Downing Street Years - Margaret Thatcher [278]
First, it turned out to be a more decisive blow against Libyan-sponsored terrorism than I could ever have imagined. We are all too inclined to forget that tyrants rule by force and fear and are kept in check in the same way. There were revenge killings of British hostages organized by Libya, which I bitterly regretted. But the much vaunted Libyan counter-attack did not and could not take place. Gaddafi had not been destroyed but he had been humbled. There was a marked decline in Libyan-sponsored terrorism in succeeding years.
Second, there was a wave of gratitude from the United States for what we had done which is still serving this country well. The Wall Street Journal flatteringly described me as ‘magnificent’. Senators wrote to thank me. In marked contrast to feelings in Britain, our Washington embassy’s switchboard was jammed with congratulatory telephone calls. It was made quite clear by the Administration that Britain’s voice would be accorded special weight in arms control negotiations. The Extradition Treaty, which we regarded as vital in bringing IRA terrorists back from America, was to receive stronger Administration support against filibustering opposition. The fact that so few had stuck by America in her time of trial strengthened the ‘special relationship’, which will always be special because of the cultural and historical links between our two countries, but which had a particular closeness for as long as President Reagan was in the White House.
The third benefit, oddly enough, was domestic, though it was by no means immediate. However unpopular, no one could doubt that our action had been strong and decisive. I had set my course and stuck to it. Ministers and disaffected MPs might mutter; but they were muttering now about leadership they did not like, rather than a failure of leadership. I had faced down the anti-Americanism which threatened to poison our relations with our closest and most powerful ally, and not only survived but emerged with greater authority and influence on the world stage: this the critics could not ignore. And such are the paradoxes of politics that within the year this wave of anti-Americanism had come to the Government’s aid. Labour was emboldened foolishly to stress an anti-American defence policy — which provoked strong reactions from Cap Weinberger and Richard Perle. When the British people were told that ‘if you want us to go, we will go’ they woke up to reality. Labour’s anti-Americanism, in vogue the year before, steadily became more of an albatross and when the election came it helped to sink them.
As the spring of 1986 moved into summer the political climate began slowly, but unmistakeably, to improve.
* Three months’ redundancy pay had been available to ministers in the Lords since 1984, and we introduced legislation to extend the scheme to the Commons in July 1990. Due to lack of time the scheme was only enacted in February 1991.
* The principal sub-committee of ‘E’, the economic committee of the Cabinet.
* See Chapters 4 and 23.
* John Redwood had arrived in 1983 to be the extremely effective head of the Policy Unit. He and Peter Warry kept a shrewd and sceptical eye on BL’s finances, briefing me regularly.
CHAPTER XVI
Men to Do Business With
East-West relations during the second term — 1983–1987
REASSESSING THE SOVIET UNION
As 1983 drew on, the Soviets must have begun to realize that their game of manipulation and intimidation would soon be up. European governments were not prepared to fall into the trap opened by the Soviet proposal of a ‘nuclear-free zone’ for Europe. Preparations for the deployment of Cruise and Pershing missiles went ahead. In March President Reagan announced American plans for a Strategic Defence Initiative (SDI) whose technological and financial implications for the USSR were devastating. Then, at the beginning of September the Soviets shot down a South Korean civilian airliner, killing 269 passengers. Not just the callousness but the incompetence of the Soviet