As there doesn't seem to be much debate in this section above the level of wingnuttery I though I'd try and start one. A reasoned debate I hope.
Was there a serious plot to oust British Prime Minister Harold Wilson in the 1970s by force?
There's an awful lot of controversy about the allegations of a military coup being planned against Harold Wilson in 1974. At the very least some people with military/intelligence connections were talking about actions being needed to deal with the perceived problems; IRA terrorism, industrial unrest and the power of the unions, fears that Wilson himself was a Soviet agent, loss of the last Imperial outposts, the collapse of 'traditional' institutions, economic woes (rising inflation for example), high taxation.
There was talk by some (former Major Alexander Greenwood for example) of creating private paramilitary organisations, discussions that (as Brian Crozier put it) "seriously considered the possibility of a military takeover".
Then there was the extraordinary military operation at Heathrow airport in January 1974, officially a routine exercise intended to test defenses against IRA attack, but about which Wilson and his cabinet were never informed.
There were various right-wing "action groups", such as David Stirling's GB75 and Walter Walker's Civil Assistance, which historically never amounted to much. Stirling wrote to the Conservative Member of Parliament Airey Neave in October 1974, saying that he had formed an organisation of about five hundred "men of such calibre that they would be part of the resistance, should the circumstances require it". Neave was known to muse that the organisation could be used to maintain order in the event of a general strike.
Though, as Reggie Perrin put it:
Was there a serious plot to oust British Prime Minister Harold Wilson in the 1970s by force?
There's an awful lot of controversy about the allegations of a military coup being planned against Harold Wilson in 1974. At the very least some people with military/intelligence connections were talking about actions being needed to deal with the perceived problems; IRA terrorism, industrial unrest and the power of the unions, fears that Wilson himself was a Soviet agent, loss of the last Imperial outposts, the collapse of 'traditional' institutions, economic woes (rising inflation for example), high taxation.
There was talk by some (former Major Alexander Greenwood for example) of creating private paramilitary organisations, discussions that (as Brian Crozier put it) "seriously considered the possibility of a military takeover".
Then there was the extraordinary military operation at Heathrow airport in January 1974, officially a routine exercise intended to test defenses against IRA attack, but about which Wilson and his cabinet were never informed.
There were various right-wing "action groups", such as David Stirling's GB75 and Walter Walker's Civil Assistance, which historically never amounted to much. Stirling wrote to the Conservative Member of Parliament Airey Neave in October 1974, saying that he had formed an organisation of about five hundred "men of such calibre that they would be part of the resistance, should the circumstances require it". Neave was known to muse that the organisation could be used to maintain order in the event of a general strike.
Though, as Reggie Perrin put it:
Quote:
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You realise the sort of people you're going to attract, don't you, Jimmy? Thugs, bully-boys, psychopaths, sacked policemen, security guards, sacked security guards, racialists, Paki-bashers, queer-bashers, Chink-bashers, anybody-bashers, rear Admirals, queer admirals, Vice Admirals, fascists, neo-fascists, crypto-fascists, loyalists, neo-loyalists, crypto-loyalists. |
via International Skeptics Forum http://ift.tt/1Nt2WkE
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