UK 1975 / Nuclear secrets of 1975 revealed
Cabinet papers from 1975 detailing the government's plans in the event of nuclear war are among new documents released by the National Archives.
They reveal that government bunkers would be manned by civil servants, emergency legislation would be passed, and hospitals would be emptied.
TV was to close down, and the BBC to begin a wartime service on radio.
The prime minister would be taken to his bunker but there were no plans at that time to evacuate civilians.
However, the papers showed art treasures from London and Edinburgh would be saved by being sent to slate mines in Wales.
The information is among a raft of unseen material that has been revealed in government records from 1975, now released to the public at the National Archives in Kew, south-west London.
On the preparations for a nuclear attack historian Peter Hennessy told the BBC's Sanchia Berg the documents were the most secret he had ever seen,
He said: "These were the crown jewels of genuine official secrecy...because you didn't want the other side to get your war plans.
"Also the degree of alarm for the civilian population, in relatively tranquil times, that a leakage of this would have produced would have been extraordinary."
The newly-released files also revealed that two pandas in London Zoo sparked fears that a diplomatic rift could flare up between Britain and China.
Ching-Ching and Chia-Chia were given to Edward Heath by the Chinese Government in 1974.
Later that year, London Zoo urged ministers to provide money to help build a home for the pandas, and the Foreign Office feared failure to give the cash could be seen as a deliberate snub to Beijing.
Other Cabinet papers showed Harold Wilson was warned in 1975 that Britain's economy faced "possible wholesale domestic liquidation".
One minister told the Labour prime minister there could be constitutional crisis if inflation continued to rise.
Documents show concerns a year before an International Monetary Fund loan was requested.
They also reveal Chancellor Denis Healey and Industry Secretary Tony Benn at odds over policy.
Further documents released this week reveal:
They reveal that government bunkers would be manned by civil servants, emergency legislation would be passed, and hospitals would be emptied.
TV was to close down, and the BBC to begin a wartime service on radio.
The prime minister would be taken to his bunker but there were no plans at that time to evacuate civilians.
However, the papers showed art treasures from London and Edinburgh would be saved by being sent to slate mines in Wales.
The information is among a raft of unseen material that has been revealed in government records from 1975, now released to the public at the National Archives in Kew, south-west London.
On the preparations for a nuclear attack historian Peter Hennessy told the BBC's Sanchia Berg the documents were the most secret he had ever seen,
He said: "These were the crown jewels of genuine official secrecy...because you didn't want the other side to get your war plans.
"Also the degree of alarm for the civilian population, in relatively tranquil times, that a leakage of this would have produced would have been extraordinary."
The newly-released files also revealed that two pandas in London Zoo sparked fears that a diplomatic rift could flare up between Britain and China.
Ching-Ching and Chia-Chia were given to Edward Heath by the Chinese Government in 1974.
Later that year, London Zoo urged ministers to provide money to help build a home for the pandas, and the Foreign Office feared failure to give the cash could be seen as a deliberate snub to Beijing.
Other Cabinet papers showed Harold Wilson was warned in 1975 that Britain's economy faced "possible wholesale domestic liquidation".
One minister told the Labour prime minister there could be constitutional crisis if inflation continued to rise.
Documents show concerns a year before an International Monetary Fund loan was requested.
They also reveal Chancellor Denis Healey and Industry Secretary Tony Benn at odds over policy.
Further documents released this week reveal:
The extent of behind-the-scenes Cabinet splits before the 1975 referendum on
British membership of the Common Market.
How British diplomats secretly floated the idea that Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein - seen then as a figure to be courted - could be brought to the UK for a back operation.
That in discussions between Prime Minister Harold Wilson and the BBC's chairman they talked about whether there were too many "hippies" in the corporation.
The blocking of plans for the Queen Mother to fly to Iran in Concorde by
Harold Wilson because he was worried about the plane's safety.
The prime minister's plan to protect local breweries by nationalising them as part of an initiative to show he was sensitive to small problems that caused people
concern, called "little things that mean a lot".
That John Stonehouse, the Labour MP who faked his own death, spent months rehearsing his new identity.
posted by Rui at 1:41 da manhã
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