Secret Government files from 1978 can now be downloaded for free from the National Archives site.

The declassified documents show that Britain was woefully unprepared for a Soviet military attack, with only enough aircraft ammunition to last two days.

At the top of a report commissioned to uncover the extent of the Soviet nuclear threat Prime Minister James Callaghan scribbled: "Heaven help us if there is a war!"

Callaghan also prevented Conservative leader Margaret Thatcher joining him and Princess Margaret in the London Palladium's Royal Box at an event to mark 50 years of women gaining the vote.

He said that "on no account" should Thatcher join him in the Box.

A Downing Street official noted: "Inquiries I have made suggest that the Royal Box at the Palladium may be of such a size that, by the time Princess Margaret and you were in, there might not be room for Mrs Thatcher. This would be ideal. . ."

One of the more amusing documents released reveals the anger felt by Hugh Carless, charge d'affaires at the British embassy in Buenos Aires, at Scotland's early elimination from the 1978 World Cup.

"In retrospect it would seem that the poor Scottish performance was due to complacency and lack of professionalism on the part of all concerned with Scottish football. They seemed provincials out of their depth in international waters," Carless wrote at the time.

Save up to £16 a year this Christmas when you subscribe to Web User!

Back to index