What If Gordon Banks Had Played, Part 17
“Necessity is the excuse for every infringement of human freedom. It is the argument of the tyrant and the creed of the slave.” — William Pitt
“I shall float inertly in the stagnant pool, let all the poisons that lurk in the mud hatch out”, R.Graves, Claudius the God
12 February 1978 — Sacred Heart Catholic Church, Manchester Gorton
Kevin Williams struggled as he lugged his guitar case down the steps of the church. “Come on,” John Maher said from the bottom of the concrete steps. “I've got to be back for m' dinner or me mam'll kill me.” Kevin heaved his guitar onto his back and the two schoolboys legged down the road towards the bus-stop. The Father at Sacred Heart (“the groovy priest”, as Bobby Durkin, the third member of their group, irreverently called him) allowed the boys to play their instruments at 5.30 mass.
As the two boys rounded the corner, they were met by a gang of lads. “It's those papist kids from the church,” one said.
John hardly paused. “Leg it!” he yelled to Kevin, and the two boys scattered down the road, pursued by the group of protestant boys.
“Come here! You f------ Fenian bastards!” John could hear their footsteps echoing off the pavement as he fled southwards.
“You go that way,” Kevin said as they reached a junction. John sprinted up the road, wheezing under the weight of his guitar. He took a sharp left and at the end of a short alley was a wall, Maher leapt over it, smacking himself hard on the concrete floor. From the other side of the wall he head his pursuers pass by — he was safe. He looked down at his guitar case, it was smashed, the instrument inside broken. John Maher sighed and climbed to his feet. From somewhere nearby there was a scream. “Kevin,” thought Johnny.
Another evening in Enoch Powell's Britain had begun.
From the Sunday Times, 23rd March 1978
Glasgow Garscadden is a stark mess of high-rise despair. Its estates have been left to rot by successive generations of politicians, over ninety percent of residents live in council accommodation, mostly existing under the poverty line, amidst a mire of crime, violence and alcohol. Garscadden is the sort of place that politicians fear to tread. In recent weeks though the constituency has seen an influx of heavyweight political figures. The death of William Small in February has led to the first by-election in Great Britain since Powell's landslide victory of 1977, and defeated Labour MPs have been queuing up for the opportunity to return to Parliament.
One would expect the intellectual and bon-vivant Roy Jenkins to look out of place, but he seems strangely at home in Glasgow. The former leader of the Labour Party stood down from the leadership after his defeat at last year's General Election. His replacement, Merlyn Rees, though shows no sign of unease at his predecessor returning to the House of Commons, and has visited the constituency three times in the past fortnight to campaign on behalf of Jenkins. Rees' support is hardly surprising, the Parliamentary Party lost its brightest and best in the Westminster bombing and the electoral landslide, politicians of Jenkins' stature are sorely needed. In earlier days Jenkins' victory would be assured, Garscadden is rock solid Labour territory. The Catholic majority have traditionally voted Labour, with the Protestant vote split between the Tories and the SNP, and recent events have solidified Catholic's resident's antipathy towards Powell's Conservative Party. However, Jenkins' liberal views have alienated many of his traditional supporters and he has run into trouble over the issue of abortion. He now faces a serious challenge from his “own” Party, or at least a rival version of it.
Tony Benn retained his leadership of the 'other' Labour Party despite his election defeat. Arguments over which of the two rival factions are the “real” Labour Party have dragged on relentlessly since the general election, with the ownership of the Labour Party's assets still before the courts. Benn steadfastly maintains that his faction is the “genuine” Labour Party, citing the decision of the rump of the NEC after the Westminster bombing to oppose Powell’s' security measures. While Jenkins stood down, Benn remained as leader outside the Commons and has spent his year outside Parliament leading marches and addressing protests. While Merlyn Rees' Labour Party have tried to maintain a united front in the face of terrorism, offering the Powell Government only constructive criticism, Benn has been vociferous about the destruction of British freedoms, albeit it in his own disarmingly charming manner.
It seems as though Benn is winning the argument in Glasgow Garscadden, nationwide Powell's Government remains popular, but amongst the Catholic housing estates of Garscadden there is much anger against the Conservative Government, and the mainstream Labour party for their lack of opposition, and after a year in the wilderness Thursday is likely to see a return to Parliament for the former Viscount Stansgate.
From “An Unhappy Juncture: The Powell Government” by Anthony Selsdon (HarperCollins, 1988)
While Powell retained an active influence in foreign affairs, home and economic affairs were increasingly delegated. Security matters fell under the control of Margaret Thatcher and Airey Neave, who had made public his desire to remain at the Northern Ireland office until the IRA were defeated, although it was widely believed that he could have claimed any job he wanted in the cabinet. Powell was reluctant to intervene in home affairs, whether due to his undeniable feelings of guilt over the assassination of the Queen or to his personal antipathy towards Margaret Thatcher.
The security situation improved steadily through 1978. The majority of Northern Ireland was at least under the nominal control of security forces, and while guerrilla attacks were common in Ulster, these were mainly concentrated around border areas and the rural areas surrounding the new-towns.
Sectarian violence was more pervasive upon the mainland. Reporting restrictions made it difficult to differentiate sectarian clashes from anti-Government protests, but low-level anti-Catholic violence was endemic and there were sporadic outbreaks of larger scale violence, particularly in Liverpool, Manchester and Glasgow. Celtic and Rangers football matches were particular focuses for violence; in the 77/78 season both local derbys were played in Edinburgh, without ticket allocations for either side's fans. While in both cases this resulted in local rioting, the security services were happy that they avoided much more serious conflict.
The IRA itself operated at a historically low level. The clearing of the Belfast and Derry slums had broken the IRA power base, and the internment camps hindered recruitment. The IRA increasingly relied upon teenaged and female volunteers, often the sisters, wives, sons or daughters of interned IRA men. While coverage of the suffering of Catholics in Northern Ireland had swelled the IRA's coffers with donations from American sympathisers, the IRA were curtailed by lack of skilled manpower and their activity during 1978 was limited to several set-piece “spectaculars” on the British mainland, including the bombing of two army barracks, the Oxford Street bombing and several assassination attempts upon Government Ministers. All-in-all, while the security situation had begun to stabilise there was still a general consensus upon the need for emergency security measures.
In terms of economic performance 1978 saw the shine begin to fade from Keith Joseph's economic miracle. The cost of the troubles in Northern Ireland were a constant ongoing drain upon the Government's finances, and much of the receipts from privatisation and the taxes from the exploitation of North Sea oil were spent upon security rather than investment or tax cuts. Increasingly savings from the reform of public services were not being matched with tax cuts as the cost of maintaining control of Northern Ireland grew.
While the economy continued to grow through Joseph's commitment to a low-tax and low regulation business environment, international coverage of events in Northern Ireland were beginning to have a negative effect upon foreign investment. In April 1978 Amnesty International closed their London offices and relocated to Amsterdam, in a calculated protest against human rights infringements in the UK. This was compounded by increasingly negative coverage in the US media in particular. Several large corporations stressed their reluctance to invest further in the United Kingdom while the security situation remained volatile, while human rights charities and NGOs appealed to their supporters to boycott British goods and services.
21st April 1978 — The Bilderberg Conference, Princeton University
“No, no” John Nott said with a chuckle. “I'm afraid not, Al. I promised my wife I would only spend ten years in politics and then I'd get out and make some proper money.”
“We could get you money,” Al Haig said, as the US Secretary of State and the British Foreign Secretary strolled through the campus, the sunlight dappling through the trees. “Money is no problem at all. You need paying, we'll pay.”
John Nott smiled and shook his head. “No, really. I have no intention of staying in politics.”
“But surely — Prime Minister Nott — doesn't that do it for you?”
“Certainly not,” Nott said. “It's very flattering that you should think I'd be an appropriate man, but the pressure, the press intrusion, the media spotlight. It is quite impossible for the Prime Minister to lead a normal family life. Enoch is no fool you know, out of his top three positions neither me nor Keith Joseph want the role of Prime Minister, and Margaret Thatcher is ruled out on account of being a woman.”
Elsewhere on the campus Vice-President Schweiker was having an almost identical conversation with Geoffrey Howe. “Well, it is very flattering I'm sure, but I really don't think it's at all possible or, for that matter, even worthwhile,” Howe was mumbling.
Schweiker yawned. “As you know, Secretary of State, the United States greatly values the special relationship, and the President is worried that, if Prime Minister Powell remains in power, the relationship could be irreversibly damaged.”
“There really is no point, Richard. May I call you, Richard?”
“Sure, sure. What do you mean 'no point'? We're offering you the chance to become Prime Minister.”
“It's really not as easy as that. I'm quite happy where I am. If I sit tight and keep my head down I'll be Lord Chancellor in a year or two's time.”
“What do you mean, 'it's not as easy as that'. We can do this, Geoffrey, the President takes this very seriously indeed. Great Britain is an important ally for us, some solid financial pressure, a run on the pound, US firms threatening to pull out of Britain. Powell would be vulnerable. We need someone willing to deliver the final blow.”
Howe stood to leave. “I'm sorry Richard, but there's some things you need to understand. Getting rid of Enoch wouldn't do what you want. Firstly the new Parliament is full of his supporters. If he lost they would probably select someone equally as extreme but less intelligent or able, Alan Clark or someone. Secondly, Powell isn't in charge anymore, he hasn't been for a long time, at least since the Queen's assassination.”
“Not in charge? Then who is?”
Howe shrugged amiably, before ambling away beneath the chestnut trees.
14th June 1978 — 4.23pm
Jim Molyneaux walked briskly across Speaker's Court alongside Ian Gow. Through the archway at the end of the court they could see the builders carefully levering another giant slab of carved stone into the restored Eastern wall of the House of Commons chamber. The stone had needed to be hand carved to the original designs, and stonemasons with the necessary skills had been difficult to find. Only now was progress beginning to be made in rebuilding the chamber. The new stone looked incongruously yellow alongside the blackened stone of the rest of the palace. In time of course the rest of the palace was due to cleaned of the hundred and twenty years of grime that coated its stone walls. For now it would have to wait.
“There's something I've been asking myself,” Molyneaux said quietly to Gow. “There are too many co-incidences. You know we only survived that first strike by pure luck — Julian's assassination and the media blaming it on the unions. The same with Thorpe — the stuff about his lover and dead dog and the bunnies all coming on three days before the election. It all seems too well timed to just be co-incidence. Even now, every time there is any question of security provisions being relaxed, there is another atrocity. Almost as if they are arriving on cue.”
“Co-incidence is a funny thing sometimes,” Gow said with an easy smile.
“No,” Molyneaux continued. “I'm serious about this. Who has an interest in keeping the security provisions? The secret services themselves. Who has the means to orchestrate such atrocities? The secret services themselves. Which member of the cabinet has been given almost sole control over the fight against the IRA? The one with the closest links to the security services.”
“Now you're being paranoid.”
“All the same, I'd like a meeting with Enoch.”
Gow sighed. “Well he's busy tonight — on the TV. I'll talk to his diary secretary and see if she can fit you in for ten minutes tomorrow. Till then, don't talk to anyone about this. Not least because people will think you're barking.”
Interview between David Frost and the Prime Minister, the Rt Hon J Enoch Powell MP
(Broadcast on ITV at 8pm, 14th June 1978)
[Transcript]
David Frost: Many world commentators are questioning the need for such strict security measures. Newspapers on the continent for example have described you as a dictator. Enoch Powell: It is their privilege to describe me however they wish. You are aware that I was elected and so, I am sure, are they. I am afraid that I do not have time to worry about poor journalistic standards in foreign countries. DF: Might they have a point though? EP: I fail to see how. DF: Are you being too harsh? It isn't just foreign observers, Tony Benn for example has consistently attacked your policies. EP: That an opposition politician should attack the Government can hardly be paraded as evidence that the Government is at fault, Mr Frost. Mr Benn would be failing in his duty were he not to criticise the Government's policies. Such is the role of the opposition. DF: You reject all accusations that your Government is being draconian. EP: I reject all accusations that Her Majesty's Government is being draconian. The measures introduced under state of emergency are temporary measures only. They are necessary to protect the public from terrorist attacks and should not unduly inconvenience law-abiding citizens. DF: But Prime Minister. Curfews? ID cards? Surely? EP: As I have said, they are necessary to combat the terrorist threat. It would be just as inconvenient were people to be shot at or bombed in the street. The difference would be that their lives would be in danger. DF: Some people are saying that the terrorist threat has receded. That it is time to relax controls. EP: Mr Frost, there is nothing I would like more than to be able to relax controls. I do not dream of a United Kingdom that needs to lock its doors against terrorist threats, I certainly take no pleasure in troops on the streets, nor in detention without trial. However, these things are necessary evils. I do not seek to extend them for any longer than strictly necessary, however, were I to relax controls then the deaths that would inevitably result would be my responsibility. I have a duty to protect the people of Britain, and I shall not shirk that duty because of what some rhetorical people may or may not be saying. DF: How long does there have to be peace then? How will you decide when it is safe to relax controls. EP: It remains under review. Violence has fallen in recent months and I shall certainly be reviewing the situation in the coming weeks. DF: So not long then. EP: For as long as necessary. For as long as necessary.
14th June 1978 — 9.14pm
It was almost dark by the time Molyneaux arrived back at his flat. He nodded at the policeman outside, part of the security arrangements that all former Secretaries of State for Northern Ireland received, and went inside, closing the door behind him. Slipping off his shoes he padded into the sitting room and switched on the light. Inside were two men, each dressed smartly in dark suits. Both were holding silenced pistols.
“Good evening, Mr Molyneaux.”
Molyneaux had expected an Irish accent, instead it was clear cut-glass home counties. Molyneaux closed his eyes for second. There was no point trying any heroics. “Good evening,” he said finally.
“Where would like it done, Mr Molyneaux?”
“Here is as good as place as any,” Molyneaux said, taking a seat.
“Would you like to write a note...to your loved ones?” Molyneaux shook his head. “Your choice,” said one of the men. Molyneaux stared forwards, focusing at a point on the opposite wall. There was a muffled thud as the bullet entered his head and he slumped forward onto the carpet.
The two men slipped silently from the flat, nodding politely to the policeman stationed outside.
From the Times, 15th June 1978
“Molyneaux Slain in IRA Hit”
Former Secretary of State for Northern Ireland James Molyneaux was shot yesterday at his London flat. Mr Molyneaux was returning from the House of Commons and was apparently shot in the head upon entering his flat. His body was found at around midnight when the policeman guarding his house became suspicious. Mr Molyneaux was a prime target on the IRA's hit list and the assassination bears all the hallmarks of an IRA killing.
Home Secretary Margaret Thatcher has expressed her shock and dismay at the killing of Mr Molyneaux and has sent the Government's condolences to his friends and family. In a statement early in the early hours she stressed the Government's continuing commitment to strong anti-IRA security measures.