Files on Thatcher’s son stay classified
Downing Street archives due for public release today are to remain sealed
FILES revealing the controversial business dealings of Margaret Thatcher’s son are to remain classified for decades.
Documents laying bare Mark Thatcher’s relationship with associates in Oman were due to be released today under National Archive rules but will remain secret, potentially until 2053.
“To whose advantage is it for it not to be published?” critics have asked.
FILES expected to shed light on the controversial business dealings of Margaret Thatcher’s son Mark are to remain sealed for decades, leading to criticism from a former Labour MP who spent years searching for the truth.
The Downing Street documents relating to the activities of Sir Mark Thatcher had been due for release today under the National Archives rule that sees files eventually made public after 20 years at the very least.
However, the release of a series of files related to Sir Mark, who has allegedly made millions from a UK arms deal with Saudi Arabia and other projects while trading on his mother’s name in the Middle East, will be kept secret.
Tam Dalyell, an MP between 1962 and 2005, who spent years voicing suspicion over the activities, said: “If information is withheld after all this time, one has to ask to whose advantage is it for it not to be published.
“My recollection is that this was a deeply unsatisfactory undercover relationship and it seemed at the time that he was taking advantage of his mother’s position.
“This not only troubled Labour politicians but a number of Tories as well.
“Again, I ask, to whose advantage is it that this information is suppressed for so long?”
The latest release of records to the National Archives includes two files entitled “Cementation contract: Mark Thatcher and the Omanis” covering 1981 to 1988 which are listed as not being released until 2053.
Two others – one entitled “Mark Thatcher and the Omanis; other allegations against Mark Thatcher” and “Request by Electronic Data Systems to employ Mark Thatcher” have been marked “temporarily retained” with no date for release.
The Cementation contract refers to a deal by Cementation International – a subsidiary of the Trafalgar House property, construction and engineering conglomerate for which Sir Mark was working as a consultant – to build a new university in Oman.
When details emerged in the press in 1984, it led to allegations that Mrs Thatcher had used her influence with the proBritish Sultan Qaboos of Oman to secure the contract for her son’s firm.
In the ensuing furore it was decided that Sir Mark should leave the UK and move to live in the United States.
In the latest volume of his authorised biography of Mrs Thatcher, Charles Moore quotes her private secretary at the time, Robin Butler, as saying he thought her conduct in relation to the deal “conveyed a whiff of corruption”.
He told Mr Moore: “She had wanted to see Mark right. She sought the deal for Mark.
“She excluded everyone from her talks with the Sultan.
“Mark was dealing with Brigadier Tim Landon who was the Sultan’s go-between. She behaved in a most peculiar way. I suspected the worst.”
Sir Mark also caused embarrassment in 1982 when he went missing in the Sahara while taking part in a motor race.
He was found, following a costly six-day rescue mission which involved military aircraft, and later admitted he had done no preparation.
In 2005, Sir Mark pled guilty to involvement in an alleged coup plot in Equatorial Guinea and was given a four-year suspended jail term by a South African court.
‘‘ This not only troubled Labour politicians but a number of Tories as well. To whose advantage is it that this information is suppressed for so long?