> >
> >>Did anyone ask if he was a Soviet mole?
> >>
> >
> >
> > I'm sure I'm not the only one who was thinking about it, but no -
> nobody
> > asked. Personally I don't think he was a mole. He left the party in
> 1939
> > over the von Ribbentrop pact, had an honourable war record, and could
> never
> > have been Minister of Defence if there had been any serious doubts
> about him
> > (unless MI6 were playing a very risky game indeed).
> >
> > Incidentally, at 93 he is almost unrecognisably different from the
> jolly
> > silly billy of the 70s.
>
> Still, he (almost) singlehandedly stopped the TSR2 programme that was
> acknowledged to put us at least 25 years ahead of the game at the time.
> Could have had Ronnie's Star Wars effect 30 year earlier. Can't help
> but be suspicious and I really don't know if I could resist asking,
> given the opportunity.
>
Pointless - even if he'd heard you, there's only one answer he would have
given.
There were a few farcical elements to the evening.
He didn't want to hold a microphone so it was put on a stand that was too
far from him to pick up his speech properly, so few people could hear what
he was saying, and because of the size of the hall he couldn't hear what
people were asking. This meant a lot of shouting and misunderstanding.
One of the guests was the curator from the IWM who gave a talk a few weeks
ago (she curated the McCullin exhibition in Manchester). She was asking him
about photos he took during the war, when he illegally and riskily carried a
camera, and wanted to come to his house to see them. He didn't appear to
have the foggiest idea who she was, and seemed distinctly nonplussed by her
inviting herself like that.
He was showing slides, using a remote control which the RPS had provided to
change. Unforunately, the hall we were in had remote controlled window
blinds, so every time Healey clicked to change a slide, the window blinds
went up and down. He didn't seem to notice, and rambled on regardless while
the people in charge used their remote to try and get the blinds down again,
which changed the slide as well... It was like Dad's Army.
Bob
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