What If Gordon Banks Had Played, Part 9

From the Guardian, 1st September 1976, p.25 “Government takes Yorkshire Television to High Court over Angry Brigade Interview”

The Government yesterday sought an injunction against Yorkshire Television to prevent them broadcasting an interview with John Barker, one of the eight conspirators prosecuted last year for the murder of Julian Amery MP. In the interview, filmed in secret without the permission of prison authorities, Mr Barker apparently claims that he and the other seven members of the “Angry Brigade” were the fall guys in an MI5 plot to discredit the Trade Union movement.

Defending the Government's decision to seek legal intervention, Home Office minister Cecil Parkinson said "A free and vibrant press is a vital part of any democracy, but at the same time there must be limits. We cannot afford to have a media that deliberatly seeks to undermine national security.

From the News Letter, 8th September 1976 “News in Brief: Body in River Indentified”

The body found in the River Lagan last week was yesterday indenfied as being that of Martin McGuinness, 26, unemployed from Londonderry. Police have ruled out foul play.

From “British Media Censorship in the 70s and 80s: A Retrospective” by T.Snow (Harvard International Journal of Press/Politics, Vol.3, Issue.2)

The Media Standards Act 1976 represented both the final attempt at voluntary control of the media and the means by which the Government would later intervene to prevent an independent press in the United Kingdom. The two main sections of the Act set up new rules on media ownership, anti-monopoly measures which need not concern us here, and a voluntary Media Standards Commission which would deal with complaints from the public over intrusive or inaccurate reporting by the press and would also investigate any accusations of political bias within the broadcast media. The third section of the Act was only 5 lines long and attracted little attention (indeed, the Bill was guillotined during its passage through the House of Commons and the clause was never debated in the chamber). The third section provided that “During a period of public emergency (a) Her Majesty may, by Order in Council, prevent the publication or broadcast of information which the Secretary of State may consider damaging to national security. (b) Her Majesty may, by Order in Council, suspend publication or broadcast of any publication, radio or television station which the Secretary of State may consider damaging to national security.” During passage through the House of Lords the clause was uncontentious, most peers taking the view that it merely put what had been naturally accepted during the second world war on a sound statutary footing in the unlikely event that such measures should be needed in the future.

18th October 1976

“Hullo and welcome to Friday Night Saturday Morning,” Harold Wilson said to camera, through the light cloud of pipe smoke. The former Prime Minister was now technically the 1st Earl of Rievaulx, but to his television audience he remained Harold.

“My first guest is a young lad who could be after my old job one of these days. He's the youngest person ever to address a political party conference and you probably saw him on the telly last week talking to the Tory conference. Please welcome William Hague.”

There was a half-hearted round of applause as the floor manager waved a piece of cardboard with “CLAP!” written on it at the audience and the pug-nosed and hirsute teenager bounded onto the set.

“So,” the ex-premier began. “It must be past your bedtime son.”

“Er...yes,” young William replied. Across the studio floor the floor manager slapped his forehead and hurried to hold up the cards with suitable questions written on them in black pen.

A hundred miles further South Dennis Thatcher's shoe bounched off the television set. “He bloody sounds like his son as well! Why on earth does that little oik keep turning up on my television screen?”

“Why don't you go to bed dear?” Mrs Thatcher said from over her red boxes.

“Because I'm watching it,” Dennis grimaced before the lights suddenly flickered and went out. “Bloody striking miners!” Dennis's voice shouted into the darkness.

“Have a drink dear.”

From “An Unhappy Juncture: The Powell Government” by Anthony Selsdon (Harpercollins, 1988)

After a year of relatively peaceful industrial relations, strike action began again in ernest in October 1976. The new Industrial Relations and Trade Unions Bill sought to complete the work of the previous years industrial legislation and while the controversial measure to refuse benefit to the families of striking workers had been transfered to an obscure change in benefit regulations, hidden admist the provisions of the Social Security Bill, the bill included other measures, including compulsory postal ballots before strike action which met with stiff resistance.

The long hot summer had made strike action by power workers an idle threat, but as the weather turned colder the union barons called their workers out on strike against the new bill. This time however the Government would not need luck to defeat the Unions; following the hot summer stockpiles at power stations were at an unprecedented high, the provisions of the Industrial Relations Act 1975 greated reduced the freedom of manouver of the unions, the right-wing media were happy to continue blackening the unions' reputations by mentioning the assassination of Amery in connection with the previous year's strikes. The Powell Government could also look forward to oil revenues finally coming online in 1978 and proudly announced the building of several new oil and gas fired power stations. The message to the miners was clear — you can't blackmail us any more.

As the strike continued into the winter there were regular power cuts and shortages in the shops as haulage workers came out in support of the strikes. While the Government again sent troops onto the streets to protect workers from intimidation and to take over food deliveries, there were inevitable shortages and the gradual increase in support for the Government that had come with the tax cuts and signs of growth in the economy since 1975 was rapidly reversed.

November's budget saw further tax cuts in an attempt to bolster support for the Government, including cuts in duty on cigarettes and alcohol which were seen, correctly, as an attempt to win the support of the working classes. In October a manufactured media furoure over preferential treatment for immigrants gave the Government an excuse to put forward new race relations legislation, repealing much of the Race Relations Act 1971 and abolishing the Commission for Racial Equality. Finally, the House of Commons was forced to sit late into December as the Government used the guillotine to push through the controversial Social Security Bill (see Chapter 17) which amongst its other provisions effectively cut the benefit entitlement of striking workers' families to zero.

This final measure broke the back of the strike, a week before Christmas 1976 the families of striking workers were informed that their benefit entitlement was to cease. During its rapid passage through the House of Commons the provisions had met with no publicity whatsoever, hidden as they were in accompanying secondary legislation. The families of many strikers had bought Christmas presents, food and decorations on credit and with the Unions themselves facing financial shortages due to the previous year's strike action and the fall in subscriptions resulting from the abolition of the closed shop, many strikers were left destitute and facing possible eviction.

The strikes continued into January, the Trade Union leadership unwilling to surrender in the face of action they considered morally reprehensible. It was hoped by many in the trade unions that the Government would be forced to back down once the newspapers began reporting stories of the families of striking workers being thrown onto the streets, indeed many thought that the Government's error of judgement was so great that they would be hounded from office. It was not to be. The strike was overtaken by events in Northern Ireland (see Chapter 16) and Trade Unions overwhelmingly abandoned strike action after the terrorist atrocities at the end of January. The NUM was the last Union to admit defeat when it finally returned to work at the end of March.

There was no triumphalism from the Government, indeed in hindsight the Government seemed almost ashamed of its actions and did not seek to publicise the end of the strike or claim victory. For most people life simply returned to normal. For the Unions however their hayday was over — the misery and hardship endured by many strikers during January and February left them not only staunchly opposed to Powell's government but disillusioned with the Trade Union movement. The passage of the Industrial Relations and Trade Union Act placed further restrictions upon the trade unions and introduced the heavy financial burden of compulsory postal ballots prior to strike action, making trade unionists personally liable for any losses suffered due to unofficial strike action. The IRTU Act and the ignominous end of the 1976-7 strike was the end of old-style trade unionism in the United Kingdom, however Powell's treatment of the Unions and his Government's callous abandonment of the families of striking workers would not be forgotten. If Powell had been a figure of hate on the left after the “Rivers of Blood” speech, he was now anathema.

2nd January 1977

Airey Neave looked apprensively around Belcoo Newtown. The prefab housing was smart, clean and spacious, churches, corner shops and pubs had been built a public expence. It could almost be a new housing development from anywhere in the country. After a few moments however one noted subtle differences: there was a lack of street furniture that could be used as makeshift weapons — no bins or bus shelters; the roads were wider to allow passage of army vehicles and prevent blockades; the road layout was designed to allow clear viewpoints from the army checkpoints and watchtowers that littered the town.

If one took the time to look even closer they would find other differences. There were no back alleys or rat runs behind the houses, and the sewer systems had limited access points — all in areas in full view of security posts. The walls of the prefab housing were designed to resist graffiti, the houses themselves simple to repair and difficult to dismantle. Belcoo Newtown was a beautifully gilded cage, the first custom made anti-terrorist town.

The appointed mayor of the town showed Neave the community centre and youth club and the television cameras dutifully recorded the development. The facilities in the town put many of those on the mainland to shame, let alone the slums of West Belfast and Derry, Neave thought to himself. They had made a special effort to get as many camera crews as possible for the unveiling of the first of the Northern Ireland newtowns, the heavy security that was necessary for a minister of the Crown visting the border areas had been ordered to be as inconspicous as possible and a handful of handpicked new residents (young attractive middle class but struggling families, delighted by the offer of free housing) had been brought in to show off to the media.

In a week it would be different — in IRA-controlled West Belfast they were using intimidation to warn people against accepting houses in the newtown developments, and at the same time he knew that when residents did start moving in they include IRA terrorists determined to punish those Catholics who were “collaborating with the occupying British forces”. Residents had been arriving for a month now, but so far it had been the willing and enthusiastic — the eviction notices on huge swathes of West Belfast had expired yesterday and soon the unwilling new inhabitants of Belcoo newtown would be arriving and settling into the eastern part of the development, where the security was even more high-profile. The most impressive part of the newtown, the part that the TV camera were not invited to, was the security HQ. It would be working overtime.

With a final broad smile to the cameras Airey Neave climbed into his waiting helicopter and returned to more serious business.

From “Making Sense of the Troubles”, J. McCrittrick (Blackstaff, 1999)

The British finally struck on the 20th January 1977. The UK was in the grip of a widespread strike that was just beginning to come to an end, after a miserable December the British public cared little about what happened in Northern Ireland, while Senator Kennedy's defeat in the US Presidential elections had removed the threat of a USA prepared to actively intervene in Northern Ireland; President Reagan was perceived as being unlikely to intervene, especially in the opening days of his administration, and it was hoped that his inauguration would keep the news from Northern Ireland off front pages across the world.

Wholescale eviction notices, which had been announced periodically by loudspeaker into the IRA-controlled West Belfast had ceased on the 1st January, to be replaced by “sound warfare” — a constant 24-hour a day barrage of loud noise including rock music, dentists drills, sirens and bagpipes. On the 15th January, a fortnight after the expiry of the eviction notices, electricity and water supplies were cut to the Falls Road area.

According to eye-witness accounts the situation within IRA-controlled West Belfast began to deteriorate around the 18th January. During previous months residents had been able to leave the area relatively unhindered, although the IRA acted to prevent anyone openly “moving out”. One the electricity supplies were cut the remaining access points to the IRA controlled areas were barricaded and the inhabitants prepared to resist any attempt by the British to take the Falls Road by force of arms.

On the 20th Jaunary at around 4am, too late to change the headlines of the next days newspapers, British troops attempted to enter the area through Divis St, Grosvenor Rd and Donegall Road. The initial exploratory attack was aimed more at breaking the IRA barricades and allowing non-combatants to leave the area — while armoured troop carriers were used and only limited force was utilised the troops were pushed back by gunfire and large scale use of molotov cokctails and petrol bombs by Catholic residents of the area.

News of the renewed outbreak of violence spread rapidly across the province. There were violent clashes in Derry and Portadown. In the Shankill Road area armed Loyalist mobs assembled and the now fortified boundary of Catholic West Belfast. After a year of rising tensions and uneasy stand-offs, the situation quickly descended into chaos. While the army stood back awaiting orders for a second push into the Falls Road, Loyalist mobs North of the Catholic area pushed forward and riots and running battles erupted upon the streets. There were similar scenes in Derry city and in other towns across Ulster. At 6am the Privy Council met and the President of the Council, James Chichester-Clark, announced a State of Emergency, thereby activating the Government's new powers under the Media Standards Act 1976.

The army began shelling of the Falls Road area at around 10am and at 5pm British tanks and troops moved into IRA-controlled Belfast, meeting with heavy resistance from the residents. During the year of IRA control the buildings had been heavily fortified with sniper nests and foxholes and British troops made slow progress through the streets of West Belfast. Bulldozers were used to demolish buildings as troops moved forward, leaving only rubble in their wake.

The IRA retaliation began immediately, at 11.12 a car bomb was detonated outside Birmingham New Street station. This was followed by similar explosions in Manchester, Peterborough, Bristol, Slough and Reading. Three further attempts were prevented as special branch officers swooped on suspected IRA units that had been under surveillance, and two further attempts failed when car bombs detonated prematurely, killing the bombers, in Hull and Leeds.

The regional car bombs were, of course, overshadowed by the attack upon the Palace of Westminster later the same day. The majority of the IRA's experienced manpower was interned in Northern Ireland and, despite the surge in IRA volunteers that recent British policy had produced, the majority of volunteers were inexperienced. While the IRA volunteers who carried out the car bombings were green recruits (as evidenced by an almost fifty percent failure rate), the attack upon Westminster was carried out by experienced IRA paramilitaries who had either not been interned, or had escaped custody and was hence are far more effectively executed attack....