Downing Street Years - Margaret Thatcher [543]
ballots, trade union, 99, 274, 276, 284, 572, 669
Ballygawley bomb (1988), 411
Baltic States, 767, 801
Bancroft, Sir Ian (Permanent Secretary Civil Service Department and Head Home Civil Service 1978–81), 47–8
Banda, Dr Hastings (President of Malawi 1966-), 527–8
Bank of England: ‘corset’, 125; Polish crisis, 254; Westland, 426; Hong Kong currency, 489–90; ERM question, 691, 695; exchange rate intervention, 702; Lawson’s proposals, 706–7
bankruptcies, 52
Barnett, Joel, Lord, 637
Basnett, David, 372
BBC: pay levels, 102; Falklands reporting, 181, 214; unilateralism, 267; Milltown Cemetery film, 408; election results forecast (1987), 588; licence fee, 634–7; advertising question, 636; independent producers, 636, 638
Begin, Menachem (Israeli Prime Minister 1977–83), 510n
Begun, Iosif, 484
Beirut bombings (1983), 327–8
Belgium, cruise missiles, 241, 243
Belgrano, see General Belgrano
Belize, British presence, 248
Bell, Tim: election campaign (1983), 287–8; miners’ strike (1984–5), 354; election campaign (1987), 570, 585; community charge discussions, 658; leadership election campaign (1990), 841
Belstead, Lord, 851
benefits, see social security benefits
Berlin disco bomb (1986), 443
Berlin Wall, 263, 759, 789, 793
Berrill, Sir Kenneth, 30
Berry, Sir Anthony, 381
Beswick, Lord, 108
Biffen, John (Chief Secretary 1979–81, Trade Secretary 1981–82, Leader HC 1982–87): Chief Secretary to Treasury, 26; public spending cuts, 50; BL, 117; MTFS attitude, 130; Trade, 131; Leader of House, 187; relationship with Howe, 420; quoted, 422, 440, 589; BL, 440; leaves Cabinet, 589
‘Big Bang’, 311
bill mountain, 695, 696
Birmingham Six, 409
Birt, John, 637
Bishop, Maurice (Prime Minister of Grenada 1979–83), 166, 328–9
Bismarck, Otto von, 791
Blackhawk helicopters, 428
Black Monday, 700, 710
Bluff Cove, 226, 233
Boomibol, King of Thailand, 506
Botha, P.W. (South African Prime Minister 1978–84, State President 1084–89), 514–15, 520, 522, 529
Botha, R.F. (‘Pik’) (South African Foreign Minister 1977-), 514, 529, 532
Boundary Commission, 286
Brandt Commission, 169
Bretton Woods system, 703
Brezhnev, Leonid (Soviet General Secretary 1964–82): invasion of Afghanistan, 88; arms control proposals (1981), 159, (1979), 241–2; SALT II Agreement, 245; ‘Brezhnev Doctrine’, 258, 790; cartoon, 324; rise of Gorbachev, 453; Reagan correspondence, 455, 462; era, 458
Brighton Grand Hotel bomb (1984), 368, 371, 379–83, 399, 414
Brilliant, HMS, 225
Bristow, Alan, 425–6
British Aerospace (BAe), 428, 433, 678, 679–80
British Airways, 283, 678, 679
British Antarctic Survey, 180, 640
British Association of Colliery Managers (BACM), 366
British Gas, 284, 681–2
British Leyland (BL): steel supplies, 101, 112; Edwardes Chairmanship, 114; Corporate Plan, 115–17, 118–19, 120–1; industrial relations, 117–18, 119–20; Wakeham involvement, 311; privatization, 284, 419, 437–41, 678; Varley-Marshall assurances, 438, 679; Rover Group, 679–80
British Medical Association (BMA), 616–17
British Museum, 632
British Nationality Bill, 161, 260
British Petroleum (BP), 50, 316
British Rail (BR), 347, 353, 686–7
British Rail Hotels, 678
British Shipbuilders, 284, 678
British Steel Corporation (BSC): coal supplies, 101; strike (1980), 103, 108–14; costs, 127; privatization programme, 283–4, 678, 679; Ravenscraig steel works, 361–2, 622; miners’ strike (1984–5), 342, 347, 353; dock strikes (1984), 355, 361
British Telecom (BT), 283, 306, 678, 680–1
Britoil, 678
Brittan, Leon (Chief Secretary 1981–83, Home Secretary 1983–85, Trade and Industry Secretary 1985–86, Vice-President EC Commission 1989-): Chief Secretary, 131, 309; Home Secretary, 307–8, 418; ‘end-year flexibility’ suggestion, 317; miners’ strike (1984–5), 345–6; Party Conference (1984), 368; Brighton bomb (1984), 381; DTI, 419, 426; Westland affair, 426–36; BL, 438–9; broadcasting, 646; attitude to ERM, 693, 710
Brittan, Samuel, 138
Britto,