Other papers released to the National Archives reveal the Foreign Office ruled out military action to overthrow Zimbabwe’s long-time leader Robert Mugabe, despite mounting frustration in Tony Blair’s government over his refusal to relinquish power.
An options paper drawn up in 2004 warned that any UK-led intervention would be politically isolated, costly and lack a viable exit strategy, concluding it was not a “serious option”.
The Foreign Office had to admit there were few good options for ratcheting up the pressure on Mugabe who, at the age of 80, remained “depressingly healthy” and determined to stay on until he had secured a succession to his liking.
The papers also reveal Downing Street was forced to apologise after then-Prime Minister John Major’s birthday telegram to the Queen Mother in 1994 was addressed in an “improper manner”.
The Queen Mother’s private secretary contacted No 10 to complain, although the files do not explain what caused the offence. Officials said the message had left Downing Street correctly but blamed an error in transmission and suggested telegrams should be abandoned altogether.
There is also evidence of the limits placed on transparency under the Freedom of Information Act. Newly declassified papers show officials refused to release details of a conversation between Blair and French president Jacques Chirac following the death of Diana, Princess of Wales in Paris in 1997.
While papers relating to Diana’s death and funeral arrangements were released, a memo summarising the Blair-Chirac discussion was ruled out of scope.
Officials argued it was “fundamentally not in the public interest” to disclose private conversations between world leaders, warning doing so would inhibit frank exchanges in future.
Also revealed in the files were the ambitious and ultimately abandoned plans for a wholesale redevelopment of Downing Street under Blair.
Briefing papers dated March 2005, just two months before the general election, describe a multi-million-pound project, codenamed Project George, to overhaul the ageing estate, parts of which date back to the 17th century and had not undergone a major refurbishment since the 1960s.
The proposals included a two-storey “subterranean suite” beneath the No 10 garden, featuring a 200-seat conference room that could double as a “safe haven” in the event of a terror attack.
There were also plans for an underground service road to separate VIP visitors from refuse collections, a new staff entrance, a cafe and “recreation facilities” in the basement.
Officials warned that failing sewers, power supplies and IT systems were causing an “unacceptable failure of critical services”.
The plans, to be funded through the private finance initiative over 30 years, extended to Nos 11 and 12 Downing Street and 70 Whitehall – the home of the Cabinet Office – which would have been given a new glass-fronted extension and blast-resistant glazing. The files do not explain why the plans were dropped.
