Behind Diplomatic Lines

by Patrick R. H. Wright

  At a No. 10 dinner this evening, I talked to Neil Kinnock, and asked him if the rumours were true that the Labour Party planned to bring in a number of political ambassadors. He denied it firmly, though he acknowledged that he was tempted to send Bernie Grant, a Labour MP, to Pretoria. He also mentioned Egypt as a possibility, but did not reveal for whom. He claimed to believe that professionals were nearly always the best candidates, though he would want to have a selection to choose from, including younger officials. I said that David Gillmore or myself would be happy to explain to him how the selection process worked sometime. Moderately reassuring.

  8 MAY 1991

  Douglas Hurd told me today, at our bilateral, that he had had a blast from Margaret Thatcher, at the party he had held for Charles Powell, about our policy towards Yugoslavia. She seems to have got the idea that Croatia is the heartland of Thatcherite democracy! Douglas now finds himself as virtually a runner between Mrs Thatcher and No. 10. She is presumably responsible for the press stories that Gorbachev is to be invited here for the London economic summit, since she certainly feels she has committed us to this in her Aspen speech last August. The Prime Minister is himself very cautious about the idea, and thinks that a decision will need to be taken by all seven participants.

  8–10 MAY 1991: VISIT TO TORONTO AND OTTAWA

  A busy day each in Toronto and Ottawa. Brian and Delmar Fall’s dinner for me in Ottawa included the Delvoies (whose wedding we had attended in Cairo) and Gary Harman (recently retired from Damascus).

  13 MAY 1991

  An early meeting in Robin Butler’s office with Clive Whitmore, Percy Cradock and the heads of the intelligence agencies to discuss avowal and parliamentary oversight. The SIS staff are strongly in favour of the former, and accept that this will probably lead to some form of the latter, perhaps by a group of privy councillors. Percy Cradock is fiercely opposed, arguing that there is no need to change the present arrangements. (Mrs Thatcher would certainly have resisted any change strongly, and would have seen today’s discussion as another attempt at a U-turn.) We concluded that a Working Party should draw up the terms under which we could move to both avowal and oversight by the time of the general election, if only because the Labour Manifesto makes it clear that the Labour Party will press for some sort of oversight, at least for the Security Service.

  I had a quiet word with Robin after the meeting, to tell him that Douglas Hurd is unimpressed by my arguments in favour of a ‘blanket’ suppression of intelligence records, and is likely to instruct me to press for a reduction in the closure period to, say, eighty-five years. Robin looked pretty glum about this, since he has just completed a major exercise on the subject.

  Stephen Wall gave me a hilarious, but very sensitive, account of why the press had suddenly carried reports of John Major’s violent attack against the United Nations Secretary General two weeks ago for his apathy and inactivity over the Kurds. I had been mystified by this (as was the Secretary General himself), since both of us know that the Prime Minister’s letter to de Cuéllar was in fact warm and supportive. Stephen told me that he had himself drafted the letter after OPD(G) had decided that the PM should write to urge the UN to be more active. John Major had himself signed off the letter without reading it, and had told the No. 10 spokesman, Gus O’Donnell, that he had sent a blast to de Cuéllar.

  O’Donnell had then briefed the press that a scorching message had been sent (again without himself reading it).

  14 MAY 1991

  John Coles had a word with me about Lord Caithness, whose judgment he finds very shaky, and who is inclined to intervene excessively in the detail of both policy and administration. His office issued a minute today which enraged me, detailing the grading of staff who ought to be left in Rangoon [now Yangon]. I will have to find a way of stopping him from taking over the service.

  15 MAY 1991

  At a DUSs’ lunch, held unusually in John Boyd’s home, John Coles gave us a vivid description of a fundraising dinner for the Thatcher Foundation in Texas, at which Mark Thatcher behaved so boorishly that no money was given at all. He outraged all the guests by asking if there would be wine, and then calling the waiter to bring some larger and correctly sized glasses.

  This evening, I attended a RUSI (Royal United Services Insitute) dinner, and tackled Labour MP George Robertson on the question of political ambassadors. He claimed that the stories originated from an article written by Labour MP George Foulkes on April Fool’s Day. He thought that the only possible political appointment which a Labour government might make could be a Minister for Disarmament (à la Lord Chalfont).

  16 MAY 1991

  A row has burst out in Sri Lanka, following David Gladstone’s written protest at irregularities during their general election last week. The Sri Lankan PUS is flying to London next week to see me about it – presumably to ask for David Gladstone’s withdrawal. A tiresome problem which, if mishandled, could lead to the expulsion of the Sri Lankan High Commissioner, and a virtual break in relations just before the Commonwealth Review and CHOGM. It emerged later that the PUS is bringing a written message; I decided that the High Commissioner here should be urgently advised against any written messages, which will make it much more difficult for the Sri Lankans to back down.

  I gave lunch today to Pierre Schori, the Swedish PUS, and discussed the recently departed Swedish ambassador, Leif Leifland, who had virtually gone to ground (or the Public Record Office) for the past four years. Schori said he was mystified by Leif’s performance, or non-performance. Apparently, Leif had issued some last-minute statement (i.e. before leaving London?) that was very critical of his government, and has joined something called the Free Sweden Group. I commented that I had assumed that Sweden was already free!

  17 MAY 1991

  I gave lunch to Robin Butler at the Club. He told me, in strict confidence, that the Prime Minister is ‘hell-bent’ on an October election, and is thus causing serious strains within the Cabinet, and particularly with Norman Lamont, who no doubt wants to wait longer for the economy to pick up. The party must be feeling pretty bruised after losing Monmouth, the second safest Tory seat in Wales.

  Today was largely taken up with two current problems: Sri Lanka and David Gore-Booth. On the second, David has come under fierce attack after someone leaked what he said four weeks ago about Israel at a CAABU (Council for Arab–British Understanding) meeting. There have been calls for his resignation, and predictable comments about FCO Arabists, including one reference to my attempts (by implication, unsuccessful!) to persuade people that we are balanced and fair. I am wondering whether, for Douglas Hurd’s sake, I ought quickly to extract myself from Bilderberg; if the press hear that the FCO’s ‘Arch Arabist’ is speaking there on the Middle East, it seems doubtful that even Bilderberg’s 100 per cent record of discretion will stop something leaking out; either that, or it will require me to say nothing of interest whatsoever.

  On Sri Lanka, the Foreign Secretary (i.e. PUS), Bernard Tilakaratne, delivered a message to Stephen Wall at No. 10 calling for David Gladstone’s early withdrawal, and then came to call on me half an hour later. I defended David Gladstone (who appears to be quite a close friend of Tilakaratne), pointing out that he would soon have completed longer in Sri Lanka than most of his predecessors. I tried to get him to accept a package whereby David would express regret at the ‘misunderstanding’, and come naturally to the end of his posting in about three months’ time. Tilakaratne tried to sell this to Premadasa overnight, but returned on 21 May (see below).

  21 MAY 1991

  Tilakaratne told me he had spoken to Premadasa, who was said to be displeased with my response, and insisting on David Gladstone’s immediate withdrawal. Tilakaratne had persuaded him to wait for the Prime Minister’s reply to his message, and urged me to get a swift reply back. I later discussed the problem with Mark Lennox-Boyd, who disagreed with the official advice, saying that we should recall David Gladstone for ‘consultations’, aiming to finish his posting in abo
ut three months’ time. He was in favour of calling Premadasa’s bluff, and staring him down. I think Lennox-Boyd may be nervous of parliamentary reactions, though Michael Morris MP, who is chairman of the UK/Sri Lankan Parliamentary Association, telephoned this morning, in my absence, to say that he thought Gladstone should be withdrawn.

  I went to the CBI dinner, where John Major was speaking. Formidable security arrangements – no doubt tightened by the horrific news this afternoon of Rajiv Gandhi’s assassination. I sat next to Campbell Fraser, who welcomed me on the assumption that I had already accepted Bob Horton’s invitation to join the BP board. He said it was a super job – even comparing it to an orgasm!

  22 MAY 1991

  Colin Chandler called, to complain about Michael Alexander (UKDEL NATO), who is said to have made several semi-public comments about the choice of the new main battle tank, arguing on NATO grounds for the German Leopard. Vickers is getting very impatient, having waited for the government’s decision for over a year, and claim that it will have to lay off staff at any moment.

  Richard Gozney had a quiet word with me this morning after Douglas Hurd’s ministerial meeting, to warn me that Douglas was toying with the idea of using Richard Luce as some sort of commissioner or special representative in the Gulf. I reminded Richard that Luce’s father, Sir William Luce, had done precisely that for Alec Home (during my year as deputy political representative in Bahrain), but pointed out that the terms of reference would have to be worked out very carefully if our ambassadors’ noses were not to be put severely out of joint. Although Richard claimed that the main idea was to reduce Douglas Hurd’s need to visit the Gulf, I suspect that the main motive is to find Richard Luce something to do.

  More to-ing and fro-ing today on Sri Lanka after the High Commissioner told us that Ghandi’s assassination had taken the heat off, and that neither Premadasa nor the Sri Lankan press were any longer pressing for David Gladstone’s immediate withdrawal. I have still recommended that David should be brought back in slow time, if only to explain his own version of events.

  23 MAY 1991

  I had a bilateral with Tristan Garel-Jones – a minister who tends to fly off at all tangents, producing sparky ideas without much discipline or consultation. He is still determined to swap John Kerr’s residence in Brussels, arguing (with some justification) that it is ludicrous for the holder of one of the most important jobs in the service to live in the sticks, while the ambassador ‘to a non-country like Belgium’ lives in that magnificent house in the Place Royale.

  Patrick Fairweather called to discuss the Gore-Booth/CAABU affair. He is worried that David Gore-Booth himself is cock-a-hoop at all the encouragement he has been given, including the very firm and decent support which Douglas Hurd gave him in the House of Commons yesterday (with a remarkable slap-down of Greville Janner by Douglas Hogg, who commented on the ‘strong smell of humbug’). Today’s Evening Standard carries banner headlines of the outgoing Chief Rabbi’s criticism of Israel. I telephoned David Gore-Booth and advised him to make no comment at all on it; the Standard has already linked him with Abramowitz. When I gave my advice to David, he replied: ‘Can I not even discuss it with the PUS?’ – a pretty cheeky response, but typical of his curious mixture of thick and thin skin.

  25–26 MAY 1991

  The only interruption of our weekend celebrations for the eightieth birthday of Virginia’s mother was a telephone call from David Gore-Booth to say that the Evening Standard had rung him to ask if he knew that the Israeli authorities were bringing pressure to bear on British newspapers to run a smear campaign against him. I advised him to talk to the legal advisers, and later agreed to talk to the Israeli ambassador, Yoav Biran, on a personal basis. Biran predictably assured me that neither the Israeli authorities nor, to his knowledge, the Jewish community would want to make David Gore-Booth a martyr in this way. In fact, the Mail on Sunday ran another editorial (no doubt written by Stewart Steven, who had launched the attack against me after the Mellor affair (see p. 86, above)), saying that Britain and Israel would never have a normal relationship so long as David Gore-Booth remained in the FCO.

  28 MAY 1991

  Talks this morning with François Scheer. Bernard Dorin sat doodling maps, which he does with remarkable accuracy, including the very complicated relationship between the various Yugoslav provinces and the outlying states of the Soviet Union. Scheer is an excellent interlocutor, and speaks with apparent frankness about the shortcomings of French presidential policy. He had also told me of the pressures on his service from the French Treasury, telling me that if he had to take these pressures seriously, he would have to close half the posts in the French Foreign Service.

  A DUSs’ meeting this afternoon to look at a planning paper, and a despatch from Ewen Fergusson on ‘How do we beat the French?’ – i.e. how perfidious can Albion be?

  This evening, I had a word with Denis Greenhill about his draft memoirs, which I had read over the weekend. He is not yet certain that he will publish, since he thinks his publisher will insist on sharing the cost, which could be as much as £8,000. They reveal two remarkable differences between our times as PUS: first, that Denis never attended a single Select Committee, not even the Public Accounts Committee; and secondly, that he and Angela claim to have attended every national day reception, which he describes as ‘useful’. What a horrendous thought!

  29 MAY 1991

  Robin Butler told PUSs this morning about the increasingly political way in which the Prime Minister handles Cabinet meetings. He has dismissed officials from about half his meetings, to allow Cabinet to have a totally political discussion. At a Cabinet meeting last week, ministers decided to launch a series of major policy speeches – a discussion which most ministers were later revealed not to have informed their officials about. It looks increasingly like preparation for an October election. Labour are still well ahead in the polls.

  The Commonwealth took a blow today when the Sri Lanka High Commissioner called to say that David Gladstone is now persona non grata. In retrospect, it is a pity that my recommendation (rejected by Lennox-Boyd) to call David home quickly for consultations just might have defused the row. We shall certainly have to cancel Lennox-Boyd’s visit, and ministers may press for Attygalle’s expulsion, which would be sad, as he is an effective and helpful High Commissioner. Attygalle himself doubts whether he could stay here in these circumstances – with the clear implication that he would want to leave in protest at his own government’s behaviour.

  30 MAY 1991

  I spent much of today writing one of my last letters to the service. There is so much going on that it is increasingly difficult to know which subjects to select. Events like the last Cuban troops to leave Angola this week, which would have been sensational news three years ago, now hardly get a mention in the press.

  Stephen Wall tells me that Mrs Thatcher has apparently told Percy Cradock that she has decided to go to the Lords ‘so that she can speak her mind about Europe’. When Percy gently queried whether this would not damage the party, she compared herself to Churchill in the 1930s, and said that there were moments in history when one had to speak out. Stephen added that John Major has now twice called on her, but is increasingly irritated by her erratic behaviour, including her unhelpful remarks in Moscow about Gorbachev being invited to the economic summit in London in July.

  A brief note from Denis Greenhill today, thanking me for my comments on his manuscript, but pointing out that his publishers had commented that his memoirs were insufficiently indiscreet.

  31 MAY 1991

  Ewen Fergusson called for a brief farewell talk before my retirement.

  1 JUNE 1991

  Virginia and I were driven to Chequers for John Major’s large buffet lunch, at which Virginia had some post-lunch conversation with John Gielgud, sitting at his feet. Geoffrey Howe was also at the lunch, and I reminded him that five years had now passed since he had queried the forecast in my valedictory despatch from Riyadh that the Saudi re
gime was good for at least five years.

  3 JUNE 1991

  I lunch with Trevor Chinn at the Connaught – a further opportunity for me (made more difficult by the David Gore-Booth affair) to counter the Jewish view that the FCO is totally sold on the Arabs. When I told him about the Evening Standard warning to David Gore-Booth, he totally denied that either the Israeli authorities or responsible members of the Jewish community would do any such thing; but he volunteered that there were certainly people in London who were capable of it. He agreed that Stewart Steven of the Mail on Sunday was blindly prejudiced against the FCO.

  Trevor Chinn asked me (half-jokingly?) if the FCO or ODA would provide money for the Jewish Agency to help settle the Falashas in Israel. I described the pressures on our budget (saying that I had even wondered whether to ask the Jewish Agency for some of their money!), but said seriously that it was inconceivable that ministers would agree to help any settlement so long as the Israeli government maintained their present illegal policy of settlements in the occupied territories. He also asked if the FCO could provide some modest funds towards the new Auschwitz museum. I recalled that Sigmund Sternberg had sent me a book about the longstanding controversy over the Carmelite Monastery at Auschwitz, and asked if this had now been resolved: Trevor seemed a bit doubtful about this. He is very keen to keep up a similar contact in future with David Gillmore, and I will try to encourage that.