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ID: 164576

Road to Pergau Dam: aid policy, ideology, and the thatcher government / Ledger, Robert

Ledger, Robert	Journal Article
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Summary/Abstract

This analysis charts the changes in British aid policy under the Margaret Thatcher government (1979–1990). In particular, it examines the impact of so-called neo-liberal ideology in overseas development strategy in an era where “structural adjustment”—aid in return for market-based reforms—became World Bank and International Monetary Fund orthodoxy. There is some evidence to show British increases in multilateral aid during the 1980s supported a neo-liberal aid policy. Bilateral aid policy, however, demonstrated a subordination of aid to foreign policy and a pro-business—not ideologically pro-market or neo-liberal—alignment. One of the results of these structural changes was the Pergau Dam scandal at the end of the Thatcher years.

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Ideology ; Aid Policy ; Thatcher Government ; Pergau Dam

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ID: 154855

Spycatcher’s little sister: the thatcher government and the Panorama affair, 1980–1981 / Craig, Malcolm M

Craig, Malcolm M	Journal Article
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This article investigates the Thatcher government’s attempts to suppress or censor reporting on secret intelligence issues in the early 1980s. It examines official reactions to a BBC intrusion into the secret world, as the long-running Panorama documentary strand analysed the role and accountability of Britain’s clandestine services. It also assesses the extent of collusion between the government and the BBC’s senior management. The Panorama affair was an important waypoint on the journey towards the dramatic Spycatcher episode of the mid-1980s. The key players on the government side – Thatcher and Cabinet Secretary Robert Armstrong – failed to learn the lessons of the 1980–81 affair, that it was often more dangerous to attempt suppression than to simply let events run their course.

Key Words

Spycatcher ; Thatcher Government ; Panorama Affair ; 1980–1981

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