Post by Dan on Aug 15, 2018 13:36:50 GMT
This is to follow on from No More For the Road
A quick summary of past events:
The Cambridge Ring of spies were not detected until the very late 1970s and as such, a number had risen to high posts within the government and civil service. The revelation fo this led to a strong public backlash and a more authoritarian and right wing Conservative Government has been installed.
Since then:
In 1981 the National Union of Mineworkers went on strike in protest at the government's plan to reduce it's dependency of coal. The dispute was long and violent, lasting nearly a full year. When the Police struggled to contain the riots, the Army were brought in. Regiments brought back from Northern Ireland were sent straight into action, deaths started in ones or twos, soon in fives and tens, however it was not one sided.
Shadowy groups began targeting off duty policemen, off duty soldiers, both side employing snatch squads during riots to isolate and beat, sometimes to death, those involved.
Eventually, something broke and the Army did what the Army do the opened fire. The Medway Massacre as it was soon dubbed, saw 3 protesters killed and 17 injured, while in Yorkshire, one particular left wing group who had gained access to weapons, started shooting back. It was a miracle that no one was killed or injured, but the event was enough. In secret talks, Arthur Scargill and David Howell agreed measures to end the strikes before things escalated, and for two years, things remained quiet.
2-1
All Of This
There's a sentry in a uniform to watch the VIPs along the hall
Strategical discussions taking place behind the steel plated wall
The agents issue the statements to the waiting press who circulate the words
Justification, propaganda, Western foreign policy across the world
The Conservative Party Conference of October 1984 had been billed as a celebration of success by party grandees. There had been no repeat of the miners strike of two years back, the unions appeared broken and the privatisation and sell off of council housing had been going well. British industry was enjoying a revival and talks with the European Economic Council towards a mutual trade treaty were progressing well.
In terms of security, while Ireland was still experiencing what had euphimistically been termed "the Troubles", in Britain itself, it was believed that the Soviet infiltration had been smashed, and the trial of Anthony Blunt, no longer "sir" Anthony after beng stripped of his knighthood, had concluded with Blunt being held at Her Majesty's pleasure, where it was expected that he would die in Prison.
In a number of council elections, the Labour party had been devestated everywhere outside of the North West and the Mining heartlands. In a number of by-elections, most of the seats had been picked up by the Liberal Party with the SDP and Scottish Nationalist Party picking up the remainder. However, it was still expected that in an election year, the Conservatives would continue their strong hold on British politics.
The conference proceeded as expected, exhortations to the party faithful to stay true to the course they had begun and congratulations on seeing off the Soviet threat to the British way of life. A celebration of their time in government and the expectation that it would continue for a long time to come.
They read their books and study hard, cigarettes lit in the claustrophobic gloom
West of the University Road, the world outside is ghost-like in the room
Frustrated and impatient and intelligence sharp and twisted like a child
Death is an aphrodisiac now, the fuses on the table slowly wired
Norman Tebbit had given his conference address, noting how the working relationship between the Home Office and Ministry of Defence was stronger than ever. Law and Order under the Conservatives had been taken seriously instead of being left to rot under the Moscow commanded Labour Government, dissidents of all stripes - Communists, Marxists, Maoists, Trots the lot, were now under investigation and any that had conspired with the Soviets would face trial with the same results as Blunt.
Tebbit stood behind the lectern looking out at the auditorium, he could only see the first few rows due to the lighting on stage, but he could feel the energy. The applause after the last part of his speech had died down, He looked to the seated grandees on the stage to his left. The Prime Minister politely applauded. He knew he already had her support for what was about to be announced. The PM was seated in the middle, Singlewood sat to her right, an empty seat, his, to her left. To the left and right, the remaining cabinet positions.
"So to make sure that we can continue to identify and prosecute these traitors, we will need to update our way of working. In one major respect, we have to acknowledge that the days of the old boy network, of recruiting from the 'right' universities, in intelligence is well and truely over. Domestic counter-intelligence, the work of MI-5, needs to be brought into the modern age and move fast with this age of the telephone, fax and the computer. Their work is fundamentally Police work. So as such, MI-5, much like the American FBI, will be acknowledged as such, and in the next year, powers will be put before parliament to give MI-5 officers the power of arrest, to allow them to carry out their work quickly and efficiently".
He paused again as the applause died down again. The next part would be more contentious.
"Since the days of Sir Robert Peel, it has been a matter of pride among the British Bobby, that unlike their American and European counterparts, it has not been necessary to routinely arm the copper on the street. However, lessons have been learned from the industrial disputes of two years ago when armed mobs tried to overthrow law and order through terrorism instead of lawful protest. The targeting of Policemen was, and still is unacceptable, and so, as much as it pains me to do so, I have to announce, that going forward, on a voluntary basis, Policemen on patrol will be authorised to carry firearms as standard. Additional training will be provided, but we expect to roll this out by the beginning of 1985".
The applause came, it was a little hesitant, but it came and built. Once the first delegate stood, others followed and the ovation broke. As Norman surveyed the scene, the speech had been nothing major. The PR consultants they had hired had placed people in among the delegates, and unknown to the delegates who had become swept along in the atmosphere, this whole event was as closely stagemanaged as any theatre production, or, as Tebbit slyly smiled at the thought, any one of Stalin's Politbureau speeches.
---
A number of groups had formed both before, during and after the Miner's strike of 1982. The most well known, the Workers Defence Volunteers, had been declared an illegal organisation some years before, however, it was mostly made up of men with a military bent, and soon developed a highly effective cell structure making it incredibly hard to penetrate with any real success. The Cell Structure, one used to great success by other groups, from the Black Hand, Viet Kong, IRA and others, meant that no one knew more than 5 people, the four in their cell and maybe one contact a level above or below. Communication between cells was difficult and never face to face, but not impossible. Couriers never knew more than two people, making messaging slow, but secure. While the group had been quiet, they had been busy stock piling weaponry. Through international contacts as well as through thefts and forgery, the group had acquired a large number of rifles and handguns as well as a large stock of ammunition. They had also, via a number of cut outs in the Middle East and Ireland, been supplied with the latest Czechslovakian plastic explosive - Semtex. This military grade explosive was supposed to be virtually scentless making it difficult, or nearly impossible to be detected by sniffer dogs, especially if it was placed in an area with many other scents.
The WDV intended to re-announce it's presence in a Sussex sea-side town with an event that the world would have to take notice of.
It's soldiers night at the discotheque, pick up a girl and drink to home afar
Spending money like water on the watered drinks available at the bar
The IRA had not been quiet since the rise of the Thatcher government and the resurgence of the Troubles. Old plans for bombing pubs and barracks, any places where soldiers gathered were dusted off. An upsurge in attacks in Ulster began at the same time as the Conservative Party Conference, Soldiers and Police, off duty and on, were targeted for drive by shootings while at the same time, assasinations of Unionist Paramilitaries were a nightly occurrence, as were the retaliatory attacks by the Unionist groups. Stuck in the middle were the few remaining Catholic families, those that hadn't escaped or been burnt out. An attack, using a car bomb, was planned for Saturday 13th October, and was to hit a perfomance of the Band of the 1st Battalion, The Royal Anglian Regiment, as they performed in Colchester Town centre. It would be more effective than they could have imagined, but for reasons beyond their control.
The ones who never were given much, never asked much of anything in recall
But there's a black bag in the corner and it doesn't belong to anyone here at all
On Thursday 11th October, the Grand Hotel in Brighton recieved an extra order of beers. This was expected as the hotel was hosting delegates for the Conservative Party Conference. The eleven Beer barrels were simply placed in the cellar of the hotel and left ready for the head barman to rack the beers for them to settle. For ease of accounting, they were all placed together in one corner against an internal supporting wall.
Each aluminium barrel was filled with 200lbs of Semtex linked to a digitally controlled timer. Each timer was set to go off at exactly the same moment - Midnight Thursday night/Friday Morning 12th October 1984.
It was expected, that with all the delegates gearing up for the major speech by the Prime Minister, would be at the hotel either preparing for, or in bed. The entire British Cabinet were among the guests in the hotel as well as a number of senior civil servants, it was an opportunity that should not be missed.
At midnight, the bombs in the cellar went of as near as anyone could tell, simultaniously. The effect was near immediate. The bar staff and approximately 40 hotel guests were still in the bar. directly above the cellar, and ceased to exist. The explosion caused a critical weakening of the foundations, which combined with the over pressure removed approximately 2.5 meters of the supporting internal wall causing an almost immediate collapse in the central and front facade of the hotel.
Survival and death were matters of almost pure luck.
Those on the first few floors mostly survived the blast and the initial collapse only to be crushed or suffocated when the main facade collapsed. Two survivors were recoverd from this area, Cecil Parkinson and his secretary, Sara Keays. While Keays would go on to make a full recovery, Parkinson would die of injuries sustained a few days later.
On other floors, the lottery continued.
Sir Roger Davies, Personal Private Secretary to the Minister of Defence and his Wife survived unscathed depite being on the fourth floor, While Angus Maude, the paymaster General and James Prior, former party leader and currently Secretary for employment both died. Among the cabinet, Lords Soames, Carrington and Hailsham, Micheal Heseltine and Peter Walker were all killed. The majority of others would require long term hospital care.
The main news, and everyone's focus was on the occupants of Room 368.
Initially it looked as though it would be good news. Denis Thatcher, 71 years old, was pulled bruised, battered and suffering from hypothermia, from under the bath he had been in at the time of the explosion. As firemen worked long hours, it became apparent that Denis would be the only survivor of the room, and at 5:28am, the body of the Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher, was removed from the wreckage of her room, and taken to the local hospital.
The Minister of Defence, Peter Singlewood, and the Home Secretary, Norman Tebbit arrived at the hotel just after 6:00am. They had remained at the conference centre until around 11pm. By the time their cars had been summoned and they had begun the 5 minute drive to the hotel, the alarm had been raised and the pair had been rushed to the nearest police station. At around 3:00am, the chief constable delivered the news to Tebbit that his wife, Margaret had been found, and while injured, was expected to make a full recovery.
After a further briefing by Chief Constable, Norman Tebbit as acting Prime Minister, and flanked by Peter Singlewood, framed by the ongoing rescue and recovery operation, went before the press.
"Ladies and Gentlemen, and to the public at home.
We, the Government and the country as a whole have been the victim of a wicked, cowardly attack that has taken a number of lives during what was a democratic and peacable event.
I have been informed that despite the best efforts of the Fire Brigade and ambulance service, the Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher, has died. She was a remarkable woman, an outstanding example of humility in her own actions, and pride in the country, a woman who put what was best for all at the heart of her decisions. Margaret Thatcher was also known as The Iron Lady, she had principals and would not bend from them. I intend to pay tribute to the Prime Minister in that manner and promise that the cowards, snakes and weasels that carried out this attack will be hunted to the ends of the earth and brought into the open where justice will be carried out without mercy.
In order to ensure that the nation is defended, from enemies both external and internal, as an emergency measure, the offices of the Home Office, and the Ministry of Defence will be combined, and led by my esteemed colleague, the Right Honourable Captain Peter Singlewood.
Now if you will excuse me, my wife, who was among the victims, requires my support".
There were shouts and calls from the assembled press. The Press secretary, who had been at a different hotel fended off questions as the two men left. One sound engineer from CBS, experimenting with a new shotgun microphone managed to pick up the parting words of Tebbit as he left, they were never broadcast, but were a chilling portent of what was to come:
"I don't care what you have to do Peter, but I want you to nail these bastards to the fucking wall for this. You understand me, to the fucking wall".
In the name of the People,
all of this done,
In the name of the people.
A quick summary of past events:
The Cambridge Ring of spies were not detected until the very late 1970s and as such, a number had risen to high posts within the government and civil service. The revelation fo this led to a strong public backlash and a more authoritarian and right wing Conservative Government has been installed.
Since then:
In 1981 the National Union of Mineworkers went on strike in protest at the government's plan to reduce it's dependency of coal. The dispute was long and violent, lasting nearly a full year. When the Police struggled to contain the riots, the Army were brought in. Regiments brought back from Northern Ireland were sent straight into action, deaths started in ones or twos, soon in fives and tens, however it was not one sided.
Shadowy groups began targeting off duty policemen, off duty soldiers, both side employing snatch squads during riots to isolate and beat, sometimes to death, those involved.
Eventually, something broke and the Army did what the Army do the opened fire. The Medway Massacre as it was soon dubbed, saw 3 protesters killed and 17 injured, while in Yorkshire, one particular left wing group who had gained access to weapons, started shooting back. It was a miracle that no one was killed or injured, but the event was enough. In secret talks, Arthur Scargill and David Howell agreed measures to end the strikes before things escalated, and for two years, things remained quiet.
2-1
All Of This
There's a sentry in a uniform to watch the VIPs along the hall
Strategical discussions taking place behind the steel plated wall
The agents issue the statements to the waiting press who circulate the words
Justification, propaganda, Western foreign policy across the world
The Conservative Party Conference of October 1984 had been billed as a celebration of success by party grandees. There had been no repeat of the miners strike of two years back, the unions appeared broken and the privatisation and sell off of council housing had been going well. British industry was enjoying a revival and talks with the European Economic Council towards a mutual trade treaty were progressing well.
In terms of security, while Ireland was still experiencing what had euphimistically been termed "the Troubles", in Britain itself, it was believed that the Soviet infiltration had been smashed, and the trial of Anthony Blunt, no longer "sir" Anthony after beng stripped of his knighthood, had concluded with Blunt being held at Her Majesty's pleasure, where it was expected that he would die in Prison.
In a number of council elections, the Labour party had been devestated everywhere outside of the North West and the Mining heartlands. In a number of by-elections, most of the seats had been picked up by the Liberal Party with the SDP and Scottish Nationalist Party picking up the remainder. However, it was still expected that in an election year, the Conservatives would continue their strong hold on British politics.
The conference proceeded as expected, exhortations to the party faithful to stay true to the course they had begun and congratulations on seeing off the Soviet threat to the British way of life. A celebration of their time in government and the expectation that it would continue for a long time to come.
They read their books and study hard, cigarettes lit in the claustrophobic gloom
West of the University Road, the world outside is ghost-like in the room
Frustrated and impatient and intelligence sharp and twisted like a child
Death is an aphrodisiac now, the fuses on the table slowly wired
Norman Tebbit had given his conference address, noting how the working relationship between the Home Office and Ministry of Defence was stronger than ever. Law and Order under the Conservatives had been taken seriously instead of being left to rot under the Moscow commanded Labour Government, dissidents of all stripes - Communists, Marxists, Maoists, Trots the lot, were now under investigation and any that had conspired with the Soviets would face trial with the same results as Blunt.
Tebbit stood behind the lectern looking out at the auditorium, he could only see the first few rows due to the lighting on stage, but he could feel the energy. The applause after the last part of his speech had died down, He looked to the seated grandees on the stage to his left. The Prime Minister politely applauded. He knew he already had her support for what was about to be announced. The PM was seated in the middle, Singlewood sat to her right, an empty seat, his, to her left. To the left and right, the remaining cabinet positions.
"So to make sure that we can continue to identify and prosecute these traitors, we will need to update our way of working. In one major respect, we have to acknowledge that the days of the old boy network, of recruiting from the 'right' universities, in intelligence is well and truely over. Domestic counter-intelligence, the work of MI-5, needs to be brought into the modern age and move fast with this age of the telephone, fax and the computer. Their work is fundamentally Police work. So as such, MI-5, much like the American FBI, will be acknowledged as such, and in the next year, powers will be put before parliament to give MI-5 officers the power of arrest, to allow them to carry out their work quickly and efficiently".
He paused again as the applause died down again. The next part would be more contentious.
"Since the days of Sir Robert Peel, it has been a matter of pride among the British Bobby, that unlike their American and European counterparts, it has not been necessary to routinely arm the copper on the street. However, lessons have been learned from the industrial disputes of two years ago when armed mobs tried to overthrow law and order through terrorism instead of lawful protest. The targeting of Policemen was, and still is unacceptable, and so, as much as it pains me to do so, I have to announce, that going forward, on a voluntary basis, Policemen on patrol will be authorised to carry firearms as standard. Additional training will be provided, but we expect to roll this out by the beginning of 1985".
The applause came, it was a little hesitant, but it came and built. Once the first delegate stood, others followed and the ovation broke. As Norman surveyed the scene, the speech had been nothing major. The PR consultants they had hired had placed people in among the delegates, and unknown to the delegates who had become swept along in the atmosphere, this whole event was as closely stagemanaged as any theatre production, or, as Tebbit slyly smiled at the thought, any one of Stalin's Politbureau speeches.
---
A number of groups had formed both before, during and after the Miner's strike of 1982. The most well known, the Workers Defence Volunteers, had been declared an illegal organisation some years before, however, it was mostly made up of men with a military bent, and soon developed a highly effective cell structure making it incredibly hard to penetrate with any real success. The Cell Structure, one used to great success by other groups, from the Black Hand, Viet Kong, IRA and others, meant that no one knew more than 5 people, the four in their cell and maybe one contact a level above or below. Communication between cells was difficult and never face to face, but not impossible. Couriers never knew more than two people, making messaging slow, but secure. While the group had been quiet, they had been busy stock piling weaponry. Through international contacts as well as through thefts and forgery, the group had acquired a large number of rifles and handguns as well as a large stock of ammunition. They had also, via a number of cut outs in the Middle East and Ireland, been supplied with the latest Czechslovakian plastic explosive - Semtex. This military grade explosive was supposed to be virtually scentless making it difficult, or nearly impossible to be detected by sniffer dogs, especially if it was placed in an area with many other scents.
The WDV intended to re-announce it's presence in a Sussex sea-side town with an event that the world would have to take notice of.
It's soldiers night at the discotheque, pick up a girl and drink to home afar
Spending money like water on the watered drinks available at the bar
The IRA had not been quiet since the rise of the Thatcher government and the resurgence of the Troubles. Old plans for bombing pubs and barracks, any places where soldiers gathered were dusted off. An upsurge in attacks in Ulster began at the same time as the Conservative Party Conference, Soldiers and Police, off duty and on, were targeted for drive by shootings while at the same time, assasinations of Unionist Paramilitaries were a nightly occurrence, as were the retaliatory attacks by the Unionist groups. Stuck in the middle were the few remaining Catholic families, those that hadn't escaped or been burnt out. An attack, using a car bomb, was planned for Saturday 13th October, and was to hit a perfomance of the Band of the 1st Battalion, The Royal Anglian Regiment, as they performed in Colchester Town centre. It would be more effective than they could have imagined, but for reasons beyond their control.
The ones who never were given much, never asked much of anything in recall
But there's a black bag in the corner and it doesn't belong to anyone here at all
On Thursday 11th October, the Grand Hotel in Brighton recieved an extra order of beers. This was expected as the hotel was hosting delegates for the Conservative Party Conference. The eleven Beer barrels were simply placed in the cellar of the hotel and left ready for the head barman to rack the beers for them to settle. For ease of accounting, they were all placed together in one corner against an internal supporting wall.
Each aluminium barrel was filled with 200lbs of Semtex linked to a digitally controlled timer. Each timer was set to go off at exactly the same moment - Midnight Thursday night/Friday Morning 12th October 1984.
It was expected, that with all the delegates gearing up for the major speech by the Prime Minister, would be at the hotel either preparing for, or in bed. The entire British Cabinet were among the guests in the hotel as well as a number of senior civil servants, it was an opportunity that should not be missed.
At midnight, the bombs in the cellar went of as near as anyone could tell, simultaniously. The effect was near immediate. The bar staff and approximately 40 hotel guests were still in the bar. directly above the cellar, and ceased to exist. The explosion caused a critical weakening of the foundations, which combined with the over pressure removed approximately 2.5 meters of the supporting internal wall causing an almost immediate collapse in the central and front facade of the hotel.
Survival and death were matters of almost pure luck.
Those on the first few floors mostly survived the blast and the initial collapse only to be crushed or suffocated when the main facade collapsed. Two survivors were recoverd from this area, Cecil Parkinson and his secretary, Sara Keays. While Keays would go on to make a full recovery, Parkinson would die of injuries sustained a few days later.
On other floors, the lottery continued.
Sir Roger Davies, Personal Private Secretary to the Minister of Defence and his Wife survived unscathed depite being on the fourth floor, While Angus Maude, the paymaster General and James Prior, former party leader and currently Secretary for employment both died. Among the cabinet, Lords Soames, Carrington and Hailsham, Micheal Heseltine and Peter Walker were all killed. The majority of others would require long term hospital care.
The main news, and everyone's focus was on the occupants of Room 368.
Initially it looked as though it would be good news. Denis Thatcher, 71 years old, was pulled bruised, battered and suffering from hypothermia, from under the bath he had been in at the time of the explosion. As firemen worked long hours, it became apparent that Denis would be the only survivor of the room, and at 5:28am, the body of the Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher, was removed from the wreckage of her room, and taken to the local hospital.
The Minister of Defence, Peter Singlewood, and the Home Secretary, Norman Tebbit arrived at the hotel just after 6:00am. They had remained at the conference centre until around 11pm. By the time their cars had been summoned and they had begun the 5 minute drive to the hotel, the alarm had been raised and the pair had been rushed to the nearest police station. At around 3:00am, the chief constable delivered the news to Tebbit that his wife, Margaret had been found, and while injured, was expected to make a full recovery.
After a further briefing by Chief Constable, Norman Tebbit as acting Prime Minister, and flanked by Peter Singlewood, framed by the ongoing rescue and recovery operation, went before the press.
"Ladies and Gentlemen, and to the public at home.
We, the Government and the country as a whole have been the victim of a wicked, cowardly attack that has taken a number of lives during what was a democratic and peacable event.
I have been informed that despite the best efforts of the Fire Brigade and ambulance service, the Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher, has died. She was a remarkable woman, an outstanding example of humility in her own actions, and pride in the country, a woman who put what was best for all at the heart of her decisions. Margaret Thatcher was also known as The Iron Lady, she had principals and would not bend from them. I intend to pay tribute to the Prime Minister in that manner and promise that the cowards, snakes and weasels that carried out this attack will be hunted to the ends of the earth and brought into the open where justice will be carried out without mercy.
In order to ensure that the nation is defended, from enemies both external and internal, as an emergency measure, the offices of the Home Office, and the Ministry of Defence will be combined, and led by my esteemed colleague, the Right Honourable Captain Peter Singlewood.
Now if you will excuse me, my wife, who was among the victims, requires my support".
There were shouts and calls from the assembled press. The Press secretary, who had been at a different hotel fended off questions as the two men left. One sound engineer from CBS, experimenting with a new shotgun microphone managed to pick up the parting words of Tebbit as he left, they were never broadcast, but were a chilling portent of what was to come:
"I don't care what you have to do Peter, but I want you to nail these bastards to the fucking wall for this. You understand me, to the fucking wall".
In the name of the People,
all of this done,
In the name of the people.
