Margaret Thatcher 1925-2013: War with the IRA and surviving the Brighton bombing
Carnage: The bombed Brighton Grand during the 1984 Tory conference
When a massive bomb tore through the fabric of the Grand
Hotel in Brighton in October 1984, Margaret Thatcher came within inches
of death.She had wound up a late-night session in her suite and
was about to go into the bathroom when she was called back to sign a
last letter, just before 3am.The bathroom was destroyed by the bomb; the letter saved her life.To many, her defiant reaction - continuing the Tory conference the fatal bomb targeted - was her finest hour.To others, the disaster was part of a war she had escalated against the first and fiercest of her "enemies within".Five
died, including Tory MP Sir Anthony Berry. The long-delay blast should
have been a huge coup for the Provisional IRA, who had been waging war
against Britain for 10 years before Thatcher came to power.But it was dramatically turned into a victory for the government.Rising to the crisis, Thatcher had the presence of mind to take a suit with her when led out of the hotel by police.She
changed from her ballgown and gave a bullish interview to the BBC. She
refused to be driven back to Downing Street or cancel the rest
of the event.She spent the night at Lewes Police College, and
woke with the nation to television pictures of her President
of the Board of Trade Norman Tebbit being rescued from the rubble in
agony. Bloodied: Injured Tory minister Norman Tebbit is carried out of the wreckage
His wife Margaret was injured terribly and has been paralysed ever since.
At 9.30am Thatcher strode, as scheduled, on to the conference platform.Ever
attentive to detail, she had insisted the local Marks & Spencer be
opened early so those left only in their night clothes could be kitted
out.The flag-waving and patriotic music were dropped, her speech
was shorn of much of its anti-Labour rhetoric, and she spoke stirringly
of her determination to beat the bombers.
Some
hope. The IRA continued to be a major problem throughout her
premiership. Her unyielding determination only made them more
aggressive."Compromise" and "negotiation" were not words in
Margaret Thatcher's lexicon, and the men of bullets and bombs were happy
to take her on.Tellingly, her time in power began and ended with very personal tragedies wrought by the IRA.At the start
of the campaign that swept her to the premiership, the friend who
masterminded her bid for power, Airey Neave, was blown up driving out
of the Palace of Westminster car park.Had he survived the attack on March 30, 1979, he would have been her Northern Ireland Secretary of State. Loss: Thatcher with her friend Airey Neave
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