@Daniel Clark Clark They were certainly "special", crazed killers. We trained with English soldiers in Vietnam. Some told me that they were fighting for the wrong side. They just wanted to kill Catholics. Most English soldiers were fighting against the Catholics, prior to going to Vietnam.
Long Island NY....I am fascinated with Britain’s political system, yes after watching the crown season three I’m looking everything up as possible on the Prime Minister, I find it fascinating again
John Hayes Bohemia Our systems weird, The Queen is the boss but then the PM can also boss the Queen around so technically they’re the boss who knows😂😂😂
Mr Wilson refused to commit me to the Vietnamese War & resisted huge financial & economic American pressure by LBJ. I shall always be grateful to Mr Wilson - he is a real hero!
@@MarkHarrison733 A small "yes" and a big "no"! I will repeat a small number of British soldiers served in Vietnam during Wilson's premiership, and I repeat the RAF dropped supplies to the American forces. Harold Wilson did not commit to Vietnam as LBJ & the Yanks wished. My American cousins did serve in Vietnam but thanks to Harold Wilson no one living in Britain including myself had to go to Vietnam & fight.
@@jamesmonaghan6843 2,000 British soldiers fought in Vietnam. The Conservatives were strongly against sending troops due to the Suez Crisis. Powell stopped Wilson's attempt to send more men.
I think because we know politicians lie so much or give an answer to deflect the question. Journalists have to keep asking the same question repeatedly to get a straight answer
@@dantory1 It's the fact that politicians used to talk more seriously about governance, now they speak in simple messages and sound bites because they discovered how little time the public spends caring about politics.
The other thing that’s changed (for the worse) is the approach of the interrogator. At 4:55 Wilson answers a question for almost two minutes without interruption. Nowadays, a politician can barely finish a sentence without some know-all political commentator butting in trying to find a scoop or force a sound bite.
@@MrDaiseymay But Corbyn wasn't even able to finish a question. He was mocked for saying let me finish a lot but that was because he was never able to finish.
@@andrewclark8630you can disagree with someone’s politics, but it seems silly to guess that they don’t “love their country”. Honestly, it’s that sort of weird party tribalism that’s part of the problem with politics now.
I see now why he's the Queen's favorite PM since Churchill. His calm and modest approach to the questions by the interviewer, the stoic no-nonsense but no rude bluntness in expressing his answers - the Queen would've surely enjoyed hearing the day-to-day happenings in the UK from him than from anyone esp. her roster of PMs after him.
I rather think she doesn't give s toss what the PM is saying unless it relates to cutting taxpayer funding of the House of Hapsburg, or better still having the balls of the French people and doing away, quite rightly, with the monarchy and aristocracy
Apparently its well known in palace circles that the Queen has never got on with those PMs who have come from a privileged background especially 'Supermac', Eden, Dodgy Dave Cameron and Major Disaster (aka Boris Johnson). Not suprising really considering what they put her and her subjects through e.g. Profumo, Suez, austerity, brexit and an illegal proroguing of parliament. The exception being Churchill of course. Odd really considering that those eton-educated PMs and the Queen probably do not come from a too disimilar backgrounds.
There’s no comparison between Wilson’s manner and statesmanship and that of our current so-called leaders! He’s so at ease and confident. Compare this style with that of May! No contest!
Theresa May was the epitome of somebody exposed as being in the wrong job and painfully lying to themself about it. Being 'better than Corbyn' wasn't saying much.
These old school politicians were something else entirely. So articulate, so dignified, just so well informed and generally _smart_ even though it was harder and more onerous to gather information in those days. We have dumbed down severely. I remember the early-mid 90s and back then even the chavs and criminals were more polite and articulate, swore less, had a better level of general education and had more common sense and general knowledge.
Wilson was an Oxford Don at the age of 21. Intellectually, he didn't have anything to prove. Current leaders seem to struggle to justify their own existence. Boris Johnson would not have a chance faced with the intellect and wit of Harold Wilson or Denis Healey. This tory government is (literally) getting away with murder. Quote: " I'd rather see bodies piled high..." !
What a great interview - direct, clear and witty. Modern politicians just don't compare, despite the myriad of style advisors and messages driven by focus groups. At this point in his career Wilson was exhausted and exhibiting the early stages of dementia - this makes his performance all the more impressive.
Harold was a master at being all things to all people, it was amusing when he said he was a practical markeeter when just before he said he was an emotional Commonwealth man. His head was with the Common Market but his heart remained with the Commonwealth.
Haha I'm labour all the way, but think it's so important to have decent debate and swap sides from time to time so we don't end up veering to one extreme (which I think we're doing under the current tories)...
I’m a Conservative member but I like patriotic Old Labour. Labour has made many important developments to our way of life since 1945. If only we had a patriotic Labour today.
@@conveyor2 The interview clearly manifests his position as pro-EEC, but I think you're right in the implication that he didn't want to highlight the issue lest his Cabinet sundered.
This is amazingly pertinent this week! what goes around comes around. Exactly the same arguements. Boris and Jeremy need to view this. I grew up in the 1970's in England and remember this time well.
Me too! But he committed a big mistake to let Jim Callaghan and his kin (Dennis Healey and the like) to succeed him. That mistake cost us Thatcher 's inferno.
As a German observer of politics in Europe, I think this man was maybe the honest and wisest PM the British people ever have. He was the man of the people.He hated war and refused American pledges to take part in the senseless Vietnam war. And he was also a close friend of the Queen, wo loved the man. He came from a lower social class, but his character was upper Class indeed.
@@prben2 it was a sad fate for a man who, in comparison with today’s third-rate chancers, was a pretty competent politician. I’m not a socialist or even a Labour voter, but this summer will be visiting St Mary’s in the Scilly Isles and will visit his grave there.
*Cleverest* 😂 Britbongs are more fucking stupid than Americans, yet they think they're smarter; Wilson fucked your economy, your future, mining shit happened because of him.
WOW the opening music is such a "Blast from the past" LOVE IT So good to see these interviews & discussions> From the times when civil - educated & intelligent grown-ups ran the country. Whatever one feels about the parties at least people could present a literate & reasoned argument. No longer just mindless "Gotcha" and vulgar bullies asserting themselves.
I asked my grandad recently (who's aged 88) that of all the prime ministers he's seen over his life come and go (Chamberlin to Johnson) who is his fav and which did the country the best justice? His answer: Harold Wilson
@King Royal why was he a disaster? I wasn’t around then. I am genuinely curious, but the “unelectable for 30 years” comment is sensationalist and emotional. He hasn’t been involved in politics in my lifetime.
@King Royal Can you elaborate? What policies? Because Labour was elected again within 30 years - James Callaghan, who paid the price for overbearing trade unions more so than failed policies. Then Thatcher came in and fucked up more than Wilson and Callaghan combined.
@King Royal They may not have won a GE in the truest sense, but they secured sufficient seats to force a hung parliament and Heath refused to play ball. I wouldn't take that to mean the people felt Labour was unelectable. I'm still curious to know which policies though? It seemed to have more to do with Unions having Callaghan's nuts in a vice than anything else.
Earl Mountbatten among others, with the connivance of the Queen Mother, worked on a plan to undertake a military coup between 1974- 1975. Mountbatten the man who screwed up partition in India where the consequences are still being felt now.
A truly great Labour Prime Minister. My Grandfather, James Andrew Kay Wood, introduced me to the great man back in 1974 along with Connie Lewcock; then one of the last of the living suffragettes. Connie was an amazing Lady with grace and gravitas in equal measure.
Say what you like about Wilson, the man exhausted himself completely in the service of his country. Great speaker, tinged with some endearing Yorkshire regionality. Had some difficult issues to deal with, and managed most of them fairly well. He looks a very old 59 here indeed.
Leader, patriot, realist, statesman, communicator. Oh how Labour has rotted since then. A true democrat who ultimately understood the analysis of benefits against the false promise of the EEC; and knew that its' power excesses had to be harnessed. If he were around today he would have been a Leaver, reflecting the majority view with conviction
@James Henderson He later had Alzheimer's, and many people felt that he was showing the very first signs of it then, which was partly the reason which led him to resign in 1976
I remember how much venom and hatred was directed at Wilson at the time iby the public in the 70s. It was unrelenting. Forty five years later he has all but become sanctified. Johnson is dealing with a crisis which no peacetime PM has had to deal with in 100 years and in a time when contempt for politicians along with complete abrogation of personal responsibility has become the norm.
@@phillipecook3227 But BJ is clearly a corrupt scumbag and a snake oil salesman, who is manifestly dishonest and revels in saying ridiculous things. He is blatantly corrupt and spends his time making sneering mockeries of the Opp. He outright boasted of taking it on the chin.
- Presides over the literal golden age of Britain - Keeps Britain out of the disaster that was Vietnam - Ensures the poorest are as protected as possible when things go downhill - Is actually likeable and honest, direct, intelligent, well-spoken, less given to buzzwords, etc than basically all his predecessors/successors - Is still hated by Brits What did Britain mean by this
@@DieGamerAG Nope, Brits blamed him overwhelmingly and primarily for the 1970s. He's quite liked by historians but very much disliked by the average Brit who drank the Thatcherite propaganda kool-aid. There's actually a lot of criticism that he deserves and can be given (I have big issues with him myself seeing as I'm from Ireland) but he is definitely a cut above the overwhelming majority of British PMs
Politicians nowadays seem to conduct themselves in interviews as if they want to come across as nice, fun and friendly 'characters', making jokes, not answering the question, saying something odd or off topic to distract from the topic of conversation. I get this sense whether it's Starmer, Johnson, Trump or Biden. Doesn't help that big sit down interviews lasting as long as this one don't happen enough nowadays. Anyway, Wilson seems straightforward, pragmatic and serious. As a politician should be. Very underrated Prime Minister.
Pfft. Both he and Callaghan went to grammar schools, which they then trashed in government, kicking away the ladder for working class children like themselves. He also lied here about food prices not being higher because of the common market - it was an expressed policy of the common market to artificially inflate food prices to encourage farmers to produce a surplus. I can't see why the working man should call him a friend.
@@kaidenhall2718 Not true. He had a childhood full of needs, his parents were in deep financial troubles. So yes, at least at the beginning of his career he was a true working class mate, like most of the Atlee government.
@@seang2700 Payback time as Wilson handed out 30-40% pay increases to the miners and public sector unions. July 1975, UK inflation hit 27% - highest ever and then a visit to the IMF in '76 for a huge bail-out. Wilson has to take the blame.
Denis Healey said of the Wilson government that, like all other post war governments, they 'simply did not comprehend' the scale of change that would be needed to adjust to Britain's post imperial role. Roy Jenkins said that Wilson 'had dreams of empire.' Both Healey's and Jenkins' criticisms are evident in some of the things Wilson says here, particularly about his attachment to the Commonwealth.
So much of this interview is directly relevant today. Wilson stands head and shoulders above the current crop of politicians and at this stage, 1975, he was beginning to realise he was unwell. His weakness then, as now, was the UK economy overall. Then, as now, some shining lights but attached to a long tail of very dull short term bulbs indeed.
At the beginning the EU Council had made 50 pages of rules and Law. It is now 1,700 pages and still growing. No-one reads it which is why the UK and the 27 are in such a mess.
You know as a person who stares at Wikipedia pages for elections all day hearing what the people representated simply by photos sound like every politician I’ve ever heard speak sounds nothing like what I thought they would have sounded like
Reminds me of my Dad smoking his pipe and always like here when he had made some pertinent point on some subject the lighter would come out and the place would be filled with that beautiful smell of pipe tobacco smoke. Can almost smell it now.
Contrast our current PM, Johnson with Harold Wilson who resisted the USA demands, and kept us out of the Vietnam War, as whilst being interviewed on the BBC about the first referendum took time in the course of the interview to attack the smug pundit with secondary smoking. Brilliant coherent interview from the good old days!
He still provided logistical support to the US in that brutal war.
5 лет назад
@James Henderson "illegally invaded Egypt,"? Only after Nasser illegally took control ofd the Suez Cannel. "The outside figure was some 25000, Mau Mau dead (I know the Kenyan movement claim over a 100,000 but then they would wouldn't they. Given the Kenyan population is some 50,000,000 I think you are somewhat over egging your own genocide pudding . "and used Agent Orange in Malaysia"? I was also aware of that. It is also true the UK actual develop the initial anti foliate that became known has agent orange but it use was very limited scale and unlike in Vietnam was effective in helping to defeat the communist take over of Malaysia so in using it many innocent lives were saved. Now tell me about Cyprus, Aden and Northern Ireland;
@@MarkHarrison733 We joined the EU in 1973, the change from EEC to EU was all mapped out by the founding Treaty of Rome 1957; a staged process of ever closer political and economic integration!! Thats what we signed up to in 1973!! Read: "The Treaty of Rome, or EEC Treaty (officially the Treaty establishing the European Economic Community), brought about the creation of the European Economic Community (EEC), the best known of the European Communities (EC). The treaty was signed on 25 March 1957 by Belgium, France, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and West Germany, and it came into force on 1 January 1958. Originally the "Treaty establishing the European Economic Community", and now continuing under the name "Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union", it remains one of the two most important treaties in what is now the European Union (EU). The treaty proposed the progressive reduction of customs duties and the establishment of a customs union. It proposed to create a single market for goods, labour, services, and capital across member states. It also proposed the creation of a Common Agriculture Policy, a Common Transport Policy and a European Social Fund and established the European Commission. The treaty has been amended on several occasions since 1957. The Maastricht Treaty of 1992 removed the word "economic" from the Treaty of Rome's official title, and in 2009, the Treaty of Lisbon renamed it the "Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union"." It was always far more than a trade arrangment!! Heath made that clear in 1973!! We simply forgot!!
@@MarkHarrison733 More Brexiteer historical revisonism!! We kept on applying!! De Gaul kept us out, until Health won the argument in 1970 with the Tory manefesto to apply to the EEC/EU by invoking Article 49, he wone the general election on that mandate, and we went in in 1973, and then we had a confirmitory referendum in 1975 and Remain won by 67%!!!
And a year later Wilson was gone. He went of his own accord. He was knackered. Steve Richards recent book, The prime ministers: reflections on leadership from wilson to johnson, is a good primer on wilson's premiership if you want to learn more.
Once we public got word of the Maastricht signing in 1992 we wanted out (well some of us who read it) , tho we not given a referendum. All the treaties after that ruined our nation.
Interviewer is biased for the common market, Saying that those who want out are communists or national front is ridiculous but to be fair he was not as explicitly biased as the modern reporters were. Wilson on the other hand is reasonable and trying to maintain semi neutrality, unlike Cameron who was not only openly biased but used threats and intimidation to get the result his masters wanted, he failed.
@@andybray9791 Ted Heath took us into the common market telling us lakes of wine, beef mountain, how much better off we would be, all lies. Boris Johnson said he would take us out of the EU and 2 weeks later on Christmas Eve that's what he said, but the deal he actually got was so bad, it would have been cheaper to have stayed in. Do you actually do any sort of research or are you you simply trying to get me going 🤔
@@andybray9791 how on earth did we sign up giving away our NHS in the process I will never know, open borders and making matters worse, migration from outside the EU with nothing in law to protect us ? Seriously who would do that ?
Heath used the ''common market'' as a trojan horse into a federal, political Europe construct..ie..the EU. He badged it up as a free trade agreement. In truth it was a gigantic deceit.
NZ butter was the straw that broke the camels back! I don’t know how to feel as a New Zealander when I hear this esteemed gentleman elucidate on the reasons as to the how & why of the common market
This interview was very early in my lifetime, yet it seems so old-fashioned for a politician to be smoking a pipe on TV, just pausing to re-light it now and again. I know it was part of Wilson's image, but still. Can't imagine it now.
A book I read on opposition leaders also points that keeping labour together in the opposition took all the strength out of him. Heaths successful EEC entry really caused splits that forever affect both parties
I think so, definitely. Also, it's worth remembering that the 70s were fairly horrific times politically. The labour party which he led was an absolute mess, and they didn't have a majority in parliament. The stress on him must have been horrific.
I just respect so much his intellectual ability - not 'pivoting' or PR trained responses, but a depth of knowledge of the issues to be able to redirect the question (even if leading) to the issue. I also appreciate his deference to democracy; we just had-wave about it now, but he's talking broadly and confidently and aspirationally about the people's ability to govern. It's a shame Alzheimer's cut his career short, and also maybe that he didn't have a natural successor in Labour to put up a better fight against the Conservatives.
1974/5 caved in to public sector unions, Labour's paymasters. Sparked off shocking inflation at 27% in June, 1975.... highest ever in UK history. Four years later, it was still 10%. An era of striking, anarchy unions and economic stagnation. UK in the knacker's yard by 1979.
No constant interruptions from the interviewer and Mr Wilson given time to explain his point without interruption. It's not that politicians have changed since then but modern day interviewers are aggressive and rude without respect.
The loss of the long form political interview is tragic, and I’m sure many other viewers would like to see it return as a more sensible way of doing politics. Sadly, I believe it’s not possible. The reason politicians and interviewers speak and behave in such a frustrating way nowadays, I think, is because all that matters now is getting short bits of content to go viral. That is how the voter is reached. Fewer and fewer people would see a long form interview on BBC 1 now, and regardless it would be disseminated to most people again through short viral clips. So, the politician and interviewer would behave in the same modern way, avoiding saying anything that could be chopped into a quick negative sound bite, even though they would be given the time to explain at length their position. Oh well, times change, we just have to learn to read between the lines nowadays.
Harold Wilson was a great Prime Minister, one of the best in the history of Great Britain along with Benjamin Disraeli, Lloyd George, Clement Attlee and Winston Churchill. He was an honest and ordinary man, intelligent with a brilliant brain. Excuse me If I made any mistake speaking. I lived in the Southwest of London, but currently I don't speak English as much as I should.
It is the Britishness of this interview that reminds me of a comment by Lord Rawnsley in " Those Magnificient Men and Their Flying Machines"...the trouble with all of these International affairs are all of these foreigners". Les Griffiths
UK originally joined the EEC - NOT the EU. I think because it was a leap into the unknown, such a national referendum would have been lost. But Heath used all sorts of parliamentary trickery and chicanery to ram through the UK entry during '71/'72 - which split the Tories for decades to come. Only ...after we joined was a referendum vote put to the British people by Wilson in 1975.
This man kept the UK out of Vietnam. Thank you Mr Wilson.
Huh? I can assure you that England was in Vietnam.
he sold out Rhodesia, fuck him
@Daniel Clark Clark They were certainly "special", crazed killers. We trained with English soldiers in Vietnam. Some told me that they were fighting for the wrong side. They just wanted to kill Catholics. Most English soldiers were fighting against the Catholics, prior to going to Vietnam.
@Soumyakanti Panda nah, just didn't want the white Rhoedsia to be lost
SugarTomAppleRoger you Sir, are a total Cretan .
Anyone else here after watching the crown? The actor did such a good job
Long Island NY....I am fascinated with Britain’s political system, yes after watching the crown season three I’m looking everything up as possible on the Prime Minister, I find it fascinating again
Yes me too!!
I had chills when I heard that voice, he nailed that voice
John Hayes Bohemia
Our systems weird, The Queen is the boss but then the PM can also boss the Queen around so technically they’re the boss who knows😂😂😂
Will Edwards Yes spot on . I watched The Crown last week and was amazed at the accuracy of the portrayal of Wilson.
Mr Wilson refused to commit me to the Vietnamese War & resisted huge financial & economic American pressure by LBJ. I shall always be grateful to Mr Wilson - he is a real hero!
British soldiers served in Vietnam.
@@MarkHarrison733 Certainly British soldiers served in French Indo China & only British Special Forces served in Vietnam.
@@jamesmonaghan6843 British soldiers served in Vietnam during Wilson's premiership, and the RAF dropped supplies to the American forces.
@@MarkHarrison733 A small "yes" and a big "no"! I will repeat a small number of British soldiers served in Vietnam during Wilson's premiership, and I repeat the RAF dropped supplies to the American forces. Harold Wilson did not commit to Vietnam as LBJ & the Yanks wished. My American cousins did serve in Vietnam but thanks to Harold Wilson no one living in Britain including myself had to go to Vietnam & fight.
@@jamesmonaghan6843 2,000 British soldiers fought in Vietnam. The Conservatives were strongly against sending troops due to the Suez Crisis. Powell stopped Wilson's attempt to send more men.
notice how the question is asked, and the answer is given without interruption. The good old days ????
Quite right. However this was a time when mainstream politicians didn't bullshit themselves through interviews like they do now.
I think because we know politicians lie so much or give an answer to deflect the question. Journalists have to keep asking the same question repeatedly to get a straight answer
@@dantory1 precisely the reason
@@dantory1 It's the fact that politicians used to talk more seriously about governance, now they speak in simple messages and sound bites because they discovered how little time the public spends caring about politics.
That's because he isn't lieing
The other thing that’s changed (for the worse) is the approach of the interrogator. At 4:55 Wilson answers a question for almost two minutes without interruption. Nowadays, a politician can barely finish a sentence without some know-all political commentator butting in trying to find a scoop or force a sound bite.
--because they give the WRONG answer
@@MrDaiseymay But Corbyn wasn't even able to finish a question. He was mocked for saying let me finish a lot but that was because he was never able to finish.
@@MrThorfan64 If only Corbyn loved his country and stood up for his country he would have been a great leader.
@@andrewclark8630you can disagree with someone’s politics, but it seems silly to guess that they don’t “love their country”.
Honestly, it’s that sort of weird party tribalism that’s part of the problem with politics now.
I see now why he's the Queen's favorite PM since Churchill. His calm and modest approach to the questions by the interviewer, the stoic no-nonsense but no rude bluntness in expressing his answers - the Queen would've surely enjoyed hearing the day-to-day happenings in the UK from him than from anyone esp. her roster of PMs after him.
Wal---she missed her dear old dad, you see, and saw old Wilson as a chummy substitute
I rather think she doesn't give s toss what the PM is saying unless it relates to cutting taxpayer funding of the House of Hapsburg, or better still having the balls of the French people and doing away, quite rightly, with the monarchy and aristocracy
Only one she's ever call by name instead of Mr/Mrs
Apparently its well known in palace circles that the Queen has never got on with those PMs who have come from a privileged background especially 'Supermac', Eden, Dodgy Dave Cameron and Major Disaster (aka Boris Johnson). Not suprising really considering what they put her and her subjects through e.g. Profumo, Suez, austerity, brexit and an illegal proroguing of parliament. The exception being Churchill of course. Odd really considering that those eton-educated PMs and the Queen probably do not come from a too disimilar backgrounds.
@@fman02 you’re bitter aren’t you
There’s no comparison between Wilson’s manner and statesmanship and that of our current so-called leaders! He’s so at ease and confident. Compare this style with that of May! No contest!
Theresa May was the epitome of somebody exposed as being in the wrong job and painfully lying to themself about it. Being 'better than Corbyn' wasn't saying much.
These old school politicians were something else entirely. So articulate, so dignified, just so well informed and generally _smart_ even though it was harder and more onerous to gather information in those days.
We have dumbed down severely. I remember the early-mid 90s and back then even the chavs and criminals were more polite and articulate, swore less, had a better level of general education and had more common sense and general knowledge.
Wilson was an Oxford Don at the age of 21. Intellectually, he didn't have anything to prove.
Current leaders seem to struggle to justify their own existence.
Boris Johnson would not have a chance faced with the intellect and wit of Harold Wilson or Denis Healey.
This tory government is (literally) getting away with murder. Quote: " I'd rather see bodies piled high..." !
Absolutely CORRECT and true
Come back Harold, we need you...
He has been dead for 26 years John.
Great Britain needs you Harold Wilson, Harry will you please come home
What a great interview - direct, clear and witty. Modern politicians just don't compare, despite the myriad of style advisors and messages driven by focus groups. At this point in his career Wilson was exhausted and exhibiting the early stages of dementia - this makes his performance all the more impressive.
This is the kind of conversation I miss in politics today, it's descent, more or less conventionnal, so courteous, so pleasant to hear.
Precisely
This was the real Labour Party
Indeed it was
Daniel Clark Clark Wasn’t labour in power in 70s?
@@joestewart-paul7181 The good old days!
@@z0770z They truly were!
Yes, they were liars then too.
16:40 - "We don't have to pay more for food as a result of being in the market".
I like his demeanour, style and manner of speaking, clearly a man of tremendous intellect.
Harold was a master at being all things to all people, it was amusing when he said he was a practical markeeter when just before he said he was an emotional Commonwealth man. His head was with the Common Market but his heart remained with the Commonwealth.
I am a conservative all the way, yet there is something i seriously like about this man.
Me too.
Haha I'm labour all the way, but think it's so important to have decent debate and swap sides from time to time so we don't end up veering to one extreme (which I think we're doing under the current tories)...
I’m a Conservative member but I like patriotic Old Labour. Labour has made many important developments to our way of life since 1945. If only we had a patriotic Labour today.
@@violinstar5948 I'd say Corbyn is very much old labour - he epitomises it, esp if you look beyond the media spin
@@OnTheLooseGoose Corbyn is the epitome of old labour opposition. He's like a relic from the 1980s.
What a lovely, calm and knowledgeable man. I love the way he answers and that, and the way he lights his cigar, is so satisfying! :)
It's clearly a pipe.
It's a pipe. Cigar is what Churchill used.
@@rogerpenroset.blaine4233 Wilson smoked expensive cigars in private.
If Cameron had campaigned like Wilson last year then I think he would have won it.
daniel clarke I know many people who flirted with voting remain, but couldn't bear to allow Cameron's squalid campaign to triumph.
daniel clarke Cameron doesn't know what time of day it is.
Wilson was NEUTRAL in the 1975 referendum. He didn't campaign.
@@conveyor2 The interview clearly manifests his position as pro-EEC, but I think you're right in the implication that he didn't want to highlight the issue lest his Cabinet sundered.
@@wystanisles4094 It was not a Party Political event, and why people thought it was defeats me!!
This is amazingly pertinent this week! what goes around comes around. Exactly the same arguements. Boris and Jeremy need to view this. I grew up in the 1970's in England and remember this time well.
This article is well worth listening to, all the way through, I didn't support him at the time but I wish I had listened more.
I listened more at the time and I can assure you he and his government were unworthy of your support!
I suppose you preferred Edward Heath and his complete shambles of a government, now that was a total disaster.
Me too! But he committed a big mistake to let Jim Callaghan and his kin (Dennis Healey and the like) to succeed him. That mistake cost us Thatcher 's inferno.
As a German observer of politics in Europe, I think this man was maybe the honest and wisest PM the British people ever have. He was the man of the people.He hated war and refused American pledges to take part in the senseless Vietnam war. And he was also a close friend of the Queen, wo loved the man. He came from a lower social class, but his character was upper Class indeed.
He sent troops to Vietnam.
What troops did Harold Wilson send to Vietnam?
Precisely. Given our current leadership the difference is STARK.
@@andrewcraig-bennett3659 The SAS served in Vietnam, along with 2,000 British soldiers.
The RAF delivered supplies to American forces.
One of the ablest, certainly one the cleverest, men in British politics post war.
Hardly.
He had a very sharp mind which was sadly robbed by the onset of Alzheimer's.
@@prben2 it was a sad fate for a man who, in comparison with today’s third-rate chancers, was a pretty competent politician. I’m not a socialist or even a Labour voter, but this summer will be visiting St Mary’s in the Scilly Isles and will visit his grave there.
*Cleverest* 😂 Britbongs are more fucking stupid than Americans, yet they think they're smarter; Wilson fucked your economy, your future, mining shit happened because of him.
@@markshrimpton3138 He was a Soviet agent.
WOW the opening music is such a "Blast from the past" LOVE IT So good to see these interviews & discussions> From the times when civil - educated & intelligent grown-ups ran the country. Whatever one feels about the parties at least people could present a literate & reasoned argument. No longer just mindless "Gotcha" and vulgar bullies asserting themselves.
How similar is this mans manner to Margaret Thatcher. Different sides of the fence - but total command of the media.
I asked my grandad recently (who's aged 88) that of all the prime ministers he's seen over his life come and go (Chamberlin to Johnson) who is his fav and which did the country the best justice?
His answer: Harold Wilson
My late grandad won the Churchill travelling fellowship award in 1983. He met James Callaghan too
@King Royal why was he a disaster? I wasn’t around then.
I am genuinely curious, but the “unelectable for 30 years” comment is sensationalist and emotional. He hasn’t been involved in politics in my lifetime.
@King Royal Can you elaborate? What policies? Because Labour was elected again within 30 years - James Callaghan, who paid the price for overbearing trade unions more so than failed policies. Then Thatcher came in and fucked up more than Wilson and Callaghan combined.
@King Royal They may not have won a GE in the truest sense, but they secured sufficient seats to force a hung parliament and Heath refused to play ball. I wouldn't take that to mean the people felt Labour was unelectable.
I'm still curious to know which policies though? It seemed to have more to do with Unions having Callaghan's nuts in a vice than anything else.
@King Royal Nobody had a majority, which is why Heath was in talks to form a coalition in the first place. This is bias being presented as fact.
Earl Mountbatten among others, with the connivance of the Queen Mother, worked on a plan to undertake a military coup between 1974- 1975. Mountbatten the man who screwed up partition in India where the consequences are still being felt now.
It was Attlee who did that.
A truly great Labour Prime Minister. My Grandfather, James Andrew Kay Wood, introduced me to the great man back in 1974 along with Connie Lewcock; then one of the last of the living suffragettes. Connie was an amazing Lady with grace and gravitas in equal measure.
Say what you like about Wilson, the man exhausted himself completely in the service of his country. Great speaker, tinged with some endearing Yorkshire regionality. Had some difficult issues to deal with, and managed most of them fairly well.
He looks a very old 59 here indeed.
Leader, patriot, realist, statesman, communicator. Oh how Labour has rotted since then. A true democrat who ultimately understood the analysis of benefits against the false promise of the EEC; and knew that its' power excesses had to be harnessed. If he were around today he would have been a Leaver, reflecting the majority view with conviction
flashtheoriginal w
My late grandad met james Callaghan
The EEC a false promise???? He says it is vital to the UK and it has been!!
Wow he was only 59 in 1975. He liked 20 years older. The job took its toll.
tubularbill Keeping the Labour Party of the 70s together would definitely have taken its toll.
Being labour leader for 13 years would certainly do that.
Prime minister 1964-1970 and then again 1974-1976 ... that's enough to age anyone.
@James Henderson He later had Alzheimer's, and many people felt that he was showing the very first signs of it then, which was partly the reason which led him to resign in 1976
I think people just looked older then.
......and now we have Boris Johnson.
Neither did Harold Wilson.
Great prime minister Harold Wilson was
I remember how much venom and hatred was directed at Wilson at the time iby the public in the 70s. It was unrelenting. Forty five years later he has all but become sanctified. Johnson is dealing with a crisis which no peacetime PM has had to deal with in 100 years and in a time when contempt for politicians along with complete abrogation of personal responsibility has become the norm.
@@phillipecook3227 But BJ is clearly a corrupt scumbag and a snake oil salesman, who is manifestly dishonest and revels in saying ridiculous things. He is blatantly corrupt and spends his time making sneering mockeries of the Opp. He outright boasted of taking it on the chin.
BJ a real disgrace for UK
- Presides over the literal golden age of Britain
- Keeps Britain out of the disaster that was Vietnam
- Ensures the poorest are as protected as possible when things go downhill
- Is actually likeable and honest, direct, intelligent, well-spoken, less given to buzzwords, etc than basically all his predecessors/successors
- Is still hated by Brits
What did Britain mean by this
I thought he was liked by the Brits? Not as much as Churchill, Attlee or MacMillan, but certainly up there.
@@DieGamerAG Nope, Brits blamed him overwhelmingly and primarily for the 1970s. He's quite liked by historians but very much disliked by the average Brit who drank the Thatcherite propaganda kool-aid. There's actually a lot of criticism that he deserves and can be given (I have big issues with him myself seeing as I'm from Ireland) but he is definitely a cut above the overwhelming majority of British PMs
British troops served in Vietnam.
@@edmiliband2806 Wilson was a Soviet agent, like Foot.
Thank you very enormously Harold Wilson
Pity there wasn't televised
Parliment in those days.We would see how he did at PMQ.
There are some good radio debates where he puts Margaret Thatcher in her place. I think it was in the BBC archives don’t know if it’s still there.
He had Thatcher in his back pocket so I'm led to believe.
This man has credibility about him. Some change to modern Labour party . Easy to see why he won elections.
Politicians nowadays seem to conduct themselves in interviews as if they want to come across as nice, fun and friendly 'characters', making jokes, not answering the question, saying something odd or off topic to distract from the topic of conversation. I get this sense whether it's Starmer, Johnson, Trump or Biden. Doesn't help that big sit down interviews lasting as long as this one don't happen enough nowadays. Anyway, Wilson seems straightforward, pragmatic and serious. As a politician should be. Very underrated Prime Minister.
First leader I ever voted for
He was should a good pm the best working class man ever, this shows were workin men can go
Pfft. Both he and Callaghan went to grammar schools, which they then trashed in government, kicking away the ladder for working class children like themselves.
He also lied here about food prices not being higher because of the common market - it was an expressed policy of the common market to artificially inflate food prices to encourage farmers to produce a surplus.
I can't see why the working man should call him a friend.
He never had a hard days labour in his life
@@kaidenhall2718 Not true. He had a childhood full of needs, his parents were in deep financial troubles. So yes, at least at the beginning of his career he was a true working class mate, like most of the Atlee government.
People forget Wilson tried to limit immigration.
And he was right to
Tried?
@@simonlaw9234 It continued to increase during his premiership.
@@simonlaw9234 It's why Labour lost the local elections in 1968, and the GE in 1970.
Those of us in our 60s remember prices doubling in joining the EEC. not just good old inflation. Just doubling of food prices to match Europe.
@@seang2700 And our food is more expensive than in continental Europe anyway.
@@seang2700 Payback time as Wilson handed out 30-40%
pay increases to the miners and public sector unions.
July 1975, UK inflation hit 27% - highest ever and then a visit to the IMF in '76 for a huge bail-out.
Wilson has to take the blame.
Completely confident and at ease with himself.
Compared with the remedial cretins in Westminster today, the man could be Gladstone.
Harold Wilson's wife lived all the way through to June 2018.
Gak ada fotonya
Dia benci dengan trump. Makanya meninggal😂
Denis Healey said of the Wilson government that, like all other post war governments, they 'simply did not comprehend' the scale of change that would be needed to adjust to Britain's post imperial role. Roy Jenkins said that Wilson 'had dreams of empire.' Both Healey's and Jenkins' criticisms are evident in some of the things Wilson says here, particularly about his attachment to the Commonwealth.
So much of this interview is directly relevant today. Wilson stands head and shoulders above the current crop of politicians and at this stage, 1975, he was beginning to realise he was unwell.
His weakness then, as now, was the UK economy overall. Then, as now, some shining lights but attached to a long tail of very dull short term bulbs indeed.
Absolutely love that pipe.
We all know you love pipe.
He didn’t even like pipes that much he loved the cigars but those are a capitalist symbol so he smoked a pipe in public
At the beginning the EU Council had made 50 pages of rules and Law.
It is now 1,700 pages and still growing. No-one reads it which is why
the UK and the 27 are in such a mess.
Whatever suited him at the time.Destroyed our merchant navy.
A thorough gentleman.
Thank you Sir for not having got involved in the Vietnam war! RIP, Sie
What happened to all the 'This is your life' episodes? They've all disappeared.
You know as a person who stares at Wikipedia pages for elections all day hearing what the people representated simply by photos sound like every politician I’ve ever heard speak sounds nothing like what I thought they would have sounded like
The crown portrayal of Mr. Wilson is spot on. Even that strong yorkshire accent!
My favourite prime minister of all times
British soldiers fought in the Vietnam War.
Not conscripted like Australians.
Loved Harold! ❤
I loved Harold
Pity the Labour Party doesn't have such a wise calm leader
The click of his lighter, those thick plumes; the Television used to be so cool and patrician back then.
All that remains today is plebian whining.
Reminds me of my Dad smoking his pipe and always like here when he had made some pertinent point on some subject the lighter would come out and the place would be filled with that beautiful smell of pipe tobacco smoke. Can almost smell it now.
Contrast our current PM, Johnson with Harold Wilson who resisted the USA demands, and kept us out of the Vietnam War, as whilst being interviewed on the BBC about the first referendum took time in the course of the interview to attack the smug pundit with secondary smoking. Brilliant coherent interview from the good old days!
He still provided logistical support to the US in that brutal war.
@James Henderson
"illegally invaded Egypt,"?
Only after Nasser illegally took control ofd the Suez Cannel.
"The outside figure was some 25000, Mau Mau dead (I know the Kenyan movement claim over a 100,000 but then they would wouldn't they.
Given the Kenyan population is some 50,000,000 I think you are somewhat over egging your own genocide pudding .
"and used Agent Orange in Malaysia"?
I was also aware of that.
It is also true the UK actual develop the initial anti foliate that became known has agent orange but it use was very limited scale and unlike in Vietnam was effective in helping to defeat the communist take over of Malaysia so in using it many innocent lives were saved.
Now tell me about Cyprus, Aden and Northern Ireland;
Just think about how Cameron managed the Referendum and compare it to this. Just makes you realize how lightweight our politicians are now
We should never have joined the EU in 1993 without a referendum.
@@MarkHarrison733 We joined the EU in 1973, the change from EEC to EU was all mapped out by the founding Treaty of Rome 1957; a staged process of ever closer political and economic integration!! Thats what we signed up to in 1973!! Read:
"The Treaty of Rome, or EEC Treaty (officially the Treaty establishing the European Economic Community), brought about the creation of the European Economic Community (EEC), the best known of the European Communities (EC). The treaty was signed on 25 March 1957 by Belgium, France, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and West Germany, and it came into force on 1 January 1958. Originally the "Treaty establishing the European Economic Community", and now continuing under the name "Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union", it remains one of the two most important treaties in what is now the European Union (EU).
The treaty proposed the progressive reduction of customs duties and the establishment of a customs union. It proposed to create a single market for goods, labour, services, and capital across member states. It also proposed the creation of a Common Agriculture Policy, a Common Transport Policy and a European Social Fund and established the European Commission.
The treaty has been amended on several occasions since 1957. The Maastricht Treaty of 1992 removed the word "economic" from the Treaty of Rome's official title, and in 2009, the Treaty of Lisbon renamed it the "Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union"."
It was always far more than a trade arrangment!! Heath made that clear in 1973!! We simply forgot!!
@@bryangeake5826 Heath lied to parliament about the loss of sovereignty.
@@bryangeake5826 The UK never wanted to join in the first place.
@@MarkHarrison733 More Brexiteer historical revisonism!! We kept on applying!! De Gaul kept us out, until Health won the argument in 1970 with the Tory manefesto to apply to the EEC/EU by invoking Article 49, he wone the general election on that mandate, and we went in in 1973, and then we had a confirmitory referendum in 1975 and Remain won by 67%!!!
And a year later Wilson was gone. He went of his own accord. He was knackered. Steve Richards recent book, The prime ministers: reflections on leadership from wilson to johnson, is a good primer on wilson's premiership if you want to learn more.
This man would stand for vote leave he is one of my fav labour politicians
Is this supposed to wouldn’t
The common market was different to the true start of the federation in the 1990s
We should never have gone in
It was a big con by Liar Heath.
All explained on The Poisoned Chalice on You Tube. i
He was right that entering the common market wouldn't solve all of Britain's problems. Leaving the EU, by the same token, isn't making them any worse.
Probably the most intelligent PM post the war, but never lived up to his intellect as a prime minister.
Wow, Jason Watkins did such a good job in The Crown. Exactly like him.
Once we public got word of the Maastricht signing in 1992 we wanted out (well some of us who read it) , tho we not given a referendum. All the treaties after that ruined our nation.
Interviewer is biased for the common market, Saying that those who want out are communists or national front is ridiculous but to be fair he was not as explicitly biased as the modern reporters were. Wilson on the other hand is reasonable and trying to maintain semi neutrality, unlike Cameron who was not only openly biased but used threats and intimidation to get the result his masters wanted, he failed.
Wilson was ahead of his time!
I'm sure he said this at the Brighton conference 😊
You could learn Sir Keir.
We joined the common market based on a lie, and we're still leaving based on a lie
?
@@andybray9791 Ted Heath took us into the common market telling us lakes of wine, beef mountain, how much better off we would be, all lies. Boris Johnson said he would take us out of the EU and 2 weeks later on Christmas Eve that's what he said, but the deal he actually got was so bad, it would have been cheaper to have stayed in. Do you actually do any sort of research or are you you simply trying to get me going 🤔
@@aleccap5946 Maastricht wasn’t a great fit for Britain
@@andybray9791 how on earth did we sign up giving away our NHS in the process I will never know, open borders and making matters worse, migration from outside the EU with nothing in law to protect us ? Seriously who would do that ?
Heath used the ''common market'' as a trojan horse into a federal, political Europe construct..ie..the EU.
He badged it up as a free trade agreement.
In truth it was a gigantic deceit.
Concisely the common market is a definate subject.
NZ butter was the straw that broke the camels back! I don’t know how to feel as a New Zealander when I hear this esteemed gentleman elucidate on the reasons as to the how & why of the common market
A briliant lustfull speaker
This interview was very early in my lifetime, yet it seems so old-fashioned for a politician to be smoking a pipe on TV, just pausing to re-light it now and again. I know it was part of Wilson's image, but still. Can't imagine it now.
When he lit that pipe I was amazed!!! Fantastic.
Catweasel would have been amazed as well.
@Sarah Milo It's strange for me to see it. He did it so casually too. There's something so enchanting about it. Like Gandalf.
Shame we can’t do that now
My grandad was the journalist who exposed the plot against him after the secret meetings
Kieran Penrose A plot by Lord Mountbatten?
cheng Sunny the plot against Harold Wilson
@@s20031102 mount batten was a german spy .
@@bazrobb6242 I doubt a father figure to the prince of Wales was a German spy
I thought that was a conspiracy theory. do you have a link to any articles or literature about it?
He looked like he aged 15 years between leaving power in 1970 and coming back in 1974. Possibly the early symptoms of his Alzheimers illness ?
He was drinking heavily every day.
A book I read on opposition leaders also points that keeping labour together in the opposition took all the strength out of him. Heaths successful EEC entry really caused splits that forever affect both parties
I think so, definitely. Also, it's worth remembering that the 70s were fairly horrific times politically. The labour party which he led was an absolute mess, and they didn't have a majority in parliament. The stress on him must have been horrific.
Well his answers seem clear enough.
I just respect so much his intellectual ability - not 'pivoting' or PR trained responses, but a depth of knowledge of the issues to be able to redirect the question (even if leading) to the issue. I also appreciate his deference to democracy; we just had-wave about it now, but he's talking broadly and confidently and aspirationally about the people's ability to govern. It's a shame Alzheimer's cut his career short, and also maybe that he didn't have a natural successor in Labour to put up a better fight against the Conservatives.
He had colon cancer as well as Alzheimer's by 1975.
Wilson enabled genocide in Biafra.
1974/5 caved in to public sector unions, Labour's paymasters.
Sparked off shocking inflation at 27% in June, 1975.... highest ever in UK history.
Four years later, it was still 10%.
An era of striking, anarchy unions and economic stagnation. UK in the knacker's yard by 1979.
Michael Foot was right about the C.M. being undemocratic and Harold Wilson was 100% wrong
God bless Barbara Castle today and her father Barry Castle from jersey❤
Castle betrayed Labour.
His reputation has risen.
This man won 4 General Elections! He tried his best to deal with a country and party that was tearing itself apart!
He only really won one GE.
If the Union movement had behaved themselves in the late 1970's we wouldn't have had Margaret Thatcher.
....and we had that 'will of the people' vote! A 67% Remain vote in an advisory referendum!!
It was rigged.
@@JamesRichards-mj9kw How?
@@JamesRichards-mj9kw ...and the 2016 referendum vote wasn't rigged I suppose?
@@bryangeake5826 My grandparents said they did not know of anyone who voted to remain in the right-wing EEC.
@@bryangeake5826 Thankfully Corbyn deliberately sabotaged Remain!
The interviewer hair has all my attention. I love it.
If Starmer becomes half as good as this guy, I’ll support him.
Wilson enabled genocide.
Piping during the interview lol😂..old days..
How is his farm these days ?
Davey Spess led his oil campaign to combat deficits in the common market
OMFG... Now we have Jeremy Corbyn
British troops served in Vietnam.
No constant interruptions from the interviewer and Mr Wilson given time to explain his point without interruption. It's not that politicians have changed since then but modern day interviewers are aggressive and rude without respect.
The loss of the long form political interview is tragic, and I’m sure many other viewers would like to see it return as a more sensible way of doing politics. Sadly, I believe it’s not possible. The reason politicians and interviewers speak and behave in such a frustrating way nowadays, I think, is because all that matters now is getting short bits of content to go viral. That is how the voter is reached. Fewer and fewer people would see a long form interview on BBC 1 now, and regardless it would be disseminated to most people again through short viral clips. So, the politician and interviewer would behave in the same modern way, avoiding saying anything that could be chopped into a quick negative sound bite, even though they would be given the time to explain at length their position. Oh well, times change, we just have to learn to read between the lines nowadays.
We now know British troops served in Vietnam.
Harold Wilson was a great Prime Minister, one of the best in the history of Great Britain along with Benjamin Disraeli, Lloyd George, Clement Attlee and Winston Churchill. He was an honest and ordinary man, intelligent with a brilliant brain. Excuse me If I made any mistake speaking. I lived in the Southwest of London, but currently I don't speak English as much as I should.
Wilosn was a Soviet agent, like Foot.
@@MarkHarrison733 Really?, are you sure? I don't think so. The big Harold's Wilson mistake was to devaluate the pound on October 1967.
@@joseluisdominguezpereira9299 He was a Soviet agent, like Foot.
Justin Baas gave a good report for his mp mentor
His grandad was from jersey😊
It is the Britishness of this interview that reminds me of a comment by Lord Rawnsley in " Those Magnificient Men and Their Flying Machines"...the trouble with all of these International affairs are all of these foreigners".
Les Griffiths
What if joining the EU in 1971/72 went to referendum in the UK how would it would been the result
Would depend on how Wilson framed the question, and whether Wilson would've campaigned for it
@@seang2700 the 1990s was when we exposed Maastricht and from then on
UK originally joined the EEC - NOT the EU.
I think because it was a leap into the unknown, such a national
referendum would have been lost.
But Heath used all sorts of parliamentary trickery and chicanery
to ram through the UK entry during '71/'72 - which split the Tories for decades to come.
Only ...after we joined was a referendum vote put to the British
people by Wilson in 1975.