Thatchergate
Encyclopedia
Thatchergate was the colloquial title of a hoax
perpetrated by members of the anarcho-punk
band Crass
during the aftermath of the 1982 Falklands War
. Using excerpts from speeches by Margaret Thatcher
and Ronald Reagan
, a recording was spliced together which purported to be a telephone conversation between the two leaders. During the course of the tape Reagan seems to state his intention to use Europe as a battle front to show the Soviet leaders the US
's resolve in a nuclear conflict, whilst Thatcher appears to imply that the HMS Sheffield
was deliberately sacrificed in order to escalate the Falklands war.
When the recording first surfaced into the public domain in 1983, it was initially considered by the US State Department to have been propaganda
produced by the Soviet KGB
, a story reported by both the San Francisco Chronicle
and The Sunday Times
. However, coverage of the tape by the UK broadsheet
The Observer
in January 1984 identified the true source as Crass . Crass have stated that great care was taken to ensure their anonymity, and that to this day it is a mystery as to how Observer journalist
s were able to trace the hoax back to them
Excerpts of the recording can be heard in the Crass track "Powerless with a Guitar" on the compilation LP Devastate to Liberate (Yangki - 1985 - Yangki 1).
Hoax
A hoax is a deliberately fabricated falsehood made to masquerade as truth. It is distinguishable from errors in observation or judgment, or rumors, urban legends, pseudosciences or April Fools' Day events that are passed along in good faith by believers or as jokes.-Definition:The British...
perpetrated by members of the anarcho-punk
Anarcho-punk
Anarcho-punk is punk rock that promotes anarchism. The term anarcho-punk is sometimes applied exclusively to bands that were part of the original anarcho-punk movement in the United Kingdom in the late 1970s and early 1980s...
band Crass
Crass
Crass are an English punk rock band that was formed in 1977, which promoted anarchism as a political ideology, way of living, and as a resistance movement. Crass popularised the seminal anarcho-punk movement of the punk subculture, and advocated direct action, animal rights, and environmentalism...
during the aftermath of the 1982 Falklands War
Falklands War
The Falklands War , also called the Falklands Conflict or Falklands Crisis, was fought in 1982 between Argentina and the United Kingdom over the disputed Falkland Islands and South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands...
. Using excerpts from speeches by Margaret Thatcher
Margaret Thatcher
Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher, was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990...
and Ronald Reagan
Ronald Reagan
Ronald Wilson Reagan was the 40th President of the United States , the 33rd Governor of California and, prior to that, a radio, film and television actor....
, a recording was spliced together which purported to be a telephone conversation between the two leaders. During the course of the tape Reagan seems to state his intention to use Europe as a battle front to show the Soviet leaders the US
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
's resolve in a nuclear conflict, whilst Thatcher appears to imply that the HMS Sheffield
HMS Sheffield (D80)
HMS Sheffield was the second Royal Navy ship to be named after the city of Sheffield in Yorkshire. She was a Type 42 Guided Missile Destroyer laid down by Vickers Shipbuilding and Engineering at Barrow-in-Furness on 15 January 1970, launched on 10 June 1971 and commissioned on 16 February 1975.An...
was deliberately sacrificed in order to escalate the Falklands war.
When the recording first surfaced into the public domain in 1983, it was initially considered by the US State Department to have been propaganda
Propaganda
Propaganda is a form of communication that is aimed at influencing the attitude of a community toward some cause or position so as to benefit oneself or one's group....
produced by the Soviet KGB
KGB
The KGB was the commonly used acronym for the . It was the national security agency of the Soviet Union from 1954 until 1991, and was the premier internal security, intelligence, and secret police organization during that time.The State Security Agency of the Republic of Belarus currently uses the...
, a story reported by both the San Francisco Chronicle
San Francisco Chronicle
thumb|right|upright|The Chronicle Building following the [[1906 San Francisco earthquake|1906 earthquake]] and fireThe San Francisco Chronicle is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of the U.S. state of California, but distributed throughout Northern and Central California,...
and The Sunday Times
The Sunday Times (UK)
The Sunday Times is a Sunday broadsheet newspaper, distributed in the United Kingdom. The Sunday Times is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of News International, which is in turn owned by News Corporation. Times Newspapers also owns The Times, but the two papers were founded...
. However, coverage of the tape by the UK broadsheet
Broadsheet
Broadsheet is the largest of the various newspaper formats and is characterized by long vertical pages . The term derives from types of popular prints usually just of a single sheet, sold on the streets and containing various types of material, from ballads to political satire. The first broadsheet...
The Observer
The Observer
The Observer is a British newspaper, published on Sundays. In the same place on the political spectrum as its daily sister paper The Guardian, which acquired it in 1993, it takes a liberal or social democratic line on most issues. It is the world's oldest Sunday newspaper.-Origins:The first issue,...
in January 1984 identified the true source as Crass . Crass have stated that great care was taken to ensure their anonymity, and that to this day it is a mystery as to how Observer journalist
Journalist
A journalist collects and distributes news and other information. A journalist's work is referred to as journalism.A reporter is a type of journalist who researchs, writes, and reports on information to be presented in mass media, including print media , electronic media , and digital media A...
s were able to trace the hoax back to them
Excerpts of the recording can be heard in the Crass track "Powerless with a Guitar" on the compilation LP Devastate to Liberate (Yangki - 1985 - Yangki 1).
Quotes
- Gee VaucherGee VaucherGee Vaucher is a visual artist who was born in 1945 in Dagenham, East London.Her work with Anarcho-punk band Crass was seminal to the 'protest art' of the 1980s. Vaucher has always seen her work as a tool for social change. In her collection of early works Crass Art and Other Pre Post-Modernist...
on Thatchergate; "What course that took was beyond our control, really. Not always, we controlled it. Especially the "Thatchergate tapes," that took a long time to surface. They were sent out, what, a year before that. That was good fun. That was Pete's main instigation, to do that. Feedback from that was more than we thought it would be. We just really didn't think people would be taken in by it (laughs). It just goes to show what you can do. Anything goes, really. And if it didn't, we'd have to be very meticulous about the way we did something, to make it guide up a certain route. "