Patrick Wall
Encyclopedia
Major
Sir Patrick Henry Bligh Wall KBE
(1981), MC
, VRD
(14 October 1916– 15 May 1998) was a British
senior commando
in the Royal Marines
during World War II
and later a Conservative
politician. He was Member of Parliament
for Haltemprice
, East Yorkshire
and subsequently for Beverley
. He was a leading figure in the Conservative Monday Club
, and a parliamentary consultant to the Western Goals Institute
. In the last decade of his life, he was President of the British UFO Research Association
(BUFORA).
. He was commissioned into the Royal Marines
in 1935 and qualified as a naval gunnery instructor. During the Second World War, he served in the Iron Duke, Valiant, and Malaya, followed by a spell at HMS Turtle, the landing craft base. In 1945, he was patrol officer and second-in-command 48 Commando RM in the British Army
on the Rhine, where he was wounded. Wall's exploits in action drew the highest commendation: "An outstanding character whose industry and devotion to duty are beyond praise. He is a very devout man, and draws real inspiration from his Roman Catholic religion. In battle and behind the line, he is an example of energy and the aggressive spirit. His aim appears to be to do as much as possible", stated his report.
He was awarded the Military Cross
in the North-West Europe
campaign, and was awarded the US Legion of Merit
the same year, for his services during the invasion operations in northern Italy and the south of France. He taught at the Royal Naval College, Greenwich in 1946, and the Joint Services Staff College from 1947 to 1948. He spent a further two years on the staff of the Commandant-General, RM. He was promoted to the rank of Major in 1949, and decided to leave the Royal marines the following year in order to enter politics.
He continued his naval connection as Commander of 47 Commando Royal Marines Voluntary reserve from 1951 to 1957, and from 1950 to 1966, was Commissioner of the Sea Scouts for London.
In 1953, Patrick Wall married Sheila Elizabeth, daughter of James Putnam, of Broadstone, Dorset
.
Council from 1953 to 1963. In the 1951 General Election
and a subsequent by-election in 1952, he stood unsuccessfully for the parliamentary seat of Cleveland
, Yorkshire. He was later elected Conservative Party
Member of Parliament for Haltemprice
1954-1983, and for Beverley
, Yorkshire 1983-1987. He was Parliamentary Private Secretary
to the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food
1955-57, and to the Chancellor of the Exchequer
1958-59. He was UK delegate to the United Nations General Assembly
in 1962, Vice-Chairman of the Parliamentary Select Committee on Defence 1965-1977, Chairman of the British-South Africa Parliamentary Group 1970-1987, on the British-Portuguese Parliamentary Group 1979-1987, and leader of the British delegation to the North Atlantic Assembly 1979-1987, of which he was President, 1983-1985.
In February 1972, in the House of Commons
Patrick Wall called for government intervention in the miners' strike saying that "initimidation and even violence by picketing miners has given rise to widespread anxiety".
During the Thatcher years, Wall reflected that Britain had "moved rapidly to the Left under Labour governments, and more slowly to the Left under successive Conservative governments".
During this period, he sat on numerous parliamentary committees, one of which recommended building a strategic airfield in the Falkland Islands after the war.
He was a friend of the Rhodesia
n Prime Minister, Ian Smith
, and fully supported him. After Rhodesia's UDI
in 1965, he joined forces with Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 5th Marquess of Salisbury
, to lead the Tory revolt against their party's support for the Labour administration's sanctions policy.
Wall believed that white rule in Southern Africa was the last bulwark against the spread of communism in the region, which he described as "this evil virus". He argued that this, in turn, would mean that the West would lose vital mineral supplies and that the oil route round the Cape would come under threat.
In 1974, Patrick Wall attacked the Labour
government's pull-out from the Simonstown naval base in South Africa
, and stated in the House of Commons
that "they" (the government) "must be insane. This is the only link NATO has with the Cape. British interests in Africa as a strategic part of the world should be maintained." In 1975, writing in the journal To The Point, Patrick Wall said "the basic philosophy of the Communist powers is to detach Southern Africa from the Western World."
A committed supporter of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), he was leader of the British delegation to the North Atlantic Assembly from 1979 - 1987. Wall was especially suspicious of the Foreign Office, which he believed had contributed to Britain's decline. He would quote an African minister's remark: "We never trust you British because you never protect your own tribe."
, sat on several of its committees, served on its Executive Council, and was National Club Chairman 1978-80. He collaborated on many papers and publications for the Club, and spoke for Club policies and concerns in the House of Commons
.
On May Day
1970, the Club held a 'Law and Liberty' rally in Trafalgar Square
where he, and several other of the Club's MPs were principal speakers. In November 1971, he and John Biggs-Davison
, joined, as observers, British troops in action in Northern Ireland
against the Irish Republican Army
(IRA).
As University Groups Parliamentary Liaison Officer, he was active in supporting the 55 Monday Club groups formed in universities and colleges. He became a target for the Left and was denounced by the Marxist-led National Union of Students. In 1968, he was attacked at Leeds University and Mrs. Wall was knocked to the ground and kicked. Speaking at Portsmouth Polytechnic
in December 1972, his meeting was broken up by a shouting group of students who pelted Patrick Wall with missiles.
In May 1974, Patrick Wall, John Biggs-Davison
, and Robert Taylor
tabled a motion in the House of Commons deploring the Labour government's decision to cancel the visit of the Royal Yacht Britannia
to Cape Town
, describing it as "vindictive and selective spite." In August Commander Anthony Courtney
, OBE
, and Patrick Wall issued a Monday Club Paper attacking the "high proportion of official Communist representatives in London, who are known to be engaged in 'legal' espionage under diplomatic cover." They warned also that Britain would become increasingly vulnerable following the opening of a Soviet Embassy in Dublin as the IRA was Marxist.
In a letter published in the Daily Telegraph in November 1974, Patrick Wall wrote "Conservatism has lost millions of votes because the man in the street no longer believes that they stand primarily for Britain's interests." He added: "to the man in the street the Conservative leadership has been more intent on crushing the Rhodesians than the IRA; more interested in the Ugandan Asians
than in maintaining the rights of Britons living abroad; more worried about Enoch Powell
than Messrs. Hugh Scanlon
and Arthur Scargill
".
Sir Patrick Wall was presented with a Fellowship Certificate of the Chartered Institute of Journalists
at a formal Reception for the occasion, held at the National Liberal Club
, London, on Wednesday July 12, 1989.
, an offshore radio
station broadcasting off the Yorkshire
coast in the 1960s. On May 11, 1967 the station gave Conservative candidates in local elections at Scarborough airtime which the candidates had paid for themselves, and on May 14 it broadcast a programme made by the York University
branch of the Monday Club, in which Patrick Wall spoke on Rhodesia
. Labour
MP Andrew Faulds
called (perhaps not entirely seriously) for the results of some municipal elections to be declared invalid because an "illegal broadcast" had been made, and Postmaster-General
Edward Short stated that "It is the first time in peacetime that this country has been subjected to a stream of misleading propaganda from outside our territorial waters and I do not think this is a matter for joking". (ref. The Times
, May 12 and May 15, 1967)
Shortly before the Marine Broadcasting Offences Act
became law later that year, Radio 270 carried a broadcast, also sponsored by the University of York Monday Club, attacking the government for closing down the pirate stations. Patrick Wall, Ronald Bell
and John Biggs-Davison
, all prominent members of the Monday Club, took part. John Biggs-Davison stated that he felt that many Labour supporters would also regret the Act, claiming that "concern for freedom is not confined to one party and a voice of freedom will have been silenced when Radio 270 goes off the air". Patrick Wall said that "I think it is monstrous that private enterprise radio stations are being closed, and even more monstrous that the Government are not setting up an adequate alternative to cater for the amusement that many people want to hear. Indeed, I have had more letters on this subject than on any other in the 13 years I have been MP for Haltemprice". (ref. The Times, August 11, 1967)
Eventually, the Tory party would bring about deregulation of the media (see Broadcasting Act 1990
) such as was being called for, but paradoxically some Tory traditionalists would express a distaste for the aftereffects.
From 1976 until its success in 1981 Patrick Wall was also a strong supporter of the campaign for the legalisation of Citizens' Band Radio in the UK
, and was one of the most influential members of the House of Commons ad hoc Committee on CB.
Major
Major is a rank of commissioned officer, with corresponding ranks existing in almost every military in the world.When used unhyphenated, in conjunction with no other indicator of rank, the term refers to the rank just senior to that of an Army captain and just below the rank of lieutenant colonel. ...
Sir Patrick Henry Bligh Wall KBE
Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...
(1981), MC
Military Cross
The Military Cross is the third-level military decoration awarded to officers and other ranks of the British Armed Forces; and formerly also to officers of other Commonwealth countries....
, VRD
Volunteer Reserve Decoration
The Volunteer Reserve Decoration was awarded to commissioned officers in the United Kingdom's Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve for long service and good conduct.The VRD was established in 1908...
(14 October 1916– 15 May 1998) was a British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
senior commando
Commando
In English, the term commando means a specific kind of individual soldier or military unit. In contemporary usage, commando usually means elite light infantry and/or special operations forces units, specializing in amphibious landings, parachuting, rappelling and similar techniques, to conduct and...
in the Royal Marines
Royal Marines
The Corps of Her Majesty's Royal Marines, commonly just referred to as the Royal Marines , are the marine corps and amphibious infantry of the United Kingdom and, along with the Royal Navy and Royal Fleet Auxiliary, form the Naval Service...
during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
and later a Conservative
Conservative Party (UK)
The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
politician. He was Member of Parliament
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
for Haltemprice
Haltemprice (UK Parliament constituency)
Haltemprice was a constituency in the East Riding of Yorkshire, a traditional sub-division of the historic county of Yorkshire. It returned one Member of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom...
, East Yorkshire
East Yorkshire
East Yorkshire could be:*East Yorkshire Motor Services*An alternative name for the East Riding of Yorkshire*East Yorkshire , a former district of Humberside*East Yorkshire...
and subsequently for Beverley
Beverley (UK Parliament constituency)
Beverley has been the name of a parliamentary constituency in the East Riding of Yorkshire for three separate periods. From medieval times until 1869, it was a parliamentary borough, consisting solely of the market town of Beverley, which returned two Members of Parliament to the House of Commons...
. He was a leading figure in the Conservative Monday Club
Conservative Monday Club
The Conservative Monday Club is a British pressure group "on the right-wing" of the Conservative Party.-Overview:...
, and a parliamentary consultant to the Western Goals Institute
Western Goals Institute
The Western Goals Institute was a conservative pressure group in Britain, re-formed in 1989 from Western Goals UK, which originated in 1985 as an offshoot of the U.S. Western Goals Foundation...
. In the last decade of his life, he was President of the British UFO Research Association
British UFO Research Association
The British UFO Research Association or BUFORA is a UK organisation formerly registered as "BUFORA Ltd"; dedicated to investigating UFO phenomenon in the British Isles...
(BUFORA).
Education and military career
The son of Henry Benedict Wall, Patrick Wall was educated at Downside SchoolDownside School
Downside School is a co-educational Catholic independent school for children aged 11 to 18, located in Stratton-on-the-Fosse, between Norton Radstock and Shepton Mallet in Somerset, south west England. It is attached to Downside Abbey...
. He was commissioned into the Royal Marines
Royal Marines
The Corps of Her Majesty's Royal Marines, commonly just referred to as the Royal Marines , are the marine corps and amphibious infantry of the United Kingdom and, along with the Royal Navy and Royal Fleet Auxiliary, form the Naval Service...
in 1935 and qualified as a naval gunnery instructor. During the Second World War, he served in the Iron Duke, Valiant, and Malaya, followed by a spell at HMS Turtle, the landing craft base. In 1945, he was patrol officer and second-in-command 48 Commando RM in the British Army
British Army
The British Army is the land warfare branch of Her Majesty's Armed Forces in the United Kingdom. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdom of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England...
on the Rhine, where he was wounded. Wall's exploits in action drew the highest commendation: "An outstanding character whose industry and devotion to duty are beyond praise. He is a very devout man, and draws real inspiration from his Roman Catholic religion. In battle and behind the line, he is an example of energy and the aggressive spirit. His aim appears to be to do as much as possible", stated his report.
He was awarded the Military Cross
Military Cross
The Military Cross is the third-level military decoration awarded to officers and other ranks of the British Armed Forces; and formerly also to officers of other Commonwealth countries....
in the North-West Europe
North-West Europe
North-West Europe is a term that refers to a northern area of Western Europe, although the exact area or countries it comprises varies.-Geographic definition:...
campaign, and was awarded the US Legion of Merit
Legion of Merit
The Legion of Merit is a military decoration of the United States armed forces that is awarded for exceptionally meritorious conduct in the performance of outstanding services and achievements...
the same year, for his services during the invasion operations in northern Italy and the south of France. He taught at the Royal Naval College, Greenwich in 1946, and the Joint Services Staff College from 1947 to 1948. He spent a further two years on the staff of the Commandant-General, RM. He was promoted to the rank of Major in 1949, and decided to leave the Royal marines the following year in order to enter politics.
He continued his naval connection as Commander of 47 Commando Royal Marines Voluntary reserve from 1951 to 1957, and from 1950 to 1966, was Commissioner of the Sea Scouts for London.
In 1953, Patrick Wall married Sheila Elizabeth, daughter of James Putnam, of Broadstone, Dorset
Dorset
Dorset , is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The county town is Dorchester which is situated in the south. The Hampshire towns of Bournemouth and Christchurch joined the county with the reorganisation of local government in 1974...
.
Political career
Patrick Wall was a councillor on the City of WestminsterCity of Westminster
The City of Westminster is a London borough occupying much of the central area of London, England, including most of the West End. It is located to the west of and adjoining the ancient City of London, directly to the east of the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, and its southern boundary...
Council from 1953 to 1963. In the 1951 General Election
United Kingdom general election, 1951
The 1951 United Kingdom general election was held eighteen months after the 1950 general election, which the Labour Party had won with a slim majority of just five seats...
and a subsequent by-election in 1952, he stood unsuccessfully for the parliamentary seat of Cleveland
Cleveland (UK Parliament constituency)
Cleveland was a county constituency in the North Riding of Yorkshire.-Electorate:It returned one Member of Parliament to the British House of Commons, using the first past the post voting system...
, Yorkshire. He was later elected Conservative Party
Conservative Party (UK)
The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
Member of Parliament for Haltemprice
Haltemprice (UK Parliament constituency)
Haltemprice was a constituency in the East Riding of Yorkshire, a traditional sub-division of the historic county of Yorkshire. It returned one Member of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom...
1954-1983, and for Beverley
Beverley (UK Parliament constituency)
Beverley has been the name of a parliamentary constituency in the East Riding of Yorkshire for three separate periods. From medieval times until 1869, it was a parliamentary borough, consisting solely of the market town of Beverley, which returned two Members of Parliament to the House of Commons...
, Yorkshire 1983-1987. He was Parliamentary Private Secretary
Parliamentary Private Secretary
A Parliamentary Private Secretary is a role given to a United Kingdom Member of Parliament by a senior minister in government or shadow minister to act as their contact for the House of Commons; this role is junior to that of Parliamentary Under-Secretary, which is a ministerial post, salaried by...
to the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food
Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food
The Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food was a UK cabinet position, responsible for the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food. The post was originally named President of the Board of Agriculture and was created in 1889...
1955-57, and to the Chancellor of the Exchequer
Chancellor of the Exchequer
The Chancellor of the Exchequer is the title held by the British Cabinet minister who is responsible for all economic and financial matters. Often simply called the Chancellor, the office-holder controls HM Treasury and plays a role akin to the posts of Minister of Finance or Secretary of the...
1958-59. He was UK delegate to the United Nations General Assembly
United Nations General Assembly
For two articles dealing with membership in the General Assembly, see:* General Assembly members* General Assembly observersThe United Nations General Assembly is one of the five principal organs of the United Nations and the only one in which all member nations have equal representation...
in 1962, Vice-Chairman of the Parliamentary Select Committee on Defence 1965-1977, Chairman of the British-South Africa Parliamentary Group 1970-1987, on the British-Portuguese Parliamentary Group 1979-1987, and leader of the British delegation to the North Atlantic Assembly 1979-1987, of which he was President, 1983-1985.
In February 1972, in the House of Commons
British House of Commons
The House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, which also comprises the Sovereign and the House of Lords . Both Commons and Lords meet in the Palace of Westminster. The Commons is a democratically elected body, consisting of 650 members , who are known as Members...
Patrick Wall called for government intervention in the miners' strike saying that "initimidation and even violence by picketing miners has given rise to widespread anxiety".
During the Thatcher years, Wall reflected that Britain had "moved rapidly to the Left under Labour governments, and more slowly to the Left under successive Conservative governments".
During this period, he sat on numerous parliamentary committees, one of which recommended building a strategic airfield in the Falkland Islands after the war.
Views on Africa and communism
Patrick Wall chaired several party committees concerned with Africa. He defended the British colonial record and was convinced of the benefits of white rule in Rhodesia and South Africa. In 1960, he claimed that the colonial problem arose not from differences in colour, but from differences in standards. "What we have to do is to work as hard as we can by raising the standards of the black Africans to ensure that we level up and do not take the easy way out by levelling down. Progress in Central Africa depends on the maintenance of standards and I believe we owe it, not only to our kith and kin, but to the vast mass of as yet uneducated black Africans for whom we are trustees, to see that the existing standards in Central Africa are not debased." (cf. Reeves, p. 116).He was a friend of the Rhodesia
Rhodesia
Rhodesia , officially the Republic of Rhodesia from 1970, was an unrecognised state located in southern Africa that existed between 1965 and 1979 following its Unilateral Declaration of Independence from the United Kingdom on 11 November 1965...
n Prime Minister, Ian Smith
Ian Smith
Ian Douglas Smith GCLM ID was a politician active in the government of Southern Rhodesia, the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland, Rhodesia, Zimbabwe Rhodesia and Zimbabwe from 1948 to 1987, most notably serving as Prime Minister of Rhodesia from 13 April 1964 to 1 June 1979...
, and fully supported him. After Rhodesia's UDI
Unilateral Declaration of Independence (Rhodesia)
The Unilateral Declaration of Independence of Rhodesia from the United Kingdom was signed on November 11, 1965, by the administration of Ian Smith, whose Rhodesian Front party opposed black majority rule in the then British colony. Although it declared independence from the United Kingdom it...
in 1965, he joined forces with Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 5th Marquess of Salisbury
Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 5th Marquess of Salisbury
Robert Arthur James Gascoyne-Cecil, 5th Marquess of Salisbury, KG, PC , known as Viscount Cranborne from 1903 to 1947, was a British Conservative politician.-Background:...
, to lead the Tory revolt against their party's support for the Labour administration's sanctions policy.
Wall believed that white rule in Southern Africa was the last bulwark against the spread of communism in the region, which he described as "this evil virus". He argued that this, in turn, would mean that the West would lose vital mineral supplies and that the oil route round the Cape would come under threat.
In 1974, Patrick Wall attacked the Labour
Labour Party (UK)
The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...
government's pull-out from the Simonstown naval base in South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
, and stated in the House of Commons
British House of Commons
The House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, which also comprises the Sovereign and the House of Lords . Both Commons and Lords meet in the Palace of Westminster. The Commons is a democratically elected body, consisting of 650 members , who are known as Members...
that "they" (the government) "must be insane. This is the only link NATO has with the Cape. British interests in Africa as a strategic part of the world should be maintained." In 1975, writing in the journal To The Point, Patrick Wall said "the basic philosophy of the Communist powers is to detach Southern Africa from the Western World."
A committed supporter of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), he was leader of the British delegation to the North Atlantic Assembly from 1979 - 1987. Wall was especially suspicious of the Foreign Office, which he believed had contributed to Britain's decline. He would quote an African minister's remark: "We never trust you British because you never protect your own tribe."
Monday Club
Sir Patrick Wall was an early member (1963) of the Conservative Monday ClubConservative Monday Club
The Conservative Monday Club is a British pressure group "on the right-wing" of the Conservative Party.-Overview:...
, sat on several of its committees, served on its Executive Council, and was National Club Chairman 1978-80. He collaborated on many papers and publications for the Club, and spoke for Club policies and concerns in the House of Commons
British House of Commons
The House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, which also comprises the Sovereign and the House of Lords . Both Commons and Lords meet in the Palace of Westminster. The Commons is a democratically elected body, consisting of 650 members , who are known as Members...
.
On May Day
May Day
May Day on May 1 is an ancient northern hemisphere spring festival and usually a public holiday; it is also a traditional spring holiday in many cultures....
1970, the Club held a 'Law and Liberty' rally in Trafalgar Square
Trafalgar Square
Trafalgar Square is a public space and tourist attraction in central London, England, United Kingdom. At its centre is Nelson's Column, which is guarded by four lion statues at its base. There are a number of statues and sculptures in the square, with one plinth displaying changing pieces of...
where he, and several other of the Club's MPs were principal speakers. In November 1971, he and John Biggs-Davison
John Biggs-Davison
Sir John Alec Biggs-Davison was a Conservative Member of Parliament in the United Kingdom for Chigwell from 1955 and then, after boundary changes in 1974, Epping Forest until his death. He was a leading figure in the Conservative Monday Club.-Early years:The son of Major John Norman Biggs-Davison,...
, joined, as observers, British troops in action in Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland is one of the four countries of the United Kingdom. Situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, it shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west...
against the Irish Republican Army
Irish Republican Army
The Irish Republican Army was an Irish republican revolutionary military organisation. It was descended from the Irish Volunteers, an organisation established on 25 November 1913 that staged the Easter Rising in April 1916...
(IRA).
As University Groups Parliamentary Liaison Officer, he was active in supporting the 55 Monday Club groups formed in universities and colleges. He became a target for the Left and was denounced by the Marxist-led National Union of Students. In 1968, he was attacked at Leeds University and Mrs. Wall was knocked to the ground and kicked. Speaking at Portsmouth Polytechnic
University of Portsmouth
The University of Portsmouth is a university in Portsmouth, Hampshire, England. The University was ranked 60th out of 122 in The Sunday Times University Guide...
in December 1972, his meeting was broken up by a shouting group of students who pelted Patrick Wall with missiles.
In May 1974, Patrick Wall, John Biggs-Davison
John Biggs-Davison
Sir John Alec Biggs-Davison was a Conservative Member of Parliament in the United Kingdom for Chigwell from 1955 and then, after boundary changes in 1974, Epping Forest until his death. He was a leading figure in the Conservative Monday Club.-Early years:The son of Major John Norman Biggs-Davison,...
, and Robert Taylor
Robert Taylor (UK politician)
Robert George Taylor was Conservative Member of Parliament for Croydon North West, South London from 1970 until his death in 1981, which triggered the Croydon North West by-election in which the Tories lost the seat to Liberal MP Bill Pitt.- External links :...
tabled a motion in the House of Commons deploring the Labour government's decision to cancel the visit of the Royal Yacht Britannia
HMY Britannia
Her Majesty's Yacht Britannia is the former Royal Yacht of the British monarch, Queen Elizabeth II. She was the 83rd such vessel since the restoration of King Charles II in 1660. She is the second Royal yacht to bear the name, the first being the famous racing cutter built for The Prince of Wales...
to Cape Town
Cape Town
Cape Town is the second-most populous city in South Africa, and the provincial capital and primate city of the Western Cape. As the seat of the National Parliament, it is also the legislative capital of the country. It forms part of the City of Cape Town metropolitan municipality...
, describing it as "vindictive and selective spite." In August Commander Anthony Courtney
Anthony Courtney
Commander Anthony Tosswill Courtney, OBE, RN was a British Royal Navy officer and politician. While a Member of Parliament, he was a victim of a plot apparently instituted by the KGB to discredit him, which appeared to contribute to the loss of his seat...
, OBE
Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...
, and Patrick Wall issued a Monday Club Paper attacking the "high proportion of official Communist representatives in London, who are known to be engaged in 'legal' espionage under diplomatic cover." They warned also that Britain would become increasingly vulnerable following the opening of a Soviet Embassy in Dublin as the IRA was Marxist.
In a letter published in the Daily Telegraph in November 1974, Patrick Wall wrote "Conservatism has lost millions of votes because the man in the street no longer believes that they stand primarily for Britain's interests." He added: "to the man in the street the Conservative leadership has been more intent on crushing the Rhodesians than the IRA; more interested in the Ugandan Asians
Indians in Uganda
There are currently over 12,000 people of Indian origin living in Uganda, but this is a far cry from their heyday. In the late 1890s, over 30,000 Indians, mostly Sikhs, were brought on 3 year contracts to build the Uganda Railway from Mombasa to Kisumu by 1901, and to Kampala by 1931. Some died,...
than in maintaining the rights of Britons living abroad; more worried about Enoch Powell
Enoch Powell
John Enoch Powell, MBE was a British politician, classical scholar, poet, writer, and soldier. He served as a Conservative Party MP and Minister of Health . He attained most prominence in 1968, when he made the controversial Rivers of Blood speech in opposition to mass immigration from...
than Messrs. Hugh Scanlon
Hugh Scanlon
Hugh Parr Scanlon, Baron Scanlon was a British trade union leader.Scanlon was born in Melbourne, Australia to parents who had emigrated from Britain...
and Arthur Scargill
Arthur Scargill
Arthur Scargill is a British politician who was President of the National Union of Mineworkers from 1982 to 2002, leading the union through the 1984–85 miners' strike, a key event in British labour and political history...
".
Sir Patrick Wall was presented with a Fellowship Certificate of the Chartered Institute of Journalists
Chartered Institute of Journalists
The Chartered Institute of Journalists is a professional association for journalists and is the senior such body in the UK and the oldest in the world. It was founded as the National Association of Journalists at a meeting at the Grand Hotel in Birmingham in October 1884, to promote and advance...
at a formal Reception for the occasion, held at the National Liberal Club
National Liberal Club
The National Liberal Club, known to its members as the NLC, is a London gentlemen's club, now also open to women, which was established by William Ewart Gladstone in 1882 for the purpose of providing club facilities for Liberal Party campaigners among the newly-enlarged electorate after the Third...
, London, on Wednesday July 12, 1989.
Connection to offshore and citizens' band (CB) radio
Patrick Wall was one of a number of Tory MPs associated with Radio 270Radio 270
Radio 270 was a pirate radio station serving Yorkshire and the North East of England from 1966 to 1967. It broadcast from a converted Dutch lugger called Oceaan 7 positioned in international waters off Scarborough, North Yorkshire.-Origins :...
, an offshore radio
Offshore radio
Offshore radio is radio broadcasting from ships or fixed maritime structures, usually in international waters. The claimed first wireless broadcast of music and speech for the purpose of entertainment was transmitted from a Royal Naval craft, the HMS Andromeda, in 1907...
station broadcasting off the Yorkshire
Yorkshire
Yorkshire is a historic county of northern England and the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its great size in comparison to other English counties, functions have been increasingly undertaken over time by its subdivisions, which have also been subject to periodic reform...
coast in the 1960s. On May 11, 1967 the station gave Conservative candidates in local elections at Scarborough airtime which the candidates had paid for themselves, and on May 14 it broadcast a programme made by the York University
University of York
The University of York , is an academic institution located in the city of York, England. Established in 1963, the campus university has expanded to more than thirty departments and centres, covering a wide range of subjects...
branch of the Monday Club, in which Patrick Wall spoke on Rhodesia
Rhodesia
Rhodesia , officially the Republic of Rhodesia from 1970, was an unrecognised state located in southern Africa that existed between 1965 and 1979 following its Unilateral Declaration of Independence from the United Kingdom on 11 November 1965...
. Labour
Labour Party (UK)
The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...
MP Andrew Faulds
Andrew Faulds
Andrew Matthew William Faulds was a British actor and politician.Born in Isoko, Tanganyika , to missionary parents, Faulds married Bunty Whitfield in 1945...
called (perhaps not entirely seriously) for the results of some municipal elections to be declared invalid because an "illegal broadcast" had been made, and Postmaster-General
United Kingdom Postmaster General
The Postmaster General of the United Kingdom is a defunct Cabinet-level ministerial position in HM Government. Aside from maintaining the postal system, the Telegraph Act of 1868 established the Postmaster General's right to exclusively maintain electric telegraphs...
Edward Short stated that "It is the first time in peacetime that this country has been subjected to a stream of misleading propaganda from outside our territorial waters and I do not think this is a matter for joking". (ref. The Times
The Times
The Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...
, May 12 and May 15, 1967)
Shortly before the Marine Broadcasting Offences Act
Marine Broadcasting Offences Act
The Marine, &c., Broadcasting Act 1967 c.41, shortened to Marine Broadcasting Offences Act, became law in the United Kingdom at midnight on Monday, August 14, 1967 and was repealed by the...
became law later that year, Radio 270 carried a broadcast, also sponsored by the University of York Monday Club, attacking the government for closing down the pirate stations. Patrick Wall, Ronald Bell
Ronald Bell (UK politician)
Sir Ronald McMillan Bell, , QC , Knight Bachelor , was a Conservative Party Member of Parliament in the United Kingdom representing South Buckinghamshire from 1950 to 1974 and Beaconsfield from 1974 to 1982.-Family and education:The younger son of John Bell, Ronald was educated at Cardiff High...
and John Biggs-Davison
John Biggs-Davison
Sir John Alec Biggs-Davison was a Conservative Member of Parliament in the United Kingdom for Chigwell from 1955 and then, after boundary changes in 1974, Epping Forest until his death. He was a leading figure in the Conservative Monday Club.-Early years:The son of Major John Norman Biggs-Davison,...
, all prominent members of the Monday Club, took part. John Biggs-Davison stated that he felt that many Labour supporters would also regret the Act, claiming that "concern for freedom is not confined to one party and a voice of freedom will have been silenced when Radio 270 goes off the air". Patrick Wall said that "I think it is monstrous that private enterprise radio stations are being closed, and even more monstrous that the Government are not setting up an adequate alternative to cater for the amusement that many people want to hear. Indeed, I have had more letters on this subject than on any other in the 13 years I have been MP for Haltemprice". (ref. The Times, August 11, 1967)
Eventually, the Tory party would bring about deregulation of the media (see Broadcasting Act 1990
Broadcasting Act 1990
The Broadcasting Act 1990 is a law of the British parliament, often regarded by both its supporters and its critics as a quintessential example of Thatcherism. The aim of the Act was to reform the entire structure of British broadcasting; British television, in particular, had earlier been...
) such as was being called for, but paradoxically some Tory traditionalists would express a distaste for the aftereffects.
From 1976 until its success in 1981 Patrick Wall was also a strong supporter of the campaign for the legalisation of Citizens' Band Radio in the UK
CB radio in the United Kingdom
Citizens Band radio is a system of short-distance radio communications between individuals on a selection of 40 channels within the 27-MHz band. In the United Kingdom, CB radio was first legally introduced in 1981, but had been used illegally for some years prior.In December 2006, CB radio was...
, and was one of the most influential members of the House of Commons ad hoc Committee on CB.
Honours and awards
- Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire (1981)
- Military CrossMilitary CrossThe Military Cross is the third-level military decoration awarded to officers and other ranks of the British Armed Forces; and formerly also to officers of other Commonwealth countries....
1945 - Legion of MeritLegion of MeritThe Legion of Merit is a military decoration of the United States armed forces that is awarded for exceptionally meritorious conduct in the performance of outstanding services and achievements...
(United States) 1945 - Volunteer Reserve DecorationVolunteer Reserve DecorationThe Volunteer Reserve Decoration was awarded to commissioned officers in the United Kingdom's Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve for long service and good conduct.The VRD was established in 1908...
Publications
- Wall, Patrick, Soviet Maritime Thrust Monday Club, London (P/B).
- Wall, Patrick, Southern Ocean and the Security of the Free World.
- Wall, Patrick, M. C., V. R. D., M. P., with John P. P. Smith, Student Power Monday Club, London, 1968, (P/B).
- Wall, Patrick, M. C.,M. P., with John Biggs-DavisonJohn Biggs-DavisonSir John Alec Biggs-Davison was a Conservative Member of Parliament in the United Kingdom for Chigwell from 1955 and then, after boundary changes in 1974, Epping Forest until his death. He was a leading figure in the Conservative Monday Club.-Early years:The son of Major John Norman Biggs-Davison,...
, M. P., Julian Amery, M. P., Stephen Hastings, M. C.,M. P., Harold SorefHarold SorefHarold Benjamin Soref was twice a Conservative parliamentary candidate before being elected Member of Parliament in the United Kingdom for Ormskirk, Lancashire, in the 1970 General Election. He subsequently lost that seat to Labour in February 1974...
, M. P., Rhodesia and the Threat to the West, Monday Club, London, 1976, (P/B).
Archives
- Wall, Sir Patrick: Papers held at the Hull History Centre Archives. http://www.hullhistorycentre.org.uk/discover/hullhistorycentre/ourcollections.aspx