Edward Heath by Michael McManus

Author:Michael McManus
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781783963010
Publisher: Elliott & Thompson

Almost unbelievably, Heath began 1980 by criticising the EEC again, this time for its lack of urgency. He was readily drawn into the controversy over whether British athletes should boycott the forthcoming Olympic Games in Moscow, in light of the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. In the House of Commons, he developed a theme that was by now dear to his heart – that the Western powers needed to stop and reflect before engaging in ‘gun-boat diplomacy’ – because other nations and cultures do not think as we do, nor should they be expected to:

‘The West has had no clear strategy of any sort whatever for the past six years, and from that springs the greatest danger to the world. That is what we are discussing today – the danger of a third world war because we stumble into it by mistake or by misjudgement. That is the real danger that we face today.

‘We have long thought that people in the Muslim world wanted the Western way of life, that if they did not want it they ought to want it, and that in any case they were jolly well going to get it. What has now been shown in Iran, and is being shown elsewhere in the Muslim world, is that none of those things is true. There is a younger generation which does not want the Western way of life and which wants to go back to what it believes to be a simpler, older, authoritative – sometimes we would say authoritarian – way of life, according to the Muslim religion. I remember going into Tehran during last summer . . . There were 5 million cars, there were luxury hotels, the women were all liberated, and there were discotheques, alcohol and pornography – all the best that we could give them. How could they want to change that? But the fact is that they did, and we have to recognise it. We have to accept these facts in making a relationship with the Muslim world, otherwise we have no means of looking after our security and that of the developing world.

‘The Olympic Games are a matter for natural differences of opinion. I happen to be one of those who take part in sport. I am proud that I have captained two national teams in international sport. I believe that we should keep politics out of sport. I fully accept that other people do not, but that does not alter my view. Nor do I think that having the Olympic Games in Moscow is only a question of prestige for Moscow. It is a question of prestige wherever the Games go . . . The question that I ask myself is this: “If the Soviet Union is as determined on aggression as is said, will abandoning the Olympic Games really stop it?” I find it difficult to believe that it will. But if individuals, teams or nations do not want to take part, it is fully up to them to take their decision.

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