Clive Ponting | |
|---|---|
| Born | Clive Sheridan Ponting (1946-04-13)13 April 1946 Bristol, England, UK |
| Died | 28 July 2020(2020-07-28) (aged 74) Kelso, Scotland, UK |
| Occupation | Civil servant |
| Known for | TheGeneral Belgrano papers |
| Notable work | The Right to Know: The Inside Story of the Belgrano Affair |
| Criminal charge | Section 2Official Secrets Act 1911 (not guilty)[1] |
| Spouses |
|
Clive Sheridan Ponting (13 April 1946 – 28 July 2020)[2][3][4] was a senior British civil servant and historian. In 1984, he leaked classified documents about thesinking of the ARAGeneral Belgrano in theFalklands War in 1982, which showed that government statements about the sinking were untrue. He was prosecuted under theOfficial Secrets Act, but argued that his actions were in the public interest, and was acquitted.[5] At the time of his resignation from the civil service in 1985, he was aGrade 5 (assistant secretary), earning £23,000 per year (£70,214 in 2020).
He later wrote a number of books on British and world history. These included aGreen History of the World (1991), which was revised asA New Green History of the World in 2007, and a biography ofWinston Churchill (1994) and1940: Myth and Reality (1990).
Ponting was born inBristol, the only child of Charles Ponting, who is thought to have worked in sales, and his wife, Winifred (née Wadham).[3][4] He was educated atBristol Grammar School[2] and theUniversity of Reading.[4] He joined the civil service in 1970.[6]
While a senior civil servant at theUnited Kingdom's Ministry of Defence (MoD), Ponting sent two documents, subsequently nicknamed "the crown jewels",[7][8][9] to Labour MPTam Dalyell in July 1984 concerning the sinking of the Argentine navy warshipGeneral Belgrano, a key incident in the 1982Falklands War. After Ponting admitted revealing the information, the Ministry of Defence suspended him without pay.[10] On 17 August 1984, he was charged with a criminal offence under Section 2 of theOfficial Secrets Act 1911.[11][10] The Prime Minister,Margaret Thatcher, had his pay reinstated once she had been briefed on what had happened.[10] Ponting's defence at the trial was that the matter and its disclosure to a Member of Parliament were in the public interest.[11] It was the first case under the Official Secrets Act that involved giving information to Parliament. Although Ponting expected to be imprisoned, he was acquitted by thejury. The acquittal came despite the judge'sdirection to the jury, and hence by definition a "perverse verdict". The judge, SirAnthony McCowan, "had indicated that the jury should convict him",[12] and had ruled that "the public interest is what the government of the day says it is".[13]
In 1985, Ponting came across the one file aboutOperation Cauldron—1952 secret biological warfare trials that had led to a trawler being accidentally doused with plague bacteria off theHebrides—that had not been destroyed, and confidentially toldThe Observer newspaper about it,[4] leading to a story that July headlined "British germ bomb sprayed trawler".[14]
Ponting resigned from the civil service on 16 February 1985. In May 1987, he made anextended appearance on the first ever edition ofChannel 4'sAfter Dark discussion programme, alongside among others includingColin Wallace,T. E. Utley andPeter Hain.
Shortly after his resignation,The Observer began to serialise Ponting's bookThe Right to Know: The Inside Story of the Belgrano Affair. The Conservative government reacted by amending the secrets legislation and by introducing theOfficial Secrets Act 1989. Before the trial, a jury could take the view that if an action could be seen to be in the public interest, the right of the individual to take that action might be justified. As a result of the 1989 modification, that defence was removed. After the enactment, it was taken that"'public interest' is what the government of the day says it is".
The events of Ponting's charge and trial were dramatised by Richard Monks onBBC Radio Four in May 2022.[15]
Following his resignation from the Civil Service, Ponting served as areader in the Department of Politics and International Relations at theUniversity of Wales, Swansea, until his retirement in 2004. He was one of the pioneers ofBig History.[16]
His historical works have attracted attention from other academics, with scholar Paul Addison writing that "Ponting writes well and the clarity with which he summarises the issues calls to mind a model civil servant briefing his minister. He swoops like a hawk on the damning quotation or the telling statistic."[17][18][19]C. J. Coventry reviewed Ponting's biography ofChurchill, writing that "Ponting shattered the Churchill illusion for his readers leaving them little to piece together, just marble shards on the floor of his looted temple".[20]
Ponting was married four times. In 1969, he married Katherine Hannan.[6] After their divorce in 1973, he married Sally Fletcher, who also worked in theMinistry of Defence.[6] Laura Young, a teacher, was his third wife, whom he married in 1997.[6] His fourth wife, Diane Johnson, died in March 2020.[4]
In November 2018, by then a resident ofKelso, Scottish Borders, Ponting gave a speech in which he warned fellowScottish National Party members that aNo-deal Brexit would be used as context in which to disband or constrain theScottish Parliament.[21]
Ponting died at home on 28 July 2020, at the age of 74.[4][6]
the highly classified chronology prepared by Mr. Ponting now known as 'the crown jewels'
those fabulous Belgrano 'crown jewels', which we were told were matters of the greatest secrecy
Ponting ... compiled the 'crown jewels'
It was hailed as a victory for the jury system. The judge had indicated that the jury should convict him.
