Gwinnett, Giselle (2021) The demise of the information research department in 1977: the end of political warfare in the UK? PhD thesis, University of Warwick.

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Abstract

The Information Research Department (IRD) was a unique, quasi-independent unit hidden in the British Foreign Office, from its creation in 1948 to eventual demise in 1977. Conceptualised as an anti-communist propaganda unit in support of Clement Attlee’s political warfare offensive against the Soviet Union, IRD grew extensively in the early Cold War years into one of the largest departments in the Foreign Office. Yet, by the late 1960’s subsequent budget cuts to overseas expenditure necessitated a reduction in IRD’s staff and resources and oversaw a withdrawal from overseas anti-communist operations.

IRD was not merely an overseas propaganda unit. From 1951 the department had embarked on domestic propaganda through a highly secretive in-house unit known as the English Section. In the age of superpower détente, overseas operations decreased and the domestic capacity of IRD acquired greater significance. Expenditure was redirected into domestic work and the department was reconceptualised as IRD Mark II in 1972. The new IRD was instructed to produce and disseminate propaganda in support of a broader range of British foreign policy objectives which fell outside the Cold War context and often had little to do with communism. This included anti-IRA propaganda during the Troubles in Northern Ireland and planting stories in the media promoting Britain’s application for membership of the European Economic Community.

In the seventies, IRD’s activities had been accepted by successive Prime Ministers as the unattributable arm of British foreign policy. Yet by 1977, the department was shut down by the Foreign Secretary, David Owen. Commentators at the time, including the left-wing investigative journalists who broke the secrecy of IRD’s existence in numerous press articles in 1978, surmised that the department’s fervent anti-Communism had become an embarrassment to the government who had taken the decision to rid the Foreign Office of this Cold War relic. Whilst right-wing Cold Warriors suggested that the department had been closed by Labour as a ‘sop’ to the left-wing of the party.

To date, there has been no scholarly investigation of IRD’s final years, it’s reconceptualisation in the early seventies, nor its eventual demise. As such, many long-held misconceptions about the department and the reasons for its closure have remained unchallenged and an accepted orthodoxy has persisted. This thesis aims to address the missing story of IRD’s final years and closure. The department was not closed due to ideological puritanism, nor because its methods embarrassed the government. IRD was closed due to bureaucratic pressure for cost effectiveness in a period of economic crisis in the late seventies. IRD’s staff were absorbed into a newly created information division to increase efficiency and extract savings. Unattributable information work continued post-IRD, maintained by Callaghan who acknowledged the importance of such work. When Margaret Thatcher succeeded him, the infrastructure remained in place for her renewed political warfare offensive against the Soviet Union during the Second Cold War.

Item Type:	Thesis (PhD)
Subjects:	D History General and Old World > DA Great Britain H Social Sciences > HX Socialism. Communism. Anarchism J Political Science > JN Political institutions (Europe) > JN101 Great Britain
Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH):	Great Britain. Foreign Office. Information Research Department, Propaganda, Anti-communist -- Great Britain -- History -- 20th century., Great Britain -- Foreign relations -- 1945-1964, Great Britain -- Foreign relations -- 1964-1979, Cold War
Official Date:	January 2021
Dates:	Date Event January 2021 UNSPECIFIED
Institution:	University of Warwick
Theses Department:	Department of Politics and International Studies
Thesis Type:	PhD
Publication Status:	Unpublished
Supervisor(s)/Advisor:	Lucas, Scott ; Aldrich, Richard J. (Richard James), 1961-
Sponsors:	Economic and Social Research Council (Great Britain)
Format of File:	pdf
Extent:	xi, 235 leaves
Language:	eng

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