OUT OF THE WILDERNESS
ADVICE FROM R.A. BUTLER
Friday 16 October 1970
To St. Catharine’s College, Cambridge, where I was a guest at Dinner and overnight of the Bursar, Stanley Aston. I had with me an account of my experiences and had arranged to meet my host again late the following morning to show him the account, on which I sought his opinion.
Meanwhile I
had delivered a copy of the papers to Lord (RAB)
Butler, Master of Trinity College, who had been our M.P. when we lived in
Saffron Walden, Sheila playing a small part in one of his election
campaigns. In a handwritten letter I said I would call for the
papers and advice, if any, the following morning.
Saturday 17 October 1970
When I did so,
included with the papers was a letter from Lord
Butler (a former Home Secretary) advising me to write to the Home
Secretary rather than to the Crown.
When I went to keep my appointment with Stanley Aston there was no sign of him and no message had been left. The College Porter thought he had gone to Oxford.
JOB OFFER & CAREER SUGGESTION
Wednesday 28 October 1970
This was an important day from the points of view of obtaining a job and in pursuing issues of Privacy.
At 2 pm I was interviewed at Hatfield Polytechnic for the post of Senior Lecturer in Management Studies. The Chairman of the Panel was the Director, Norman Lindop, who was at pains to tell me I would only have to work 30 hours a week. I was told straight away that I would be offered the appointment. I had considerable misgivings because Ray Burnett and John Coales were on the Governing Body and Shull Arms was on one of the Committees. This led to increased efforts on my part to follow Lord Butler’s advice before I accepted.
After the interview I went to an SIF meeting on Privacy at the House of Commons. The speaker was Ralph (now Lord) Harris. Afterwards, Ralph Harris and I supped together with a few others who had been at the meeting. He was apologetic about the extreme right-wing views being expressed by his friends and invited me to something called a Hobart Luncheon at the Institute of Economic Affairs.
Friday 30 October 1970
Went to a lunch at the Institute of Economic Affairs. I had interesting chats with Angus Maude and others. In renewed conversation with Ralph Harris he now seemed to think that I ought to enter the Church and become a Bishop.
FIGHTING FOR ELECTRONICS DESIGN
Wednesday 18 November 1970
I attended a meeting of a Committee of Enquiry at the IEE.
Examples of external influence on the work of my IEE committees, going back to 1966 have already been given. More recently there had been a campaign against the Committee on Electronics Design. In one incident an Advisory ‘inner cabinet’ of the Electronics Board took executive action regarding the Committee contrary to what the Board had decided.
I had little doubt the source of the problems was from within GEC. With all the Company mergers that had taken place, the IEE was in danger of becoming an out-station of GEC.
I wrote to the Chairman of the Electronics Division setting out what had been happening and as a result a small committee was set up to make enquiries. I was then invited to part of a meeting of the Committee of Enquiry on 18th November 1970. From the actions of the member of the Secretariat serving the Enquiry it was clear to me that the proceedings were far from impartial. A further meeting was to be held in January 1971.
Awaiting my return home was a one-off free publication dated 18th November 1970 in which there was an article by one Eric Semler entitled Engineers, Westminster needs you too. Identifiers, including a reference to a non-existent Institute of Conference Designers, showed it was directed at me.
DIVERSIONS AT THE IEE
Thursday 10 December 1970
On this day a Diversion type of manipulation occurred at the IEE. This was a prime example of the behavioural practices which the Committee of Enquiry was looking into.
When I arrived to chair the Committee on Electronics Design I was handed two letters. One asked me to announce the disbandment of the Committee and the other invited me to represent the Electronics Division on a mooted Design committee of another (interim) Board. I declined the invitation.
Jan 1971 POSTSCRIPT
Over Christmas 1970 and the New Year 1971 Season I finished the Report to the Home Secretary as Lord (RAB) Butler had advised.
Friday 15th January 1971
This was quite a day! In the morning I went to the IEE, Savoy Place, for the final session of the Enquiry set up to look into undemocratic practices within the Institution. The Enquiry found against me - and, as has been described, while it was proceeding the manipulative practice of diversion had taken place, demonstrating one of the points I was making.
I had not been surprised by the outcome. Nor had I been downhearted for I had with me the Report covering much more widespread and vital issues than had arisen in IEE committees, which I would be delivering that afternoon to the Home Secretary, Rt. Hon. Reginald Maudling.
I harboured no ill-feeling towards the members appointed to carry out the Enquiry. As professional engineers steeped in technical matters they were ill-equipped to investigate behavioural malpractices. Thus, when after the meeting they invited me to lunch with them in the Refectory, I accepted without hesitation. Over the lunch I was the recipient of some very interesting comments.
First was an assertion that I would now quietly join a committee on Design which was to be set up in another Division, which had yet to come into existence.
Then it was said, with considerable emphasis, that I had shown the desirable qualities necessary in a Cabinet Minister, such as Wedgewood Benn. The point about my showing Cabinet Minister qualities had been made previously and I did not take unkindly to the comment as such. The citing of Wedgewood Benn, however, bothered me greatly for it implied a Labour allegiance. This made me especially glad to have clarified that my political leanings in the covering letter to Mr. Maudling for delivery with the Report.
Finally, there were pointed references to the Duchy of Lancaster. I wasn’t sure what that meant.
[My suspicions about GEC running a campaign against me and the justification of my request for an Enquiry were confirmed years later when I got sight of the CONFIDENTIAL Electronics Division Chairman's Advisory Committee Minutes for this period. It was clear that Robert Clayton was behind the manipulations in the Electronics Division].
In the afternoon of Friday 15th, giving effect to the advice of Lord (R.A.) Butler, I delivered my Report to the Home Office, Whitehall. The Report included excerpts from management psychology literature as well as brief accounts of my meetings with Robert Maxwell, John Coales and Lord Nelson of Stafford.
Saturday 16th January 1971
I wrote accepting the offer of the post in the Management School of Hatfield Polytechnic and I reported for duty on Friday 22nd January.
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