A Storm Was Brewing....A British Political History
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BBC News, 11:34am
Lewis: The time is twenty-six minutes to 12, and if you are just joining us, we are awaiting a statement from Smith Square, where it is believed that an update is to be provided on the condition of the Prime Minister. I can take you over there now, once more, where Chris Patten is speaking to the press.
Patten: It is with my deepest regret that I have to inform you all of the Prime Minister’s passing, along with eleven others, in today’s gutless attack on democracy. The families of those killed today have been informed, and their names will be released imminently. Parliament has been closed, all staff at government buildings have been sent home and Her Majesty, The Queen, will be giving a personal statement at midday as to the state of the country. Thank you
*****
Baghdad, 1:36pm (11:36am UK Time)
A phone call goes through to Saddam Hussein himself.
“Major is dead? You say it is the Irish?”
“Yes, Mr President.”
“Then our plan has succeeded. Prepare a statement for Iraqi state television, the world must know what we have done.”
*****
Scotland Yard, 11:45am
Peter Imbert is sat with an elite team of detectives discussing today’s events.
“We think it was the IRA?”
“Almost certainly, sir. We’ve received several phone calls throughout the morning, however.”
“What was said in these phone calls?”
“Set our people free. Free the six. Now you know how it feels when Iraqi blood is spilt.”
“Well, that’s certainly very interesting. Narrow down potential suspects, the Prime Minister has been killed, and we’re no closer to finding out who’s killed him.
*****
BBC News, 11:48am
Martyn Lewis is showing a visual of 10 Downing Street, while terrorism expert, Richard Barrett is explaining said visual.
Barrett: “If you look there, that is where the explosion itself occurred, as whatever was fired, it looks like mortar fire from a distance, was launched across the back of 10 Downing Street. Eyewitnesses say they saw a van light up in flames as a man drove off on the back of a bike, and I must say, this is like no attack we’ve seen on Britain before-“
Another explosion from within 10 Downing Street is briefly shown, as the back of the building almost completely collapses.
*****
Lewis: The time is twenty-six minutes to 12, and if you are just joining us, we are awaiting a statement from Smith Square, where it is believed that an update is to be provided on the condition of the Prime Minister. I can take you over there now, once more, where Chris Patten is speaking to the press.
Patten: It is with my deepest regret that I have to inform you all of the Prime Minister’s passing, along with eleven others, in today’s gutless attack on democracy. The families of those killed today have been informed, and their names will be released imminently. Parliament has been closed, all staff at government buildings have been sent home and Her Majesty, The Queen, will be giving a personal statement at midday as to the state of the country. Thank you
*****
Baghdad, 1:36pm (11:36am UK Time)
A phone call goes through to Saddam Hussein himself.
“Major is dead? You say it is the Irish?”
“Yes, Mr President.”
“Then our plan has succeeded. Prepare a statement for Iraqi state television, the world must know what we have done.”
*****
Scotland Yard, 11:45am
Peter Imbert is sat with an elite team of detectives discussing today’s events.
“We think it was the IRA?”
“Almost certainly, sir. We’ve received several phone calls throughout the morning, however.”
“What was said in these phone calls?”
“Set our people free. Free the six. Now you know how it feels when Iraqi blood is spilt.”
“Well, that’s certainly very interesting. Narrow down potential suspects, the Prime Minister has been killed, and we’re no closer to finding out who’s killed him.
*****
BBC News, 11:48am
Martyn Lewis is showing a visual of 10 Downing Street, while terrorism expert, Richard Barrett is explaining said visual.
Barrett: “If you look there, that is where the explosion itself occurred, as whatever was fired, it looks like mortar fire from a distance, was launched across the back of 10 Downing Street. Eyewitnesses say they saw a van light up in flames as a man drove off on the back of a bike, and I must say, this is like no attack we’ve seen on Britain before-“
Another explosion from within 10 Downing Street is briefly shown, as the back of the building almost completely collapses.
*****
As I said above, the only changes are that the attack happened ten days later than OTL, and one of the mortar rounds landed on top of Number 10 instead of all of them ending up in the garden. All the other details are exactly as OTL.
Even if you put aside the man's past controversies with the IRA, he almost certainly wouldn't become nearly as prominent as he did IOTL simply because this is a PoD that takes place over twenty years ago. His rise to the Labour leadership was quite possibly one of the most easily butterflied events in modern political history.
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Gadaffi's Libya was heavily involved with the provos IOTL. Maybe he cut a deal with them? It would be disastrous if they somehow steal a Nuke and give it to Saddam.
At Your Majesty's Service...
Buckingham Palace
11:56am
Inside the Press Office in Buckingham Palace, Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth the Second, is being prepared for a live statement, to be read out on national television at 12pm. The Press Secretary to the Sovereign, Charles Anson, is running her through procedure:
“Are you sure you don’t want this released as a statement, and to speak at a later date-“
“Unfortunately, Charles, the Prime Minister has just been announced dead. I can’t speak at a later date, I’m the closest thing to a government representative you’ll have at this time. Have you spoken with the government to confirm that they are fine with the statement’s contents?”
“Of course, Your Majesty. They said they’d be happy for you to deliver it. Apparently Baker didn’t feel it proper to comment so early on.”
“In that case, I will have to bring the nation together for now.”
The cameras lit up, as the Queen prepared to deliver her statement.
*****
Sinn Fein HQ, Falls Road, Belfast
11:58am
Gerry Adams and Martin McGuinness are sat around tentatively, with a television on in the background, with RTE on in the background. After a baited breath, Adams speaks:
“Martin, were you aware that this was happening?”
“Gerry, I’ll be honest, I wasn’t. You normally hear rumblings of this sort of thing through the grapevine, but the first I heard of this was when that mortar went off.”
Adams looked at his old comrade with suspicion. He’d stayed out of Provisional IRA matters informally since the Enniskillen massacre in 1987, and had done his best to stay clear of direct contact in this time, but McGuinness was seen to have more sway than he. And did he say mortar, Adams thought? The bomb used hadn’t yet been announced, and Gerry Adams was sceptical of his fellow party leader’s intentions. After a brief silence, he spoke again.
“It’s all the markings of us. I’m telling you now, that peace agreement we’ve been pushing Hume for, he won’t speak to us now. Sinn Fein are finished, Martin. They’ll come after everyone involved with the IRA, past or present, to find out who did this. Life for nationalists in Northern Ireland is about to get very hard-“
“Calm down, Gerry, it’s bad enough without you bringing doom and gloom-“
“It was bad enough before we killed the man we’ve been trying to talk to for the last three years! We’ve f****d ourselves completely-“
At this point, the phone rang. Both Adams and McGuinness were wary to answer it, but eventually a staffer answered. After a delayed response, the staffer rose up and looked at the pair.
“It’s for you, Mr Adams.”
Gerry Adams got up and walked up to the phone, somewhat hesitantly. The voice of a Middle Eastern man piped up at the other end:
“You’ll be wanting to talk about the arrangement we made in 1984, Mr Adams.”
Gerry Adams collapsed back into his chair.
11:56am
Inside the Press Office in Buckingham Palace, Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth the Second, is being prepared for a live statement, to be read out on national television at 12pm. The Press Secretary to the Sovereign, Charles Anson, is running her through procedure:
“Are you sure you don’t want this released as a statement, and to speak at a later date-“
“Unfortunately, Charles, the Prime Minister has just been announced dead. I can’t speak at a later date, I’m the closest thing to a government representative you’ll have at this time. Have you spoken with the government to confirm that they are fine with the statement’s contents?”
“Of course, Your Majesty. They said they’d be happy for you to deliver it. Apparently Baker didn’t feel it proper to comment so early on.”
“In that case, I will have to bring the nation together for now.”
The cameras lit up, as the Queen prepared to deliver her statement.
*****
Sinn Fein HQ, Falls Road, Belfast
11:58am
Gerry Adams and Martin McGuinness are sat around tentatively, with a television on in the background, with RTE on in the background. After a baited breath, Adams speaks:
“Martin, were you aware that this was happening?”
“Gerry, I’ll be honest, I wasn’t. You normally hear rumblings of this sort of thing through the grapevine, but the first I heard of this was when that mortar went off.”
Adams looked at his old comrade with suspicion. He’d stayed out of Provisional IRA matters informally since the Enniskillen massacre in 1987, and had done his best to stay clear of direct contact in this time, but McGuinness was seen to have more sway than he. And did he say mortar, Adams thought? The bomb used hadn’t yet been announced, and Gerry Adams was sceptical of his fellow party leader’s intentions. After a brief silence, he spoke again.
“It’s all the markings of us. I’m telling you now, that peace agreement we’ve been pushing Hume for, he won’t speak to us now. Sinn Fein are finished, Martin. They’ll come after everyone involved with the IRA, past or present, to find out who did this. Life for nationalists in Northern Ireland is about to get very hard-“
“Calm down, Gerry, it’s bad enough without you bringing doom and gloom-“
“It was bad enough before we killed the man we’ve been trying to talk to for the last three years! We’ve f****d ourselves completely-“
At this point, the phone rang. Both Adams and McGuinness were wary to answer it, but eventually a staffer answered. After a delayed response, the staffer rose up and looked at the pair.
“It’s for you, Mr Adams.”
Gerry Adams got up and walked up to the phone, somewhat hesitantly. The voice of a Middle Eastern man piped up at the other end:
“You’ll be wanting to talk about the arrangement we made in 1984, Mr Adams.”
Gerry Adams collapsed back into his chair.
All will be revealed shortly! (It's a significant PoD, for reference)
1984 - A Most Peculiar Time
Sinn Fein HQ, Falls Road, Belfast
12:30pm, 12th September 1984
Gerry Adams sits back in his chair. Recently elected to serve the Irish republican party, Sinn Fein, as leader, he seems to be on cloud nine. Seven months have passed since the last significant attack by the Provisional IRA, and the British government’s efforts to stifle them had appeared to be in vain. A phone call comes through, informing Adams that Alex Maskey, one of his advisors, was here to see him, and he had brought a guest.
Maskey walked through, with a Middle Eastern man, brandishing a briefcase. Adams greets them both:
“Hello there, lads, what can I do for you?”
“Well, this man is Moussa Koussa, a friend of Muammar Gaddafi’s, who I’m sure you’re more than acquainted with. He’s here to discuss a few things with you, which I think you’ll want to hear.”
Koussa sits down and dusts him off, before speaking with Adams:
“The bombing campaign, how is it?”
“Well, by all accounts, I keep my distance these days, a little difficult with all eyes on me as Sinn Fein leader.”
“I hear you have a plan to deal with the Prime Minister, Thatcher.”
Adams froze, as he didn’t think anyone was privy to the information regarding next month’s Conservative conference barring Patrick Magee and senior Sinn Fein members. Koussa smirked and continued.
“Mr Maskey told me, you have no reason to be worried. In fact, it’s in that vein I wanted to speak with you. The Colonel feels our arrangement isn’t working so well. We have provided you with arms that you have failed to use barring guerrilla tactics against small groups of Protestants-“
“An armed campaign takes a lot of effort, Mr Koussa.”
“Indeed it does, but we aren’t willing to wait. Your men seem undertrained, and behind schedule. If you are going to be successful. You will need more help.”
“Who’s going to help us? The American money has ran dry under Reagan, the rest of the Middle East thinks us a pariah, and Africa is busy fighting its own conflicts. Who do you suggest?”
“Saddam.”
Adams jumped back in shock at the mention of Hussein’s name. Tensions between Saddam Hussein and Muammar Gaddafi had been well-known since Gaddafi’s endorsement of Iran in the recent Iran-Iraq War, and the Sinn Fein leader did not expect such cooperation.
“Relax, relax. Mr Hussein understands Gaddafi’s stance is not one of malice. We have been doing some work together intelligence-wise of late, building bridges.”
“And?”
“Iraqi officials noted our deal with you with arms transportation. They offered another deal to present to you. Your men will be given trips to neutral locations across the Middle East, paid for by the Iraqi government, where military advisors and personnel will train them properly for a guerrilla-style campaign. Your men can barely put together a mortar, let alone position one correctly.”
Adams was lost for words. Could he trust Koussa? Furthermore, could he trust Iraq? Before he could speak, Koussa delivered a parting shot:
“We give you a month or two, take your time, to make up your mind. But know that things cannot stay the same if you want to succeed. Your men are failing and falling behind. Farewell for now, Gerry."
Koussa got up, and walked out, as Adams pondered his next move.
12:30pm, 12th September 1984
Gerry Adams sits back in his chair. Recently elected to serve the Irish republican party, Sinn Fein, as leader, he seems to be on cloud nine. Seven months have passed since the last significant attack by the Provisional IRA, and the British government’s efforts to stifle them had appeared to be in vain. A phone call comes through, informing Adams that Alex Maskey, one of his advisors, was here to see him, and he had brought a guest.
Maskey walked through, with a Middle Eastern man, brandishing a briefcase. Adams greets them both:
“Hello there, lads, what can I do for you?”
“Well, this man is Moussa Koussa, a friend of Muammar Gaddafi’s, who I’m sure you’re more than acquainted with. He’s here to discuss a few things with you, which I think you’ll want to hear.”
Koussa sits down and dusts him off, before speaking with Adams:
“The bombing campaign, how is it?”
“Well, by all accounts, I keep my distance these days, a little difficult with all eyes on me as Sinn Fein leader.”
“I hear you have a plan to deal with the Prime Minister, Thatcher.”
Adams froze, as he didn’t think anyone was privy to the information regarding next month’s Conservative conference barring Patrick Magee and senior Sinn Fein members. Koussa smirked and continued.
“Mr Maskey told me, you have no reason to be worried. In fact, it’s in that vein I wanted to speak with you. The Colonel feels our arrangement isn’t working so well. We have provided you with arms that you have failed to use barring guerrilla tactics against small groups of Protestants-“
“An armed campaign takes a lot of effort, Mr Koussa.”
“Indeed it does, but we aren’t willing to wait. Your men seem undertrained, and behind schedule. If you are going to be successful. You will need more help.”
“Who’s going to help us? The American money has ran dry under Reagan, the rest of the Middle East thinks us a pariah, and Africa is busy fighting its own conflicts. Who do you suggest?”
“Saddam.”
Adams jumped back in shock at the mention of Hussein’s name. Tensions between Saddam Hussein and Muammar Gaddafi had been well-known since Gaddafi’s endorsement of Iran in the recent Iran-Iraq War, and the Sinn Fein leader did not expect such cooperation.
“Relax, relax. Mr Hussein understands Gaddafi’s stance is not one of malice. We have been doing some work together intelligence-wise of late, building bridges.”
“And?”
“Iraqi officials noted our deal with you with arms transportation. They offered another deal to present to you. Your men will be given trips to neutral locations across the Middle East, paid for by the Iraqi government, where military advisors and personnel will train them properly for a guerrilla-style campaign. Your men can barely put together a mortar, let alone position one correctly.”
Adams was lost for words. Could he trust Koussa? Furthermore, could he trust Iraq? Before he could speak, Koussa delivered a parting shot:
“We give you a month or two, take your time, to make up your mind. But know that things cannot stay the same if you want to succeed. Your men are failing and falling behind. Farewell for now, Gerry."
Koussa got up, and walked out, as Adams pondered his next move.
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if or should I say when the British find out about this they will be calling for Saddam's head.
1) Why, in 1984, would Saddam Hussein want to assist the Provos. He had no particular quarrel with Britain at the time, AFAIK. I don't think he was buying British arms, as his armed forces were already committed to Soviet-bloc equpment, but financially he had important links to the West including Britain. The US was supporting him against Iran to some degree.
2) If this arrangement went through, wouldn't there be some knock-on effects before 1991?
Pangur
Donor
Good question and equally why would the PIRA have anything to do with Saddam when you consider that they were getting all they needed and a lot more from Gaddafi? Opening up a new supply route makes no sense what so ever