nofuture
23-06-2009, 11:12 AM
http://uk.news.yahoo.com/21/20090623/tuk-grim-picture-of-post-nuclear-war-uk-6323e80.html
1 hour 8 mins ago
Press Assoc.
The UK would have been divided into 12 regions governed by Cabinet ministers wielding draconian powers in the wake of a nuclear conflict with the Soviet Union, according to a secret War Book released for the first time. Skip related content
Related photos / videos
A chilling picture of the UK after a nuclear attack has been unveiled
The Cold War document drawn up by the Government more than 40 years ago sets out in immense detail how Britain would have been administered in the event of a nuclear exchange.
The book has been obtained by historian Peter Hennessy, who said it showed how civil servants "peered into the abyss" as they contemplated what would need to be done if nuclear war became a reality.
Prof Hennessy, professor of contemporary history at Queen Mary University of London, told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "The surprise really is the width and magnitude of it - 16 chapters to get the nation from a peacetime footing to a total war footing. It is a remarkable enterprise.
"It was done by people who had to do it. It must have been one of the most terrible jobs in Whitehall during the Cold War. It literally was requiring people in immense security to peer into the abyss."
Prof Hennessy said the War Book spelt out in detail plans which were hidden behind coded references in previously-released material.
The book sets out scenarios in which an exchange of nuclear weapons might take place, with mock daily briefings from the Joint Intelligence Committee and bulletins from civil defence officials in the Home Office.
Each day, a mock cabinet of civil servants would meet to decide what elements of the emergency plans should be implemented.
Prof Hennessy said: "They had to take very significant decisions, including alerting the civil servants who wouldn't know at that point that they were earmarked either for the central Government bunker under the Cotswolds at Corsham or for the 12 regional bunkers.
"The country was going to be split into 12 mini-kingdoms after the bomb had dropped, with real draconian powers for a Cabinet minister, a senior military figure, a policeman and a judge."
1 hour 8 mins ago
Press Assoc.
The UK would have been divided into 12 regions governed by Cabinet ministers wielding draconian powers in the wake of a nuclear conflict with the Soviet Union, according to a secret War Book released for the first time. Skip related content
Related photos / videos
A chilling picture of the UK after a nuclear attack has been unveiled
The Cold War document drawn up by the Government more than 40 years ago sets out in immense detail how Britain would have been administered in the event of a nuclear exchange.
The book has been obtained by historian Peter Hennessy, who said it showed how civil servants "peered into the abyss" as they contemplated what would need to be done if nuclear war became a reality.
Prof Hennessy, professor of contemporary history at Queen Mary University of London, told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "The surprise really is the width and magnitude of it - 16 chapters to get the nation from a peacetime footing to a total war footing. It is a remarkable enterprise.
"It was done by people who had to do it. It must have been one of the most terrible jobs in Whitehall during the Cold War. It literally was requiring people in immense security to peer into the abyss."
Prof Hennessy said the War Book spelt out in detail plans which were hidden behind coded references in previously-released material.
The book sets out scenarios in which an exchange of nuclear weapons might take place, with mock daily briefings from the Joint Intelligence Committee and bulletins from civil defence officials in the Home Office.
Each day, a mock cabinet of civil servants would meet to decide what elements of the emergency plans should be implemented.
Prof Hennessy said: "They had to take very significant decisions, including alerting the civil servants who wouldn't know at that point that they were earmarked either for the central Government bunker under the Cotswolds at Corsham or for the 12 regional bunkers.
"The country was going to be split into 12 mini-kingdoms after the bomb had dropped, with real draconian powers for a Cabinet minister, a senior military figure, a policeman and a judge."