On a recent visit to London, I chanced to walk down Whitehall. I was shocked by what I saw. I already knew that Downing Street was cordoned off by iron gates and railings - these were, appropriately, erected in the time of the Iron Lady, Mrs Thatcher. But what shocked me most this time was to see guards toting machine guns behind those gates. In Wilson's time Downing Street was just an ordinary street that anyone could walk down and stand outside the famous front door and have their photo taken there. In the intervening period between then and now, our leaders obviously have come to feel that they are so hated that they need to protect themselves from their own people inside a fortified compound. What Can't Speak Can't Lie - could anything shout more loudly about the way that Britain has changed in these last 50 years than those railings, gates and guns?
To be fair, I think it was Major who put the gates up after the IRA bombed the place in an attempt to kill his cabinet. en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Downing_Street_mortar_attack
Kept us out of Vietnam, encouraged the invaluable Ford Anglo-American relationship; truly understood the knife-edge of UK Industrial relations. Championed the formation and sustainability of The Open University, as a brave, modern and credible higher education medium. He led with dignity, taking the rough with the smooth. A true Statesman One of the greatest Englishmen we have ever had
Vietnam, OU,...industrial chaos and anarchy more like,...this is very much ''small beer'' in terms of any sort of lasting and profound legacy. Wilson was more a ''fixer'' trying to ride two hoses at the same time with left and right splits dominating his party. Made bold predictions about the direction of the country's economy which came to nothing. More spin and hype than any great fundamental achievements in office.
Say what you like about Wilson but the fact is the greatest thing he did was keep Britain out of Vietnam the most pointless war in history. Can you imaging how Thatcher and Blair couldn't wait to go to Vietnam just for personal glory.
HW has never been given the credit he deserved for standing up to the formidable Lyndon B Johnson and keeping UK out of that dreadful war. He did this despite needing the help of the Americans to support the pound. He also made repeated efforts to get the warring nations around the table to peacefully settle their conflict.
oldelephantstew Only reason he didn't go was revenge for the Americans not backing Britain's pointless Suez Canal Crisis fiasco, which effectively neutered British ability to project force abroad. UK proxies like Australia still went to Vietnam in their stead.
eddie hockley Yet another pathetic clown. What sort of stupidity flows through your febrile mind? Now cut along quickly, your village has noticed their idiot is missing
LordMick Roach Sorry the Vietnam war did a lot of good. And the UK should have got involved because it affected us so much. Pasa un rato bueno diaz, adios.
An excellent programme - as with all prime ministers, Wilson's legacy had many shades of grey - successes and failures. A more complex man than many people realise.
Had Wilson's 'White Heat' vision really taken root Britain would have become a great modern industrial powerhouse once more, but his energy was often discharged in keeping the Labour Party united. He understood poverty and he understood aspiration and he was certainly an academic of the highest order. He led the most gifted cabinet of all time, and had Labour won the 1970 General Election then the period 1970-74 would have been his greatest years. Wilson was a fantastic orator and I honestly believe that he was the best Prime Minister of the 'modern age' although he was often labelled as being dishonest. However his alleged dishonesty pales in comparison to that of Thatcher, Major, Blair, Brown or Cameron.
tony fisher For me he was a great Prime Minister. He tried to improve the life conditions of working class, middle class and even the professionals. Excuse for my possible mistakes in English. I am a Spanish lawyer, who likes studying the history of Great Britain.
"Had Wilson's 'White Heat' vision really taken root Britain would have become a great modern industrial powerhouse once more" Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! If but could have if only are the usual words by socialists when they fail
I came of age politically during his first period in office and remember him even with a certain affection. He was a breath of fresh air when he gained power and as others have said, not the least of his achievements was to keep us out of the Vietnam War. After Atlee I would think he was Labour’s best PM.
Good to see Barbara Castle old as she was. Quite a contrast to Angela Rayner! Wilson was a gifted politician no doubt about that Shirley Williams seems correct in her assessment. These interviews are really valuable Healey, Longford, Benn, Kauffman, Jenkins and others all contribute
I love that tony benn's description was "labour party diarist" this man was minister of tech and energy in the wilson and callaghan governments and president of the oxford union but always a man of the people who stayed committed to the working class RIP A KING
There is something odd about seeing Johnson and Wilson together. Whilst obviously it makes sense chronologically it is difficult to imagine such a contrast in personality between a president and PM.
Examining Wilson's tenure as Prime Minister, he was,probably one of the most successful PMS in terms of enacting historical social legislation, the decriminalization of homosexuality, liberalizing abortion, access to contraceptives, free speech, civil rights for black and Jamaican ex- pats/citizens, good or bad, that's Wilson primary legacy. However, on economic and foreign policy, he was a bumbling amateur nearly leading the British stock markets to crash twice in mid-late 60s. He devalued the pound in 1967 to help raise revenue for his increasingly exorborant social programs, he made promises to further nationalize the British economy, but except for nationalizing the steel industry, he didn't live up to his word, further alienating and radicalizing labor/trade unions which constituted Labour's base, rise of militant labor groups like Militant in the 70s who were a constant pain in the assignment to successive Conservative and Labour regimes in the 70s with huge industrial strikes, labor unrest, huge trade deficits with USA, Japan, and Canada. During the 70s-early 80s, Britain's industrial foundation, structure, innovative technologies, software technologies were seen as backward, old-fashioned, and second-rate compared to newer, more innovative creative economies of Japan, US, even in Europe with West Germany. His foreign policy, besides Vietnam, was lackluster. He let Northern Ireland blow way out of control in late 60s that IRA/Sein Fein militants became a worrisome problem for successive British politicians for the next 27 years, he let Ian Smith openly defy British Commonwealth on the issue of Rhodesia UDF declaration in 1965 on the issue of black majority rule. Smith openly taunted Britain's attempts to isolate Rhodesia diplomatically worldwide, and his sanctions were a joke too, if anything they allowed white Rhodesia elites to diversify their economy to offset imbalances caused by Wilson's sanctions, and it worked, the Rhodesia economy actually grew in the first 5-6 years after UDI until the early 70s. If Wilson had been firmer in his meetings with Smith in Salisbury by not ruling out a military intervention or forcing Smith or white Rhodesia elites to come to a compromise that allowed for a peaceful power-sharing coalition government, there wouldn't have been a 14 year useless series of wars between Angola, and civil war between white and black Rhodesians militant groups like ZANU and Robert Magube. If Wilson had grown a spine and not publicly ruled out military intervention in front of international media in 1966, there mightve been a short conflict perhaps, but Iqn Smith would've certainly been forced out and more moderate, less corrupt Zimbabwean coalition government would've taken hold and perhaps Zimbabwe would've avoided decades of corruption, nepotism, murder, economic decline and collapse, and power-hungry militants like Robert Mugabe would've never gain any mainstream recognition. IMO, Zimbabwe would be a much safer, respected, more secure place today, economically and politically, than it is today had Wilson negotiated a firmer hand in mid-late 60s. I also suspect that if black majority rule in Rhodesia had been handled more amicably and with moderate leaders on both sides led to more peaceful long-term resolution, apartheid in South Africa mightve ended a lot sooner than 1994 and the ensuing problems that still plague the country related to it to this day. Hardliners in South Africa, even leading Africaner politicians used the racial violence endemic during the Rhodesian Civil War as proof of how dangerous and subversive the ANC was, their militant, strong Marxist ties to Cuba, and the Soviet Union. They used that as leverage to discredit many groups and individuals involved in the anti-apartheid movement and that perception of the ANC as a radical liberation organization that was a Soviet proxy who would nationalize private property, set up a one-party Communist dictatorship similar to Mugabe's Zimbabwe, made Western nations like USA, Britain, reluctant to de-invest, or support sanctions against white Apartheid regime. There regime may have been promoting an openly racist policy of forced removal and emigration, but those parties were democratically elected and had a reasonably influential parliamentary system. Nelson Mandela probably would've spent 10-15 less years in prison if South Africa had abolished Apartheid in the late 70s and given him more time to enact more meaningful, longer-lasting changes then he did. My God, that's one courtesy that man was owed after being imprisoned for 27 years.
It may be hard for anyone who wasn't around at the time of his first election as PM in 1964 to realise, but Wilson appeared to be not dissimilar to Tony Blair; a seemingly youthful breath of fresh air coming as he did after the Conservatives had grown stale through being in office too long. A former junior minister in his first government once told me that Wilson was ahead of his time when it came to equality issues, especially when it came to tackling racial prejudice. I always thought him a pragmatist rather than an idealist although, like so many British politicians, he refused to accept that Britain's super power status days were long over.
Two of the greatest mistakes Harold Wilson made was not introducing 'in place of strife' and devaluing the pound far earlier than he did. Other than that, he introduced much needed radical reforms.
He turned up at MILLWALL to support Huddersfield and got booed, on introduction, all through the game and at the end when he left and Millwall was in the heart of a very staunch Labour working class area..lol
As soon as he knew that his interlect was failing him, he honrabrably resigned. However, nobody in their right mind would want to go back to endless strikes etc, pound falling apart...no, oh no.
Devalutation was already something that should've been done before Wilson arrived on the scene by Macmillan's goverment. It helped to stimulate exports since it made them cheaper, but the pound being worth less reduces its foreign buying power. Even though harold should've done it to begin with, what made it even worse was his statement that it didnt effect the pound in peoples pockets, when it very much did since if you wanted french cheese, Italian wine or a german car, you've now got an added 14% to the cost of those items.
I only recognise that British minister James Harold Wilson industrialised some aerospace companies,comprised between labour Union,and eventually rose up minimum wage. Competed to Attlee who started social reform,he couldn't succeed in accomplishing specific achievement.
"The Movie 'Hidden Agenda' told the truth about the conspiracy, but Maggie Thatcher and the Tory's banned it from British TV. That refusal to show the Movie, showed just how Guilty Maggie and Her MI5 Tory's were. Covering it up then and still now, tells it all. We saw that Movie In Canada, so why not you??"
Richard Laversuch; It probably would have been easier to combine your right wing nonsense into one comment rather than inflicting your views on everybody piecemeal. Or do you just have to spout an idea the moment it comes to you without first reflecting on what you are going to say? How very Boris.
Richard Laversuch Yes, it did seem rather improbable. Maybe it was in the way he moved. Do you think he could do the frug? :) Maybe it was in the way he talked. Groovy, man? :)
@ 43-00....Wilson issues a stark warning over incomes policy...but his own foolishness in granting huge public sector pay rises (in excess of 30%) was glossed over. By June, 1975 inflation reached a peak of 26.9%...the highest ever UK rate of inflation. Fully four years later, it was still 8%.
Should Wilson have sent our troops to Vietnam? There has never been a tradition of anti-Communism in this country but perhaps there should be; both in its theory and the inevitable results in practice. We should look at our unprincipled attitude to Communist China now.
'There has never been a tradition of anti-Communism in this country but perhaps there should be...' - Don't be so ridiculous. Britain sent troops to Russia to try to strangle the Bolshevik revolution from birth. What do you thin NATO was for other than anti-Communism? If you think Britain should have become involved in the Vietnam Waryou have a death wish. The US has never got over its defeat there.
Hard Wilson should be included among the list of great prime ministers. He did a lot for Great Britain during the 1960s, including wrapping up the British Empire, keeping it out of Vietnam, modernising industry, and holding the Labour Party together. He won elections, not just promised to. Only Tony Blair achieved what he did.
Demonic Blair opened the borders and sparked a racial revolution with unwanted and dangerous mass immigration to the UK. Diversity has made our country unsafe and unstable. His empty ''education, education'' mantra was an abysmal failure. On the impartial PISA results, UK slumped from a brilliant Tory 4th in 1997 to a woeful 21st in 2010.
Very good. Of course, Jim Callaghan's comment about the Attlee Government having completed its plan is bosh. No mention of Loe Abse's 'Social Equality' contribution. And, once again, the unfinished work of 'Economic Equailty and Equity' for which our plan and process of Co-operative Socialism, #truesocialism , is designed.
Best PM we ever had in my opinion, creating opportunities for everyone, every step he took. Funny that he completely smashed the conservatives in 1966, and won over a 100 seat majority which made the conservative party reel ever since
The reign of Harold Wilson ended tragically when, at the age of sixty in 1976, he threw himself from an upper floor balcony at Downing Street. Shirley Williams: "The Lavender List managed to make Harold look sleazy. I think he wasn't, but it did him considerable damage; even though he had plunged to his death two weeks before." Barbara Castle: "I am convinced that had Harold Wilson not suddenly and mysteriously killed himself in 1976, that evil witch Margaret Thatcher would never have entered 10 Downing Street, and gone on to win three General Elections with thumping majorities."
Puhleeeze Dear....Margret Thatcher SAVED Great Britain from the 'Snobbish, 'Soviet-style Socialism' that was taking the Country into a Labour 'Arbeit macht Frei' Brave New World country. but cheer-up, Love. now you have Boris...your Out Of the E.U. and the Grand Atlantic Alliance with the U.S. and Trump, will lead your Country to Greater Heights..
Harold Wilson was in a way lucky to attend University at the height of his powers; I attended right in the middle of a trough. Apathetic at University, since I have been studying almost incessantly.
Interesting how similar the background of Heath and Wilson were, academic brilliance and nose to the grindstone determination, grammar school to elite university connections. While I'm certain Brits could very easily tell one PM from another, for Americans, until Margaret Thatcher it was as if they morphed into each other. I imagine Brits might have thought that about American presidents although to Americans they were very distinctive, in that same era from Eisenhower to Kennedy to Johnson to Nixon, even in accents of Kansas, Massachusetts, Texas, and California, let alone by appearance.
This was almost deliberate. The Tories saw the success of Labour in the 1964 election, and decided they needed their own "Harold Wilson". Before Heath, most Conservative leaders were privately educated toffs.
Harold Wilson was a treasure to England no person is perfect, at least gay issues and abortion laws. we're not passed and kept Christian values dignity and respect of human values, if a person had private thoughts of sexuality confusion there were much more important issues to the country, and people had privacy, boys girls today are given mixed messages and causing confusion, I object to force laws,undermining teaching of Christine values culture and look at more important issues like jobs affordable housing education for all pride in the country ,
Well you're sort of right inasmuch as Life Isn't Fair, Never Has Been and Never Will Be, but surely fairness is a good thing to aspire to. I'd like us to have a leader who tries to make the country as fair to everyone as is possible.
More economic equality would be a good thing. The disparity between the wealth of bosses / luminaries / bankers / the elite etc and ordinary working people was far less in Wilson's time than it is now. And we were then heading in the right direction, towards a fairer society.
@@oldelephantstew Under Thatcher the rich got richer but so did everyone else; some Socialists appear to argue that they would prefer less inequality even if the cake were smaller.
Such a shame as he continued railway closures, didn't equalise sexuality for all, didn't go far enough on equal pay, on disability and race. Blair didn't finish the job but was more concerned with Iraq and identity politics of the Greens. Such a waste.
Bit of a BBC hagiography. Too close to his death to be a good programme; and this was 2 years before the champagne bottles at the "impartial" BBC when Labour finally got back in again...
Harold Wilson Tony Blair uoctober point Gordon Brown you would never see the way The Tories have the in the last yearHarold Wilson Tony Blair uoctober point Gordon Brown you would never see the way The Tories have the in the last year
New Labour/Gordon Brown.....''We've abolished Boom and Bust!'' 2008/9 brought us the worst ever economic crash in UK history! 2010..''Sorry! There's no money left!'' Cheers! Gordon!
