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The Conservative Party

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The British Political Parties and the Falklands War

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Abstract

The Conservative MPs’ reaction to the invasion of the Falkland Islands was the result of several factors. A couple of them were contingent: indignation at the humiliation suffered and anger at the Government’s inability to read events. Moroever the bitterness had built up as a result of the infighting which had taken place over the previous months, within the Government and the Party, regarding the redefinition of the budget for the Ministry of Defence. There was one lengthier factor: the enormous tensions which had formed during the first three years of Thatcher’s Government. Especially in the first few days following the Argentinean invasion, to all of this the memory of two crucial events of national history was added, events that had marked the experience of previous Conservative Governments: the policy of appeasement and the Suez Crisis.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    See, for example, what Alan Clark wrote in his diary on 2 April: ‘We’ve lost the Falklands … It’s all over. We’re a Third World country, no good for anything’. A. Clark, Diaries: Into Politics 1972–1982, London, Phoenix, 2000, p. 310.

  2. 2.

    Powell concluded his speech as follows: ‘The Prime Minister, shortly after she came into office, received a soubriquet as the “Iron Lady”. It arose in the context of remarks which she made about defence against the Soviet Union and its allies; but there was no reason to suppose that the right hon. Lady did not welcome and, indeed, take pride in that description. In the next week or two this House, the nation and the right hon. Lady herself will learn of what metal she is made’; House of Commons, Official Report, 3 April 1982, vol. 21, c. 644.

  3. 3.

    D. M. Bruni, ‘A Leader at War: Margaret Thatcher and the Falklands Crisis of 1982’, Observatoire de la société britannique, 20 (2018), pp. 135–157.

  4. 4.

    J. Nott, Here Today, Gone Tomorrow, p. 264; C. Parkinson, Right at the Centre: An Autobiography, London, Weidenfeld and Nicholson, 1992, p. 190; and G. Howe, Conflict of Loyalty, London, Macmillan, 1994, p. 245.

  5. 5.

    C. Moore, Margaret Thatcher, vol. 1, p. 669.

  6. 6.

    J. Major, The Autobiography, London, HarperCollins, 1999, p. 77.

  7. 7.

    J. Nott, Here Today, Gone Tomorrow, p. 285. The War Cabinet held its first meeting on 7 April, www.margaretthatcher.org/document/122304. See also Peter Hennessy, ‘“War Cabinetry”: The Political Direction of the Falklands Conflict’, in The Falklands Conflict Twenty Years On: Lessons for the Future, eds. Stephen Badsey, Rob Havers, and Mark Grove, London and New York, Frank Cass, 2005, pp. 131–146.

  8. 8.

    A. Clark, Diaries: Into Politics, pp. 311–312. Even for Jonathan Aitken, ‘the mood was indignant’ and the trend of the discussion was ‘almost negative and critical’ of the Government; J. Aitken, Margaret Thatcher: Power and Personality, London, Bloomsbury, 2013, p. 328.

  9. 9.

    House of Commons, Official Report, 3 April 1982, vol. 21, cc. 633–668.

  10. 10.

    Ibid., cc. 633–638.

  11. 11.

    According to Julien Critchley, it was the worst speech by Mrs Thatcher ever (Westminster Blues: Minor Chords, London, Elm Tree Books, 1985, p. 125). For Kenneth Baker, ‘she was not at her best’ (The Turbulent Years: My Life in Politics, London and Boston, Faber and Faber, 1993, p. 67). For Norman Fowler, ‘her speech went as well as was possible, given that it was being made on the stickiest of sticky Parliament wickets’ (Ministers Decide: A Personal Memoir of the Thatcher Years, London, Chapmans, 1991).

  12. 12.

    See Ch. 4.

  13. 13.

    House of Commons, Official Report, 3 April 1982, vol. 21, c. 659.

  14. 14.

    Ibid., c. 645.

  15. 15.

    G. Thomas, Mr Speaker: The Memoires of the Viscount Tonypandy, London, Century Publishing, 1985, p. 208.

  16. 16.

    House of Commons, Official Report, 3 April 1982, vol. 21, c. 666.

  17. 17.

    J. Nott, Here Today, Gone Tomorrow, pp. 267–268. Jonathan Aitken reports that Jopling left the joint meeting of the Defence and Foreign Affairs Committees ‘looking shaken’; Margaret Thatcher: Power and Personality, p. 328.

  18. 18.

    Julien Critchley described the atmosphere of the Committee meetings as follows: ‘The ’22 meets once a week in “peacetime”; in times of crisis it can become a theatre of cruelty and of the absurd, offering an element of drama which the Commons’ chamber seems reluctant to provide. The run-of-the-mill weekly meeting is to be avoided. A whip reads out the business of the coming week, the minutes of the last meeting are recited, there may be a listless question or two from a predictable source and that is that. What humour there is can only be of the unconscious kind. But when the party’s dander is up, the ’22 can be every bit as Gothic as its High Victorian surroundings. … It is on occasions such as these that the worst side of Our Great Party manifests itself. Unleashed, we run the gamut of our emotions: jingoism, anti-Semitism, obscurantism, cant and self-righteousness; all play their part. We can, when pushed to do so, flourish our political prejudices like so many captive princes paraded through the streets of Imperial Rome. Why not hold such meetings in the Coliseum?’; Palace of Varieties: An Insider’s View of Westminster, London, John Murray, 1989, p. 127. According to Critchley, the meeting on 3 April was ‘the most exciting committee meeting I ever attended … Mrs. Thatcher had made what was probably her lamest speech in the Chamber, and the party was reeling from shock and indignation. There was to be blood all over the floor’; ibid., p. 55. J. Nott, Here Today, Gone Tomorrow, p. 268; and A. Clark, Diaries, p. 313, provide reports of that meeting in line with Critchley’s one. On the other hand, the account of the chairman of the Committee is more sugar-coated. See E. Du Cann, Two Lives: The Political and Business Careers of Edward Du Cann, Upton upon Severn, Images Publishing, 1995, pp. 213–215.

  19. 19.

    Other than the above-mentioned statements of the meeting of 3 April, there are also the ‘warm’ notes of Ian Gow, www.margaretthatcher.org/document/122872.

  20. 20.

    M. Thatcher, The Downing Street Years, p. 185. The Foreign Secretary himself was well aware that his membership in the House of Lords was a weakness for the Cabinet at that moment; Reflect on Things Past, pp. 368–372. See also J. Nott, Here Today, Gone Tomorrow, p. 269; W. Whitelaw, The William Whitelaw Memoirs, London, Aurum, 1989, p. 203; C. Parkinson, Right at the Centre, p. 190; and J. Prior, A Balance of Power, London, Hamish Hamilton, 1986, p. 147.

  21. 21.

    See, for example, the interview with Patrick Cormack on BBC Radio’s World at One referred to in ‘Carrington’s Call to the Falkands’, The Guardian, 5 April 1982 and also in ‘Thatcher Should Have Resigned’, The Times, 6 April 1982.

  22. 22.

    C. Moore, Margaret Thatcher, vol. 1, pp. 674–675.

  23. 23.

    See J. Aitken, Margaret Thatcher: Power and Personality, p. 333, and Alan Clark, Diaries: In Power 1983–1992, London, Poenix, 1993, p. 97.

  24. 24.

    According to Mrs Thatcher, Francis Pym was ‘the quintessential old style Tory … a proud pragmatist and an enemy of ideology’; M. Thatcher, The Downing Street Years, p. 187. For Cecil Parkinson, Pym ‘and Prime Minister were happy to see the minimum of each other’; C. Parkinson, Right at the Centre, p. 198. For Geoffrey Howe, Pym ‘and Margaret had often before shown their incompatibility’; G. Howe, Conflict of Loyalty, p. 247.

  25. 25.

    ‘Nott Told to Stay on’, The Daily Telegraph, 6 April 1982. According to the newspaper even Jim Callaghan invited the Prime Minister to call Heath to join the Cabinet during the debate of 7 April: ‘it was clear, though Mr Callaghan did not name him, that he meant that Mr Heath should join the Cabinet to “coordinate the unprecedented diplomatic effort and preparation for possible war”’. See the parliamentary report, The Daily Telegraph, 8 April 1982.

  26. 26.

    D. Hurd, Memoirs, London, Little, Brown, 2003.

  27. 27.

    C. Parkinson, Right at the Centre, p. 198: ‘Francis commanded the respect of the House of Commons and was the right man to rally and reassure the badly shaken Conservative Parliamentary Party and to unite the opposition behind the government’s policies’. According to Jim Prior, A Balance of Power, p. 149, during the crisis Francis Pym ‘did a superb job in the most difficult circumstances. His speech in the House were balanced and well received’. See also The William Whitelaw Memoirs, p. 204.

  28. 28.

    G. Howe, Conflict of Loyalty, p. 246: ‘Any other choice would have meant a series of Cabinet upheavals, which was clearly not on’.

  29. 29.

    C. Moore, Margaret Thatcher: The Authorized Biography, vol. 1, Not for Turning, London, Penguin, 2013, p. 676.

  30. 30.

    ‘Thatcher Reshuffle Brings in New Names’, The Guardian, 7 April 1982; ‘New Faces in the Government Reshuffle’, The Times, 7 April 1982.

  31. 31.

    J. Haviland and P. Webster, ‘Nott Threat to Storm Islands, Sink Ships’, The Times, 5 April 1982. Alan Clark only refers to ‘three heavy-weight duds’ as exemptions to the general atmosphere of the 1922 Committee of 3 April: Kershaw, Straubenzee and Patten; A. Clark, Diaries: Into Politics, p. 313. According to Ian Gow’s notes, Patten did not speak at all, www.margaretthatcher.org/document/122872.

  32. 32.

    ‘Tory MP Pleads for Diplomacy’, The Guardian, 5 April 1982.

  33. 33.

    ‘Cabinet Seeks Options as Tory Unease Sets In’, The Guardian, 7 April 1982. See also A. Clark, Diaries: Into Politics, p. 317: ‘Feeling in the Party is still very strong, but already one or two predictable weasels are poking their snouts out of the undergrowth. That sanctimonious creep, van Straubenzee, made a long and unctuous speech—I think he actually “wrung” his hands as he regretted “a certain jingoistic tendency”’.

  34. 34.

    As stated by Whitney himself in House of Commons, Official Report, 7 April 1982, vol. 21, c. 1029.

  35. 35.

    See Michael Jopling’s Minutes to Francis Pym, 6 and 7 April 1982, www.margaretthatcher.org/document/122872 and www.margaretthatcher.org/document/122848.

  36. 36.

    House of Commons, Official Report, 7 April 1982, vol. 21, cc. 959–1052.

  37. 37.

    Ibid., c. 960.

  38. 38.

    Ibid., cc. 989–990.

  39. 39.

    Ibid., cc. 982–983.

  40. 40.

    Ibid., cc. 1008–1010.

  41. 41.

    J. Campbell, Edward Heath: A Biography, London, Pimlico, 2004, p. 729.

  42. 42.

    ‘The Foreign Office must be more clearly identified with the interests of the British Government. There should be no difference between the Foreign Office and the British Government.’ House of Commons, Official Report, 7 April 1982, vol. 21, c. 1029.

  43. 43.

    Ibid., c. 1038.

  44. 44.

    A. Haig, Caveat: Realism, Reagan, and Foreign Policy, London, Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1984, Chapter XIII.

  45. 45.

    Haig’s telegram to Reagan, 9 April 1982, www.margaretthatcher.org/document/109216. James Rentschler’s Falklands Diary, www.margaretthatcher.org/archive/arcdocs/Rentschler.pdf, p. 11, describes Pym as ‘the only British peace party we seem to have in this room’.

  46. 46.

    L. Freedman, The Official History of the Falklands Campaign, vol. II, War and Diplomacy, pp. 135–142.

  47. 47.

    ‘Pym Firm But with Signs of Flexibility, The Guardian, 12 April 1982; ‘Pym Lists Possible Diplomatic Solutions’, The Times, 12 April 1982.

  48. 48.

    A. Bevins, ‘Pym Places Hopes on Talks if War Zone Stays Respected’, The Times, 12 April 1982.

  49. 49.

    ‘Let Them Fly Their Flag on Islands, Says Owen’, The Times, 13 April 1982.

  50. 50.

    ‘Thatcher Firm on a One-Flag Solution’, The Times, 14 April 1982.

  51. 51.

    ‘Argentine Officials Say Prospects of Falkland Settlement Are Dim’, The New York Times, 12 April 1982.

  52. 52.

    A. Haig, Caveat: Realism, Reagan, and Foreign Policy, Chapter XIII.

  53. 53.

    House of Commons, Official Report, 14 April 1982, vol. 21, cc. 1149–1150.

  54. 54.

    This was the case of Michael Shersby, John Stokes, Alan Glyn, Ian Lloyd, Hector Monro and John Browne.

  55. 55.

    This was the case of Philip Goodhart, Michael McNair-Wilson and Hilary Miller.

  56. 56.

    House of Commons, Official Report, 14 April 1982, vol. 21, cc. 1195–1196.

  57. 57.

    Ibid., cc. 1158–1160.

  58. 58.

    M. Jopling to the Prime Minister, www.margaretthatcher.org/document/122849.

  59. 59.

    H. Noyes, ‘Thatcher Warns Junta Next Haig Meeting Is Crucial’, The Times, 15 April 1982.

  60. 60.

    ‘UK May Take Crisis to Court’, The Guardian, 20 April 1982.

  61. 61.

    Minutes of OD(SA)(82) 10th, 19 April 1982, www.margaretthatcher.org/document/122313.

  62. 62.

    House of Commons, Official Report, 20 April 1982, vol. 22, c. 119. Pym’s trip to Washington was explicitly requested by Haig; M. Thatcher, The Downing Street Years, p. 204.

  63. 63.

    J. Haviland and P. Webster, ‘Pym off to US for Talks on British View’, The Times, 21 April 1982; ‘Pym Jets to US With a Thatcher Package’, The Guardian, 21 April 1982. According to The Times the majority of those who spoke at the meeting preferred the option of force and the general atmosphere in the meeting was that of putting pressure on the Foreign Secretary. On the other hand, according to The Guardian, Pym received ‘warm support’ from the backbenchers. In any case, however, both newspapers agreed on the fact that the majority of the PCP supported the government’s efforts to find a diplomatic solution.

  64. 64.

    See the questions asked by Julian Amery, Nicholas Winterton, Sir Frederick Burden, Alan Clark and Winston Churchill. House of Commons, Official Report, 21 April 1982, vol. 22, cc. 271–280.

  65. 65.

    Ibid., c. 278.

  66. 66.

    Ibid., c. 280.

  67. 67.

    A. Clark, Diaries, pp. 323–324.

  68. 68.

    They were 60 according to J. Wightman, ‘Grytviken’, The Daily Telegraph, 23 April 1982.

  69. 69.

    J. Haviland and A. Bevins, ‘Fleet Reassured by Thatcher’, The Times, 23 April 1982.

  70. 70.

    Ibid.

  71. 71.

    During the Prime Minister’s Question Time of 22 April, Terence Higgins suggested that economic sanctions through the UN Security Council was the best option if the Argentines refused to apply Resolution 502; House of Commons, Official Report, 22 April 1982, vol. 22, c. 417. On the 24th, Sir Derek Walker-Smith, MP for Hertford East, reiterated the option which had already been proposed of deferring the controversy to The Hague Court; see his letter in The Times, 24 April 1982 and House of Commons, Official Report, 26 April 1982, vol. 22, c. 612. St. John-Stevas was invited to consider the possibility of a mediation conducted by the Holy See during Prime Minister’s Question Time on 27 April. On this same occasion David Crouch appealed against dropping the American mediation: House of Commons, Official Report, 27 April 1982, vol. 22, cc. 719, 721.

  72. 72.

    J. Nott, Here Today, Gone Tomorrow, pp. 301–302.

  73. 73.

    Confidential Annex to Minutes of Full Cabinet: CC(82) 19th, 22 April 1982, www.margaretthatcher.org/document/123919.

  74. 74.

    M. Thatcher, The Downing Street Years, p. 206.

  75. 75.

    See the account of the meeting in M. Thatcher, The Downing Street Years, pp. 205–208; and J. Nott, Here Today, Gone Tomorrow, pp. 292–293.

  76. 76.

    See the Minutes of the Full Cabinet Meeting, CC(82) 21st, www.margaretthatcher.org/document/122275. See also M. Thatcher letter to R. Reagan, 29 April 1982, www.margaretthatcher.org/document/122038; and F. Pym message to A. Haig, 29 April 1982, www.margaretthatcher.org/document/122039.

  77. 77.

    House of Commons, Official Report, 29 April 1982, vol. 22, cc. 980–985.

  78. 78.

    Ibid., cc. 991–1046.

  79. 79.

    Ibid., c. 1024. The MP for South–East Essex was Sir Bernard Braine.

  80. 80.

    D. Borsani, La special relationship anglo-americana e la guerra delle Falkland, pp. 169–180.

  81. 81.

    ‘War “Quite Probable” Pym Tells Islanders’, The Times, 1 May 1982.

  82. 82.

    See Pym memorandum circulated to OD(SA) Committee: OD(SA)(82) 35, dated 29 April 1982, www.margaretthatcher.org/document/122399.

  83. 83.

    L. Freedman, The Official History of the Falklands Campaign, vol. II, War and Diplomacy, p. 191.

  84. 84.

    Ibid., pp. 319–344.

  85. 85.

    M. Thatcher, The Downing Street Years, p. 217.

  86. 86.

    ‘Cabinet Puts Diplomats Back in Business’, The Guardian, 6 May 1982.

  87. 87.

    C. Moore, Margaret Thatcher, vol. 1, pp. 718–722.

  88. 88.

    J. Haviland, ‘Cabinet Agrees New Proposals’, The Times, 6 May 1982. See also the Minutes of Full Cabinet: CC(82) 23rd, 5 May 1982, www.margaretthatcher.org/document/122277.

  89. 89.

    House of Commons, Official Report, 5 May 1982, vol. 23, c. 163.

  90. 90.

    According to The Guardian, many members of the Cabinet were confident that the Argentines would have accepted the Peruvian plan and that a ceasefire would have been reached. ‘Pym Saddened by Plan’s Failure’, The Guardian, 7 May 1982.

  91. 91.

    House of Commons, Official Report, 6 May 1982, vol. 23, c. 280.

  92. 92.

    L. Freedman, The Official History of the Falklands Campaign, vol. II, War and Diplomacy, pp. 345–354.

  93. 93.

    Weekend World issued the poll on 9 May: 59% of the sample expressed strong support for the Government’s policy in the South Atlantic, 55% thought the recovery of the islands was worth the loss of British lives, while 70% were ready to back an invasion on the islands if this was the only means to achieve Argentine withdrawal. See ‘Public Opinion Background Note 112’, 10 May 1982, www.margaretthatcher.org/document/123624. See also The Economist, 8 May 1982, p. 30.

  94. 94.

    ‘Public Opinion Background Note 112’, 17 May 1982, www.margaretthatcher.org/document/123625.

  95. 95.

    House of Commons, Official Report, 7 May 1982, vol. 23, cc. 395–403.

  96. 96.

    J. Haviland, ‘Junta Wrecks Hopes of Ceasefire by Refusing to Withdraw’, The Times, 7 May 1982.

  97. 97.

    G. Clark, ‘Bomb Argentine Air Bases Say Senior Tory MPs’, The Times, 7 May 1982. The motion was tabled by Ian Lloyd and the main sponsors were Sir Anthony Kershaw, Sir William Clark, Sir Patrick Wall and Sir Frederic Bennett. The MPs who first signed the motion were George Gardiner, James Hill, John Stokes, Peter Lloyd, Trevor Skeet, Tony Marlow, John Carlisle, Neil Thorne, Ivor Stanbrook, Percy Grieve, David Bevan, Mark Wolfson, Eldon Griffiths, Geoffrey Dickens, Paul Hawkins and John Hannan.

  98. 98.

    A. Bevins, ‘Pym Gives Warning on Further Bombing’, The Times, 8 May 1982.

  99. 99.

    H. Stanhope, ‘Blockade Extended to 12 Miles from Coast of Argentina’, The Times, 8 May 1982.

  100. 100.

    The option, obviously, was immediately relaunched by Michael Foot. See A. Bevins, ‘Foot Welcomes the Long Siege Option’, The Times, 10 May 1982; ‘Foot Rallies to Nott’s Hint of a Lengthy Blockade’, The Guardian, 10 May 1982.

  101. 101.

    L. Freedman, The Official History of the Falklands Campaign, vol. II, War and Diplomacy, pp. 345–367.

  102. 102.

    House of Commons, Official Report, 11 May 1982, vol. 23, cc. 596–601.

  103. 103.

    J. Haviland, ‘Thatcher Prepared to Wait’, The Times, 12 May 1982.

  104. 104.

    G. Boyce, The Falklands War, p. 161.

  105. 105.

    I. Aitken, ‘Tories Think Pym Is Too Soft’, The Guardian, 12 May 1982. See also J. Haviland, ‘Tories Uneasy Over Pym’s Attitude’, The Times, 13 May 1982.

  106. 106.

    House of Commons, Official Report, 12 May 1982, vol. 23, cc. 749–750.

  107. 107.

    Ibid., c. 749.

  108. 108.

    I. Aitken, ‘Angry Tories Round on Pym in Sell-Out Row’, The Guardian, 14 May 1982.

  109. 109.

    House of Commons, Official Report, 13 May 1982, vol. 23, cc. 952–958.

  110. 110.

    Ibid., c. 955.

  111. 111.

    Ibid., c. 957.

  112. 112.

    Ibid.

  113. 113.

    Ibid., cc. 956–357.

  114. 114.

    ‘There have been some indications—actually the first since the crisis began—of genuine Argentine willingness to negotiate on some of the important points. There will have to be more if we are to succeed. The Government remained determined to see the implementation of the mandatory resolution of the Security Council. As before, we infinitely prefer to achieve this by negotiations, and we are bending our most strenous efforts to this end. At the same time our military presence in the South Atlantic continues to become stronger. If, in the end, Argentine intransigence prevents success in negotiations, Argentina will know that the alternative is another kind of ending to the crisis. We do not want that, but we are ready for it. As it has been throughout this crisis, the choice lies with those who rule Argentina.’ Ibid., c. 958.

  115. 115.

    Ibid., c. 962.

  116. 116.

    Ibid., c. 961.

  117. 117.

    Ibid., cc. 964–969.

  118. 118.

    Ibid., c. 964.

  119. 119.

    Ibid., c. 966.

  120. 120.

    Ibid., c. 967.

  121. 121.

    Ibid., c. 968.

  122. 122.

    Ibid.

  123. 123.

    Ibid., c. 976.

  124. 124.

    Ibid., c. 977.

  125. 125.

    Ibid., c. 978.

  126. 126.

    Ibid., cc. 1016–1019.

  127. 127.

    Ibid., cc. 995–999.

  128. 128.

    The Labour MP, Sydney Bidwell, had asked Heath whether he had ‘any advice to offer the present Prime Minister in her exchanges with my right hon. Friend the Leader of the Opposition, about the manner in which, when the Government's position is rounded out, it should be brought to the House of Commons first’. Heath answered as follows: ‘It is not for me to interfere between the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition. I am sparing in my advice anyway’. Ibid., cc. 967–968.

  129. 129.

    Ibid., c. 1003.

  130. 130.

    Ibid., cc. 981–984.

  131. 131.

    Ibid., cc. 990–991.

  132. 132.

    Ibid., cc. 1007–1009.

  133. 133.

    Ibid., cc. 1011–1013.

  134. 134.

    Ibid., cc. 1022–1023.

  135. 135.

    See Ian Gow’s notes of the meeting, www.margaretthatcher.org/document/151095.

  136. 136.

    I. Aitken, ‘Angry Tories Round on Pym in Sell-Out Row’, The Guardian, 14 May 1982.

  137. 137.

    M. Thatcher, Speech to the Scottish Conservative Party Conference, www.margaretthatcher.org/document/104936; and J. Wills, ‘Nott Dismisses Rumours of Falkland Sell-Out’, The Times, 15 May 1982.

  138. 138.

    J. Haviland, ‘Nott Says Allies Must Back Island Assault’, The Times, 17 May 1982.

  139. 139.

    L. Freedman, The Official History of the Falklands Campaign, vol. II, War and Diplomacy, pp. 435–436.

  140. 140.

    J. Haviland, ‘Harriers Strike Again as Suspicions Over Argentina Grow’, The Times, 17 May 1982; ‘Last Chance Talks Begin at the UN’, The Guardian, 17 May 1982.

  141. 141.

    C. Moore, Margaret Thatcher, vol. 1, p. 727.

  142. 142.

    N. Henderson, Mandarin: The Diaries of an Ambassador 1969–1982, London, Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1994, pp. 461–462; and M. Thatcher, The Downing Street Years, pp. 222–223.

  143. 143.

    Minutes of the OD(SA) (82) 37th Meeting, 18 May 1982, www.margaretthatcher.org/document/122340.

  144. 144.

    Margaret Thatcher radio interview for IRN, www.margaretthatcher.org/document/104938.

  145. 145.

    ‘Back to Square One on a Deal Once We Win, Pym Declares’, The Guardian, 19 May 1982.

  146. 146.

    J. Haviland, ‘Pym Still Sees Slight Hope of Falklands Peace’, The Times, 19 May 1982.

  147. 147.

    C. Moore, Margaret Thatcher, vol. 1, pp. 730–731.

  148. 148.

    House of Commons, Official Report, 20 May 1982, vol. 24, cc. 477–483.

  149. 149.

    Ibid., cc. 551–560.

  150. 150.

    Ibid., cc. 494, 520, 540, 545.

  151. 151.

    Ibid., cc. 527–530.

  152. 152.

    Ibid., cc. 498–500.

  153. 153.

    Ibid., c. 545.

  154. 154.

    Ibid., c. 534.

  155. 155.

    Ibid., cc. 514–517.

  156. 156.

    House of Commons, Official Report, 25 May 1982, vol. 24, cc. 789–794 and 27 May 1982, vol. 24, cc. 1049–1052.

  157. 157.

    ‘Door to Negotiations Stays Open, Says Pym’, The Times, 22 May 1982.

  158. 158.

    Interview given to Thames Television’s TV Eye of the 27 May, reported in J. Haviland, ‘Pym Hope of Lasting Peace for Islanders’, The Times, 28 May 1982.

  159. 159.

    D. Brown, ‘Foot and Owen Emphasise Need for Negotiations’, The Guardian, 2 June 1982.

  160. 160.

    P. Webster, ‘Tory View Hardens on Sovereignty Transfer’, The Times, 24 May 1982.

  161. 161.

    House of Commons, Official Report, 24 May 1982, vol. 24, c. 649.

  162. 162.

    Ibid., c. 651.

  163. 163.

    A. Bevins, ‘Colleagues Vilify Pym as Split with Thatcher Widens’, The Times, 31 May 1982.

  164. 164.

    Ibid.

  165. 165.

    House of Commons, Official Report, 25 May 1982, vol. 24, cc. 789–794.

  166. 166.

    G. Clark, ‘Foot Sides with Pym on British Commitment’, The Times, 1 June 1982.

  167. 167.

    L. Freedman, The Official History of the Falklands Campaign, vol. II, War and Diplomacy, pp. 516–524 and 527–529.

  168. 168.

    John Nott announced the Government’s intentions in a meeting with the Conservative backbenchers on the evening of 26 May. See J. Haviland, ‘Land Battle Soon Nott Tells MPs’, The Times, 27 May 1982.

  169. 169.

    House of Commons, Official Report, 27 May 1982, vol. 24, c. 1056.

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    Domenico Maria Bruni

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Bruni, D.M. (2018). The Conservative Party. In: The British Political Parties and the Falklands War. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-31471-0_3

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