Burn It All Down – Britain, 1982-84

The loss of the Hermes brings about the fall of Thatcher.

During the previous weeks since the Argentine invasion on April 2nd, the British public have taken up the cause of the Falklands in a wave of patriotism unheard of in recent times. That Argentina has dared to do what it has done has brought this about. Thatcher’s Government has responded to the public mood with quite the gusto. In Downing Street, it has been realised that retaking the Falklands is key to long-term Conservative success. Only the day before the Hermes is hit, the tabloid newspaper The Sun ran with the headline ‘Gotcha’. This concerned the attack made on an Argentine Navy patrol boat, yet it became synonymous with the sinking of the cruiser ARA General Belgrano, which caused a great loss of life. While there are many Britons who have in fact shaken their heads at all this in disgust with what is going on, the majority are caught up in the wave of jingoistic patriotism. The nation has been caught up in victory disease where it has widely thought that the – much ridiculed – junta in Buenos Aires is sure to be soon defeated.

News now comes that the Hermes has been hit, there is great loss of life and that the Task Force down in the South Atlantic is in retreat. In an instant, the public mood snaps. Certain victory has been ever-so-cruelly torn away from them. Blame is apportioned not on the Argentinians but instead elsewhere… to Thatcher’s Government. Parliamentarians and the newspapers catch the mood of the nation. This is something that many quickly exploit for their own ends. There is much I-told-you-so about what is said, often from some of those most smug and self-righteous. However, from other quarters, there is genuine shock at the failure that has happened where they feel that they have been deceived by Thatcher into thinking that victory was inevitable. The grave loss of life and the international embarrassment hit these people hardest.

The War Cabinet doesn’t classify the pulling back of the Task Force as a retreat. It is a ‘temporary withdrawal to reassess the situation’ according to an official statement from Downing Street. Royal Navy ships, along with auxiliaries and STUFTs (ships taken up from trade), sail away from the Falklands towards Ascension Island. Brainstorming is conducted over what to do next. Questions are asked over how to challenge Argentine air power and whether work on HMS Illustrious can be sped up even more than it is to get that brand-new carrier down to the South Atlantic to replace the Hermes. Nothing the War Cabinet hears is satisfactory though. Argentine use of their French-built Super Étendards with Exocets has defied expectations and Illustrious cannot be in-place until the middle of August at the earliest, which will be in the midst of the Southern Hemisphere winter! Buenos Aires is by now trumpeting as loud as they can their ‘great defeat’ of Britain and there are international allies questioning the wisdom of the UK carrying on the fight. Long has there been talk in diplomatic circles of a diplomatic solution – what Thatcher has long called ‘a surrender’ – and that has now grown louder.

The Prime Minister is in no mood to give in. Nonetheless, others are of mood to. They are deflated and angry. An end to all of this madness, is their call: an end to needless deaths. It is Thatcher who has led the nation into this mess and it is she who so many now want to see gone. Talk of continuing the conflict comes from Downing Street, only giving impetus to those who have made their mind up to see her gone. They act to get rid of her.


Sacked from the Government last September as part of a reshuffle was the MP Ian Gilmour. His disagreements with Thatcher had been over economic matters yet also over her style of leadership too. Gilmour wishes for a return to the post-war consensus as evidenced by the Heath Government in which he and Thatcher served before she took the reins of party leadership. An end to her bullying and the economic disaster upon the country she is responsible for is what he says he will challenge her to bring to an end. Gilmour launches a formal leadership challenge. He gains enough signatures – just enough – from a wide variety of MPs to allow for this to be done. Whether Gilmour honestly believes that, when push comes to shove, his fellow MPs will vote for him over Thatcher to serve as Prime Minister is a matter of debate. He’s fired the first shots though and begun a formal challenge. It isn’t something that Thatcher can ignore as it is done in the correct manner. She announces that she will put her name forward on the upcoming ballot and intends to win that contest to remain as Prime Minister.

As the Conservative Party begins a leadership battle, there is a lot of attention elsewhere. The Argentine leader, General Galtieri, now promoted to the rank of First Marshal of the Empire (a grandiose and rather real post) by his fellow uniformed officers, is visiting the Falklands: the Islas Malvinas now. He makes a big show of himself in front of the domestic and world media present. British forces down in South Georgia are attacked by Argentine aircraft and there is the striking of the HMS Endurance by falling bombs in an air attack. This ship has been at the heart of the conflict since it began with the Argentinians several times failing to hit her in previous attempts. This time it is different. She survives this attack yet is gravely wounded with many more casualties aboard. A repeat attack with more enemy aircraft active in empty skies is feared to be coming at any moment for that ship and those on this island who are now rather alone. Arriving back into Britain are casualties from the Hermes. Some of the earliest evacuees from their lost ship begin to arrive four days later at Wroughton Airfield in Wiltshire for transfer to the nearby military hospital. More will follow them. Parliamentarians who have opposed the conflict since it begun have been emboldened in recent days and the airwaves in the UK are full of them. Thatcher bears their criticism, not the servicemen sent off to fight a war which those opponents of the fighting tear into as her fault. It is said again and again that her government is responsible for all the deaths and injuries incurred. Fleet Street has turned on Thatcher too. Nearly all of the national newspapers call for her to go. Headlines and editorials criticise that the war has fought while others conversely demand that it continue with Argentina not being allowed to get away with this. The Sun demands the bombing of Buenos Aires while The Guardian says that peace should be given a chance after such a grave, wasted loss of life. Whereas there is division on that, there is unity on the central matter: Thatcher has led the nation into this calamity and it is her that seemingly everyone wants to see turfed out of Downing Street.

A back-bench group of Conservative MPs known as the 1922 Committee are responsible for party leadership elections. Edward du Cann is its chairman and he is the face of this internal election in the media storm. When the deadline for others to join passes, du Cann announces that only Gilmour and Thatcher are in the race when there have been expectations in several quarters that there would be more challengers to the Prime Minister. This gives Thatcher a boost yet that is one soon found to be unfounded. Gilmour has attracted more supporters than previously thought. They have come late and aren’t favourable to him yet are seeking to soften her up for a larger challenge. It is a risky strategy, a cowardly one according to Cabinet members speaking off-the-record to the media… with many of them involved in this game though. The ballot comes as MPs vote. According to the contest rules, victory can only come with not just a simple majority of votes but a particular margin of victory: a win by a clear fifteen per cent. Thatcher achieves what many believe she will and gains more votes than Gilmour yet her total is not enough to win outright. There have been a wave of abstentions tipping the scales against her in this secret ballot where much duplicity is at play. In a statement to waiting reporters, du Cann declares that there must be a second ballot a week later. It is one which further MPs can enter if they wish to. That is done. With what seems like a gut-punch, Thatcher sees two members of her Cabinet resign and put their names forward too. Michael Heseltine and Peter Walker both declare they have no faith in her leadership and will run against her in the second ballot; Gilmour drops out after these announcements with his job done. As the case was with him, for these latest two contenders it is all about Thatcher’s style and direction instead of the Falklands debacle that cause them to make this move. They have long-standing complaints but also ambitions too. Heseltine has more about him that Walker does but, once again, Thatcher looks favourite to win. That is only from the outside though. Within her Government, there is turmoil behind the scenes. Cabinet members and backbenchers are saying that they cannot vote for her in a second ballot. They believe she should stand aside, with grace, and allow for someone else to take over. Upon being told, Thatcher and her remaining supporters try to bat this away. The looming deadline for the closing of nominations comes closer. Attempting to hold on, Thatcher tries all that she can. It isn’t enough though. She is suddenly looking likely to go down in defeat to Heseltine.

A late night meeting in Downing Street sees much emotion. Thatcher argues with Cabinet members who say they believe she must step down. After dismissing those with her, and a talk with her husband, Thatcher goes to bed determined to fight on. Morning comes and things feel different though. She has had a change of heart, believing now that the fight cannot be won when everyone is against her. The betrayal from her Cabinet colleagues cuts deep and where before there had been anger, there is now only resignation to the inevitable. Thatcher meets with her closest supporters and she informs them that it is time for her to go. Several urge her to fight on all the way to the end but there are others who propose another route. Heseltine isn’t to their taste and they fear disaster at the next election with him in Downing Street: his long-standing reputation for recklessness is a real fear along with his perceived propensity to err gravely. One of her foremost allies, Norman Tebbit, puts himself forward to continue to carry the torch and follow through with many of Thatcher’s legislative agenda & reforms. After some time to consider it, Thatcher gives him her support and so do others too: Cabinet members who might enter the leadership race against Heseltine decide to stand in support of Tebbit. Hours before the midday deadline the following day, Walker removes his name from the ballot – quitting ahead of a feared humiliation – while Tebbit adds his. Thatcher gives a statement to the waiting media from outside Downing Street confirming her resignation as party leader. She will stay in-place until a successor is confirmed but her premiership is effectively over. As to whom she will support, she says nothing in public yet behind the scenes, Thatcher does all that she can to help Tebbit. The Thatcher agenda will continue under him, other MPs are made aware, and he will put out to pasture all of those detractors who forced her from office.

In a surprise, Heseltine decides to withdraw. He sees the support that Tebbit has and realises that this isn’t a fight which he can win, nor even come close to making a respectable finish in. Many of those who had been prepared to vote with him against Thatcher make it known that they will now be supporting Tebbit. Heseltine sees the writing on the wall and, like others before him, withdraws his name right ahead of that upcoming ballot. Tebbit is unopposed and so no second ballot is needed. The following day, Thatcher formally tenders her resignation to the Queen and Tebbit is called upon by the nation’s monarch to form a new government.

Norman Tebbit becomes the new British Prime Minister twenty days after the loss of the Hermes.

Part Two – A Defeated Nation


The loss of the Falklands is a mortal blow to Britain. The UK has been humiliated and becomes a laughing-stock internationally for the defeat incurred. Tebbit’s new government refuses to accept the facts on the ground of complete Argentine control of what is now the Malvinas and the official position of his government is that the Falklands will be recovered. The Task Force stays near to Ascension Island though there is a withdrawal made from South Georgia too. This is all said to be temporary yet it is abundantly clear that it is permanent. British forces are regarded as running from Argentine military prowess. On the diplomatic front, pressure mounts on London to put an end to this folly. Economic sanctions imposed at British request on the junta are violated and Buenos Aires leads – with extensive Latin American support – an effort at the UN to make their conquest official. Eyes turn towards the Americans and what President Reagan will do. Tebbit flies to Washington days after gaining power and meets with the president. He is seeking support, real support from an ally, but he only gets hallow words. Jeane Kirkpatrick, the United States’ ambassador to the UN, has already shown where her priorities lay over the issue: she supports Argentina over Britain due to the need to maintain the Latin American anti-communist bloc. In undiplomatic scenes, thankfully for all involved in private, she and Tebbit clash in spectacular fashion within the Oval Office while Reagan looks on. Kirkpatrick is vindicated in her push for Argentina to have its way and she isn’t backing down. Reagan takes his official’s side, infuriating Tebbit. Talk from the president of Britain ‘seeing sense’ on the matter makes his blood boil. The trip ends in disaster. Kirkpatrick will begin the process of seeing all the hard work done at the UN by Britain back in April dismantled all with the belief that if it isn’t, America’s backyard will suddenly start bowing to Moscow’s whim! The Special Relationship is shown for what it is: one sided.

Throughout the remainder of May and into June, Tebbit’s first weeks in power, the fallout from the Falklands debacle is elsewhere too. There are questions asked from allies about Britain’s military capabilities and intent to defend its global interests. The Soviet threat to the West looms as it long has. Guatemala is still eying Belize, Spain would love to get its hands on Gibraltar and Hong Kong rests uneasy next to China. Fears in the UK come that moves might be made from such nations at a time when Britain has been defeated as it just has. Keith Joseph has been appointed as Britain’s new Foreign Secretary (the third in two months) and Tebbit instructs him to counter this perceived weakness on the world stage that many fear Britain now has. Joseph travels widely in those first few weeks – though missing the Washington trip – across Europe and elsewhere to try to change opinions. He has some success at this yet whether that will be the way of things in the future is yet to be seen. The blow that the Argentines have struck against Britain is something that the whole world is aware of with envious eyes cast towards many isolated outposts of what was once a globe-spanning empire.

The Task Force continues to stay some distance away from the Falklands. While it is away from the waters around those islands which are now Argentinian, they are far from the remains of HMS Hermes. When the fires eventually burnt themselves out the following morning after the twin Exocet strike, there was a search made aboard to see if any survivors could be found yet few were. A few bodies were taken off her but the remains of the vast majority of the huge butcher’s bill couldn’t be recovered. Attempts to take the aircraft carrier under tow failed in the face of instructions from London to make that withdrawal and so the Hermes was left to drift. The sea took her in the end. On the bottom of the South Atlantic she now is, laying on her side. Within, hundreds of bodies of Royal Navy sailors rest. Families across Britain are waiting for a return of their loved ones. The realisation that their sons, fathers, brothers & husbands won’t be coming home for even a funeral causes pain. Newspapers are full of the stories of the grief of these families. There are also war casualties too: those injured who were rescued from the Hermes when so many others were left behind to their doom in the chaos. They’ve been brought home to military hospitals spread across the nation and the country hears their tales as well.

Tebbit makes a speech to the House of Commons at the end of the month concerning the situation in the South Atlantic. Other ministers have spoken before the House and to the media but this is different. The Prime Minister speaks of the sacrifices made by the armed forces when fighting against Argentina and addresses the matter of those remains of the dead in the Hermes too: the wreck will be officially designated as a war grave. On the matter of the Falklands, Tebbit calls them by that name: he and his new government refuse to use the term ‘Islas Malvinas’ that is increasingly becoming common overseas. Those islands are British, he says, and always will be. He states that everything will be done at the diplomatic level to see them returned to their rightful owner. However, there is no longer the option of military action to retake them. Tebbit announces that the Task Force is being recalled home. The ships which are near to Ascension Island will be making a return to Britain. Military conflict with Argentina is over with. A full, wide-ranging inquiry is promised by Tebbit into the war and lessons will be learnt. After finishing, the Opposition make calls for an immediate general election while Conservative backbenchers are more than a little angry at how all this has gone: they are stuck with Tebbit now though, someone whom many see as Thatcher #2.


A new government has been formed with Tebbit in Downing Street and it is one which doesn’t include Thatcher. There had been a plan mooted for her to join Tebbit’s Cabinet with her assuming his previous role as Secretary of State for Employment – effectively a job swap – but an issue had come up to put a stop to that: the issue of Heseltine. Thatcher regarded herself as having been betrayed by him when he resigned from the Cabinet to fight against her in his failed leadership effort and Tebbit had supported her anger at that. In forming his government in late May though, Tebbit needs the support of many senior Conservative figures. They might not have wanted Heseltine in Downing Street but it is widely thought that his national popularity (not just among the party organisations yet also with a decent sized number of voters) is something not to be discarded. Thoughts are on the next general election and Heseltine is an asset. The ‘right to buy’ housing scheme has been something he has been at the forefront of in his post as Environment Secretary. When Thatcher gets wind of Tebbit considering bowing to the pressure of the likes of Whitelaw and Pym on this, she reacts strongly. Another betrayal is seen, this time from Tebbit. It isn’t something that Tebbit has decided to do but Thatcher has heard what she has on this matter and reacts accordingly. She will not be joining the Cabinet and will retire to the backbenches. The bitterness towards Tebbit’s supposed treachery will grow in her before later manifesting itself into action.

Tebbit keeps many of Thatcher’s previous Cabinet in government. He reshuffles in places yet few actually depart from their positions of power. Whitelaw stays at the Home Office (though will no longer be Deputy PM) and Geoffrey Howe retains the post of Chancellor of the Exchequer. Pym has left the Foreign Office – he took over when Lord Carrington resigned at the beginning of the Falklands War – though moves to supersede Heseltine as Environment Secretary. To replace Nott who is one of the few to leave the Cabinet, Heseltine is appointed to the position of Defence Secretary while Norman Fowler takes Tebbit’s old post as Employment Secretary. This government of Tebbit’s is one which many Conservative MPs are told will see no major change of direction from that of Thatcher yet, conversely, they are also promised that things will be done differently. Tebbit has always supported the manner in which Thatcher ran her government with centralised control at the very top. Under his leadership though, there will be differences. The power of Cabinet committees will be restored and consensus will be how decisions are reached. Such a new way of doing things in Downing Street is done by Tebbit to placate many factions and interests who felt side-lined under Thatcher’s perceived ‘Leninism’ approach to leadership. In an ironic twist, Tebbit allowed himself to be talked into that in when forming his government because he had wanted to see Thatcher retain significant influence rather than have her with a limited role. She is on the backbenches now and the reforms to accommodate her are in-place. Tebbit will find out in the next few years what an error he has made here.

In Downing Street, Tebbit soon is involved in confrontations with ‘traditional’ opponents rather than seeing Britain drawn into any further international disputes. The country’s hard left and Northern Irish terrorism are enemies that Tebbit is primed to fight.

In his previous position as Thatcher’s Employment Secretary, Tebbit was the face of incoming legislation going through Parliament. The Employment Act (1982) isn’t his sole work but Tebbit was responsible for it. Normal Fowler has now taken Tebbit’s old job yet there are no significant changes to the act. With the Conservative majority, it looks sure to become law later in the year. The legislation attacks the powers of trade unions. An earlier Act of Parliament two years before already began what the trade unions see as a sustained attack on them by Tebbit and this one only increases the limitations being imposed upon them. They are primed ready to fight it using all means at their disposal. In the House, when the issue comes up for debate, Tebbit faces off against the Leader of the Opposition. He and Michael Foot clashed bitterly over trade union powers – abuses as far as Tebbit is concerned – back during the late Seventies before each was leader of their party. The strength of the rhetoric employed by Tebbit back then is repeated now when Labour’s leader defends the trade unions in opposition to the government’s bill, but that doesn’t mean that Tebbit goes easy. This time there isn’t the claim that this key element of the Labour movement are ‘red fascists’ and ‘Marxist totalitarians’. However, no one is left in any doubt that Tebbit’s passion for fighting the trade unions has diminished. In his view, they have done much damage to the nation and so he will restrict their powers as part of the continuing Thatcherite agenda of transforming Britain which he has committed to following after her.

The Provisional IRA and the Irish National Liberation Army are the primary nationalist armed groups undertaking current actions against the British state. Both groups carry on regardless of the change of leader in Downing Street with their terror campaigns. The IRA pushes forward the timescale of an attack in mainland Britain which they had pencilled in for late July due to wanting to ‘make an impression’ upon the new PM. On June 12th, two bomb blasts rock London. The first targets soldiers on horseback during the iconic Trooping of the Colour to march the Queen’s Official birthday. Last year, some young fool fired a starting pistol towards the Queen. This time, an IRA bomb near to Horse Guards Parade goes off. The Queen is some distance away and unharmed. Many of her soldiers aren’t so lucky and this includes Lt.–Colonel Andrew Parker Bowles of the Blues & Royals who was once an intimate of Royalty. Images on British television screen in the aftermath are of dead horses in the streets – there is a lot of focus on them in the media, more than on dead and injured soldiers – before coverage moves to smoke rising from the nearby Wellington Barracks. The second IRA bomb explodes here were the officer’s mess is blown up and a huge fire rages. A week later, the INLA make a less dramatic attack but one which also is a blow landed right in the British capital against the establishment. They strike near to the Old Bailey where the Conservative Monday Club have their headquarters. This is a private club for particularly conservative-minded Conservatives though without the influence it once had. Here the INLA plant their bomb with the aim to kill many political figures. The blast occurs earlier than planned and doesn’t achieve the goal of taking the lives of Parliamentarians but there are a few other deaths, many injuries and also a great deal of damage done. Tebbit’s public statements on these acts of terror are impassioned with justice promised to be delivered upon those behind them. Such things have been said before by others in his position in response to similar acts of terror. Tebbit sees things differently from his predecessors though. He believes that old, tired responses – away from just words – are needed to fight such a threat to the country he now leads from Ulster terrorism. Those who bring bombs to the mainland, and those who send them, are those he wants to really go after. He sets out to see that done by taking the war home to them as they have done with their war against Britain.

I agree a certain country neighboring Belize might think, if Argentina can do it, then we can do it as well.

I am not thinking of having more British territory lost to foreign aggression. There will be a fear of that though by this point in time, mid 1982, for Belize / Gibraltar / Hong Kong to be taken looks unlikely.
Thatcher will stay on the backbenches sniping and with those around her saying 'if only we listened to her' when it comes to the economy.
In the Falklands, many islanders will leave though more will stay. Argentina isn't likely to go full terror on them but it won't be a nice experience. There will be a big garrison there too, along with settlers 'encouraged' to go there from Argentina.

Part Three – Tebbit-land


A Labour MP, Dennis Skinner, stands up in the House of Commons late in 1982 and accuses the Prime Minister of purposefully seeking out enemies to fight. This isn’t leadership, it is said, but instead the acts of a bully. This brings about uproar in the House. There are shouts of either outrage from the Government benches and those of support from the side of the House where the Opposition sits. Tebbit sits in silence with a smile on his face as Skinner continues once the Speaker’s cries of ‘order, order’ have restored what he calls for. The Prime Minister is accused of acting as he does to bring about discord and cause division. Those who oppose Tebbit, Skinner concludes, are either forced into submission or vilified by his allies. This isn’t how responsible politics should be. When given the opportunity to respond, Tebbit gets to his feet and refers to the initial point being raised ahead of this attack. The matter concerns the leader of the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM). Arthur Scargill has said that ‘extra-parliamentary action’ will be something that the NUM will undertake should there be a new round of closing of coal mines in the upcoming year. Tebbit repeats what he said before the intervention and accusation: his government will not hesitate to bring forth further legislation to combat the trade unions in addition to the already passed Employment Act. Trade unions will obey the law, the NUM included, he concludes.

While his fellow MPs have jumped to his defence and cheer his words, there is unease among the Conservatives. Privately, many agree with what has just been said. Tebbit dragged Scargill and his NUM into a parliamentary debate concerning that bill which has only just recently passed its final stages in the House ready for royal ascent. Scargill’s remarks were made some time ago and the Employment Act covers trade union legislation, not the potential closing of mines nor strikes. The Prime Minister is certainly seeking out fights and Tebbit’s actions do make many regard him as a bully instead of a leader. Agreeing with those accusations in public isn’t what his MPs do though. They keep quiet. There are bigger things at stake for them and their party that this style of leadership that Tebbit has.

Other fights that the Prime Minister is having elsewhere bring about agreement from his MPs too, even if they wouldn’t have undertaken them in the same confrontational manner that he has. This issue of the future of the Greater London Council (GLC) is one of them. Lead by another hard left figure – though someone of a different nature to Scargill – in the form of Ken Livingstone, the GLC has control over the nation’s capital. Many of Livingstone’s policies enrage Conservatives within the government and without too: they can unite fully around opposition to him. The GLC is a hotbed of radicalism and militarism going back since Livingstone took over in a ‘palace coup’ back in 1981. County Hall, the GLC’s headquarters, is located just across the River Thames on the South Bank opposite Parliament: Livingstone has a frequently-updated billboard positioned there highlighting national unemployment under the Conservative Government. Economic, transport and, especially, social policies followed by Livingstone’s GLC are regarded by many Conservatives as being drafted just to inflame their anger. Declaring London a ‘nuclear-free zone’ and his rabid support from fringe ideologies like gay rights come alongside his open support for Argentina’s capture of the Falklands and the invitation for the president of Sinn Fein to come to the city which where the IRA has bombed. A war of words is underway between Tebbit and Livingstone, one which drags on and on… and on. A couple of Tebbit’s MPs have been urging him to go further than that and bring a legislative end to the GLC. The Prime Minister doesn’t think that is the way to go and there is the chance that at the next London elections Livingstone can be brought to heel. There are shakes of the head by many at that suggestion. They are working on changing Tebbit’s mind here as the numbers grow in support of the position of abolishment rather than waiting Livingstone out.

Across Britain, there are other political opponents with whom Tebbit is in open conflict with bringing about varying degrees of support from among his MPs. The Labour Party is undergoing a long-term internal factional fight between their far left and centralists. Stretching back several years, it has led to the breakaway Social Democratic Party from the latter faction yet the former have gained victories such as the control of the party leadership, Livingstone’s GLC and also the growing influence within local government in Liverpool. Militant do not share the exact same ideology as ‘Red Ken’ in the capital, yet their presence nationwide is that of a far left character too. Liverpool City Council – without as many powers as the GLC – is becoming closer to falling to them and finally does so in May 1983. Militant are Trotskyists and their victory in Liverpool is something that Tebbit’s Conservatives have failed to stop despite the assistance of negative media coverage against Militant’s rise there and elsewhere nationwide. Nonetheless, it must be said that while there is much opposition to Militant from the Conservatives, Tebbit and his MPs aren’t distraught at their rise: Militant, and Red Ken in London too, are doing a lot of damage to Labour.

The far left is on the ascendancy across Britain with many expressing the view (with others disagreeing it must be said) that this is all in reaction to defeat in the Falklands.


Tebbit has had the gloves taken off when it comes to terrorism from Irish Republicans. It costs his government the resignation of Northern Ireland Secretary Jim Prior in late 1982… something not regretted that much in Downing Street though. Prior sought a different approach but Tebbit is unwilling to see things continue as they always have been. Bombings on the mainland and shootings within Ulster have gotten to a stage where the Prime Minister wants to if not put a complete end to the reign of terror by the IRA and the INLA, then do them grave damage. Intelligence efforts have been stepped by from both the civilian and military authorities with wide leeway given to act more decisively than beforehand. Information gleamed from informers and spying efforts using the most sophisticated efforts allows for a hurting to be put on them. The SAS are in Northern Ireland and they have what many consider to be ‘shoot-to-kill’ orders: it has been said that the Royal Ulster Constabulary have already been doing this at times too so it isn’t something completely new. Military Aid to the Civil Authorities in Ulster allows for the SAS deployment alongside the regular military forces in the province. Moreover, they work with the infamous Force Research Unit and 14 Intelligence Company to coordinate activities. Ambushes are conducted of terrorist strike teams either undertaking attacks or on reconnaissance missions: few of those sought escape with their lives. At Crossmaglen, a village in the ‘bandit country’ of South Armagh, there are six killed one afternoon in October. Eight more deaths are recorded (including an innocent civilian passer-by) during another successful ambush against the IRA one morning the following month and this time at nearby Cullyhanna. The SAS are also there when arrests are made of terror suspects not directly involved in attacks themselves but believed responsible for organising and financing them. Once more, there are deaths involved during this where top-level IRA and INLA figures lose their lives. The soldiers present are more than willing to open fire given the slightest provocation whereas elsewhere in Ulster there are more stringent rules of engagement… yet orders coming for London are for those to be more relaxed, unofficially at least.

There is reaction to this, one with more bombs and gunfire. Irish nationalist terror groups haven’t deluded themselves that they face a weak opponent in Tebbit and respond accordingly to what is an upturn in the British state’s war against them. Through 1982 and into 1983, attacks are made by them in both Ulster and on the mainland regardless of the SAS trying to wipe them out. Tidworth Camp and the commercial heart of Newcastle are those mainland targets for bombs, while in South Armagh especially, there is a lot of armed activity in locations such as Bessbrook, Forkhill, Jonesborough and Newtownhamilton. The IRA is the more active group yet that doesn’t mean that the smaller INLA sit back and let them take the fight to the enemy alone. The consequences for this are many yet one of the most important is the reigniting of internal factional disputes within Sinn Fein, a party regarded as the political front for the IRA. The dual approach of armed resistance and political organising, the so-called ‘Armalite and ballot box strategy’, is thrown into disarray. The call within the movement and its supporters are for more attacks and less focus on politics at a time like this. Others disagree where they believe there is political advantage to be gained by what Tebbit is doing. To settle this disagreement, rather than talking it out, a wave of violence occurs within the movement. News reaches London and there are no tears shed to the thought of their enemies seeing to murder one another.

Meanwhile, there is no such crackdown against Loyalist terror groups. They don’t set off bombs on the mainland – though aren’t averse to bombs exploding elsewhere – and from their side, there is a willingness to work in secret with the arms of the British state. On an official level, these terror groups are regarded with the same opposition as to the Republicans ones because they are all criminals. However, that isn’t always the case behind the scenes. Actions undertaken against the IRA and INLA by the SAS following the will of London come alongside strikes against leading Republicans, and also Nationalist politicians, conducted by Loyalist gunmen. Collusion is ongoing in this with intelligence information shared at certain times to allow outright murder to occur of enemies to both Loyalists and the British state. The latter can keep its hands clean of this though. Neither Tebbit nor anyone in his government is physically signing off on any of this, but they are aware that it is happening and aren’t putting up any more than a token effort to see it stopped. That is why Prior departs from his post and he will not keep his mouth shut for very long afterwards as to the reasons behind his departure.

The political consequences within Ulster where Loyalist terror groups are gaining traction effects the divided Unionist parties. The offensive against Republican terrorists has an impact upon the split Nationalists as well. Long-term effects will be seen from all of this.