# Thatchergate

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Hoax audio recording by punk band Crass

**Thatchergate** was the [colloquial](/source/Colloquial) title of a [hoax](/source/Hoax) perpetrated by members of the [anarcho-punk](/source/Anarcho-punk) band [Crass](/source/Crass) during the aftermath of the 1982 [Falklands War](/source/Falklands_War). Using excerpts from speeches by [Prime Minister of the United Kingdom](/source/Prime_Minister_of_the_United_Kingdom) [Margaret Thatcher](/source/Margaret_Thatcher) and [President of the United States](/source/President_of_the_United_States) [Ronald Reagan](/source/Ronald_Reagan), a recording was spliced together which purported to be a telephone conversation between the two leaders. During the course of the tape, Reagan seems to state his intention to use [Europe](/source/Europe) as a battle front to show the [Soviet](/source/Soviet_Union) leaders the [US](/source/United_States)'s resolve in a [nuclear conflict](/source/Nuclear_conflict), whilst Thatcher appears to imply that [HMS *Sheffield*](/source/HMS_Sheffield_(D80)) was deliberately sacrificed to escalate the Falklands War.

When the recording first surfaced into the public domain in 1983, the [United States Department of State](/source/United_States_Department_of_State) considered it to be [propaganda](/source/Propaganda) produced by the Soviet [KGB](/source/KGB), a story reported by both the *[San Francisco Chronicle](/source/San_Francisco_Chronicle)*[1] and *[The Sunday Times](/source/The_Sunday_Times)*.[2] However, coverage of the tape by the [UK](/source/United_Kingdom) [broadsheet](/source/Broadsheet) *[The Observer](/source/The_Observer)* in January 1984 identified the true source as Crass.[3] Crass have stated that great care was taken to ensure their anonymity, and that to this day it is a mystery as to how *Observer* journalists traced the hoax back to them.[4]

In January 2014, official government documents were released to the [National Archives](/source/The_National_Archives_(United_Kingdom)) revealing the concerns of the UK's [Secret Intelligence Service](/source/Secret_Intelligence_Service) (MI6). A [Foreign Office](/source/Foreign%2C_Commonwealth_and_Development_Office) adviser's letter to Thatcher said: "This looks like a rather clumsy operation. We have no evidence so far about who is responsible. ...SIS doubt whether this is a Soviet operation. It is possible that one of the [Argentine](/source/Argentina) intelligence services might have been behind it; or alternatively it might be the work of left-wing groups in this country."[5]

Excerpts of the recording can be heard in the Crass track "Powerless with a Guitar" on the compilation LP *Devastate to Liberate* (Yangki - 1985 - Yangki 1). The full recording was later released on the expanded *Crassical Collection* edition of the group's best of album *[Best Before 1984](/source/Best_Before_1984)*.

## See also

- [1980s portal](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portal:1980s)

- [Cultural depictions of Margaret Thatcher](/source/Cultural_depictions_of_Margaret_Thatcher)

## References

1. **[^](#cite_ref-1)** ["Thatchergate | Tape of Thatcher - Reagan Telephone Conversation. Made During Falklands War"](https://web.archive.org/web/20050830040234/http://www.southern.com/southern/label/CRC/1238.html). *San Francisco Chronicle*. 30 January 1983. p. 10. Archived from [the original](http://www.southern.com/southern/label/CRC/1238.html) on 30 August 2005.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-2)** ["How the KGB fools the West's press"](https://web.archive.org/web/20050830040234/http://www.southern.com/southern/label/CRC/1238.html). *The Sunday Times*. 8 January 1984. p. 3. Archived from [the original](http://www.southern.com/southern/label/CRC/1238.html) on 30 August 2005.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-3)** Leigh, David; Lashmar, Paul (22 January 1984). ["'Soviet' faked tape is rock group hoax"](https://web.archive.org/web/20050830040234/http://www.southern.com/southern/label/CRC/1238.html). *The Observer*. Archived from [the original](http://www.southern.com/southern/label/CRC/1238.html) on 30 August 2005.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-4)** ["... IN WHICH CRASS VOLUNTARILY BLOW THEIR OWN"](https://web.archive.org/web/20080218005505/http://www.southern.com/southern/label/CRC). *Southern Records*. Archived from [the original](http://www.southern.com/southern/label/CRC) on 18 February 2008. We were overcome with a mixture of fear and elation, should we or should we not expose the hoax? Our indecision was resolved when a journalist from *The Observer* contacted us in relation to 'a certain tape'. At first we denied knowledge, but eventually decided to admit responsibility. We had been meticulously careful in the production and distribution of the tape to ensure that no one knew about our involvement. How *The Observer* got hold of information that led to us is a complete mystery. It acted as a substantial warning, if walls did indeed have ears, how much more was known of our activities?

1. **[^](#cite_ref-5)** [Agence France-Presse](/source/Agence_France-Presse) (3 January 2014). ["Phoney Margaret Thatcher Ronald Reagan Tapes Spooked British Spies"](https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/phoney-margaret-thatcher-ronald-reagan-tape-spooked-british-spies-546623). *[NDTV](/source/NDTV)*. Retrieved 9 March 2022.

## External links

- [Details of LP containing Crass - "Powerless With a Guitar"](http://www.discogs.com/release/176781)

v t e Crass Steve Ignorant Eve Libertine Joy De Vivre Phil Free N. A. Palmer Pete Wright Penny Rimbaud Gee Vaucher John Loder Studio albums The Feeding of the 5000 Stations of the Crass Penis Envy Christ – The Album Yes Sir, I Will Ten Notes on a Summer's Day Best Before 1984 Live albums You'll Ruin It for Everyone See also Crass Records Corpus Christi Records EXIT Last Amendment Schwartzeneggar Thatchergate Dial House Southern Studios David King

v t e Margaret Thatcher Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (1979–1990) Leader of the Conservative Party (1975–1990) MP for Finchley (1959–1992) Member of Parliament Public Bodies (Admission to Meetings) Act (1960) Circular 10/70 (1970) Shadow cabinet "Britain Awake" (1976) Vote of no confidence in the Callaghan ministry (1979) Ideology Thatcherism Conservatism Free market Union democracy Premiership Ministers Wets and dries Cold War 1st term 2nd–3rd term 1st ministry (1979–1983) Budget (1979) Budget (1980) "The lady's not for turning" (1980) Budget (1981) Gang of 25 Irish hunger strike (1981) Budget (1982) Falklands War (1982) "Rejoice" Sinking of the ARA General Belgrano Diana Gould exchange "White flags over Port Stanley" Budget (1983) 2nd ministry (1983–1987) Budget (1984) Brighton hotel bombing (1984) GCHQ trade union ban (1984) CCSU case Miners' strike (1984–85) Budget (1985) Anglo-Irish Agreement (1985) Local Government Act (1985) Rate-capping rebellion Westland affair (1986) Budget (1986) Budget (1987) 3rd ministry (1987–1990) Budget (1988) Broadcasting restrictions (1988) "Sermon on the Mound" (1988) Bruges speech (1988) Budget (1989) Ambulance strike (1989–90) Community Charge (1989–90) Poll tax riots Budget (1990) Gulf War (1990) "No. No. No." (1990) Geoffrey Howe's resignation speech (1990) Resignation Honours (1990) Party elections 1975 1989 1990 General elections 1979 1983 1987 Books The Downing Street Years (1993 autobiography) The Path to Power (1995 memoir) Statecraft: Strategies for a Changing World (2003) Family Denis Thatcher (husband) Thatcher baronets Mark Thatcher (son) Carol Thatcher (daughter) Alfred Roberts (father) "We have become a grandmother" (1989) Cultural depictions Film and television Anyone for Denis? (1982 TV play) Spitting Image (1984–1996 TV series) The New Statesman (1987–1991 TV series) Thatcher: The Final Days (1991 film) The Falklands Play (2002 play) Jeffrey Archer: The Truth (2002 TV film) The Alan Clark Diaries (2004 TV series) Pinochet in Suburbia (2006 docudrama) The Long Walk to Finchley (2008 film) Margaret (2009 film) The Queen (2009 TV serial) The Iron Lady (2011 film) The Hunt for Tony Blair (2011 episode) In Search of La Che (2011 film) The Crown (2020 TV series) Reagan (2024 film) Plays Handbagged (2010) The Audience (2013) Statues London Guildhall (1998) Palace of Westminster (2007) Grantham (2022) Paintings Richard Stone portrait (2009) Related Blatcherism Death and funeral Honours Thatchergate ← James Callaghan John Major → Category

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Thatchergate](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thatchergate) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thatchergate?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.