Behind Diplomatic Lines_Relations with Ministers Page 10
I lunch with John Stanley in the House of Commons. The real purpose of his invitation was obscure, unless it was to persuade me that the Northern Ireland Office was ‘far from the political backwater that some people assume’ – perhaps a bid for a ministerial job in the FCO? He is an odd character: poor with his own civil servants, and obsessed by secrecy and intelligence. His fairly frequent visits to Dublin are cloaked in total secrecy, and often unknown to even his own PUS (now John Blelloch). I rang John this morning to let him know about the lunch engagement, and to say that if anything of interest emerged, I would send it to him in a triple-sealed envelope.
12 MAY 1988
Geoffrey Howe half ticked me off today, having seen the record of my talk with Neil van Heerden (the South African PUS) last week; he thought I had not been sufficiently brutal with him (with some justification). I pointed out that I had merely been running over rebukes which Robin Renwick had already delivered. Geoffrey argued that, with the PM as soft as she is on the South Africans, the rest of us should pull no punches.
14 MAY 1988
I collected Virginia on Saturday evening and drove to Salisbury to dine with Ted Heath at Arundells, his fabulous house in full view of Salisbury Cathedral, with the rivers Avon and Nadder joining at the end of a superb garden. As we arrived, a few guests were already dotted round the garden, drinking champagne, but no sign of our host. I was rather alarmed, when talking to a Swiss banker, to hear him say: ‘Ah! Here comes the Prime Minister.’ For an extraordinary moment, I thought Ted Heath had actually invited Margaret Thatcher! As it was, of course, it was the Continental habit of calling a Prime Minister (or an ambassador, for that matter) by that title for life.
16 MAY 1988
The press is again full of stories of splits between the PM, Lawson and Howe – with particular emphasis on Geoffrey’s relations with Margaret Thatcher. We meanwhile received detailed comments on Geoffrey Howe’s draft speech to the Royal Commonwealth Society – every proposed change predictably designed to soften criticism of South Africa, and to heighten criticism of the ANC etc. Since the PM’s disagreement over exchange rates is with both Lawson and Howe, perhaps that at least diminishes the prospect of Lawson becoming Foreign Secretary! But the press have pointed out that Geoffrey has now been Foreign Secretary longer than anyone since the First World War.
17 MAY 1988
The PM today agreed a statement saying that she fully agreed with Geoffrey Howe’s speech on Africa; she also made a firm statement in the house expressing her full agreement with Nigel Lawson. Geoffrey is still resentful of her style and rudeness in her remarks to the press (e.g. a claim that when told he was waiting during her interview with Sir David English of the Daily Mail, she replied: ‘He can wait.’)
18 MAY 1988
Press articles on Geoffrey Howe continued today, with a particularly bad one on the Powells in the Evening Standard last night. I sat next to Peter Jenkins at the Irish dinner tonight. It is generally thought that Bernard Ingham is not responsible for them. Peter Jenkins obviously suspects the Prime Minister’s personal intervention; at least, he claimed that she could stop it at once if she wanted to, since most of the articles have come from well-known associates like Andrew Alexander and David English.
I later met Percy Cradock, who confirmed that the PM regards her argument with Nigel Lawson over the exchange rate as over; but she is still very angry about Geoffrey Howe’s intervention on the subject last Friday in Scotland. One journalist referred to it as ‘indiscretion of Heseltine proportions’.
19 MAY 1988
I talked to Tony Galsworthy about Geoffrey Howe, who is very resentful about the continuing press campaign. There was a sympathetic article by Hugo Young in The Guardian this morning, but again contrasting the respective influence on Margaret Thatcher of Geoffrey Howe and Charles Powell, and comparing Geoffrey with John Biffen, who cooked his goose with remarks about the need for ‘balance’ in government. Geoffrey Owen, the editor of the Financial Times, told me at lunch today that he (and, as far as he knew, his staff) had received no calls from No. 10, and he doubted, as I do, that Bernard Ingham is responsible. But it must have been a very rough week for Geoffrey.
20 MAY 1988
I wrote a brief note to Geoffrey Howe today, expressing my sympathy over the continuing press articles about his row with the Prime Minister. In reply, I received the following from him on 22 May.
DEAR PATRICK,
It is characteristically kind of you to write as you did – and a great comfort to us both.
You’re right, I think, to attribute most of it to the press’ herd instinct – and I hope it will not long endure.
The principal irritation is that it risks casting a shadow over our important mission to Hong Kong at the end of this week. All the more reason to be grateful for the support and loyalty of the service – which I greatly value, and yours particularly.
With warmest thanks,
As ever,
GEOFFREY.
Charles Powell told me today that he doubted if the PM herself was even aware of half the things the press were saying. Unlike some of her predecessors and successors, she pays very little attention to the press. It is said that Clement Attlee was so dismissive of the media that the only way in which the staff could persuade him to agree to have a Reuters ticker tape installed was to point out to him that he could get virtually immediate news of the cricket scores. Contrast my problems with Harold Wilson, when arrangements broke down to provide us with the British newspapers on his travels abroad.
6 JUNE 1988
First day back from my West African tour, with a flurry today about this week’s talks with the Iranians on compensation for damage to their embassy premises. [By coincidence, this is being edited within a few days of the Foreign Secretary, Philip Hammond, visiting Tehran in August 2015, after the successful conclusion of negotiations to agree Iranian compensation for their damage to our premises.]
President Reagan’s visit last week seems to have gone well. He put on a professional performance at the Guildhall, with very few people realising that he was using a prompt machine. He has lavished praise on Margaret Thatcher, virtually claiming that she will have to pick up the baton for the free world after his presidency.
Meanwhile, Geoffrey Howe went dangerously near to endorsing Bush’s candidature for the presidency in a television interview yesterday, though the press have so far concentrated predictably on his remarks about continuing to serve under Margaret Thatcher.
Geoffrey is on good form, chuckling over the menu card for the diplomatic dinner in the Natural Science Museum, which contains caricatures in the shape of dinosaurs, two of which are clearly identifiable as Geoffrey and myself. But he is tired after his fairly demanding visit to the Philippines and Hong Kong, and sets off this evening for New York, returning tomorrow before visiting Madrid on Wednesday. Crazy.
8 JUNE 1988
I arrived at the office to find Lynda Chalker also arriving, and in a great stew about the Iranian premises talks. The Prime Minister had attacked her ‘in a steaming fury’ last night, though it was not clear if she was cross about the substance, or the fact that No. 10 had not been forewarned before the leak last week. Lynda herself was cross at being caught unawares, and talked to me about the difficulty of her position as Deputy Foreign Secretary.
Geoffrey Howe held a ministerial meeting, at which there was a lot of sniping about the handling of the Iran case, with Tim Eggar apparently claiming that it should have been his business, and that Middle East Department (by implication, David Mellor) had fouled it up. Mellor summoned me, and I went over the saga with him, pointing out that ministers and officials shared responsibility for not consulting No. 10 at an earlier stage, and that the leak was partly the fault of a young and inexperienced desk officer. I recalled that I had myself been similarly let down by the Daily Mail in Beirut, and hoped that there would not be a witch-hunt against the poor young man. David Mellor said that the atmosphere between minist
ers in the FCO was quite unlike that in the Home Office, and that he wished Geoffrey Howe would not discuss these problems in front of all the ministers and parliamentary private secretaries.
I attended a meeting with Geoffrey Howe at lunchtime to discuss the Sowan case (related to the murder of the Palestinian journalist Ali). He started by saying that he wished to complain ‘in an unexplosive way’ about being faced with such difficult decisions, with no prior warning. Having got that over, there was a good discussion; but ministers have concluded that at least one Palestinian and one Israeli are going to have to be chucked out. And the case is almost certain to end while Crown Prince Abdullah is here.
I went to credentials for Fiji, and saw for the first time the Fijian greeting of dropping to one knee and clapping three times. There is a story, possibly apocryphal, of a new and nervous head of mission questioning the marshal of the diplomatic corps about the correct procedure for introducing his staff at the Buckingham Palace diplomatic reception, and being told to follow what the neighbouring head of mission did. Unfortunately, this turned out to be the Fijian!
13 JUNE 1988
Geoffrey Howe had seven boxes of work this weekend. I have asked Tony Galsworthy to go through them carefully and identify which papers he need not have seen. Tony pointed out that papers of that sort are nearly always something Geoffrey has asked for, or was interested in.
Crown Prince Abdullah read his speech at the Mansion House this evening with hardly a hesitation, heaping praise on David Mellor for his remarks in the occupied territories, at which I passed a note to Stephen Egerton saying: ‘With thanks like that…’
At a meeting in No. 10, Nigel Wicks told me there were rumours (which he says he does not believe) that Margaret Thatcher may be thinking of giving up next spring; it sounds most improbable, but then, so did Harold Wilson’s resignation (which incidentally took Nigel Wicks – then the Treasury private secretary – completely by surprise, until Ken Stowe and I asked him to look up a quotation).
15 JUNE 1988
Percy Cradock called, having just come from a briefing for the Toronto summit, at which the PM had revealed all her old prejudices against the Japanese – ‘in a repining mood’, as Percy put it.
16 JUNE 1988
I wrote a private note to Geoffrey Howe this morning ‘as one of those who contributed to the bucketfulls of cold water poured on his suggestion for last night’s dinner’ (see 6 June, above) and to congratulate him on its success, and on his speech. I suggested for next year either the Tower of London or the disused underground under Hampstead Heath.
21 JUNE 1988
I lunched with Stewart Steven of the Mail on Sunday, who told me that I obviously had a lot of friends, since his editorial about monkeys and organ grinders (see p. 86, above) had provoked a number of protesting telephone calls, including one from David Owen. The conversation remained very civilised throughout.
We also discovered that both of us had been together on Michael Stewart’s visit to Poland in 1965. He told an amusing story about Denis Greenhill trying to stop Stewart Steven from writing a story about the extent of drunkenness, including Michael Stewart, at Polish official dinners in Kraków. I told him that I had completely forgotten it myself – perhaps because I was also drunk! He said that Denis had made it clear that he would tell everyone (truthfully) that Stewart Steven had been as drunk as everyone else.
22 JUNE 1988
Sherard Cowper-Coles, now in Washington, called at 9 a.m., passing on Antony Acland’s hope that the Foreign Secretary would accompany the Prime Minister to Washington in November, if only because he thinks the chemistry with Dukakis will be bad (on many subjects, not least South Africa), and that Geoffrey could help soften any confrontation. I am doubtful whether Geoffrey will be prepared to fight that battle, which he would almost certainly lose.
24 JUNE 1988
It later transpired that the PM’s visit coincides with the Buckingham Palace diplomatic reception, and that Geoffrey had virtually been commanded to remain for it.
27 JUNE 1988
The Hanover European Council starts today, concentrating on monetary cooperation, on which the PM has already expressed forceful views about the impracticality of a Central European Bank. No doubt there will be more accusations from the French and Germans about our non-Europeanism.
The main interest for us is likely to be the PM’s bilateral with Charles Haughey – their first meeting since he made his speeches in the United States. Both Geoffrey Howe and Tom King have tried to calm the atmosphere, and O’Rourke delivered before the weekend a long apologia from Haughey, which won’t have helped very much.
29 JUNE 1988
I discussed the Thatcher/Haughey meeting with Percy Cradock, before seeing the record myself. It was predictably hard-hitting, with the PM castigating him for poor security cooperation on the border, and hinting darkly at alternative ways of protecting it (i.e. by sealing the border, which would be formidably difficult). But the atmosphere evidently ended better than it had started, and they agreed quite an up-beat communiqué. The background of Airey Neave’s murder and the Brighton bombing adds a passion to Margaret Thatcher’s views, which very easily ignites her approach. Haughey, on the other hand, obviously feels misunderstood and aggrieved.
30 JUNE 1988
I was summoned to see David Mellor – fussed about the coincidence of visits to Morocco by Trefgarne and himself, and wanted me to get the Trefgarne visit called off. I pointed out that this could hardly be feasible, but found a compromise which Mellor has accepted. I also discussed security in Tel Aviv, on which Mellor is spoiling for a fight with Avner, and I have had to restrain him. He really does loathe the Israelis.
1 JULY 1988
Judge Webster of the CIA arrived three quarters of an hour late for his call on Geoffrey Howe, having been detained by the PM. Geoffrey told him that he assumed that Webster had been doing all the talking!
4 JULY 1988
I lunched with Julian Amery at the Connaught – an extraordinary fossil, but with some remarkable memories, including seeing King Carol of Romania leaving Bucharest in 1940. He recalled how Denis Greenhill as PUS had tried to sell him the idea of a lease-back for the Falklands, on the grounds that if a right-winger like himself espoused it, it would have wide parliamentary support; he had rejected it out of hand.
7 JULY 1988
We went to No. 10 for Peter Carrington’s farewell dinner, at which both the PM and Peter Carrington made excellent speeches, with the PM telling the story of her meeting with the Chinese, at which the latter spoke non-stop for two hours, and Carrington passed her a note saying: ‘Margaret, you are talking too much’ – an occasion which Carrington himself once described to me as the only time he had seen Margaret Thatcher get the giggles. (When I saw Carrington a few days later, he complained about her speech at his farewell dinner, saying: ‘Why does she always have to snipe at the Foreign Office?’ [I later saw the text of the speech by Robert Rhodes James, with some very complimentary remarks about the diplomatic service, and criticising his Conservative colleagues for not being more appreciative.)]
12 JULY 1988
I went to Chris and Lavender Patten’s drinks party – what a nice couple they are; perhaps too nice to succeed in politics? I was much taken by Cyril Townsend’s wife, who told me I was far too young to be a PUS! An interesting comment in view of Tony Blair’s later government letting it be known that they were looking for PUSs who were under forty-five.
13 JULY 1988
My bilateral today with Geoffrey Howe was Tony Galsworthy’s last appearance as Geoffrey private secretary. I entered the room with a Fijian greeting, kneeling on one knee and clapping three times, since Tony’s father was a Ratu from his days in the colonial service.
18 JULY 1988
I lunched with Greville Janner, who repeated, almost word for word, Avner’s comment on the expulsion of the Israeli information officer, saying that it left him ‘naked’ – on the grounds that the Israeli In
telligence Service had succeeded with Arab terrorists in the way that the British evidently could not. I decided not to point out the anomaly of a British Member of Parliament relying on a foreign Intelligence Service for protection.
19 JULY 1988
Geoffrey Howe’s speech at his farewell drinks for the Galsworthys included a reference to the Financial Times description of Christopher Meyer as ‘the thinking man’s Bernard Ingham’, describing Tony Galsworthy as ‘the common man’s Charles Powell’. Tony in turn quoted someone as saying ‘happy is the man whose wife tells him what to do, and who has a secretary to do it’. I was not sure that Elspeth was totally amused.