It Happened Here - House of Commons

Continuing his series about how places have shaped political events, Peter Hennessy, the leading historian of post-war Britain, visits the Office of the Prime Minister in the House of Commons which has been a little-known cockpit of war planning since 1950. He first discusses what is special about the Office and why it has been so important to successive prime ministers on defence issues. He then considers how prime minister Clement Attlee and his Cabinet decided to handle Anglo-American tensions over the Korean War in 1950 that had been heightened by provocative remarks made by the US general, Douglas MacArthur, on the use of nuclear weapons. Peter goes on to reveal the significance of the Office in the history of Britain's decision to develop the hydrogen bomb and then describes its pivotal role in the 1956 Suez Crisis and the abortive premiership of Conservative leader, Sir Anthony Eden. Finally, we learn about the part played by the Office in the dramatic events of the spring of 1982 as prime minister Margaret Thatcher evaluated with her closest advisers the prospects for re-taking the Falkland Islands following the Argentine invasion. Producer: Simon Coates.