FOr for most people, the new year is a paradoxical combination of extra things and a resolution to be better. A party and a hangover boiled down to its essential elements. As you inch closer to the village of Westminster, it’s time to explore the city. New year honors listI was reminded of Gore Vidal’s saying, “Every time a friend succeeds, a little something inside me dies.”
But true lovers cherish the New Year. Thanks to the National Archives, Kew. Public Records Act of 1958to release confidential government documents from 20 years ago under the 20-year rule. Last month, the official records for 2003, the second half of Sir Tony Blair’s long tenure as prime minister, were published.
It was the year of the Iraq War and the fall of Saddam Hussein. Treaty of Accession This will allow 10 new member states to join the European Union next year. The Treaty on the Future of the European Union Draft European Constitutionnever adopted, and Blair’s self-proclaimed mentor, Lord Jenkins of Hillhead, died at the age of 82.
The Blair government’s agenda for the year seems eerily familiar. The impending accession of 10 new EU member states and record numbers of asylum seekers has sparked fears of a potential mass migration. The Prime Minister demanded:“Radical steps” are being taken to make the UK a less attractive destination for refugees and economic migrants, some of which could breach the European Convention on Human Rights, legal advisers have warned. One proposal was to send unsuccessful asylum seekers to a “safe haven” in a third country, perhaps East Africa.
the ministers pulled in several directions. Home Secretary David Blunkett said the economy wasMeanwhile, Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott and Foreign Secretary Jack Straw urged Blair to delay full freedom of movement to avoid overwhelming public services. One advisor said he wanted to “make the mistake of releasing less official data rather than increasing it” in order to avoid stirring up public opinion.
last year’s Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act 2002 Stricter English language requirements and ‘living in Britain’ tests were prescribed to facilitate integration. Blair and Blunkett wanted to introduce an identification system to help the government control data about its population and its people. Sound familiar yet?
BBC success Who do you think you are? and wolf hallNetflix the crown And the podcasting giant The rest is history It shows that the past was big business. We are fascinated by history. Almost everyone remembers half of the messed up adage about learning the lessons of the past.m George Santanaya (“Those who do not remember the past are doomed to repeat it.”) Words to Winston Churchill (“Study history, study history. History holds all the secrets of national politics.”
(HelloAs a historian, I have always felt more comfortable describing Alan Bennett’s history as “just one history.” Shit One after another.” )
There is a clear synergy here. If we think of the past as such an important lesson, then the annual publication of documents from 20 years ago is surely a rare opportunity to pause, analyze and consider in the new year. The process of “lessons learned” is a fundamental part of modern project management, and recent evidence has shown that governments, perhaps all institutions, need what Kipling called “lessons without end.” .
But a dark silence flows from Whitehall. There are pockets of collective memory and analysis. At 10 Downing Street, Resident researcher; each of the three armies has a historical division; The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office has A small but active group of historians;Cabinet Office Archives Management Office Contains Official history program. As of 2023, there were no civil servants assigned to the official program, but in April last year the Northern Ireland Secretary announced “”An Independent Public History Project on the Troubles.”
… There is clear value in rigorously analyzing history, especially recent history.
We have to do better than this. Rigorous analysis of history, especially recent history, without becoming a cliché or a cliché, and extracting lessons about what has worked, what has not, and why policies have succeeded or failed. has obvious value.
The past can provide useful experiences and shortcuts in our learning process. When the Falklands Crisis unexpectedly erupted in 1982, Margaret Thatcher consulted former Prime Minister Harold Macmillan, aged 88, about managing the conflict. Drawing on the experience of the wartime Churchill government and the Suez crisis, he said: advised her Forming a small “war cabinet” that should not be represented by the Treasury Department.
It was created in the form of OD(SA) was the Cabinet Defense and Overseas Policy Subcommittee on the South Atlantic and the Falkland Islands, and was comprised of the Prime Minister, the Foreign, Home and Defense Secretaries, the Attorney-General, the Chief of the Defense Staff and the Secretary of Defense. Leader of the Conservative Party. The Chancellor of the Exchequer was not involved, and the Prime Minister, Sir Geoffrey Howe, later said he “appeared to be on holiday”.
A few years ago, Sir Anthony Seldon proposed Each government department isThere should be a “chief historian” alongside the prime minister, a working historian who advises ministers on historical precedent. Chief Scientific Advisor, national statistician and other experts. The celebrity will “oversee the steady supply of accurate historical information to the prime minister and his key advisers, with the power and confidence to challenge them”.
… The past is one of the best advisors for any government
As a first step, while it is still January, the Prime Minister should gather senior ministers and advisers for a weekend checkers. Historians must walk through newly released documents and begin the process of valuable “lessons learned.” And it should become an annual event.
History must never watch over us or blind us to our ability to change and improve. But the past is one of the best advisors for any government. The material that the National Archives publishes each year is an incredibly rich resource, and at the moment it is being inexcusably wasted through sheer carelessness. If Sir Keir Starmer was truly interested in “changing the way government works”, he could turn the tide. There is no tuition fee for this education. Everything is already there.
