Smear: Wilson and the Secret State

An excellent book which should not be out of print.

Anyone like me who remembers the 70's and the mainstream media reporting of politics in Britain should read this to understand what was really happening. But you do not have to know much or care much about Harold Wilson and his periods in office (and in between) to grasp the importance of the story told by Ramsay and Dorril in such detail.

Unlike some writers who already have a conclusion and then look for the evidence to arrive at it, Ramsey and Dorril sift meticulously through everything available to them and make connections where initially there appear to be none. In `Smear' the writers allow the facts to reveal the conclusion with the benefit of their own spot on judgement.

What emerges is the story of a prime minister being undermined by the secret state and hangers on with help from a largely compliant mainstream media.

Paranoid delusions about Wilson and a dislike and mistrust of him because he was not one of them are only two of the reasons the secret state and its friends acted the way they did. There was also a long term agenda - to bring about a change of government more agreeable to the politics of the secret state et all, ie: right wing Conservative.

The activities documented here to undermine both Wilson and his government are the antithetis of democracy. They paved the way for a prime minister and government in the 80s which was nothing more than a front for big business.

If you wish to know the social/political story of Britain in the period the book covers, 1964-1979, you must read this or you will never know the real story.

Brilliantly written and hugely enjoyable.

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Stephen Dorril, Robin Ramsay, Stephen Dorrill

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