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Harold Soref | |
|---|---|
| Member of Parliament forOrmskirk | |
| In office 18 June 1970 – 8 February 1974 | |
| Preceded by | Douglas Glover |
| Succeeded by | Robert Kilroy-Silk |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1916-12-18)18 December 1916 London, England |
| Died | 14 March 1993(1993-03-14) (aged 76) |
| Political party | Conservative |
| Education | Queen's College, Oxford, England |
Harold Benjamin Soref (18 December 1916—14 March 1993) was aConservativeMember of Parliament (MP) in theUnited Kingdom forOrmskirk,Lancashire, first elected at the1970 general election. He subsequently lost the seat toLabour inFebruary 1974. Soref was a leading member of theConservative Monday Club.
Harold Soref was the son of Paul Soref, a merchant shipper ofRomanian Jewish origin,[1] and his wife Zelma (née Goodman), who lived inHampstead, north west London. Harold was educated at Hall School, Hampstead, andSt. Paul's School,Hammersmith, before going up toQueen's College, Oxford.[2] InWorld War II, he served with theRoyal Scots regiment, and with theIntelligence Corps from 1940 to 1946.
Soref had an early interest in colonial affairs, and was an elected delegate, in 1937, to the first All-British Africa Conference atBulawayo inSouthern Rhodesia, held with the intention of forming the Africa Defence Federation. He was a founder member of the Conservative Commonwealth Council, a member of the governing council of the Anglo-Rhodesian Society, and the Anglo-Zanzibar Society. Soref was also a member of SirOswald Mosley'sBritish Union of Fascists, and a standard bearer at the BUF's 1934Olympia meeting.[3][4]
In 1951, he was theConservative Party'sprospective parliamentary candidate inDudley, and again in 1955, forRugby; he was unsuccessful on both occasions. Soref was elected as the Conservative MP forOrmskirk in 1970 but, as it was amarginal constituency, and following boundary changes, he lost it in 1974 toLabour'sRobert Kilroy-Silk.
Soref was an early member (in 1963) of theConservative Monday Club, a right-wing grouping in the party. He served a term as its National Vice-Chairman, and was for some time a very active Chairman of their Africa andRhodesia study groups and policy committees. He was several times a member of the club's executive council, including from 1970 to 1975.
In July 1972, Soref had discussions, on behalf of the Monday Club, with theHome Office, on the 1,500Trotskyists camping inEssex, which included groups from North America. They were, he said, being given instruction inurban guerrilla warfare. Soref andPatrick Wall, a fellow MP, also raised the issue of 'educational kits' being distributed to secondary schools, which were said to contain information on guerrilla warfare tactics in Southern Africa. They described the kits as "subversiveCommunist propaganda".
Soref condemnedIdi Amin's decision to expel Ugandan Asians with British passports as "discriminatory racialism". He was a leading speaker at the Monday Club's "Halt Immigration Now" rally inWestminster Central Hall the same year, when a resolution was passed calling on the government to halt all immigration, repeal theRace Relations Act (1968), and start a full repatriation scheme.
On 30 September 1972, theDaily Telegraph remarked that "Mr. Harold Soref is nothing if not consistent", commenting that when an all-party delegation began a tour ofRed China, he left defiantly forTaiwan.
In October 1972, Soref said that theIrish Republican Army (IRA) were planning a direct assault in England, and that the IRA were receiving weapons fromLibya, as well as detailing their contacts with other terrorist movements.
In August 1973, in theHouse of Commons, Soref told theMinister of Agriculture that it was "preposterous" that British housewives should have to pay high prices for beef when there were plentiful supplies available in Rhodesia. In September, he protested to SirAlec Douglas-Home thatHerbert Chitepo, whom Soref described as a "terrorist", had received a British passport 'in error', and said that London was being turned into an 'open house' for about 50 revolutionary movements.
In 1973, Soref successfully fought the Home Office deportation order against New Zealander Peter Wildermoth, and his intercessions, in December 1973, secured the freedom of Gerald Hawksworth, who was imprisoned inTanzania after being kidnapped by theZimbabwe African National Union. He subsequently gave a Monday Club dinner atWestminster Palace to celebrate Hawksworth's release.
In 1974, Soref was appointed as the Monday Club's vice-chairman, and spoke atOxford University in May that year. He had a police escort into the building, but gangs of left-wing students with masked faces howling "Death to Soref" forced their way into the hall; he was forced to escape violence down a back staircase and over a six-foot wall, with his pursuers close behind, jumping onto the back of his car as it drew away. Later that night, the Chairman of the Oxford University Monday Club, Andrew Bell, the son of MPRonald Bell, had his bedroom window smashed by hand-thrown missiles.
Soref, as Chairman of the club'sAfrica Group, often had letters published in the press criticising Labour politicianJames Callaghan's "biased attitudes onRhodesia where communist-supported guerillas were in action". He had also said that "the Secretary of State during his recent safari displayed his dedication to 'Black Power'". Another of his protests was toLord Aylestone of theIndependent Broadcasting Authority over theWeekend World television programme aboutRhodesia which, he said, "gave more support to terrorists than to their victims."
Soref was an outspoken critic of the IRA, and issued a press statement on behalf of the Monday Club in November 1974 calling forcapital punishment "for traitors and those engaged in civil war". The previous month, gunmen shot at a London businessman's chauffeur-driven car close to Soref's residence, andScotland Yard were convinced that it was mistaken identity and the work of the IRA, because of the striking resemblance between the victim, who later died, and Soref. The shooting had taken place at the time Soref normally arrived home, but he had been delayed that night. Both the victim and Soref had similar cars. Later, Soref received an anonymous telephone call saying that the shots were meant for him.[citation needed]
On 26 January 1981, Soref presided at the Monday Club's Africa Group Dinner atSt Stephen's Club,Westminster, when the MPNicholas Winterton was the guest of honour.
In 1947, Soref foundedJewish Monthly magazine, which he also edited until 1951.[1]
From 1959, Soref was Managing Director of Soref Brothers Limited, becoming Chairman in 1976, and remaining at the firm until 1988.[1]
Soref died inLondon on 14 March 1993, aged 76.[1]
| Parliament of the United Kingdom | ||
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| Preceded by | Member for Ormskirk 1970–1974 | Succeeded by |