Death Of Jim Callaghan

I always considered him a member of the "'Pon my soul!" school of politics. He was the longest living Prime Minister we've ever had, and, as we see time and time again, he died just eleven days after Audrey, his wife of 67 years.

(And he never did say: "Crisis? What crisis?" What he actually said was: "I don't think that other people in the world would share the view that there is mounting chaos." That wasn't suitable for a tabloid headline, though.)
 
An old-style union man and one of the chief plotters against Wilson over many years.

There was surprise in some quarters when Wilson endorsed Sunny Jim's candidacy for party leader/prime minister on his retirement.
 
I didn't read it apart from the offensive headline as I have read enough of him to know that he is a senile superannuated reactionary but allowing Rees Mogg to put in an assassination of an article in yesterday's Times was in very poor taste before the man is even laid to rest .
 
History time again, people.

In 1969, when Harold Wilson was Prime Minister and James Callaghan was Home Secretary troops were sent into into Northern Ireland in what the government called a "limited operation" to restore law and order.

This followed three days and two nights of violence in the Bogside area of Derry. Trouble had erupted in Belfast and other towns across Northern Ireland.

The decision also followed a speech by the Taoiseach, Jack Lynch, in which he called for a United Nations peacekeeping force to be sent to the province.

He also called for Anglo-Irish talks on the future of Northern Ireland.

Some - and you can imagine who they were - called this "outrageous interference".

Meanwhile The Prime Minister of Northern Ireland, Major James Chichester-Clark - a fine old Irish name - responded by saying neighbourly relations with the Republic were at an end and that British troops were being called in.

300 troops from the 1st Battalion, Prince of Wales's Own Regiment of Yorkshire, who had been on standby at sea for a couple of days occupied the centre of Derry, replacing the police officers who had been patrolling the cordons around the Bogside.

And yes, the arrival of the British troops was greeted with cheering and singing from behind the barricades in the Catholic area of Derry. They were chanting: "We've won, we've won. We've brought down the government."

I remember watching the scenes on television as the housewives brought cups of tea out to the soldiers.

Sadly the army's warm welcome was short-lived, as was the British Government's intention to pull out the troops within days.
 
Sorry Brian. I thought you meant the minority in Ireland. You meant the minority in Belfast. That is, of course, correct.
 
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