# How to find declassified documents under Thatcher's rule **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 13, 2023, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-find-declassified-documents-under-thatchers-rule/981089 "2023-03-13T02:04:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![cannonkuo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b9bd4f/32.png) [@cannonkuo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cannonkuo)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2023, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-find-declassified-documents-under-thatchers-rule/981089/1 "2023-03-13T02:04:15Z")
I read an article at [The confidential documents of Malvinas: this was the operation that ignited the spark of war - The Limited Times](https://newsrnd.com/news/2021-04-02-the-confidential-documents-of-malvinas--this-was-the-operation-that-ignited-the-spark-of-war.H1_kowVHO.html), in which Thatcher’s letter to a cabinet official sent on January 7, 1981, was shown but blurred. Please tell me where I can find the declassified letter on the Internet. ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2023, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-find-declassified-documents-under-thatchers-rule/981089/2 "2023-03-13T03:00:21Z")
I thought the ignition for the “spark of war” was Argentina’s military attack of the Falklands ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2023, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-find-declassified-documents-under-thatchers-rule/981089/3 "2023-03-13T03:02:19Z")
Point of order. _Can_ you ignite a spark? Isn’t that like wetting a drip? ---
**Author:** ![cannonkuo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b9bd4f/32.png) [@cannonkuo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cannonkuo)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2023, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-find-declassified-documents-under-thatchers-rule/981089/4 "2023-03-13T03:59:07Z")
Can anyone tell me where i can find clearer vision of the letter in my question on the Internet? ---
**Author:** ![Dissonance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/85f322/32.png) [@Dissonance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dissonance)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2023, 5:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-find-declassified-documents-under-thatchers-rule/981089/5 "2023-03-13T05:27:01Z")
Presumably from [clarin](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clar%C3%ADn_(Argentine_newspaper)), the Argentinian newspaper it is said in the article by The Limited Times that > Clarín accessed more than 170 reserved documents that indicate how that commercial trip was used by the Argentine dictatorship and the Thatcher government to launch an escalation that ended in the war. There’s a link to [clarin.com](http://clarin.com) at the bottom of the article, but they want you to sign up before being able to even access their site, which isn’t something I’m willing to do even with a throwaway email address considering the wild conspiratorial claims The Limited Times make in the article that the Falklands/Maldives War was a false flag conspiracy carried out with the collusion of the Thatcher and Galtier administrations using Clarin as a source without saying what these 170 documents are: > The true origin of the Malvinas war is not, as many believe 39 years later, the personal decision of a military man - former de facto president Leopoldo Fortunato Galtier - who woke up drunk one morning and decided to invade the islands. > > It was the political-military advantage that both the Argentine dictatorship and the British government made of the trip of a man who > > **went to the end of the world to look for scrap metal.** > … > Benjamin Rattenbach was the Argentine military writer of the Report that analyzes and evaluates the performance of the Argentine Armed Forces during the 1982 Falklands War. > > It would begin on the morning of March 28, when the Army and Navy troops marched to the islands under the orders of the operation’s commander, General Osvaldo García. > > The Argentine soldiers would leave from Puerto Belgrano, while the fleet would head south with an uncertain destination. > > Four days later, on April 1, the ships > > **would be** > > officially announced > > **what the mission would be** > > . > > “The first aggressors were the English with the > > _false flag_ > > operation > > that they planned for when Davidoff’s personnel arrived on the island and thus justify an attack against him. > > Besides, Thatcher was gambling for the job. > > If she said no to the Navy and Parliament, it would not last more than 48 hours, ”Moro insisted. Please forgive the eyeball bleeding horrible formatting, it’s not mine, it’s the formatting in the original article by The Limited Times. I have no idea what kind of newspaper or in general how respected Clarin is in Argentina, or if they are as nutty as The Limited Times reads like, or what kind of paper The Limited Times is, but the linked article by The Limited Times reads like conspiratorial nonsense of the highest order. ---
**Author:** ![markn\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@markn\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markn_1)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2023, 5:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-find-declassified-documents-under-thatchers-rule/981089/6 "2023-03-13T05:30:47Z")
Yeah, that website certainly looks like it came from Kook City. But if I’m understanding the request, there’s an image of the letter in question right there in the article. It’s rather low-res but readable to me. Are you saying you can’t read it? ---
**Author:** ![cannonkuo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b9bd4f/32.png) [@cannonkuo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cannonkuo)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2023, 9:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-find-declassified-documents-under-thatchers-rule/981089/7 "2023-03-13T09:35:08Z")
I’m looking for the letter Thatcher sent to a cabinet official sent on January 7, 1981, in which she reiterates her decision to deprogram the polar ship HMS Endurance. I meant where I can find the letter on the Internet with high-resolution. ---
**Author:** ![Versicle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/c2a13f/32.png) [@Versicle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Versicle)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2023, 12:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-find-declassified-documents-under-thatchers-rule/981089/8 "2023-03-13T12:21:21Z")
Do as I did, and google a phrase which you can read from the letter - it led me to this: [Can’t vouch for the site but the letter is the same](https://c59574e9047e61130f13-3f71d0fe2b653c4f00f32175760e96e7.ssl.cf1.rackcdn.com/6C5752C519B44A909E944E5F1A874A94.pdf) ---
**Author:** ![pjd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pjd/32/3009_2.png) [@pjd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pjd)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2023, 12:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-find-declassified-documents-under-thatchers-rule/981089/9 "2023-03-13T12:39:23Z")
That’s dated Jan 7 1982 - not 1981. Is that what you meant OP ? ---
**Author:** ![CairoCarol](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cairocarol/32/3825_2.png) [@CairoCarol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CairoCarol)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2023, 12:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-find-declassified-documents-under-thatchers-rule/981089/10 "2023-03-13T12:56:26Z")
It sure looks like The Limited Times got the date wrong in their text. Although they label their reproduction of the letter, “Thatcher’s letter to a cabinet official sent on January 7, 1981,” the letter itself is clearly dated 1982.(Apparently they have limited time for proofreading.) @Versicle’s link definitely links to a clearer copy of the same letter. It’s 1982, not 1981. Which also makes more sense given the timing of the Falkland War. ---
**Author:** ![Dissonance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/85f322/32.png) [@Dissonance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dissonance)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2023, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-find-declassified-documents-under-thatchers-rule/981089/11 "2023-03-13T16:41:25Z")
Adding to the nuttiness of the article, that letter was, to my knowledge, never classified any more than any normal correspondence from a UK PM is. As @CairoCarol noted, The Limited Times gets the date of the letter wrong attributing it as 1981 when it is clearly dated as 1982, and it is a normal correspondence from Thatcher, it isn’t discussing anything secret or of a sensitive nature, it is addressing the _very publicly_ planned decommissioning of the _[HMS Endurance](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Endurance_(1967))_, which was recommended in the [1981 Defense White Paper](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1981_Defence_White_Paper). Full pdf of the original document titled [The United Kingdom Defence Programme: The Way Forward here](http://fc95d419f4478b3b6e5f-3f71d0fe2b653c4f00f32175760e96e7.r87.cf1.rackcdn.com/991284B4011C44C9AEB423DA04A7D54B.pdf). The planned decommissioning of the _HMS Endurance_ was just one of a number of cuts in the White Paper to deal with the recession in the UK in the early 1980s with a focus on maintaining the UK’s NATO commitments with budget cuts coming from things that didn’t directly contribute to this commitment. At the time of the White Paper, planning to take the _HMS Endurance_ out of service was a very minor issue that only gained significance because of the Falklands War; the White Paper was also recommending a number of major cuts that would have had an even bigger impact on the Falklands War had the war not taken place until they were carried out. Among them was a plan to reduce the Royal Navy down to two carriers from three by selling the newly commisioned _HMS Invincible_ to Australia, and, per wiki citing the White Paper: > Any out-of-area amphibious operations were considered unlikely. The entire [Royal Marine](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Marine) amphibious force was in jeopardy of being disbanded and the review announced an intent to phase out both assault ships, [_Intrepid_](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Intrepid_(L11)) and [_Fearless_](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Fearless_(L10)), by 1984. The _Intrepid_ was supposed to be decommissioned in 1982 with the _Fearless_ following in 1984, both earlier than originally planned, and per the White Paper “It had already been decided that likely needs did not warrant replacement” of them. ---
**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2023, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-find-declassified-documents-under-thatchers-rule/981089/12 "2023-03-13T16:58:29Z")
> [@cannonkuo](#): > > the declassified letter Nitpick: any truly classified documents from the Thatcher ministry would not (by default) be declassified yet, since default classification protection extends 100 years after creation. As pointed out, the letter in question was never classified. ---
**Author:** ![cannonkuo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b9bd4f/32.png) [@cannonkuo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cannonkuo)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2023, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-find-declassified-documents-under-thatchers-rule/981089/13 "2023-03-15T02:56:25Z")
Yes, and thank you. ---
**Author:** ![cannonkuo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b9bd4f/32.png) [@cannonkuo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cannonkuo)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2023, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-find-declassified-documents-under-thatchers-rule/981089/14 "2023-03-15T03:04:25Z")
Thank you very much. ---
**Author:** ![cannonkuo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b9bd4f/32.png) [@cannonkuo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cannonkuo)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2023, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-find-declassified-documents-under-thatchers-rule/981089/15 "2023-03-15T03:08:46Z")
Much obliged for your help. ---
**Author:** ![cannonkuo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b9bd4f/32.png) [@cannonkuo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cannonkuo)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2023, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-find-declassified-documents-under-thatchers-rule/981089/16 "2023-03-15T03:09:24Z")
Thank you for your explanation. ---
**Author:** ![cannonkuo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b9bd4f/32.png) [@cannonkuo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cannonkuo)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2023, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-find-declassified-documents-under-thatchers-rule/981089/17 "2023-03-15T03:10:41Z")
Thank you very much. ---
**Author:** ![md-2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9d8465/32.png) [@md-2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md-2000)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2023, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-find-declassified-documents-under-thatchers-rule/981089/18 "2023-03-15T18:28:35Z")
I recall reading an article in the last few weeks that mentioned that despite the law (IIRC classified stuff declassified after 50 years) the British government uses an number of tricks, and also sometimes simply refuses to supply documents, when they should be declassified. Things like “personal information” or “harm to the royal family” are favourites. ---
**Author:** ![Mk\_VII](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Mk\_VII](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mk_VII)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2023, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-find-declassified-documents-under-thatchers-rule/981089/19 "2023-03-15T18:51:14Z")
Our mouse of a Freedom of Information Act has large exemptions, much bigger than its US equivalent. The standard period for government papers is currently 20 years, used to be 30 (and before that 75 or 100)