1974 coup against Harold Wilson?

There are conspiracy theories that some military elements were plotting a coup against Harold Wilson in 1974, and that Lord Mountbatten had been chosen to head a "unity" government. This is borderline ASB, but is it at all plausible that a non-laughable attempt could have occurred, and how much resistance would it have attracted, both from the military and from the public?

Also, what would be the short and long term political effects of a non-laughable coup attempt?
 

Cook

Banned
That the British Military would stage a coup is not borderline, your passport is stamped, you are through customs and are booking into your holiday suite are the ASB Hilton to be considering this one.
 

Tovarich

Banned
That the British Military would (successfully) stage a coup is not borderline, your passport is stamped, you are through customs and are booking into your holiday suite are the ASB Hilton to be considering this one.

I have inserted the (successfully) into Cooky's post there, because I firmly believe the idea that there were never any discussions/meetings about staging a coup at the Athenaeum/Army&Navy Club/Junior Carlton/etc is ASB in and of itself.
That any of these gatherings (with port and brandy freely flowing) could have resulted in a genuine successful coup, that is ASB.
 

Cook

Banned
The British military is one of the most apolitical organisations in the world. The idea that there would be coup is just flat out ridiculous. No editing is required here.
 

Cook

Banned
If the above is true how do you explain the Curragh Munity?
Very good, you’ve found something from a hundred years ago that, rather than actually be a mutiny was about as mutinous as the British Army every got: a number of officers resigned rather than be deployed to their home counties; no violence and no threats to act against the instructions of the lawful government. That pretty much proves the point doesn’t it?
 

AndyC

Donor
About ten years ago, I was told in all seriousness by an old about-to-be-retired Warrant Officer that in about 1975, there was a genuine push towards a mutiny against the Labour Government. A driving force was low wages - he informed me that sergeants with three children required Income Support (or whatever it was called then) due to lack of wages.

Whether or not it was a genuine threat, allegedly the Government took it seriously enough to give them a record pay boost in about 1976.

I have not researched it in depth separately, but simply present it here to confirm that the concept is non-ASB enough to have been presented seriously by a serviceman who was in uniform at the time.
 
Whilst we can't dismiss the seriousness of the concept of a coup in some sections of the Army, it would likely be crushed by loyalist forces of the army if it ever got off the ground.
 
The only way I can see a successful coup occurring is if the government was paralysed or about to collapse and unable to maintain order on the streets. Even then it's far more likely that a civilian National Government would take charge.
 
Theoretically it may have been possible. I may be wrong here but until a new pm takes over there is no government at all. So a coup would have had that one chance.
 

Moglwi

Monthly Donor
Speaking as an Ex Squaddie The rank an file of the Army is labour supporters and it dose not matter how much the officers would want to overthrow the govt geting the avrage squaddie to do it it his higly problimatical if not down right impossialble
 
Speaking as an Ex Squaddie The rank an file of the Army is labour supporters and it dose not matter how much the officers would want to overthrow the govt geting the avrage squaddie to do it it his higly problimatical if not down right impossialble

As an ex-squaddie of the time ( and certainly NOT a Labour supporter) I would have had no qualms about arresting any officer who attempted such treason and would be confident I was correct under military law, civilian law and that I was constitutionally correct.
 
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