The Minister speaks: the Crossman Diaries
The papers of the politician and writer Richard Crossman form one of the most important personal archives held at the Modern Records Centre. Presented here are extracts from the sound recordings of the first revision of Crossman鈥檚 famous diaries, which were published as The diaries of a Cabinet minister between 1975 and 1977.
The recordings formed one stage in a complicated process of transcription and re-drafting, so in places they differ considerably from the published versions. Together with the unpublished diary Crossman kept in 1970 as editor of the New Statesman, they can be heard in their entirety from the relevant descriptions in . In 2012, thanks to a generous donation from Virginia Crossman, Richard Crossman鈥檚 daughter, they were digitised in order to safeguard their preservation and make them more accessible.
, and also about other aspects of Crossman鈥檚 career, opinions and personality can be found on the pages on our web site. There are also links to some of these pages under the descriptions of the extracts. of many of Crossman's broadcasts on radio and television have also been digitised and can be searched.
"Realists against gesture-makers", 22 November 1964 (3:23)
After a month in office, Crossman reflects on his work as a minister and on the Cabinet.
Names mentioned in this extract: Harold [Wilson], Prime Minister; George Brown, Secretary of State for Economic Affairs; [Fred] Willey, Minister of Land and Natural Resources; Bill Rodgers, Parliamentary Under-Secretary at the Department for Economic Affairs.
"They gave me the most exhilarating time", 3 December 1964 (2:35)
Young architects and sociologists enthuse the Minister about the system-building of housing. The zeal expressed here for new ways of providing high-density housing cheaply and quickly (in this case in Oldham) contrasts poignantly with the disrepute into which these methods later fell.
鈥淵ou鈥檙e lily-livered, you鈥檙e cowardly, I can鈥檛 stick it鈥�, 17 June 1969 (2:57)
The Prime Minister driven to drink over In place of strife.
This is part of Crossman鈥檚 account of what he described as 鈥渢he most devastating Cabinet meeting I have attended鈥� (Diaries of a Cabinet minister, volume three, page 523). Harold Wilson found himself largely isolated over his insistence on the inclusion of penal clauses against the trade unions in a bill based on Barbara Castle鈥檚 White Paper, In place of strife: a policy for industrial relations (which turned out to be an ironic title). Other names mentioned in this extract: Fred Peart, Minister of Agriculture; Roy Jenkins, Chancellor of the Exchequer.
鈥淚nfinity in a really deep sense of the word鈥�, 20 July 1969 (3:42)
The moon mission and a TV programme prompt musings about the universe and the meaning (or meaninglessness) of life.
Names mentioned in this extract: John Freeman, British Ambassador to the United States; Anne, Crossman鈥檚 wife.
鈥淐ommitted to Armageddon鈥�, 16 Mar 1970 (1:50)
Israeli hawkishness epitomised by 鈥淵oung Turk鈥� Shimon Peres (later Prime Minister and President of Israel).
Although he was a 'dove', Crossman's support for Israel was not shaken by the apparently uncompromising stance of its leaders at this time. Other names mentioned in this extract: 鈥淏-G鈥� (David Ben-Gurion, former Prime Minister of Israel); Moshe Dayan, Israeli Minister of Defence; Meyer Weisgal, president of the Weizmann Institute of Science; [Chaim] Weizmann, first President of Israel.