#willie whitelaw

[ministerforpeas]

Hunger Games: HomeSec Smashdown

First we had the Chancellors, now it's time for the Home Secretaries to battle to the death to become Britain's top HomeSec!

As you can see some people here have returned yet again from previous seasons! We also have a crazy cat Reform lady as well!

Who will win? Find out!!

Hopefully not Patel or Braverman

[taletheoldcrowtold]

Pride 2024 - Day 27

Movie: Maurice

Made in: 1987 – Set in: 1909 – 1913

Starring: James Wilby, Hugh Grant, Rupert Graves, Ben Kingsley, Mark Tandy, Denholm Elliott, Helena Michell, Billie Whitelaw, Judy Parfitt, Phoebe Nicholls

Rated R for: brief language, nudity (buns and willy)

Based on the book by E.M. Forster, it follows Maurice Hall as he enters Cambridge and befriends fellow student, Clive Durham. Their friendship soon blooms into love, but the scrutiny against homosexuality keeps the two from going too far in their relationship. After the arrest of a fellow student for homosexuality, Clive ends their romance and marries a young girl named Anne while still trying to keep a friendship with Maurice.

It’s a character driven romantic drama that shows the hardships of being homosexual during the early 1900s and showcases two types of people: one who values happiness and love over reputation and security and the other who is willing to ignore his true self to keep his place in society.

Spoilers under Keep Reading Line

No one dies in the end and Maurice and Alec get together.

I liked this movie pretty well, even more so with Maurice and Alec getting together in the end. I half expected it to end unhappy just going by the time it is set and when it was made, but was happy to see that didn’t happen. I can understand why Clive breaks up with Maurice, as it’s really easy to lose everything if someone saw them together. But it was clear he wasn’t completely happy in his marriage with Anne but it was his choice to marry her, so I guess he just had to lay in the bed he made. Maurice didn’t seem to even really consider what would happen if they were caught as he didn’t try all that hard to hide it. I think he was a better fit for Alec and though I would have liked to see what they did with their life after getting together, I like the ending with Clive. It really shows a moment of him wondering what could have been and perhaps feeling regret that he wasn’t able to take that chance with Maurice. It was a little dickish that he invited Maurice to his wedding, though. I had only seen Rupert Graves in newer things so it was a bit of a surprise to see him so young and baby-faced XD

Mom’s Thoughts: This film could be considered a historical, since it takes place during the early twentieth century (most of it takes place around 1910-1913). At the time being a homosexual was illegal and one could be arrested, flogged and sent to prison to do hard labor for even a minor thing as a man kissing another man on the mouth. Clive learns this happens to one of his former classmates and is scared to continue a love relationship with Maurice telling him they will now be platonic friends. Clive goes on to marry Anne and live as a heterosexual. Maurice is heartbroken but finds a new partner with Alec Scudder, the gamekeeper at Clive’s country estate. It’s an interesting story that has no real violence and no one is killed during the movie. The movie ends with Maurice still with Alec. I wouldn’t mind watching it again sometime.

[mariacallous]

Rishi Sunak needs help. Most prime ministerial decisions are no-brainers, as in reversing a mini-budget or sacking a Jacob Rees-Mogg. Others are strictly personal. These have recently included whether to return Suella Braverman to the Home Office, allow Gavin Williamson into the cabinet, or not to go to Cop27. They have damaged Sunak’s claim to “integrity and accountability” and are widely regarded as needing urgent reversal, as has already happened over Cop27.

When Sunak arrived in Downing Street he brought with him a cohort of aides who could have come from central casting. They are young, sneakered, tieless image-makers, and fiercely loyal to him. They are products of today’s Westminster, a monastic enclosure of special advisers, thinktanks and lobby groups isolated from the world outside. They have created Brand Rishi as a video hero, a cliched politician of the metaverse. Thus the Braverman and Williamson decisions are interpreted as merely the results of an algorithm for a balanced cabinet.

When Penny Mordaunt was running for leader, she quoted Margaret Thatcher’s famous line that every prime minister “needs a Willie”. Mordaunt appeared to think the reference was to gender; Thatcher was, of course, referring her much-loved mentor Willie Whitelaw, and did not realise (until later) the double entendre. But Thatcher’s point, that good leaders need friends speaking truth to power, was strongly meant. Nothing did more to undermine Britain’s last three prime ministers than their lack of a Willie, of the wisdom, the lessons and the caution long valued by holders of high office but absent from the sycophants often crowded into Downing Street.

Any new prime minister should read Thatcher’s memoir of her first appointments. Having spent little time in high office, she judged her colleagues time and again for how well they did their previous jobs – hardly an eccentric criterion. Politics is an avalanche of circumstance, of daily mishaps. There is no substitute for learning its lessons. I have never interviewed a former prime minister who did not say: “I only wish I could have my time over again.”

Thatcher made plenty of mistakes, but she survived and achieved what she set out to do. She lived with a stockade of advisers – Whitelaw, Peter Carrington, Keith Joseph, Robert Armstrong, Bernard Ingham, Alan Walters, Charles Powell and others – who she knew would tell her what they thought. They stopped her privatising the NHS. They failed to stop her poll tax, but they surely tried.

Every sensible prime minister has had an “honest friend”. Winston Churchill had Norman Brook, who at least claimed to prevent his worst decisions. Harold Macmillan had John Wyndham, Harold Wilson had Lady Falkender, Tony Blair had Alastair Campbell and Peter Mandelson. The nearest Boris Johnson came to a Willie was Dominic Cummings, whose zest for change was enormous but whose experience of its route map was zero.

In each of these cases, the individual chemistries were different and the outcomes not always happy. But success, for a prime minister, is now nearly impossible. Luck and the demons of publicity bedevil every decision. All a leader can do is widen the range of advice, loyal and possibly not too loyal, available to Downing Street on a daily basis.

Sunak has come to office as one of the more intelligent, decent and sober figures to lead a British government in a long time. He inherits a starved and creaking public sector that is defective in almost all departments. He and his chancellor respond to every policy question that all is “up for reconsideration”. We only know that they are about to inflict on the country a devastating austerity, which will require meticulous leadership in every Whitehall department. Yet the talent pool for that leadership has been devastated by the past decade of Tory party infighting and defenestration.

In the past 10 years, Britain has seen five prime ministers, plus seven chancellors, six home secretaries and 10 education secretaries. It has been government as a joke. In the process, ministerial experience and the essence of wisdom have been exterminated. Yet on parliament’s backbenches are sitting men and women of ability whose only crime was their disbelief in Brexit and Boris Johnson. It is hard to believe Sunak could not gather a handful of them together to sit round his fire of an evening and give him the benefit of their advice. He badly needs a Willie.

[textsfromwestminsterredux]

[georgefairbrother]

On July 10th, 1972, BBC News reported:

"…The Secretary of State for Northern Ireland William Whitelaw has been involved in secret talks with the Provisional IRA in London. Mr Whitelaw broke the news to the House of Commons as he announced that the two week ceasefire in Northern Ireland had come to an end. Six IRA leaders were involved in the meeting that took place in a private house on Friday 7 July. After numerous approaches by the IRA this was the first time that Mr Whitelaw had met with provisional leaders and he claims that he did so to preserve the peace...In the face of criticism by Conservative backbenchers, Mr Whitelaw said, 'I decided that if I were to see these people personally I might be able to do something to save lives'..."

William Whitelaw was the inaugural Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, after Prime Minister Edward Heath had established Direct Rule in March 1972. In a three hour meeting, the IRA members made specific demands in exchange for a continued peace;  a total withdrawal of British forces, the right to self-determination by the Irish people, and an amnesty for political prisoners.

None of these demands proved acceptable to the British government in what William Whitelaw called a re-statement of routine and unworkable demands.

Hostilities recommenced even before the Northern Ireland Secretary was able to report back to Cabinet, over the issues which included housing discrimination in Belfast. In a statement, Whitelaw appeared to apportion blame to both sides, and said, "I want to make it perfectly clear that terrorism and extremism in the community cannot be tolerated, that the rule of law and justice must be restored."

The BBC provided some additional context;

"...With 467 deaths in 1972 alone this was the height of the Troubles and a period that Willie - later Viscount - Whitelaw regarded as the most challenging of his career. In March 1973 he published a White Paper that proposed the election of a 78 member power sharing executive and in December the Sunningdale Agreement was signed. By May 1974 Unionist divisions caused the fledgling Council of Ireland to collapse and Direct Rule was re-imposed..."

William Whitelaw later served as a controversial Home Secretary in the first term Thatcher Government, before being granted a (hereditary) Peerage in 1983.  Margaret Thatcher once said of him that every Prime Minister needs a Willie.

See also:

[contre-qui]

April Reading

I’ve seen a few of these floating around and wanted to give it a try for myself. A few notes: I’ve linked everything except the books and movies/TV so hopefully they’re easy to access if you’re interested. I haven’t limited books, poetry, or short stories to educational or nonfiction content, but I only included educational/nonfiction non-reading media because a) I don’t think anyone’s interested in my full internet habits, and b) this list would be insanely long because I watch too much youtube. If the videos I listed were from an individual creator I included their name/channel name, but otherwise (a company or group channel [such as CrashCourse, SciShow, Watcher, etc. from this list]) I left it out. Enjoy!

Articles

"The Tyranny of the Female-Orgasm Industrial Complex" by Katharine Smyth

"Turn off your lights to help migrating birds in Washington"

"Ranking Stanley Tucci's Most Beloved Roles" by Emma Specter

"The Fire Within (novel)"

"Johnson & Johnson to End Talc-Based Baby Powder Sales in North America" by Tiffany Hsu and Roni Caryn Rabin

"Not all that it's made out to be: Students are told to avoid 'honor society' emails" by Analicia Haynes

"Audre Lorde"

"Cardinal Symbolism & Meaning" by Garth C. Clifford

"Life, the Universe and Everything"

"One side effect of the COVID-19 vaccine could be a heavier period" by Nicole Wetsman

"10 Questions You Should Never Be Asked in a Job Interview"

"It Began With Grazing"

"A Cephalopod Has Passed a Cognitive Test Designed for Human Children" by Michelle Starr

"The U.S. Department of Education offers low-interest loans to eligible students to help cover the cost of college or career school.”

"Easter Symbols and Traditions"

"Acetic acid"

"The Complicated History of Marvel Whitewashing Scarlet Witch" by Gavia Baker-Whitelaw

"The Heretical Origins of the Sonnet" by Ed Simon

Poetry & Short Stories

"I Stare at a Cormorant: A Poem for Sunday" by Tiana Clark

"Invitation" by Mary Oliver

"Invocation" by Helene Johnson

"The Moons of Neptune" by Như Xuân Nguyễn

"1967, Girl and Snow" by Corrinne Clegg Hales

"Torch" by Deborah A. Miranda 

"Map" by Linda Hogan

"Ex(ile)" by Desiree C. Bailey

"My Father's Accent" by Kaveh Akbar

“The Tide Rises, The Tide Falls” by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Books

A Mercy by Toni Morrison

Hedgewitch's Field Guide by Siolo Thompson

So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish by Douglas Adams

In Cold Blood by Truman Capote

Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen

All Clear by Connie Willis

Mostly Harmless by Douglas Adams

Ace: What Asexuality Reveals About Desire, Society, and the Meaning of Sex by Angela Chen

By the River Piedra I Sat Down and Wept: A Novel of Forgiveness by Paulo Coelho

Bread Givers by Anzia Yezierska

Non-Reading (Educational/Nonfiction/Based-on-a-True-Story) Media

The Trial of the Chicago 7

This is a Robbery, episode 1

Life in Color with David Attenborough

Crash Course Philosophy, episodes 1-8

"Wait, FROZEN Solved the Dyatlov Pass Mystery?" by Caitlin Doughty

"What are those floaty things in your eye? - Michael Mauser"

"The Common Houseplant That Hasn't Flowered in Almost 60 Years"

"3 Discoveries You Missed Because of COVID"

"Ching Shih: The Pirate Queen" (Puppet History)

"Pirates are gay and the best one was a woman // Historical Profiles [CC]" by Jessica Kellgren-Fozard

"What makes a poem ... a poem? - Melissa Kovacs"

"Whatever happened to acid rain? - Joseph Goffman"

"What Would Snow White *Actually* Wear? - Making a Historically Accurate Disney Snow White Costume" by Karolina Żebrowska

"The Great Molasses Flood" (Puppet History)

"6 Popular 'Home Remedies" That Don't Actually Work"

"6 Home Remedies Actually Supported by Science"

"Can you solve the riddle and escape Hades? - Dan Finkel"

"Can you solve the honeybee riddle? - Dan Finkel"

"7 of the Strangest Allergies"

[sky-lia]

Yes, it's a "draw your friend's ocs in your style" uwuFor this one, they all come from a friend's server.Maybe one day, if I'm motivated, I'll do a twitter/tumblr/deviantart version but with mutuals

In order : Absinth by @ask-the-hellion-studio / @fullmoondaggers-art, Dream by @waruihoshi, Whitelaw by @rinkopatateneko, Mary-Jane by @startistdoodles, Adelaide by @greenghostlyjekyll, Willy by @insane-control-room, Indigo by @inkylegacy, Vampy by @justapencilandsomeblood, Eska by @randomwriteronline, Alex by @sassinapaperbag, Candelabra by @vespavespa and finally Erin by @lady-lampblack

[long70s]

The Troubles, Pt 2

1972

2 January: An anti-internment rally is held in Belfast, North Ireland

3 January: The Irish Republican Army (IRA) explodes a bomb in Callender Street, Belfast, injuring over 60 people.

17 January: Seven men who were held as internees escape from the prison ship HMS Maidstone in Belfast Lough.

21 January: Prime Minister of Northern Ireland Brian Faulkner bans all parades and marches in Northern Ireland until the end of the year.

27 January: Two Royal Ulster Constabulary officers shot dead by IRA in an attack on their patrol car in the Creggan Road, Derry; The British Army and the Irish Republican Army engage in gun battles near County Armagh; British troops fire over 1,000 rounds of ammunition.

28 January: The Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association place "special emphasis on the necessity for a peaceful incident-free day" at the next march on 30 January in an effort to avoid violence.

30 January: Bloody Sunday: 27 unarmed civilians are shot (14 are killed) by the British Army during a civil rights march in Derry, Northern Ireland; this is the highest death toll from a single shooting incident during 'the Troubles.’

31 January: British Home Secretary Reginald Maudling to House of Commons on 'Bloody Sunday', "The Army returned the fire directed at them with aimed shots and inflicted a number of casualties on those who were attacking them with firearms and with bombs.”

1 February: British Prime Minister Edward Heath announces the appointment of Lord Chief Justice Lord Widgery to undertake an inquiry into the 13 deaths on 'Bloody Sunday; The Ministry of Defence also issues a detailed account of the British Army's version of events during 'Bloody Sunday.'

2 February: Angry demonstrators burn the British Embassy in Dublin to the ground in protest at the shooting dead of 13 people on 'bloody sunday'

5 February: Two IRA members are killed when a bomb they were planting exploded prematurely.

6 February: A Civil Rights march held in Newry, County Down; very large turn-out with many people attending to protest at the killings in Derry the previous Sunday.

10 February: BBC bans "Give Ireland Back to the Irish" by Wings; two British soldiers are killed in a land mine attack near Cullyhanna, County Armagh; an IRA member is shot dead during an exchange of gunfire with RUC officers.

14 February: Lord Widgery arrives in Coleraine, where the 'Bloody Sunday' (30 January 1972) Tribunal was to be based, and holds a preliminary hearing.

22 Febuary: The Official IRA bombs Aldershot military barracks, the headquarters of the British Parachute Regiment, killing seven people; thought to be in retaliation for Bloody Sunday.

25 February: Attempted assassination of Irish Minister of State for Home Affairs John Taylor who is shot a number of times (the Official Irish Republican Army later claimed responsibility)

1 March: Two Catholic teenagers shot dead by the Royal Ulster Constabulary while 'joy riding' in a stolen car in Belfast.

4 March: Abercorn Restaurant bombing: a bomb explodes in a crowded restaurant in Belfast, killing two civilians and wounding 130.

9 March: Four members of the Irish Republican Army (IRA) die in a premature explosion at a house in Clonard Street, Lower Falls, Belfast.

14 March: Two IRA members shot dead by British soldiers in the Bogside area of Derry.

15 March: Two British soldiers killed when attempting to defuse a bomb in Belfast; an RUC officer iskilled in an IRA attack in Coalisland, County Tyrone.

18 March: Ulster Vanguard hold a rally of 60,000 people in Belfast; William Craig tells the crowd: "if and when the politicians fail us, it may be our job to liquidate the enemy.”

20 March: Donegall Street bombing: the Provisional Irish Republican Army detonate its first car bomb on Donegall Street in Belfast; four civilians, two RUC officers and a UDR soldier killed while 148 people were wounded.

24 March: Great Britain imposes direct rule over Northern Ireland

27 March: Ulster Vanguard organise industrial strike against the imposition of direct rule on Northern Ireland by Westminster

30 March: Northern Ireland's Government and Parliament dissolved by the British Government and 'direct rule' from Westminster is introduced.

6 April: The Scarman Tribunal Report, an inquiry into the causes of violence during the summer of 1969 in N Ireland, is published, finding that the Royal Ulster Constabulary had been seriously at fault.

7 April: Three members of the Irish Republican Army (IRA) die in a premature bomb explosion in Belfast

10 April: Two British soldiers are killed in a bomb attack in Derry.

14 April: The Provisional Irish Republican Army explodes twenty-four bombs in towns and cities across Northern Ireland.

15 April: A member of the Official Irish Republican Army is shot dead by British soldiers at Joy Street in the Markets area of Belfast close to his home; a member of the British Army is shot dead by the Official IRA in the Divis area of Belfast.< April: Two British soldiers are shot dead by the Official Irish Republican Army (OIRA) in separate incidents in Derry.

18 April: The Widgery Report on 'Bloody Sunday' in Northern Ireland is published, causing outrage among the people of Derry who call it the "Widgery Whitewash.”

19 April: British Prime Minister Edward Heath confirms that a plan to conduct an arrest operation, in the event of a riot during the march on 30 January 1972, was known to British government Ministers in advance.

22 April: An 11-year-old boy killed by a rubber bullet fired by the British Army in Belfast; he was the first to die from a rubber bullet impact.

22 April: The Sunday Times Insight Team publish their account of the events of 'Bloody Sunday.’

10 May: An Irish Republican Army bomb starts a fire that destroys the Belfast Co-operative store.

13 May: Battle at Springmartin: following a loyalist car bombing of a Catholic-owned pub in the Ballymurphy area of Belfast, clashes erupt between PIRA, UVF and British Army.

14 May: 13 year old Catholic girl is shot dead by Loyalist paramilitaries in Ballymurphy, Belfast.

17 May: The Irish Republican Army (IRA) fires on workers leaving the Mackies engineering works in west Belfast (Although the factory was sited in a Catholic area it had an almost entirely Protestant workforce.

21 May: The Official Irish Republican Army (OIRA) kidnaps and shoots dead William Best (19), a soldier in the Royal Irish Rangers stationed in Germany whilst on leave at home.

22 May: Over 400 women in Derry attack the offices of Official Sinn Féin in Derry, North Ireland, following the shooting of William Best by the Official Irish Republican Army.

24 May: Official Irish Republican Army (OIRA) kidnaps and shoots dead William Best (19), a soldier in the Royal Irish Rangers stationed in Germany whilst on leave at home.

26 May: The Irish Republican Army (IRA) plant a bomb in Oxford Street, Belfast, killing a 64 year old woman.

28 May: Four Provisional Irish Republican Army volunteers and four civilians killed when a bomb they were preparing exploded prematurely at a house in Belfast.

29 May: The Official IRA announce a ceasefire.

2 June: British soldiers die in an IRA land mine attack near Rosslea, County Fermanagh.

11 June: Gun battle between Loyalist and Republican paramilitaries break out in the Oldpark area of Belfast.

13 June: The Irish Republican Army invites British Secretary of State for Northern Ireland Willie Whitelaw to 'Free Derry'; Whitelaw rejects offer and reaffirms his policy to not "let part of the United Kingdom ... default from the rule of law.”

14 June: Members of the NI Social Democratic and Labour Party hold a meeting with representatives of the Irish Republican Army in Derry; the IRA representatives outline their conditions for talks with the British Government.

15 June: The Social Democratic and Labour Party meet Secretary of State for Northern Ireland W Whitelaw, to present the IRA's conditions for a meeting.

18 June: 3 members of the British Army are killed by an Irish Republican Army (IRA) bomb in a derelict house near Lurgan, County Down.

19 June: A Catholic civilian is shot dead by the Provisional Irish Republican Army in the Cracked Cup Social Club, Belfast; Secretary of State for Northern Ireland William Whitelaw concedes 'special category' status, or 'political status' for paramilitary prisoners in Northern Ireland.

20 June: Secret Meeting Between IRA and British Officials held.

22 June: The Irish Republican Army announce that it would call a ceasefire from 26 June 1972 provided that there is a "reciprocal response" from the security forces.

24 June: The Irish Republican Army (IRA) kill 3 British Army soldiers in a land mine attack near Dungiven, County Derry.

26 June: IRA proclaims resistant in North-Ireland; The Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) begin a "bi-lateral truce" as at midnight; The Irish Republican Army (IRA) kill two British Army soldiers in separate attacks during the day.

30 June: Ulster Defence Association (UDA) begin to organise its own 'no-go' areas (this is a response to the continuation of Republican 'no-go' areas and fears about concessions to the IRA).

2 July: Two Catholic civilians are shot and killed in Belfast by Loyalist paramilitaries, probably the Ulster Defence Association (UDA)

3 July: The Ulster Defence Association and the British Army come into conflict about a 'no-go' area at Ainsworth Avenue, Belfast

4 July: The Royal Ulster Constabulary forward a file about the killings on 'Bloody Sunday' (30 January 1972) to the Director of Public Prosecutions for Northern Ireland

5 July: Two Protestant brothers are found shot dead outside of Belfast (speculation that they were killed by Loyalists because they had Catholic girlfriends).

7 July: Secret Talks Between IRA and British Government: Gerry Adams is part of a delegation to London for talks with the British Government; 7 people are killed in separate incidents across Northern Ireland.

9 July: Springhill Massacre: British snipers shoot dead five Catholic civilians and wounded two others in Springhill, Belfast; The ceasefire between the Provisional IRA and the British Army comes to an end.

13 July: A series of gun-battles and shootings erupt across Belfast between the Provisional Irish Republican Army and British Army soldiers.

18 July: The 100th British soldier to die in the Northern Ireland "troubles" is shot by a sniper in Belfast; Leader of the British Labour Party Harold Wilson holds meeting with representatives of the Irish Republican Army.

21 July: Bloody Friday: within the space of seventy-five minutes, the Provisional Irish Republican Army explode twenty-two bombs in Belfast; six civilians, two British Army soldiers and one UDA volunteer were killed, 130 injured.

22 July: 2 Catholics are abducted, beaten, and shot dead in a Loyalist area of Belfast.

31 July: Operation Motorman: the British Army use 12,000 soldiers supported by tanks and bulldozers to re-take the "no-go areas" controlled by the Provisional Irish Republican Army; Claudy bombing: nine civilians were killed when three car bombs exploded in County Londonderry, North Ireland; no group has since claimed responsibility.

9 August: There is widespread and severe rioting in Nationalist areas of Northern Ireland on the anniversary of the introduction of Internment.

11 August: Two IRA members are killed when a bomb they were transporting exploded prematurely.

12 August: British soldiers are killed by an IRA booby trap bomb in Belfast.

14 August: A Catholic civilian is shot dead during an IRA attack on a British Army patrol in Belfast.

22 August: IRA bomb explodes prematurely at a customs post at Newry, County Down - 9 people, including three members of the IRA and five Catholic civilians, are killed in the explosion.

23 August: 4 civilians and 1 British soldier are injured in separate overnight shooting incidents in North Ireland.

2 September: The headquarters of the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) in Belfast is severely damaged by an IRA bomb.

10 September: 3 British soldiers are killed in a land mine attack near Dungannon, County Tyrone.

14 September: 2 people are killed and 1 mortally wounded in a Ulster Volunteer Force bomb attack on the Imperial Hotel, Belfast.

20 September: The Social Democratic and Labour Party issues a document entitled "Towards a New Ireland", proposing that the British and Irish governments should have joint sovereignty over Northern Ireland.

6 October: Taoiseach (Irish Prime Minister) Jack Lynch closes the Sinn Féin office in Dublin.

10 October: 3 members of the Irish Republican Army (IRA) die in a premature explosion in a house in Balkan Street, Lower Falls, Belfast.

14 October: North Irish Loyalist paramilitaries raid Headquarters of the 10 Ulster Defence Regiment in Belfast and steal rifles and ammunition.

16 October: 2 members of the Offical Irish Republican Army are shot dead by the British Army in County Tyrone. Protestant youth members of the Ulster Defence Association, and a UDA member are run over by British Army vehicles during riots in east Belfast.

17 October: The Ulster Defence Association open fire on the British Army in several areas of Belfast.

19 October: The Ulster Defence Association open fire on the British Army in several areas of Belfast.

23 October: Loyalist paramilitaries carry out raid on an Ulster Defence Regiment.

24 October: British soldiers kill 2 Catholic men at a farm at Aughinahinch, near Newtownbbutler, County Fermanagh.

30 October: The Northern Ireland Office issues a discussion document 'The Future of Northern Ireland'; the paper states Britain's commitment to the union as long as the majority of people wish to remain part of the United Kingdom; Loyalist paramilitaries carry out a raid on Royal Ulster Constabulary station in County Derry, and steal 4 British Army Sterling sub-machine Guns.

31 October:  2 Catholic children (6 and 4) playing on the street are killed in a Ulster Freedom Fighters (UFF) car bomb attack on a bar in Ship Street, Belfast.

2 November: Government of the Republic of Ireland introduce a bill to remove the special position of the Catholic Church from the Irish Constitution.

5 November: Vice-President of Sinn Féin Maire Drumm is arrested in the Republic of Ireland.

19 November: Leader of the Irish Republican Army (IRA) Seán MacStiofáin is arrested in Dublin.

20 November: 2 British soldiers are killed in a booby trap bomb in Cullyhanna, County Armagh.

24 November: Taoiseach Jack Lynch meets with British Prime Minister Edward Heath in London to give Irish approval to Attlee's paper stating new arrangements should be 'acceptable to and accepted by the Republic of Ireland'

26 November: Bomb explosion at the Film Centre Cinema, in O’Connell Bridge House in Dublin.

28 November: 2 IRA members are killed in a premature bomb explosion in the Bogside area of Derry.

1 December: 2 people killed and 127 injured when 2 car bombs explode in the centre of Dublin, Republic of Ireland

20 December: Five civilians (four Catholics, one Protestant) killed in gun attack on the Top of the Hill Bar in Derry, North Ireland.

28 December:  2 people are killed in a Loyalist bomb attack on the village of Belturbet, County Cavan, Republic of Ireland.

29 December: President of Sinn Féin Ruairi O Bradaigh is arrested and held under new legislation in Republic of Ireland.

[simsmcconnell2-blog]

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[ministerforpeas]

Results

Placements

Summary

Statistics

Damn Theresa May got 5 kills! I would rather be killed by her than creepy crawly Kenneth Baker... funny thing is he killed Clarke who had more kills!

Anyways, next up is the FOREIGN SEC FRACA!

[belleandkurtbastian]

Tom: Your next one: William Whitelaw.

Gary: Willy Whitelaw. MP?

Matt: Is it something to do with apartheid?

Tom: No!

Gary: *laughs*

Tom: No, Matt. I know nominative determinism and all that. You get the people whose names follow their jobs, but William Whitelaw was not in charge of apartheid South Africa. No.

Matt: It was worth a try. The clue could have been in the answer!

[tridentine2013]

Corbyn - What if you are wrong?

Ok, so you hate Jeremy Corbyn; but what if you are wrong to?

I get it. You are furious that a major political party in the UK has a leader who is an ‘IRA sympathiser’. Incensed that he is ‘weak’ on defence; a pacifist. Enraged that he didn’t sing the national anthem that time … boiling mad that he didn’t campaign effectively for ‘remain’, and that he is a Marxist puppet of the troublemaker trades unions, who cosies up to extremists and wants to borrow even more money which we ‘cannot afford’, especially since Labour already ‘crashed the economy’, and are not fiscally competent. He voted time and again against anti-terror legislation, wouldn’t push the nuclear button, isn’t a royalist, and wants to tax your home, your garden, your work and your inheritance. He’s scruffy, he’s an enemy of business, and he supports uncontrolled immigration. You know this, because everyone knows. Everyone except the barmy army of dupes and gulls who hang on his every word like brainwashed sheep. But what if you are wrong? What might you be passing up by holding to ‘your views’, because the media you trust have exposed these truths time after time?

Let’s address the issue of most concern to many, Corbyn the terrorist sympathiser and appeaser. In this context, the IRA issue is pre-eminent. I dare to suggest that most British people not living in Northern Ireland have a very limited grasp of the politics of Ireland, little understanding of the period from William of Orange to the Easter Rising, or the ‘Anglo Irish Treaty’, the establishment of the Irish Free State, or what precipitated ‘The Troubles’ from the mid-1960s to 1998. But that is not important. What is important is that you know that the IRA murdered and bombed their way around the six counties and the mainland for many years, inflicting harm on innocent civilians along the way. And that anyone who showed support for them was obviously anti-British, and by definition a terrorist sympathiser. Do you believe then, that it is ‘not the British way’ to try to find a solution to a 20-year-old guerrilla conflict, which might bring the killings to an end? Some of you may remember Margaret Thatcher proclaiming that the British Government would “… never negotiate with terrorists”. But in 2011 cabinet papers were released which showed that in 1981 she did just that, during the ‘hunger strikes’. But she was not the first; in 1969, the British Army met senior figures in the IRA. In 1971, they met again in secret talks. In 1972 Irish Labour Party politicians acted as a ‘conduit’ for talks between the IRA and Reginald Maudling of the Conservative government of the UK. Later in 1972 MI6, the UK Government, and the British Army held talks in N.I. and subsequently the IRA ‘top brass’ were flown to secret talks in London. This trip included Martin McGuiness and Gerry Adams. Willie Whitelaw represented the British Government, led by Conservative Prime Minister Edward Heath. From 1973 to 1976 many more secret talks were held. In 1977 Douglas Hurd met Gerry Adams and Danny Morrison. These secret ‘back channel’ communications were not suspended until 1982. And the it gets interesting. In 1983 Ken Livingstone met with Gerry Adams in Belfast, which led to an invitation to the Palace of Westminster in 1984, extended by Livingstone and fellow MP Jeremy Corbyn. In 1986 Gerry Adams MP, president of Sinn Féin, and Tom King MP, the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, entered into secret correspondence, carried out by intermediaries. With the approval of prime minister Margaret Thatcher, King lays out the UK’s position for negotiations. Livingstone, Corbyn, and many other Labour and Tory politicians had come to the view that a military solution was not possible. In 1988 James M. Glover, former Commander-in-Chief of the UK Land Forces, admitted during television documentary that the Irish Republican Army cannot be defeated militarily, and the most rational period of the entire troubles followed, 1989 to 1994, known historically as the peace process period, beginning under Thatcher in which (1991 on) the British Government held regular covert talks with the IRA which ultimately led to the 1999 ceasefire, and eventually the Good Friday Agreement. Jeremy Corbyn’s role was perhaps minor, but it was, in contrast to many politicians, open and honest. It was, in keeping with Corbyn’s political beliefs, an attempt to explore the opportunities for peace.

But he definitely didn’t sing the National Anthem though …   that much is true. Jeremy Corbyn is a democrat and a republican. And definitely a man of principle. A man of peace. He sat in silent contemplation, reflecting perhaps on the horrors of war; who can actually say?

But do we prefer armies of politicians who fiddle their expenses, avoid tax, break promises, lie in court, ’employ’ family members as researchers or office managers, take money from ‘lobbyists’ or in countless ways abuse their position and privilege, so long as they sing the National Anthem? Liam Fox for example, our current Conservative Secretary of State for International Trade. Who had to repay over £22,000 of falsely claimed mortgage expenses, and claimed £19,000 in 4 years in ‘mobile phone charges’. Liam Fox who failed to declare several trips abroad paid by foreign governments, who simultaneously rented out his London home whilst claiming the cost of living in rented accommodation (£19,000) from the state. Liam Fox who took his close male friend Adam Werrity to MOD meetings with foreign dignitaries at the taxpayer’s expense, even though Werrity had no security clearance. I bet he would sing the National Anthem with gusto.

What Jeremy Corbyn did do however, apart from not sing the National Anthem, was to stay talking with ex-service veterans, while the other ‘dignitaries’ at the Remembrance Day event went off for a taxpayer funded slap up lunch. To suggest that you would rather he had simply sung the National Anthem ‘out of respect’ is to endorse the Liam Foxxes of this world. To imply that it is ok to act abominably so long as you give the appearance of having the interests your country, not naked self-interest as your primary motivation. This affair was actually an example of the kinder, fairer, more honest politics which Jeremy Corbyn seeks to encourage. You may not agree with him in this regard. You may be a ‘patriot and a royalist’. But we have the only National Anthem which conflates support for the royal family with patriotism. Which does not, if god is invoked at all, ask him to favour and protect the nation, instead suggesting he does so by proxy in favouring the monarch, and the monarch’s enduring rule. Is it unpatriotic to be a republican? Is it not possible if you are German, or French, or Irish, to be ‘patriotic’? Jeremy Corbyn is a proud Briton. But he draws that pride from how in our best selves, collectively, we treat all humanity. When we do not invade or destabilise, undermine or subvert other countries for our own economic gain. When we do not attack other nations on false pretexts, when we look after our own, be it our disabled population, or other socially disadvantaged groups … When we show global leadership in human rights. When we improve the entire world by scientific or medical breakthroughs, when we are the best we can be.

But he is a Marxist, and that is reason enough to hate the man with a passion. Except that he isn’t. He just isn’t. I hope that we are agreed he does stand by his principles, whether we agree with them or not? In his over 30 years in politics, he has presented himself as a democratic socialist. The wealth of ‘Marxist and Marxist-Leninist’ groups have never had Corbyn on their membership list. But it’s his policies that mark him out as a Marxist? I cannot go into the technical reasons that Corbyn cannot credibly be argued to be a Marxist, but it is worth remembering that what motivated Marx and Engels was the interests of the working man, and the establishment of a system of economics which offered an alternative to capitalism. Marx believed the capitalist system bore insoluble contradictions, and contained within itself the seeds of its own destruction. In 2008 the inherent flaws of free market economics were laid bare. Marx was in many respects visionary. His ideas about the exploitation of Labour, the primacy, within the system, of those owning the means of production, the problems created by overproduction have become manifest. But that is a separate discussion. The fact is that Jeremy Corbyn is somewhere between a democratic socialist and a social democrat. This should not describe a position on the political spectrum which troubles or scares you unless you are someone who has become hugely wealthy, largely by paying workers considerably less than their labour value. Jeremy Corbyn is a pragmatic socialist, with an objective of progressive, achievable change to a more equitable and rewarding system for the individual worker. He is broadly in line with the theories of Keynesian economics, and fundamentally opposed to the idea that ‘austerity’ is or was a necessary response to the circumstances of the 2008 global crash. Whilst we are on the subject, we might look at some evidence from the Office of National Statistics, regarding the immediate post-crash growth. 

          The graphic above charts the actual GDP growth over the period shown. The post-crash trough which bottomed out in 2009 demonstrates that in less than a year from the trough, GDP growth had returned to positive, from a low of -2.4%. From shrinking 2.4%, to shrinking less, (relative growth) to actual positive growth for 3 quarters before the 2010 election. Since then, we see a very stagnant period, with virtually no growth, which looks set to continue into the foreseeable future, due to lack of investment. Yes Corbyn, and Labour would borrow more money, which at historically low interest rates, would be spent in areas of the economy, including infrastructure … building etc., to stimulate economic activity and growth, which (the theory goes) would be more than capable of creating the wealth to meet the increased interest costs, providing a faster paydown of international loans than to meet interest payments by continuing to impoverish the public sector including schools, the NHS, and social care. Corbyn’s Labour seek to create better wages, and a better standard of living for all working people. Even the 5%, or 1 in 20 people who would pay higher taxes will actually earn more collectively, in a better performing economy.

But are Labour not demonstrably, historically worse at running the economy that the Conservatives? You may be surprised, since this is a claim made daily, usually by more than one Tory politician, that it simply does not bear scrutiny. It isn’t true. (1) The Conservatives have been the biggest borrowers over 70 years. (2) Labour have borrowed less and paid back more debt than the Tories even during the ‘Neo-Liberal era’ since 1979. (3) 130 leading economists endorsed Labour’s spending plans as detailed in their 2017 manifesto. Many issues are misrepresented regarding their ‘cost’ to the state of course; the ‘huge’ cost of renationalising key industries such as the railways is a case in point. In this case the systemic change would occur in stages, as the existing franchises expired, the lines will become state owned and operated. In other nationalisations, the principle which applies is that the industry is bought, effectively, with government bonds sold on the debt market providing the funds to purchase the shareholding, either majority or total, and take control thereby of future profits. The obsession with selling off the public sector to private interests, for profit, has been enduring and extensive. And value is extracted from the water, power, and transport sectors, from refuse, prisons, NHS, parts of the Courts System, Police, Care Homes, collection of business rates, Army recruitment, TV licensing, custodial and immigration services, and disability assessment. Do we want or need private companies extracting value (private sector profit) from these services? In many cases nationalised or part nationalised businesses in other states are the ultimate beneficiary.

But he has voted against ‘anti-terror’ legislation time and again, that is true. Does he want terrorists on our streets or something? No. Jeremy Corbyn voted in the main, against anti-terror legislation which was frequently framed to permit definitions of terrorism which impinged on our own rights or civil liberties, against 14 day detention, (so did May), against Control Orders, (so did May), against ID cards, (so did May), against 90 day detention, (so did May), against the Counter Terrorism Act 2008, another attempt to extend detention without charge (to 42 days on this occasion) ,a vote from which May was absent, against TPIMs, which May supported. Do we want our politicians to speak out if they see legislation being proposed which whist having a specific claimed purpose, creates the possibility of loose interpretation or wanton misuse, against our own interests? It is right that our civil rights are front and centre of such debates, and this is the reason why so much ‘anti-terror legislation has been either defeated or considerably amended between readings. Corbyn wants the public to be safe, but from the abuse of process by the state, as well as from terrorism.

But the Unions though, bunch of leftie troublemakers! Maggie sorted them out.  The relationship between Labour and Trade Unions is as old as the Party itself. Trade Unions were once just about the only organised resistance to the systematic abuse of British workers. The Labour Party, originally the Labour Representation Committee, was formed to increase workers’ representation in Parliament, a Parliament made up almost exclusively of the historical ‘powers that be’, the Tories (Conservatives) and the Whigs (Liberals). The function of a trade union is to look after the interests of its members, and that is as true today as it has ever been. The fact that Thatcher era propaganda ‘demonised’ Unions has been entirely to the advantage of business. The Labour Party and the Trade Unions of today, (although stripped of much of the power they once had) are a bulwark against the worst excesses of the exploitation of Labour. If you hold to the Thatcherite view of unions, and are not leading a large corporation, you would do well to study the reality behind the rhetoric.

But the nuclear button. How could we have a Prime Minister who wouldn’t defend us against our enemies? Corbyn doesn’t even want us to have a nuclear capability. He wants to scrap the Trident replacement programme. Jeremy Corbyn has stated, on record, “We want a secure and peaceful world. We achieve that by promoting peace, but also by promoting security”. What he has also said, (in paraphrase) whilst holding to the opinion that all wars are a failure of diplomacy, is that there are circumstances in which he would support military action. But reluctant to send our soldiers to foreign lands to pursue political objectives? Unpersuaded that we have not in the past been too quick to adopt the military option, on occasion embarking on wars which were illegal in international law? Yes, without doubt. So he is someone committed to defending our interests, but in search always of a nonviolent, peaceful, negotiated solution to potential conflict, who approaches military options as a ‘last resort’? I would hope that this approach to defence would be popular with most reasonably minded people.

He is as is well known, a unilateralist. Which means that Britain under Corbyn would be seeking to take the lead in international efforts to bring about an end to nuclear weapons globally. We would pass legislation to dismantle our own nuclear arsenal, and seek to do so whilst leading an international initiative aimed at achieving, by negotiation, a nuclear free world. There is a credible roadmap to nuclear disarmament, and there are options, when such a process is complete, to see that no country develops such a capability again. I would hope that all our descendants are born into a world in which the threat of total annihilation is no longer ever present. Could any of us claim, in circumstances where Jeremy Corbyn is asked to consider authorising the killing of hundreds of thousands of innocent civilians, that as a civilisation we have achieved anything worthwhile? The dogma of mutually assured destruction is outdated. There are simply so many ‘battlefield weapons’, also known as ‘tactical nuclear weapons’, for the M.A.D. logic to remain credible. When generals in the field have access to small, strategic warheads, designed to create tactical advantage by eliminating mere thousands of troops, (and any civilians in the very localised blast zone) we have a recipe for a disastrous escalation.

Jeremy Corbyn is a peacemaker, a military ‘dove’, who wishes to use the position of Leader of the Labour Party and Prime Minister to improve the circumstances of the British people, whilst seeking also to take initiatives to stabilise, and make more peaceful the wider world. Those who seek to convince us that this is ideological and unachievable are frequently those who are in some form benefiting from the huge sums spent each year around the world, on ‘things to kill people with’.  

What you could be passing up, with your determination to not rationally reassess your view of Jeremy Corbyn, is everything you ever dreamed of. For you, your children and your children’s children. This is not hyperbole, this is about the future not just of the UK, but the world. You and I share a world where $1.6 trillion is spent on ‘defence’. The collective means to harm one another. One point six thousand BILLION dollars, at immense cost to the mere seven billion inhabitants of the planet. A stack of dollars, every year, which piled up would stretch over 80,000 miles. Yes, we spend annually, as a civilisation, a pile of money eighty thousand miles high, on stuff to harm one another. Or if stacked on their side, more than three times around the circumference of the earth.I don’t want that to continue, Jeremy Corbyn doesn’t want that to continue, and we neither of us could imagine that you want this to continue. The spend on the collective means to harm one another equates to $240 per head for every living being; 3 billion of whom currently live on less than $2.50 per day. Jeremy Corbyn’s call for talk, diplomacy, consensus, agreement, rather than war, is informed by many things. The most powerful is the idea that we really shouldn’t be killing one another. (378,000 deaths per year attributed to wars during the relatively peaceful 1985 to 1994.) It isn’t a civilised way to behave. But another important factor is the 1.6 thousand billion dollars could be used in so many more humane and socially beneficial ways. In the UK we spend forty five thousand million pounds a year on ‘defence’. And Jeremy Corbyn is not even suggesting a reduction to the ‘defence’ budget. In fact, since the war the Tories have on average reduced the defence budget by 0.5% during each year in power. Labour in power, over the same period, have increased defence spending by 2.4% per year. We can talk later about other ways to spend that money, but for the moment I would like to explain why I am talking in largely global terms, about one party leader, in one country, the UK. It is because a better WORLD is possible.

Jeremy Corbyn is not a figure without parallel in global politics. There are, and have always been leaders of parties or even countries, whose objective has been the best possible future for their people. Senator Bernie Sanders ran a campaign in the US Presidential ‘primaries’ which enjoyed huge (yuge) popular support, for an agenda which promised to give greater power to individual Americans in the process and management of the US political system. He faced seemingly insurmountable odds, not least because of the enormous amount of money needed to even campaign effectively. That he did not win the Democratic Party nomination is largely due to a particularly undemocratic structure within the party’s nomination system. He ran Hilary Clinton almost to the wire, and in the end, it was power and money in the hands of an elite which prevented his election as the Democratic Party Presidential nominee. Sanders also represented a fairer, kinder politics. For the many, not the few, to borrow a phrase.  

Instead, Trump triumphed against Clinton, in a contest which could easily have produced a very different result had the race been between Sanders and Trump. But in a little over 3 years, Americans will return to the polling booths. Were that to coincide with a Jeremy Corbyn Labour Party in power in the UK, the impulse toward real change could become irresistible. If you can begin to imagine a world where the most powerful leaders, of the most powerful countries, were genuinely committed to a peaceful world in which the living and working conditions, the health and fortune of the average person was of primary importance, things could change for the better very quickly.

  (1)    http://www.taxresearch.org.uk/Blog/2016/03/13/the-conservatives-have-been-the-biggest-borrowers-over-the-last-70-years/

(2)    http://www.taxresearch.org.uk/Blog/2016/03/14/labour-have-borrowed-less-and-repaid-more-than-the-conservatives-since-1979/

(3)     http://www.primeeconomics.org/articles/guws3cyv3ctq9g7vg754p2zyymvc2f/

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[sciencespies]

Artificial trees capture new bird species on candid camera

https://sciencespies.com/biology/artificial-trees-capture-new-bird-species-on-candid-camera/

Artificial trees capture new bird species on candid camera

Capture 4661, Sculpture Camera. Molonglo Life. http://molonglo.life/#!/capture/4661

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An experiment from The Australian National University (ANU) using artificial trees has attracted birds and other wildlife never before seen in a damaged Canberra landscape—catching them on camera at the same time.

The experiment is a collaboration with the ACT Parks and Conservation Service and uses a series of power poles and translocated dead trees erected in landscape under regeneration.

The ANU researchers saw a four-fold increase in bird species on five recently erected power-poles. There was also a seven-fold increase in bird species across five re-purposed dead trees.

In a separate project on the same site, the birds were captured on motion-sensitive cameras hidden in the artificial structures, with the footage providing a public database for species activity.

Associate Professor Philip Gibbons from the ANU Fenner School of Environment and Society wanted to test whether artificial structures could be used to provide a home for birds and other wildlife when mature trees were cut down for residential and other development.

He says the artificial trees work better than he “could have ever hoped for.”

“Even if we plant new trees elsewhere to replace those we knock down they take a century to mature and develop suitable habitats for birds and wildlife,” Associate Professor Gibbons said.

“Globally, mature trees are in decline and we’re going to see an absence of mature trees in some landscapes by the end of this century. So these artificial structures are really key to filling that gap to preserve the ecosystem.

“And from what we can see they work. Not only did they attract birds to the landscape, but they also provided a home for ladybirds, wood spiders and microbats.”

Associate Professor Gibbons said the artificial trees weren’t a “cure-all.”

“The structures can only do so much and we found 37 percent of bird species that live in mature forests did not venture into the artificial structures,” he said.

“We need to preserve as many mature trees as we can, continue to plant more new seedlings for the future and then raise these artificial structures if we are to mitigate this deficit of mature trees for future generations.

“At the end of the day, you can’t beat real trees. But they can take years to grow. So this is a great option in areas needing regeneration or while you wait for trees to mature.”

The study area, a 50-hectare site at Barrer Hill in the Molonglo Valley, has been set aside for regeneration to offset mature trees and other native vegetation cleared for new suburbs.

The final piece of the restoration project was a “living art sculpture” created from a 400-year old yellow box tree cut down in a nearby suburb and re-erected in the offset site.

Dr. Mitchell Whitelaw from the ANU School of Art worked with American architect Joyce Hwang from University of Buffalo and Darren Le Roux of ACT Parks to install motion-sensitive cameras into the tree-sculpture.

They’ve captured images of more than 23 bird and animal species using the structures including a peregrine falcon, nankeen kestrel and tawny frogmouth.

More common species such as crimson and eastern rosellas, starlings, yellow-tailed black cockatoos, galahs, red wattlebirds, willie wagtails, red-rumped parrots, kookaburras, bats and marsupials are also using the structures.

Dr. Whitelaw’s database of pictures and videos is available at http://molonglo.life/#!/

People can watch and contribute to the content by tagging and identifying species.

“As well as some delightful and beautiful images, we’ve caught footage of a currawong raiding a starling’s nest. This is the sort of action in nature people just don’t get to see every day,” Dr. Whitelaw said.

“The database is a real-time record of the restoration of an ecosystem. We want people to feel connected to these public places and the wildlife in them.”

Explore further

Smart city planning can preserve old trees and the wildlife that needs them

More information: Dr Whitelaw’s database of pictures and videos is available at molonglo.life/#!/  

Provided by Australian National University

Citation: Artificial trees capture new bird species on candid camera (2019, August 23) retrieved 25 August 2019 from https://phys.org/news/2019-08-artificial-trees-capture-bird-species.html

This document is subject to copyright. Apart from any fair dealing for the purpose of private study or research, no part may be reproduced without the written permission. The content is provided for information purposes only.

#Biology

[georgefairbrother]

On February 11th, 1975, the UK Conservative Party, then in Opposition, elected Margaret Thatcher to the party leadership. She was the first woman to head a British political party, having resoundingly defeated four other candidates. It was only the second time that a Tory leader was elected by ballot; prior to Edward Heath’s election ten years earlier, party leaders had ‘informally emerged’.

Mrs Thatcher had been the MP for Finchley since 1959, and had served as Secretary of State for Science and Education in the Heath government. In 1971, as part of an economy drive, she had controversially ended free school milk for children over the age of seven, earning her the nickname ‘Thatcher, milk snatcher’.

BBC News set out the context of her leadership victory;

“…Mrs Thatcher, 50, forced Ted Heath to resign as leader last week when she trounced him in the first round of the leadership race with 130 votes to his 119. Conservative Party confidence in Mr Heath - Prime Minister from 1970 to 1974 - was rattled by his failure to win general elections in both February and October last year. Chairman of the influential 1922 Backbench Committee - whose 276 members are largely responsible for deciding party leaders - Edward du Cann, told BBC Television, "We have a new and rather exciting leader. Mrs Thatcher will make the Tory Party distinctive"…Former Northern Ireland Minister Willie Whitelaw was her closest challenger, but still only gained 79 votes in comparison to the 146 she polled in the second ballot of the contest…The other candidates were Sir Geoffrey Howe, QC, and Jim Prior who each received 19 votes, and John Peyton trailed in last with just 11 votes..."

Former leader Edward Heath declined to serve in Margaret Thatcher's shadow cabinet, and became a critic of some of the harsher policies of Thatcherism during the 1980s. William Whitelaw remained a close and essential adviser, about whom Mrs Thatcher famously said, “Every Prime Minister needs a Willie.”

She defeated incumbent Labour under James Callaghan in the general election of 1979, on the heels of the chaotic Winter of Discontent, becoming Britain’s first female Prime Minister and a deeply polarising figure, even within her own administration. She was ousted by her own party in 1990.

[oscarwilde-scholar]

I Can Wait (Revisited)

I Can Wait (Revisited)

Oscar Wilde’s After-Dinner Rebuke to his Press Critics

Republished from 2015 as rewritten for the Oscar Wilde Society newsletter. For membership go to: oscarwildesociety.co.uk/membership/

It is pleasing to see that recent Wilde studies continue to highlight the emergent nature of Oscar’s American experience, during which time he nurtured the art of public speaking, conducted his first press…