[…] fifties his sympathies were very much with Labour until it fell into hands of what he regarded as Wilson’s gang of spivs. His subsequent support for the Conservative Party was somewhat qualified and he had utter contempt for Heath after his economic U-turn in 1972, his surrender to the miners and his kow-towing to […]
[…] was not the case. Not only did Parliament and The Focus give him a platform, in Parliament he could eventually count on the support of some forty Conservative MPs, the Liberals under Archibald Sinclair, and, after Munich, almost all of the Labour Party. Origins of The Focus The Focus was partly a dining club […]
[…] had looked for alternative government for most of the 20th century. Given the ambition of their undertaking and the SDP’s significance in dividing early opposition to a Conservative party now in power for 17 years, it is curious then that we have to wait until now for a detailed account. It is also disappointing […]
[…] view was put in words to them.’ Why did Kennedy decline to reveal his political persuasions? Did he have something to conceal? In 1964 Norris was the Conservative candidate at Orpington. With Ross and Kennedy he was probably a Conservative in 1958. However there is evidence which suggests that they also belonged to another […]
[…] Barclays Bank, Australia and New Zealand Banking Group and Commercial Union Assurance. Another board member, Lord Poole, was a Tory MP from 1945-1950 and chairman of the Conservative Party organisation from 1955-57. The 1st Viscount Blakenham married a daughter of the 2nd Viscount Cowdray and held several positions of state, as well as being […]
[…] the mid-1980s to train, arm and direct loyalist para-militaries against the IRA. The one piece missing from his analysis is evidence of the political dimension. Did the Conservative government approve of this? Did they know of this? Larkin presumes so but cannot demonstrate it. Larkin lacks a senior British Army, intelligence officer or civil […]
[…] governments. Quite what they will do now that this is clearly not the case will be interesting. (Presumably their calculation will be that Labour = 55% ok, Conservative = 35% ok….Therefore continue to back Labour ). The curious accidents of geography and history still resonate. The departure of John Edmonds in 2003 meant a […]
[…] to the Committee on Standards in Public Life about the influence of the Israeli lobby in the UK, is on-line.(5) Most usefully, it includes details of the Conservative as well as Labour Friends of Israel. The authors comment: ‘In the meantime your Committee is aware how the lobby group, Friends of Israel, has embedded […]
[…] coup when Neil was working for the Economist, a regular outlet for IRD briefings. Tom Spencer MEP, RIP About a month before the political demise of the Conservative MEP and former leader of the Conservative group of MEPs, Tom Spencer, I was asked by a researcher at the European Parliament what I knew about […]
[…] Given the choice between a multi-racial, socially progressive Labour Party and nuclear interests, there wasn’t one. Now why was it that Matrix Chambers chose to represent the conservative interest in this legal conflict? To defend human rights? Can they hack it? An interesting British connection of Kissinger Associates is Hakluyt and Company Ltd, a […]
