FORTY YEARS ON THE HARROVIAN IN 1983

THE QUESTIONS POSED TO MARGARET THATCHER , who was also guest of honour at Churchill Songs that year, give the impression that her interviewers were not entirely true-blue believers, despite the prime minister’s ability to bat away difficult questions:

Is it right to use the antics of Scargill and Livingstone to discredit the Left?

‘I don't use the antics of Scargill and Livingstone. I don't use the antics of Scargill and Livingstone ever. I point out as I have done just now, reasonably and honestly, why I think their policies won't work.’

How important was Saatchi and Saatchi to your image in the election campaign?

‘Not important at all. They had nothing to do with my image.’

Really?

‘Nothing whatsoever to do with my image. They are trying to put across a message, not an image at all. We are the image; no-one can alter that.’

Despite the writers’ apparent scepticism, their description of the meeting reveals a rather overawed admiration for her ruthless effectiveness:

‘The sheer force of her opinions prevented her losing a point – to give an inch would be to surrender part of the determination that had carried her so far: within seconds, a raised finger, a frigid stare and a quiet sentence had reduced us to a state of terror, and from then on we realised that we had the choice of either being crushed beneath a rampart of righteousness, or of facing the titan and taking her forcefulness as a compliment.’

The interview with Ken Livingstone, although expressing many reservations, has a warmer feel, describing ‘the conviction and yet the reasonableness of his ideas, the way he throws his legs out as he walks, like a cowboy, all convey ultimate confidence in his own success and that one is a fool to dismiss him as an eccentric Bolshevik councillor…Mr Livingstone impresses one as intelligent and as someone who is at the beginning, not the end, of a career in the public eye…he makes it obvious that he greatly enjoys his notoriety as Red Ken…but all the same, he has the power to persuade and his abilities should not be ignored.’

This more liberal view than is normal in contributions to The Harrovian was also expressed in ‘The Gadarene Swine’ which appeared in the issue of 3 December. It argues against ‘the subterfuges and the bigotries of the Establishment’ and criticises the treatment by the press of the activist and, at the time, parliamentary candidate Peter Tatchell: ‘a man with a face and a manner that did not altogether project the image of a man, as the Establishment sees it should be. Of his real policies, which mainly involved improving local housing, we heard next to nothing. What we did hear, was a puerile backlash that characterises the inhumanity and narrowness of the great brotherhood: a campaign that was centred around the way Tatchell chooses to use his sexuality.’ The same article also had more warm words for Ken Livingstone, who had controversially met with the leaders of Sinn Fein:

‘Ken Livingstone…has been victimised by this stony wall of imbecility. The point he means to put across by visiting Sinn Fein is that one day, a British Prime Minister will have to speak with the terrorists…Talk with terrorists? Yes, just as we negotiated with the Boers, with Kenyatta, with Begin, with Makarios. However, the Establishment has stepped over Reason and Logic and has used Livingstone's donations to lesbians as a means to discredit what sense dictates…At least, he is one man who has not been completely humiliated by the Establishment that turns men into grovelling spaniels, espousing ideas not their own.’

Back on the less politically concerned Hill, recorded developments include the establishing of The Guild, described as ‘one of the best ideas to come from the top brass recently’ (21 May), and the introduction of Craft, Design and Technology or CDT – the forerunner of today’s Design Technology & Engineering, although described at the time as having ‘no specific objective in terms of producing engineers or designers. It is merely a practically based course which aims at bringing about learning through experience.’

(28 May)

Also considered worthy of mention is the revival of interest in Long Ducker:

‘This term has seen renewed interest in the Long Ducker run (to Marble Arch and back) and, thanks to the inspiration and enthusiasm of R.C., 51 boys took part in the sponsored Long Ducker…in aid of the Spirewatch appeal. There are currently 19 boys in the School who have completed the full run. An official record will be kept of anyone finishing the run in the future and those round in under three hours will be entitled to wear the Long Ducker tie.’ (21 May)

And in the year that saw the first release of the Microsoft Word processing system, the Head Master relates on Speech Day (11 June) that: ‘I was delighted to watch a boy unload his TV set from the boot of his car, together with his computer, in order to sell his software to the BBC from the privacy of his Harrow study.’ We look forward to welcoming all those who started