of State for Employment

♤ David Mellor - Secretary of State for Energy

♤ Michael Jopling - Secretary of State for Health and Social Security

♤ Patrick Jenkin - Secretary of State for the Environment

♤ Michael Alison - Secretary of State for Northern Ireland

♤ Malcolm Rifkind - Secretary of State for Scotland

♠ Sir George Young - Secretary of State for Trade

♠ John Major - Secretary of State for Industry

♤ Nicholas Ridley - Secretary of State for Transport

♤ Nicholas Edwards - Secretary of State for Wales

♤ David Waddington - Chief Whip

♠ Sir Edward Heath- Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster


♤ Norman Lamont, Inside Westminster, (Andre Deutsch Ltd, 1996):

"Ted Heath's return to the frontbench was wholly unexpected."


♦ David Steel, Against Goliath: The David Steel Story, (David Steel Press, 1989):

"I was caught quite unawares by the development."


♧ David Owen, Into the Maelstrom, (Macmillan, 1991):

"I was not caught unaware by the development."


♥ Joe Ashton, My Labour, My Party, (Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1993):

"I was stunned."


♤ Bernard Ingham, Kill the Messenger, (HarperCollins, 1994):

"It was a horrific betrayal of everything for which Mrs. Thatcher stood."


♤ David Mellor, My Moment, (Fourth Estate, 2000):

"I was not totally caught off guard, due to a premonition from Michael Portillo. In the New Year's Honours, Mr. Heath had become Sir Edward Heath, Knight of the Garter. I did not attach much importance to the event, but Michael did. He called me as soon as the announcement to award was made and asked if Mr. King had made a deal with Mr. Heath, since it was widely known (though not to me) Mr. Heath coveted the title. I laughed off the suggestion of a collusion between Mr. Heath and Mr. King, showing how naïve I was to the ways of big politics, despite being a Cabinet minister. Upon the selection of Mr. Heath to the Cabinet, Michael called, incandescent with rage. He demanded I step down, as Mr. Moore and Mr. Parkinson had done when Mr. King made them aware of Mr. Heath's return to frontbench politics. I was puzzled by his vehemence. I never understood the need of members of my party to engage in 'us' vs. 'them' mentality. I regarded it one of the weaker parts of Mrs. Thatcher's character to constantly think in terms of 'dries' and 'wets' because most Conservative MPs, then and now, have both 'dry' and 'wet' characteristics. Yes, there are adherents to the High Church of Monetarism and disciples of Keynes as well, but most of us see merits in taking bits and pieces from both sides. Tories are not extremists and we should not be pushed into extremist view. Ken Baker and Ken Clarke were called 'wets' by most, but wholly embraced the privatization economics of the arch-dries. Did that still make them 'wet?' What was a 'wet' if he or she embraced 'dry' economics? The whole dichotomy struck me as patently false. All this I could not articulate to Michael, especially over the phone and him being in the state he was at the time and tried to demure. It caused a volcanic reaction on his part. 'Then you are against her, aren't you?' he screeched. I was offended. I had done more to help Mrs. Thatcher and her government than Michael. I at once realized there was to be a break between us and, worse, a break between Mr. King and Mrs. Thatcher. I was asked to pick a side and therefore I picked one. 'I am for the government, Michael,' I replied, 'if that makes me against you and your mistress, then so be it.' It was an ugly thing to say, but I was pushed into saying it."


♣ Roy Jenkins, Centre Ground, (Harper Collins, 1991):

"Mr. King's ministry could not go on in the form it was bequeathed to him by his mistress. Neither could he bring in the big beasts of Thatcherism, for they were both his natural competitors for the leadership of the Party and were the chief plotters in the coup to bring down the woman who had elevated him to the premiership. What would be the hue and cry had he brought in Mr. Lawson or Mr. Howe? Suppose for a moment Norman Lamont and Norman Fowler were snuck in through the back door in trench coats with collars upturned and dark sunglasses after the Cambridge Plot? Or better yet, picture Mr. Brittan lumbering inside the Cabinet room, smiling, after knifing his mentor in full view of the British body politic. On the other hand, men loyal to the party who were dismissed due to the heady paranoia of the times, such as Norman Tebbit, were allowed to slip inside and give voice to the dry arguments. But by and large there was no ballast to be had from the depleted loyal dry wing of the Party. The most experienced and loyal hands were the wets. Thus it is among the wets Mr. King recruited. I found nothing puzzling in his choices then, or now, except Ted Heath not being named to the Foreign Office. At the time I thought it best Cabinet post for a man of his talents."


♠ Mark Robinson, A Better Britain, (Pimlico, 2000):

"In January of 1984, I was approached about becoming the Parliamentary Private Secretary for Ted Heath. I was mortified, but could not quite bring myself to turn down the offer. I drove up to Ted's house on Wilton Street dreading the experience. I pictured stony silences interrupted by hour long harangues about Europe and Mrs. Thatcher. To my pleasant surprise I instead met a charming and brilliant man who was interested in my views as much as he was on expounding his. I came away convinced he had much to offer a Tory government. Ted asked me to arrange a half dozen lunches so he could meet my fellow Tory MPs of the 1983 intake, 'provided they were not beyond the pale.' It was up to me find out what constituted 'the pale.' I guessed more right than wrong. It was delightful to see the stone faced dread of my fellow MPs as they falsely anticipated a hectoring of a sulking bitter old man only to find themselves falling into the confidence of a great raconteur. Michael Howard, the driest of all Thatcherite dries, turned to me after one such lunch and said in a rather thoughtful confusion, 'He's not awful, is he?' Ted boomed with shoulder shaking laughter when I told the story. Ted's diligence in campaigning in the by-elections and keeping abreast of current British political events did him much good, but much less good was to be had from his foreign trips. In the beginning, his overtures to Communist China and Cuba made me feel I was watching the next great Foreign Secretary, but over time I became more than a little disillusioned. Ted's foreign views seemed to have calcified since leaving office. He understood Cuba and China because, broadly speaking, the politics of those countries hadn't changed a great deal between 1975 and 1985. When he tried to deal with Iran, however, he ran into a series of rather amateurish misunderstandings. He simply would not, or could not, grasp the full impact of the Islamic Revolution. Over the next two years I began to subtly suggest to Ted he should not set his heart on the Foreign Office but to find a brief better suited to his (many) talents."


♤ Nigel Lawson, The View from No. 11: Memoirs of a Tory Radical, (Bantam Press, 1990):

"Tom (King) showed some talent when it was necessary to save his skin. But his choices showed he was as petty as his former mistress Margaret. Of the men called to climb into the hole he dug for himself, none were those who had opposed him in the Leadership challenge. He had attempted to cling to power by relying on an out of touch grandees and an aging cast from a bygone era at the expense of the current and more vibrant generation. He set back the progression of two dozen ministerial careers."


♥ Bryan Gould, Hard Labour, (Penguin Books, 1989):

"After I reattached the jaw back to my mouth upon hearing the news of Ted Heath returning to active politics in the Cabinet of a man nominated for the office of Prime Minister by Mrs. Thatcher I began to think in terms of electoral reactions and seats gained and lost if the election were to be held there and then. Beyond the muddle of the shattering events in the intervening year and what appeared at first blush a U-turn worthy of Ted Heath himself, there lurked danger for Labour. Mr. King was attempting not just to right his ship but to seize centre ground and I knew we were not prepared to fight him for it."