‘War is over if you want it, Mr Wilson’ ‘No thanks, I don’t’
FORMER PRIME MINISTER’S UNWANTED CHRISTMAS CARD FROM THE GOES ON DISPLAY
A CHRISTMAS card sent from John Lennon and Yoko Ono to Huddersfield’s Harold Wilson, which the then-Prime Minister marked “no”, has gone on display in a museum.
The card, which reads “War is Over! If you want it” and is signed “with love to the Wilsons from the Lennons”, was sent in December 1969 when the Beatle and his wife launched a poster campaign as part of their peace campaign.
It was rescued from the “nutty filing” cabinet in Downing Street by secretary and Beatles fan Ruth
Ferenczy, who kept the card at home until her daughter Alex Rowe decided to loan it to the Liverpool Beatles Museum.
Mrs Rowe, 51, said: “There was a thing called the ‘nutty filing,’ so any strange post that came to No 10 was put in the ‘nutty filing.’
“My mum was filing one day and came across this card so she said to her boss: ‘Look at this, the Prime Minister doesn’t want it, can I keep it?’ and the boss said yes she could.
“Apparently Harold Wilson would write in green pen and if he was going to respond to mail he would write yes or no. “There’s a little green ‘no’ on this card which means he didn’t want to respond.”
Mrs Ferenczy, now 81 and living in Spain, took the card home where it was displayed on a shelf, her daughter said.
The card was unveiled at the museum by friend of the Beatles Tony Bramwell.
Mr Bramwell, who ran the group’s label Apple Records for a time, said as part of the War is Over! campaign he organised billboards bearing the slogan to be displayed across the world, as well as sending out cards with the message on.
He said: “John and Yoko would send them specifically to people they wanted to wind up; well, who John wanted to wind up and Yoko thought would bring world peace.
“Anything aimed at Harold Wilson was a dig.
“John had just sent back his MBE in protest.”
Mr Bramwell said Wilson had previously met The Beatles and posed with them for pictures.