Patrick Haseldine


Patrick Haseldine presenting a petition at N°10 Downing Street in July 1994

Patrick Haseldine (born 1942)[1] is a former British FCO official who was dismissed in August 1989 by the then foreign secretary, John Major, for "various disciplinary offences constituting breaches of the Diplomatic Service Regulations".[2] Haseldine was suspended on 7 December 1988 upon publication of a letter he had written to The Guardian newspaper in which he publicly accused then Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher of "self-righteous invective" over her handling of an extradition request.[2]

Contents

Career

Heseldine joined the HM Diplomatic Service of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in 1971.[2]

Embargo monitoring

He was appointed in July 1983 to be an assistant on the South Africa desk in the FCO's Southern African Department (SAfD) in London where his responsibilities included monitoring the voluntary cultural and sports boycott of South Africa, and enforcing the mandatory UN arms embargo against South Africa.[2] However he was seconded to another department after his superiors deemed him unsuitable to work in a political department.[2] In January 1986, he was unsuccessful in appealing against this unfavourable performance review, which he alleged was politically motivated.[2]

Question Time

In February 1988 Haseldine was a member of the invited studio audience of Question Time.[2] Fifteen minutes into the program, a student asked whether the British government was justified in its opposition of economic sanctions against South Africa in the face of calls for sanctions by Nelson Mandela, Bishop Tutu and by most of the European Community. Sir Robin asked the audience to raise their hands if they were in favour of economic sanctions against South Africa. Haseldine was the first member of the audience to vote on a question of sanctions.[2].

Suspension

In March 1988, after repeatedly circulating material within the civil service without authorisation, Haseldine was suspended from his job in the Defence Department for six months.[2] He joined the FCO Information Department on September 3, 1988.[2]

Guardian letter

Haseldine's letter as published in the Guardian

In December 1988, Haseldine wrote a letter to The Guardian, from his work address (Information Department, Foreign and Commonwealth Office)[2] in which he criticised then Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher of using "self-righteous invective" over an extradition request for an Irish citizen to face terrorism charges in the UK.[2]. He contrasted the case to that of the Coventry Four, four South African businessmen charged in 1984 with evading the United Nations Security Council Resolution 418 ban on military exports, who were subsequently released by the Thatcher government.[3] Haseldine labelled the four South Africans "terrorists", a term deriving from Michael Dukakis and some anti-apartheid activists calling apartheid South Africa a "terrorist state" in order to trigger automatic sanctions.[4][5]

He was immediately suspended from work on full pay.[2] In a House of Commons written question on December 13, 1988 Tam Dalyell asked the Prime Minister "when she expects to receive the report from Sir Robin Butler on the case of Mr P J Haseldine and his letter to The Guardian; and if she will make a statement?" The Prime Minister replied "I do not expect to receive such a report. This case is being considered in accordance with procedures laid down in diplomatic service regulations."[6] On 21 March 1989, following a disciplinary proceeding, he was called to resign or be dismissed.[2]

Haseldine submitted an application to the European Court of Human Rights in 1991, claiming that his dismissal for writing the letter to Guardian contravened his right to freedom of expression, but the ECHR declared his application inadmissible the following year.[2]

Later activity

Haseldine wrote a series of letters to The Guardian newspaper, promoting the conspiracy theory that South Africa is behind the Lockerbie bombing[7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14] and later submitted two unsuccessful petitions to 10 Downing Street, citing the criticism of the Lockerbie investigation by UN observer Hans Köchler, and callng for a new UN inquiry into the bombing. Haseldine went on to run a cafe in Ongar, Essex,[15] and stood as a Labour candidate for the Ongar Division in the May 6, 1993 Essex County Council elections.[16]

References

  1. ^ Yearbook of the European Convention on Human Rights, 1992
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Patrick Haseldine vs United Kingdom, [1] (European Court of Human Rights May 13, 1992).
  3. ^ James Rusbridger (1991). The Intelligence Game. Bodley Head. p. 141. ISBN 0-370-31242-2. http://books.google.com/books?id=p62LN9EhsKYC&pg=PA141&lpg=PA141&dq=patrick+haseldine&source=web&ots=mxcb2zX6R9&sig=IkihvG6TuKWldw-V1qtsisBAEVs. 
  4. ^ PJ Haseldine (7-12-1998). "The double standards on terrorism". Guardian. 
  5. ^ "Dukakis Backers Agree Platform Will Call South Africa 'Terrorist'". New York Times. June 13, 1988. http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=940DEFDC133BF930A25755C0A96E948260. 
  6. ^ George Foulkes MP. "Parliamentary Question". http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm198889/cmhansrd/1989-02-10/Writtens-2.html. 
  7. ^ "Finger of suspicion". The Guardian. December 7, 1989. http://wiki.xiaoyaozi.com/en//Image:PatrickHaseldine3B.jpg. 
  8. ^ "Lockerbie and beyond". The Guardian. May 16, 1990. http://wiki.xiaoyaozi.com/en//Image:PatrickHaseldine3C.jpg. 
  9. ^ "Missing diplomatic links and the Lockerbie tragedy". The Guardian. August 5, 1991. http://wiki.xiaoyaozi.com/en//Image:PatrickHaseldine3E.jpg. 
  10. ^ "The bearer of strange tidings from Islamic Jihad". The Guardian. August 10, 1991. http://wiki.xiaoyaozi.com/en//Image:PatrickHaseldine3F.jpg. 
  11. ^ "Justice after Lockerbie". The Guardian. December 21, 1991. http://wiki.xiaoyaozi.com/en//Image:PatrickHaseldine3G.jpg. 
  12. ^ "Motives and a Libyan connection that's far too neat". The Guardian. March 16, 1992. http://wiki.xiaoyaozi.com/en//Image:PatrickHaseldine3H.jpg. 
  13. ^ "ANC as the fall-guys for the Lockerbie bombing". The Guardian. April 22, 1992. http://wiki.xiaoyaozi.com/en//Image:PatrickHaseldine3J.jpg. 
  14. ^ "Flight path". The Guardian. December 22, 1993. http://wiki.xiaoyaozi.com/en//Image:PatrickHaseldine3K.jpg. 
  15. ^ Rosie Waterhouse (June 9, 1991). "Sacked Thatcher critic sues ministry". Independent on Sunday. 
  16. ^ "Patrick Haseldine, Labour candidate for Ongar". Labour Party. 1993. http://wiki.xiaoyaozi.com/en//Image:PatrickHaseldineOngar1.jpg. 

See also

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