The Plot Against Harold Wilson

[R.K. Locke]

I wonder which contemplated coup against Wilson the above refers to - the 1968 one, allegedly to be fronted by Mountbatten, or the 1974/5 one? Or does it cover both?

Oddly enough, it was the earlier one which appears to have been much better organised and altogether more "establishment," certainly in terms of the domestic players. The transnational character of the 1968 plot likewise appears much more obvious, but perhaps that's just my ignorance of events in the later years.

Was the later coup plot a product of the same establishment, only this time using plausibly deniable players of a much cruder cut? Or was the establishment, most obviously in the US, the only which really counted, a house divided - Trilats v Nationalists - by this stage?

I suspect we could learn a lot from a comparative study of the downfalls of Wilson, Whitlam and Brandt and the various parties involved in those cases. A timeline of that period would certainly make for interesting reading.

By pure chance I found a copy of the David Leigh book in Oxfam today. I've only read the first few pages to far but it looks promising.