PAPERS REVEAL CALLAGHAN 'NO' TO No. 10

Mirror

PAPERS REVEAL CALLAGHAN 'NO' TO No. 10

Jan 4 2005
By Jane Kerr

JIM Callaghan was happy to be Prime Minister in 1976 but very put out over moving into 10 Downing Street, it was revealed today.

Previously Foreign Secretary, he tried desperately to hang on to the Carlton Gardens residence - overlooking The Mall and St James's Park - which went with that job.

Mr Callaghan complained of the "discomforts" a switch to the No10 quarters would cause wife Audrey and even threatened to live in his own South London flat as PM.

Finally he backed down - for unexplained reasons - and did make the move, say files released today under the new Freedom of Information Act.

On its first working day, 50,000 government papers were made public. Previously they would have been subject to the 30-year rule.

Constitutional Affairs minister Baroness Ashton of Upholland said it was "living, breathing proof" of the difference the act would make.

Labour's Mr Callaghan, now 92, took over as Premier from Harold Wilson, who sensationally quit in March 1976.

Letters between civil servants show Callaghan was at first determined not to force Downing Street on his wife.

Ken Stowe, the principal private secretary at No10, told the Foreign Office: "Since he was adamant that he was not prepared to inflict upon his wife the discomforts of living in No10, then he would have to live somewhere else."

If driven to it, he would elect to stay in his present flat in Kennington Park Road. Mr Stowe added: "I felt bound to say this was not sensible - operationally and for security purposes, it was necessary for him to have a self-contained and serviceable residence.

"He then said that in that case, he would live at 1 Carlton Gardens."

The files also contain Wilson's resignation speech to Cabinet, in which he said he had no "hidden" reason. When re-elected in 1974, he had decided to stay only two years.

Mr Callaghan was PM until the arrival of Mrs Thatcher in 1979.

Among off-beat snippets in the records, Ministry of Defence papers on UFOs simply list endless sightings by the public, rather than secret evidence of life out there.

The BBC, it emerged, was refused permission to film the TV comedy Porridge in a real jail.

Any major disclosures will probably have to wait for historians and journalists to seek their release. Files released today can be seen at the National Archives in Kew.

OTHER SECRETS REVEALED BY NEW LAW

ARMY KEPT RACE QUOTA

THE Army made a secret record of all non-white recruits to limit their numbers in the military.

Those with "Asiatic or Negroid features" had their files marked with a code by medical officers to distinguish them from whites.

Files show the data was used for almost two decades from 1957 to limit ethnic minority troops, designated "D factor" personnel.

A briefing paper written in 1972 for the Adjutant General of the Army and marked "In confidence" said: "Officially, we state we do not keep statistics of coloured soldiers. In fact we do... to ensure our assimilation levels are adhered to."

The system was so secret not even ministers were told, and when questioned the Army lied.

When, in 1972, the Institute of Race Relations requested a breakdown of "coloured" soldiers it was told no record was kept as all troops were treated alike.

Mediterraneans, Africans and even the odd "swarthy Frenchman" had their files marked D Factor as late as 1975, and possibly later.

The Army justified its denials in a 1975 memo that said: "Since it stems from medical records, this information should not be disclosed outside the department."

The data shows there were less than one or two per cent of non-white soldiers per unit.

'LET HUNGER STRIKERS DIE'

BRITAIN planned to let IRA hunger strikers die in prison.

Whitehall had plans to let them fade away five years before 10 Republicans died in the H-Block protests which started in 1981.

In his 2001 autobiography, Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams accused the then Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher of being "the architect of the hunger strike deaths". But in a 1976 report, Northern Ireland Prisons chief Lyn Davies told Whitehall that giving in to hunger strikers would elevate their status above other inmates.

Mindful of the special privileges IRA prisoners won in a 1972 hunger strike, he wrote: "We should be resolute in our intention not to weaken". He said it should be made known hunger strikers would be allowed to die.

MINE STRIKE BREAK CRISIS

PRESSURES on both miners and pit bosses during the bitter strike of 1984/85 are revealed in National Coal Board files.

One report is from colliery manager, G Longmate, at Markham Main pit in Yorkshire.

He details the problems of managing working miners who crossed the picket line.

In February 1985 Graham Smith - one of the first of four miners to return to work at the pit - complained he was not getting enough protection after his house was vandalised.

In his memo to the NCB board justifying his treatment of Smith, Longmate insisted he had done all he could, while revealing the tensions which the strike caused.

In the report Longmate stated: "As a manager I spent a major part of my life at this time nursing Smith and other workers and attending to their every need."

As more men returned to work Smith's round-the-clock police protection had to be withdrawn.

Longmate wrote: "I explained that there were now more men to look after."

The files did not give any insight into behind-the-scenes political dealings during the battle between Margaret Thatcher's Tory government and the unions.

'NO JAIL' RULE FOR PORRIDGE

THE Home Office refused permission for popular BBC sitcom Porridge to be filmed in a prison.

Senior officials did not want the comedy starring Ronnie Barker to show what jails were really like.

In letters written during its 1975 heyday, they claimed it already used sets that were true to life.

The refusal followed a request by Porridge's producer Sydney Lotterby to film three short outdoor scenes in prison grounds.

He assured the Home Office no real prisoners would be involved.

And one Home Office broadcasting officer recommended the request be granted.

But his superior replied: "In view of the generally effective stage sets used in the programme thus far, we do not understand the apparent need to use a real prison."

WHITEHALL LET CAT OUT OF BAG

PETER, the Home Office cat, was in hot water after an "unfortunate incident" involving the Queen.

In 1962, a Whitehall official noted "humiliation" had been averted only in the nick of time.

A quick-thinking civil servant had thrown "a soiled doormat out of a window a few seconds before the appearance of HM". He added: "The offender was Peter."

Peter's crime was kept secret, however, allowing him to retain his public image - and dignity.

He had become a firm favourite after appearing in a television documentary about Whitehall in 1958 - and even had his own fans.

One who wanted to buy him a new collar was told "since Peter is an established civil servant, he cannot be allowed to receive gifts".

But he was just one in a succession of cats employed from 1929 as "mousers" to keep the halls of Whitehall rodent-free.

Bizarrely, it now seems they were the subject of many memos.

The most controversial cat came after Peter's death.

Peta - all the previous cats had been male and called Peter - certainly had the breeding.

The pedigree Manx was a gift from the Lieutenant Governor of the Isle Man, Sir Ronald Garvey.

Officials even suggested that Peta "being of nobler birth should be classified as a member of a non-industrial grade". But the Treasury insisted "mouse catching is an industrial activity and the post should be graded accordingly".

And in February 1967 one official, GJ Otton, noted she had become "inordinately fat", "lazy" and "a source of embarrassment".

Staff in turn were complaining that she was fouling their offices, which reeked of cat urine.

"May I make a plea for the cat to be put down?" one official fumed in a memo.

But the main problem was that Peta was never allowed out because of "the history and publicity of her appointment".

Otton in March 21, 1967, wrote: "Loss, death or injury would release a flood of press copy."

Peta was retired to the country in 1976. Unusually, she left without causing a stink.

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