Peter Carrington drew me aside to say that he had met the Prime Minister at lunch with the Colnbrooks, and that she had talked quite dottily about the Ridley affair – describing Douglas Hurd’s remarks at Ditchley as ‘quite disgraceful’ in the light of Ridley’s withdrawal of his interview, though she went on to talk in a way that showed that she agreed with it. She had talked about being surrounded by Euro-wimps, and talked very dismissively and rudely about Kohl as a second-rate provincial politician. I advised Peter to tell all this to Douglas.
Douglas Hurd held his first ministerial meeting this morning with his new team. I had a chance to put in a word about the recent meeting that had virtually relaxed all export controls to Iraq, pointing out that export controls for Israel would now be more severe. Douglas later discussed this with the Prime Minister, and agreed to suspend any further action, at least while Iraq continues its bullying of Kuwait.
This evening, Virginia and I entertained a good turn-out of ex-PUSs and PS/PUSs with their wives and widows – rather a copy of Douglas Hurd’s party last night, though Antony Acland said he thought ours was better! The Gladwyns, at ninety and ninety-two respectively, were the Doyens, but the Caccias ran them fairly close.
27 JULY 1990
The recess starts today, with a general feeling of winding down, though Douglas Hurd is using next week as an opportunity to have a series of meetings on subjects he has not yet been able to focus on, such as the Antarctic. Lynda Chalker will be in charge for much of August – her moment of glory! Roger Tomkys and John Boyd will be around for most of the month to hold her hand.
The list of ministerial portfolios was promulgated today; public attention is likely to focus on which minister is taking Hong Kong.
I lunched with Peter Unwin at the club, to respond to his personal letter about the FCO’s attitude to the Commonwealth. The FCO has a difficult balance to strike between being too tough, and nagging on house-keeping and budgetary questions in the Secretariat, while making sure that our interests, as major contributors, are protected.
30 JULY 1990
Ian Gow’s assassination this morning by a car bomb will have been a horrendous shock for Margaret Thatcher – almost as bad for her as Airey Neave’s murder. The car pool are worried (rather touchingly) about my security, and have urged Virginia to get me to vary my walking route in the morning (since I regularly get out of the office car at Buckingham Palace, and walk to the ambassadors’ entrance through St James’s Park).
1 AUGUST–2 SEPTEMBER 1990: SUMMER HOLIDAYS IN ITALY
In spite of a major international crisis blowing up with Iraq’s invasion, and later annexation, of Kuwait, and the launching of a major international force to Saudi Arabia to protect it against the Iraqi invasion, I left Roger Tomkys in charge of the office (having obtained Douglas Hurd’s agreement); and very effective he was. In fact, at one point he was called over to brief Margaret Thatcher, and to discuss a draft speech for her to make in the House of Commons. When she commented that Charles Powell had produced an excellent draft, Roger was able to tell her firmly that it had been produced, word for word, by planning staff in the FCO. She later commented appreciatively on the help she had received.
12 AUGUST 1990
Simon telephoned very early this morning from Bonn to say that Felix Dominic (our first grandchild) had arrived at 11.50 p.m. last night. Mother and son (and father, who was present throughout) are said to be flourishing.
3 SEPTEMBER 1990
I returned to the office today, after a full month’s leave, feeling a bit guilty at having missed a near-war situation, while ministers and officials were being recalled from leave. The office and Roger Tomkys in particular seem to have won good reports from the Prime Minister. Roger told me that this was entirely a matter of good luck, as far as he was concerned, since Charles Powell had warned him that the PM was mainly interested in the International Red Cross (on the one day that Roger had gone to No. 10 for a meeting with her), and was able to answer her questions in detail. But he is very pessimistic about the way the crisis is likely to develop, and thinks it will probably come to a head in October.
[I learned later that when the PM had commented on the excellence of the draft speech, thinking it was the work of Charles Powell, Roger told her that it was in fact the work of Simon Fraser in planning staff (later to be PUS, retiring in 2015). The PM immediately suggested that she should write to him, which Roger said would be unnecessary, but undertook to pass on her appreciation. When Douglas Hurd later mentioned to the PM that Roger himself was destined to go to Nairobi as planned, in October, Margaret Thatcher said (as she had of John Coles in relation to his DUS-ship) that he was ‘far too good for Nairobi’.]
4 SEPTEMBER 1990
I called on William Waldegrave this afternoon, who is feeling understandably bruised by his press treatment, though I think he has been rather unwise, e.g. in carrying children off the aircraft (from Amman) for publicity purposes. He spoke very warmly of the support he had had from the office. Francis Maude also sent David Gillmore a very warm letter from the Treasury, saying how impressed he had been by the Rolls-Royce service he had received.
Douglas Hurd is still on his Gulf travels, having called today on the ruler of Kuwait in Taif. The behaviour of the Kuwaiti ‘exiles’ in Taif during the Gulf War did nothing to enhance their reputation in Saudi Arabia. There are many stories – no doubt some of them exaggerated – of their lack of appreciation for Saudi hospitality and generosity, and the familiar stories of hotels being virtually trashed by careless behaviour.
7 SEPTEMBER 1990
Charles Powell called for the first time since the holiday. I introduced a slightly sour tone at the start by saying that I was glad that Roger Tomkys and Frank Berman had been able to ‘break into the fortress’, to which he replied sharply (but defensively) that they had been invited in through the front door. A good illustration of the extent to which he is now political was his comment that ‘we would have liked a much bigger vote against the government today’ – i.e. because it would have discomfited Neil Kinnock. When I mentioned this later to Christopher Everett at an Everett wedding, Christopher (who had worked with Charles Powell in planning staff) commented that Charles seemed to have outdone de Zulueta and Oliver Wright in identifying themselves with their boss.
10 SEPTEMBER 1990
Simon McDonald’s first day in planning staff today, working alongside Simon Fraser (whom he was to succeed as PUS in 2015).
11 SEPTEMBER 1990
I called today on Tristan Garel-Jones, who is keen to get himself involved in the PESC round, commenting that in all his time in the Whips’ Office, he had been engaged in backstairs negotiation between No. 10 and the Treasury, but had never done anything for the FCO. He clearly thinks that we are much too naïve and upright to get our way. I suggested that it was too late for this year, but that he might put some ideas to Douglas Hurd at the end of this round.
Tristan also has ambitious ideas for British schools, à la Madrid (which is in fact unique in having a subsidised British school abroad), all round the world. A splendid idea in principle; but both the British Council and the DES will be highly resistant; and money would be a major problem.
I went to the Guildhall for Roger Brooke’s celebration dinner to mark Candover’s tenth anniversary, at which I sat next to Nicholas Scott, now Minister of State in the DSS (Department of Social Security), an amusing, and wildly indiscreet, dinner companion. He talked about his political reputation as an ‘Arch-Wet’, and quoted someone as saying that his retention in Margaret Thatcher’s government was the only known evidence that she has a sense of humour. He claimed co-membership with Douglas Hurd of the Geriatric Dads’ Club, having also produced small children from his second marriage.
Roger Brooke told quite a good story of how one of his first acts as private secretary to the ambassador in Bonn had been to serve a guest sherry and tonic, in place of whisky and soda – adding that it was perhaps just as well that he had not
stayed long in the service.
12 SEPTEMBER 1990
I lunched at British Airways today, where Peter Jay was talking sensibly about the economic effects of the Gulf crisis. He seems like a lost man; it is difficult to believe that he was once ambassador to Washington (although it is now clear to me that the responsibility for putting his name forward, in my view putting his father-in-law, Jim Callaghan, in an impossible position, was entirely David Owen’s).
The new Hungarian ambassador, Antalpéter, called today. He was interesting about changes in the Hungarian Foreign Service, with practically every ambassador being changed, and in some cases the entire embassy staff. He is unusual in having been promoted from within the embassy here, so he is (or presumably was) a party member, though he has been mainly concerned with commercial work.
14 SEPTEMBER 1990
One of the first papers to reach me this morning was an astonishing record by Charles Powell (hastily withdrawn) of a meeting which the Prime Minister held yesterday to cross-question the military and Vickers on the reliability of the Challenger Tank, revealing shocking shortcomings, but ending with a demand from the Prime Minister that all of them should sign a document guaranteeing its reliability in the desert [which they all later did]. I entirely share the PM’s doubts (from my own experience in Jedda), and indeed had minuted to William Waldegrave earlier this week, expressing the hope that Tom King would be pressed very hard on the question.
[David Plastow and Colin Chandler called on me ten days later to lobby for the Vickers Tank. I pointed out, rather unkindly, that the government’s decision would be heavily influenced by Challenger’s performance at its trials in Saudi Arabia.]
17 SEPTEMBER 1990
The Finnish ambassador called, to hand me an oral note about the post-war treaty between Finland and the Allies, notifying us that they no longer regard the clause relating to Germany as valid. I have asked for urgent legal advice on it, and how we need to respond.
18 SEPTEMBER 1990
In a short bilateral, Douglas Hurd talked to me about some of the heads of mission he has met. On one, he claimed to be a bit disappointed by the ambassador’s low-key manner, and failure to weigh in during his meetings. I later pointed out to Stephen Wall that complaints about heads of mission were divided almost equally between those who didn’t weigh in, and those who did. The Prime Minister tends either to complain that heads of mission interrupt her; or that they are silent, and therefore need not be there.
20 SEPTEMBER 1990
Today’s PESC bilateral was predictably tough, with Norman Lamont (who had a private word with Douglas Hurd beforehand) reading us a lecture on the economic squeeze, and describing this as the most difficult round since 1981. There was a long discussion on running costs, with the Treasury side arguing that the FCO were in no worse position that any other department, and suggesting on each item that we could surely absorb these small sums in our ‘£900,000,000 budget’ – ignoring the fact that half of this is for the BBC World Service and the British Council. Douglas did well, pointing out that his Cabinet colleagues wanted Britain to maintain her position as a world power, and that he must have the resources to do it.
25 SEPTEMBER 1990
Alan Pover called on me before his last posting, to Gambia. I told him that one of his predecessors, who had been posted to Aden, had told me that the contrast between the hostility and suspicion of the South Yemenis, compared with the friendliness and trust of the Gambians, had been staggering. On one occasion, the Gambian Prime Minister had undertaken to give an economic report to his Cabinet colleagues, and had come round to the residence in a panic one evening to ask the High Commissioner to write it for him.
28 SEPTEMBER 1990
William Waldegrave talked to me today about his own security, following an incident at an anti-terrorism conference William was supposed to address yesterday at the Royal Over-Seas League. Like Virginia and myself, William and Caroline have been thoroughly scared by the briefing they have had from their local police, with no follow-up except, as William put it, the occasional visit with torches to scare the rabbits away. He has more reason to worry since the press are presenting him as the Minister for Counter-Terrorism; he has also played quite a prominent role over the Gulf crisis.
I minuted today on the tricky question of Iranian refusal to shake hands with women. I have pointed out that the procedure for credentials is not immutable – the Fijian, for instance, dropped to one knee and clapped his hands (see p. 103); and also that Buckingham Palace would not dream of serving pork to a Muslim or Jewish guest. The essential thing is that it should not become an issue – there are already far too many hurdles in our bilateral relations with Tehran as it is – still less should it become a publicly aired issue in the press. The Sun or the Daily Star would certainly make a meal of it.
1 OCTOBER 1990
Douglas Hurd has received a letter from Michael Latham (an Old Marlburian MP with strong Zionist connections) proposing himself as ambassador to Israel, which Douglas wants to discuss with me – the second case in a week of an MP seeking an embassy. Coincidentally, I saw Bill Squire today, who had once told me that the essential quality for an ambassador in Tel Aviv was a cynical detachment towards both Jews and Arabs.
Robin Butler held an official meeting this morning to discuss a change in the rules on homosexuality and positive vetting. Luckily, both the Security Service and Michael Quinlan (for the MOD) have independently come to the conclusion that the present rules need changing (and could expose the government to legal action on the grounds of sex discrimination). But since Diplock singled out the diplomatic service for an automatic bar on recruitment, the Security Commission will certainly have to be told about, if not authorise, any change for the service.
The celebrations in New York tomorrow for German reunification have been slightly marred by some sour comments from the Prime Minister on German domination of the European Community, and German aspirations for permanent membership of the Security Council. She watered down a draft statement produced by the FCO, omitting any reference to ‘rejoicing’ (cf. her famous statement on the recovery of the Falklands!).
3 OCTOBER 1990
Douglas Hurd commented this morning that he saw real signs of dissolution in the Soviet Union. He thinks that the Prime Minister, for the first time, believes that Gorbachev may have had it. There are some scary forecasts of 3 million refugees from the Soviet Union seeking work in the West.
There was a brilliant photograph in The Times this week of David Hannay, Bernard Ingham and the Prime Minister, with David apparently saying his prayers. I have offered a prize for the best caption; but I told Geoffrey Adams privately that it might be: ‘Please, God, make me more like Crispin Tickell’ (i.e. Margaret Thatcher’s favourite diplomat).
The new Bulgarian Foreign Minister, Gotsev, who had been my host in Sofia last year as Deputy Minister, called on me today, in the absence of both Douglas Hurd and William Waldegrave – though William would have refused to see him after their last meeting in Sofia, when Gotsev was Deputy Minister of the Interior, and William had brought the conversation round to the murdered Georgi Markov (of the BBC, and killed by a poisoned umbrella in London); Gotsev had immediately brought the meeting to a close, saying that the discussion was pointless.
Gotsev spent much of my meeting with him today bewailing Bulgaria’s economic situation, and asking for British help. I asked pointedly how many of the present government are former members of the Communist Party, and made it clear that help would depend on political and economic reform. He apparently told the press later that I had spoken very offensively about the extent to which the Bulgarian Socialist Party still rules Bulgaria!
We finally joined the ERM today, with an announcement at 4 p.m. Charles Powell, who called on me at 3.30 p.m., later rang me to apologise for not having mentioned it. Douglas had apparently told Stephen Wall yesterday, but under oath to mention it to no one.
On another subject, Charles told me that alth
ough the inquiry into the leak of the Chequers record had, as usual, produced a lemon, he is convinced that the culprit was Steve Norris, Nicholas Ridley’s PPS, and the Tory choice, in January 2000, for London Mayor, following the disgrace of Jeffrey Archer.
I gave lunch to Simon Jenkins of The Times – a lively and interesting man, but rather over-pleased with his own ‘radicalism’. At least we no longer have a Foreign Secretary who thinks, as Geoffrey Howe did, that Simon Jenkins could give useful advice on how to run the diplomatic service. He argued hard today against a fixed retirement age and a career structure, claiming that the diplomatic service would do much better simply to take people on with five-year contracts – no doubt on the familiar assumption that any old fool can be a diplomat.
I pointed out that diplomacy only half consisted of reporting on events; the more important and interesting part was developing contacts and influencing other governments, for which a career-long training was desirable.
Behind Diplomatic Lines Page 24