POLITICAL COMMENTARY

A Whitehall diary, 1969

AUBERON WAUGH

Cabinet papers for 1969 would not normally be published until 1 January 2000. Judging, however, that the newspapers of that date will be too much occupied with reviews of the millennium to do them justice, your political correspondent has been to con- siderable trouble to acquire copies in ad- vance. Accompanying this extract is the rele- vant passage from the hitherto unpublished memoirs of Sir Trendy Burke, Secretary to the Cabinet, and compiler of the official ac- count. Any discrepancy between the two is plainly attributable to human error.

'A meeting of the full Cabinet on Thurs- day 19 June 1969 decided not to proceed

with three suggestions contained in the White Paper In Place of Strife: a Policy for Industrial Relations (Cmnd. 3888) presented to Parliament in the previous January by the First Secretary of State and Secretary of State for Employment and Productivity (Mrs Edward Castle).

'The Prime Minister (Mr Wilson) opening the discussion, initially urged that these pro- posals should be retained on the grounds of economic necessity, and was supported by the First Secretary (Mrs Castle) who stressed the benefits which might accrue from such measures in the field of economic planning. However, the Chancellor of the Exchequer (Mr Jenkins) was able to assure the Cabinet that he had found alternative methods of im- proving the balance of payments, and in this he was supported by the Minister for Economic Affairs (Mr Shore) and the Presi- dent of the Board of Trade (Mr Crosland), both of whom doubted the necessity of penal sanctions at this time. The Patronage Secretary (Mr Mellish), who was present by invitation, doubted whether these proposals would recommend themselves to those peo- ple most directly involved in their implemen- tation, both in Parliament and outside, and was supported in this opinion by the Home Secretary (Mr Callaghan) and the Minister of Transport (Mr Marsh). The Minister of Technology suggested that an appeal might be made to the idealism of trade unionists, especially younger members, if they were equipped with better office machinery.

'The Prime Minister then asked whether it was the Cabinet's opinion that the Govern- ment could survive the abandonment of pro- posals which it had formerly—albeit mistakenly--thought essential to the economic health of the country. He was answered by the Secretary of State for the Social Services (Mr Crossman) with the sug- gestion that the Government would have much greater difficulty surviving the reten- tion of these proposals. Summing up, the

Prime Minister said that what had emerged from their discussion clearly indicated that the Government should welcome the TUC-S

new offer to regulate their own affairs on a voluntary basis. Moving a vote of thanks, the Home Secretary (Mr Callaghan) indicated that this decision was the most staternan- like act of the Government to date, and one which commanded the support of every member of the Cabinet who remained (Mrs Secretary Castle having been called away). The Prime Minister regretted that there was no machinery in Cabinet procedure for put- ting such motions to the vote, and urged all present instead to emphasise the magnitude of the Government's achievement when they were outside the Cabinet Room.'

Below is an account of the same meeting, as it will appear in Sir Trendy's memoirs, to be serialised around the turn of the century by the New Sunday Times, with its three- dimensional, edible and olfactory sup- plements and special erogenous zones.

'The crisis came to a head at the Cabinet meeting on 19 June 1969—in many ways the

most extraordinary I can remember. Wilson opened the discussion by pointing out that the Government was completely committed to these reforms, and that the Chancellor (Mr Jenkins) had repeatedly assured them that they were essential for the maintenance of British credit overseas. The TUC, he said, had been unwilling to meet them even half way on a single point, and they now had no alternative but to go ahead with the original proposals. Mrs Secretary Castle next said that as socialists they must all agree that wages were an essential part of economic planning. Sometimes, she thought that she and the Prime Minister were the only socialists left in the room!

'It was at this point that Mr Jenkins drop- ped his bombshell. I remember his very words, having jotted them down at this time: "Investigating the trade figures left behind by my predecessor" (he pronounced them "twade figures left behind by my pwedecessor"!) "I have found a gwave discwepancy in the accounting methods, which seems to suggest that we have been wunning a favouwable balance of payments all this time. Consequently, I have instwucted my assistant, Mr Hawwis, to in- form the pwess that the economic miwacle has now occurred, and there is no further need for harsh or wepwessive measures against our fwiends in the twade union movement."

'Everybody present immediately started cheering and beating their cut-glass tumblers on the table. Mr Stewart even spilled some water on his trousers and had to leave the room. Fortunately, he always brought several pairs of trousers to Cabinet meetings. Mrs Castle, however, started crying, and even Jim Callaghan did not seem as excited as he might have been: "With the greatest respect, Prime Minister, and having given careful thought to what the Chancellor of the Exchequer has just said, and while welcoming his conversion at the eleventh hour, I would like to remind you that I sug- gested this accountancy fiddle to you nearly two years ago, in October 1967, and you then said that it wouldn't wash. We couldn't get away with it, and nobody would believe us."

"I said no such thing," said Wilson. "I said that I didn't believe it, and it was too late to make any difference. Do you think people will swallow it now?"

`Mr Crosland spoke next: "Of course they will, if I tell them it's not a fiddle, as the Home Secretary has it. All it means is that the Government has been doing just as well as the Prime Minister said it was doing."

Wilson was now becoming rather desperate. With Mrs Castle crying un- controllably, there was nobody to speak on his behalf. "Foreign Secretary?"

`Mr Stewart, who had come back into the room, and made several excursions since, said nothing.

"I think you were trying to catch my eye," said the Prime Minister hopefully.

"No I wasn't," replied Stewart. He had begun to froth at the mouth slightly, as he

always did when ever there was any question that he might have been misunderstood. Of course, he was already a very sick man, unknown to any of his colleagues, none of whom could have guessed the tragic end which was in store for him.

"In that case," snapped Wilson—he was clearly very much on edge—"it would greatly assist me if you would refrain from rolling your eyes in that threatening way."

'It was a tense moment—saved, with typical tact, by Mr Callaghan, the Home Secretary. "He's just thinking of his Biafran babies," quipped Callaghan, with an in- fectious guffaw. Richard Marsh laughed so much he nearly fell off his chair. It was this sort of immoderate reaction, repeated at the Prime Minister's expense, which was later to cost him his job. But there can be no ques- tion that on this occasion Callaghan's ready wit had saved the situation. Even the Prime Minister laughed, despite all his worries. I often thought it was one of the great strengths of a Labour government, this earthy camaraderie between colleagues.

`Mr Stewart then left the room again. I never learned whether his purpose on these excursions was merely to relieve himself, or to consult with Foreign Office advisers, from whom he never liked to be separated for long. Probably, being a methodical man, he combined both functions, keeping a Foreign Office adviser posted in the lavatory.

'The rest of that meeting belongs to history. Mr Mellish was visibly affected when he announced that thirty of his col- leagues would vote with the "stinking Tories" if the penal sanctions remained, while another forty would abstain. When pressed on the chances of getting such a Bill through the Commons, Mr Peart sat obstinately shaking his head, with rather a stupid smile on his handsome, amiable face, and repeating over and over again: "I am very sorry, but not this week."

'Two things should be recorded. After Mrs Castle had been led sobbing from the room, still muttering that she was the only socialist inside it (she recovered a little, after tea and tranquilliser, in Mrs Wilson's sitting room) Mr Wedgwood Benn made a little speech. It was on the sort of things he always discussed, and nobody paid much attention. Afterwards, however, Wilson stood up, shak- ing with fury, and said very clearly: "Defence Secretary, I have told you before not to shout 'Balls' whenever my friend the Minister of Technology makes a point. If you do it again, I will ask you to leave the room". The interesting thing about this out- burst is that the Secretary for Defence (Mr Healey) was not present at the time, being on a tour of the Far East. It showed the strain of the moment.

'Finally, I had the distinct impression that when Mr Callaghan moved his highly ir- regular vote of thanks, he was expecting something rather dramatic to follow from it—Wilson's resignation perhaps. Of course,

this was only an impression, and in the event he was disappointed. If his little ploy had worked, and if Wilson had resigned . . . ah, but that must remain one of the "ifs" of history.'