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| Clinton Envy, Mandela and a Horse: Glimpses From the U.K. Archives | |
| (about 1 hour later) | |
| LONDON — Every year, the British public gains access to declassified cables and sensitive memos from the top tiers of the government: glimpses of diplomatic outposts around the world, ministers’ thoughts scribbled in margins, and disputes between famous leaders, released by the country’s National Archives. | LONDON — Every year, the British public gains access to declassified cables and sensitive memos from the top tiers of the government: glimpses of diplomatic outposts around the world, ministers’ thoughts scribbled in margins, and disputes between famous leaders, released by the country’s National Archives. |
| And sometimes, the public gets to see notes about a horse. | And sometimes, the public gets to see notes about a horse. |
| The National Archives on Friday released a new batch of documents, mostly from 1994, that tell of internet anxiety at the prime minister’s office, Margaret Thatcher’s thoughts of Nelson Mandela and the journey of a stallion from Turkmenistan to London. | The National Archives on Friday released a new batch of documents, mostly from 1994, that tell of internet anxiety at the prime minister’s office, Margaret Thatcher’s thoughts of Nelson Mandela and the journey of a stallion from Turkmenistan to London. |
| Not all the files were immediately available online, but most were reviewed by journalists earlier this month. | Not all the files were immediately available online, but most were reviewed by journalists earlier this month. |
| The National Archives keep these files under lock and key and releases them periodically, as their confidential status expires. Here’s some of this year’s trove: | The National Archives keep these files under lock and key and releases them periodically, as their confidential status expires. Here’s some of this year’s trove: |
| In 1994, internal memos advocated that 10 Downing Street embrace the internet, to bring the prime minister up to speed with President Bill Clinton’s White House, which was already posting public announcements online. | In 1994, internal memos advocated that 10 Downing Street embrace the internet, to bring the prime minister up to speed with President Bill Clinton’s White House, which was already posting public announcements online. |
| “Connecting No. 10 with the internet would keep us up with the White House, which has made a big thing of the modern way the Clinton/Gore administration deals with communications,” wrote a government official, Damian Green, to the private secretary of Prime Minister John Major, according to The Guardian. | “Connecting No. 10 with the internet would keep us up with the White House, which has made a big thing of the modern way the Clinton/Gore administration deals with communications,” wrote a government official, Damian Green, to the private secretary of Prime Minister John Major, according to The Guardian. |
| “Internet users will be a growing group of opinion-formers, and I can just imagine Tony Blair showing how he belongs to a new generation by signing up,” Mr. Green wrote, referring to the young leader of the opposition — who took over the government in the next election. | “Internet users will be a growing group of opinion-formers, and I can just imagine Tony Blair showing how he belongs to a new generation by signing up,” Mr. Green wrote, referring to the young leader of the opposition — who took over the government in the next election. |
| Mr. Green, recently an important aide to the current prime minister, Theresa May, was dismissed in 2017 after admitting he lied about the presence of pornographic images on his work computer. | Mr. Green, recently an important aide to the current prime minister, Theresa May, was dismissed in 2017 after admitting he lied about the presence of pornographic images on his work computer. |
| Several files in this year’s release deal with Britain’s troubled relationship with the European Union, and the prominence of British voices skeptical of the direction the bloc was taking. | Several files in this year’s release deal with Britain’s troubled relationship with the European Union, and the prominence of British voices skeptical of the direction the bloc was taking. |
| In December 1994, Mr. Major’s government discussed a referendum on European Union issues, including the adoption of the euro as a single currency. (Britain never agreed to adopt it.) | In December 1994, Mr. Major’s government discussed a referendum on European Union issues, including the adoption of the euro as a single currency. (Britain never agreed to adopt it.) |
| “A referendum should not be ruled out,” notes from the cabinet meeting reviewed by The Guardian said. But the ministers could not settle on a referendum question and expressed frustration about the complexity of the bloc’s affairs. The reasons for the European Union’s name itself, another note complained, were “clear as mud.” | “A referendum should not be ruled out,” notes from the cabinet meeting reviewed by The Guardian said. But the ministers could not settle on a referendum question and expressed frustration about the complexity of the bloc’s affairs. The reasons for the European Union’s name itself, another note complained, were “clear as mud.” |
| Correspondence in the files described attempts to tone down anti-European comments by Margaret Thatcher, then a member of the House of Lords, amid debates on the Maastricht Treaty, which laid the ground for the shared currency and closer foreign policy and defense cooperation among European Union members. | Correspondence in the files described attempts to tone down anti-European comments by Margaret Thatcher, then a member of the House of Lords, amid debates on the Maastricht Treaty, which laid the ground for the shared currency and closer foreign policy and defense cooperation among European Union members. |
| The memos released from Mrs. Thatcher’s time as prime minister shed light on British diplomacy as South Africa dismantled apartheid and organized a democracy in the 1990s. | The memos released from Mrs. Thatcher’s time as prime minister shed light on British diplomacy as South Africa dismantled apartheid and organized a democracy in the 1990s. |
| After her first phone conversation with Nelson Mandela, the leader of South Africa’s emancipation movement and later the president, Mrs. Thatcher was disappointed, saying Mr. Mandela “seemed to have a rather closed mind,” according to a memo by her private secretary. | After her first phone conversation with Nelson Mandela, the leader of South Africa’s emancipation movement and later the president, Mrs. Thatcher was disappointed, saying Mr. Mandela “seemed to have a rather closed mind,” according to a memo by her private secretary. |
| Mr. Mandela, recently released from prison in South Africa, was traveling to Canada after meeting with European heads of state. On a layover in Britain, the memo said, he contacted Mrs. Thatcher’s private secretary “out of the blue,” and requested a last-minute meeting with the prime minister. | Mr. Mandela, recently released from prison in South Africa, was traveling to Canada after meeting with European heads of state. On a layover in Britain, the memo said, he contacted Mrs. Thatcher’s private secretary “out of the blue,” and requested a last-minute meeting with the prime minister. |
| Mr. Mandela pressed European nations to continue economic sanctions on South Africa’s government, in order to maintain pressure to end apartheid. Instead of a meeting, he obtained the phone conversation. | Mr. Mandela pressed European nations to continue economic sanctions on South Africa’s government, in order to maintain pressure to end apartheid. Instead of a meeting, he obtained the phone conversation. |
| In 1994, Mr. Major, the prime minister at the time, was given a horse from President Saparmurat Niyazov of Turkmenistan, who The New York Times once described as being “fond of horseflesh diplomacy.” | In 1994, Mr. Major, the prime minister at the time, was given a horse from President Saparmurat Niyazov of Turkmenistan, who The New York Times once described as being “fond of horseflesh diplomacy.” |
| The horse’s long journey through Russia to its new home in Britain was chronicled in a diplomatic cable from Moscow, which painted the absurdity of Soviet-style bureaucracy in the early 1990s. The system was described as “worthy of Gogol” by Mr. Major’s private secretary, Roderic Lyne, in a reference to the Russian writer known for his mockery of Russian bureaucracy 150 years earlier. | The horse’s long journey through Russia to its new home in Britain was chronicled in a diplomatic cable from Moscow, which painted the absurdity of Soviet-style bureaucracy in the early 1990s. The system was described as “worthy of Gogol” by Mr. Major’s private secretary, Roderic Lyne, in a reference to the Russian writer known for his mockery of Russian bureaucracy 150 years earlier. |
| Scenes from the cable included the entire staff of a customs post in Moscow playing poker in a “maze of ceiling-high packing cases in the enormous warehouse”; a receptionist close to tears recalling the tale of the Finnish ambassador’s parrot, the only other animal the post had dealt with; and the official who refused to stick a customs sticker on a railway carriage full of horse manure. | Scenes from the cable included the entire staff of a customs post in Moscow playing poker in a “maze of ceiling-high packing cases in the enormous warehouse”; a receptionist close to tears recalling the tale of the Finnish ambassador’s parrot, the only other animal the post had dealt with; and the official who refused to stick a customs sticker on a railway carriage full of horse manure. |
| It also gave colorful details of the horse’s railway journey through the former Soviet Union. The grooms accompanying the horse, the cable said, carried “countless sacks of potatoes, onions, carrots and at least 200 large yellow melons,” as wares to buy their tickets back to Turkmenistan. | It also gave colorful details of the horse’s railway journey through the former Soviet Union. The grooms accompanying the horse, the cable said, carried “countless sacks of potatoes, onions, carrots and at least 200 large yellow melons,” as wares to buy their tickets back to Turkmenistan. |
| Mr. Major possibly never even saw Maksat, the stallion, when it finally arrived in Britain in 1995. He gave it to the Household Cavalry, which provides the queen’s horse guards, and it was eventually transferred to Wales. | Mr. Major possibly never even saw Maksat, the stallion, when it finally arrived in Britain in 1995. He gave it to the Household Cavalry, which provides the queen’s horse guards, and it was eventually transferred to Wales. |
| A stable owner there, Lorna Winn-Jones, told the news site Wales Online in 2012 that Maksat “still belongs to John Major in the sense that he was given to him but he doesn’t visit.” | A stable owner there, Lorna Winn-Jones, told the news site Wales Online in 2012 that Maksat “still belongs to John Major in the sense that he was given to him but he doesn’t visit.” |