British Ministry funds its own A-bomb test history

Press, 3 July 1985, Page 17

British Ministry funds its own A-bomb test history

Officials at the British Ministry of Defence have commissioned an “official” history of the controversial nuclear tests of the 1950 s to “balance” the critical report expected at the end of the year from the Australian Royal Commission.' The history is to be launched through the Stationery Office simultaneously with the publication of the Australian findings. The Ministry is funding the project and will be able to censor it before publication.

Evidence that the Government would like it to be presented as an “official” history emerged when Downing Street formally advised Mr Neil Kinnock, as leader of the Opposition, of the project. It is standard procedure for official histories to be cleared by all parties. However, Labour’s defence spokesman, Mr Denzil Davies, says the Labour Party will not give

By

DAVID LEIGH,

of the London

“Observer.”

consent to the project. “We are deeply suspicious. It looks like an attempt to blunt events which may be embarrassing to past Tory governments. Our hands are clean.” The Ministry has agreed that it would be able to censor the book before publication. “After all, we will be the customers,” said a spokesman. The Ministry is paying $12,500 from departmental funds to the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority for the book. This is money saved from the budget obtained to give information and facilities to the Australian inquiry when it came to London demanding the release of documents on the tests. The fee will be paid to the

U.K.A.E.A. records officer, Mrs Lorna Arnold, to do the work. She will be provided with free access to classified documents. Mrs Arnold is already researching the period as part of U.K.A.E.A.’s official history. She assisted Professor Margaret Gowing in the previous official volume, “Independence and Deterrence,” covering the development of the first British bomb. The book is widely recognised as authoritative: the authors included much “sensitive” material, and despite the elaborate clearance process such works go through, only two unimportant sentences were removed from the final book. This time there is likely to be much more interference.