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File of miscellaneous papers relating to David Owen's membership of the Doctors and Overpopulation Group ; including copies of newsletter; copy of the management committee minutes; correspondence and memoranda re the Group's activities; copied news articles; some rough notes of David Owen
File of miscellaneous papers relating to David Owen's membership of the Employment Medical Advisory Service Bill Standing Committee A to improve occupational health; include copies of minutes; memoranda; extracts from Hansard of sittings of the Committee; reference information including booklets, reports and articles; some correspondence, including letters from the British Medical Association to David Owen relating to the bill; some rough notes of David Owen
Includes copy of RobensCommittee of Inquiry on Safety and Health at Work report, 1970 -- 72; and memorandum on its recommendations; copies of Parliamentary proceedings on the Employment Medical Advisory Service Bill, Dec 197 -- Feb 1972; brief MS notes by David Owen on occupational health; memorandum and leaflet from the Birth Control Campaign etc.
Material including background notes, memoranda, articles, minutes and some correspondence relating to David Owen's involvement in health-related issues; include:
File of material originally stored in single box-file relating to the National Health Service, particularly concerning the National Health Service Reorganisation Bill, including memoranda, reports, publications, Hansard extracts and other reference information concerning health service reorganisation, some with David Owen's MS annotations; include copy of paper prepared by David Owen for the Labour Party Social Policy Sub-Committee discussing the issue of private medicine, Nov 1972 -Jan 1973; correspondence concerning issues relating to the NHS in general and with Plymouth constituents discussing health services in Plymouth; including a group of correspondence concerning the building of new hospital facilities in Derriford, 1968; etc
Loose letters from David Owen's private correspondence on health-related issues, including:
The papers in group D 709 2/15/2 include various correspondence, memoranda, articles, speech transcripts etc relating to David Owen's involvement with foreign policy-related issues, groups and committees whilst a Labour MP, dating from 1971 -- 1973.
See also papers in Group D 709 2/7 --- papers of David Owen as Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs.
The papers in group D 709 2/15/2 are arranged as far as possible in chronological order.
Copies of conference papers for conference of the British American Parliamentary Group at Ditchley Park covering the following sections: East-West relations, Europe and NATO; International Economic Affairs, problems of modern societies, the Middle East and Arab-Israeli dispute; the Far East.
Letter on behalf of the National Executive Council of the Association of Scientific Technical and Managerial Staffs noting regret at David Owen's vote against the Labour Party over principle of entry into EEC; with copy of David Owen's reply.
Correspondence and related papers concerning the imposition of maritime sanctions of oil imports to Rhodesia: Includes letter to David Owen from P.M.Hart of the International Affairs Desk detailing `The legal status and implications of the Beira Patrol', Feb 1971, enclosing photocopied article; copy letter from David Owen to Roy Jenkins concerning maritime sanctions over Rhodesia; correspondence between Peter Mackay of the 1973 Justice for Rhodesia Campaign and David Owen concerning the establishment of a working group on sanctions, with copy of press release and news letter.
Presentation file containing programme for the visit of David Owen and Debbie Owen to Israel, 18 -- 26 Apr 1973; folder also includes map, postcard and pen
With inscription by the author to David Owen inside front cover, dated 25 Apr 1973
Correspondence, copy correspondence, memoranda and drafts concerning the drawing up of the Labour Committee for Europe's policy document on EEC institutions and foreign policy.
Includes correspondence between Keith Kyle of the Royal Institute of International Affairs and David Owen: congratulations on David Owen's speech on the Arab-Israeli dispute, discussion of UN Resolution 242; transcripts of speeches by David Owen on the dispute; transcripts of press conferences with Henry Kissinger and President Nixon on the issues, Oct 1973.
The papers in group D 709 2/15/3 include files of correspondence, minutes of meetings, memoranda etc relating to David Owen's personal policy and career as Labour Party MP, dating from 1972 -- 1981.
The files in D 709 2/15/3 are arranged as far as possible in chronological order.
Small group of letters to David Owen on Plymouth constituency and other issues from senior politicians, with some additional reference material, including:
File of correspondence with the Council for Nautical Archaeologyconcerning inadequacy of legislation concerning nautical archaeology and the protection of historic wrecks, with particular reference to the case of the royal yachtMary ; includes copies of articles, memoranda etc
File containing correspondence and some other papers relating to both political and personal concerns of David Owen, principally dating from his time as Labour MP, but with some material following the formation of the SDP, including:
File containing correspondence and other papers relating in general to Labour Party affairs and policy, including:
File of letters on the appointment of David Owen as a Privy Councillor; include letter from James Callaghan declaring his intention to submit David Owen's name for privy Council appointment; letters of congratulations.
File of correspondence concerning nominations of David Owen to the Labour Party National Executive Committee yearly elections, 1977 -- 1980; also encloses copy of letter to Constituency Labour Parties suggested by Mike Thomas to encourage members to vote for a change in the composition of the NEC, Aug 1979; and copy of Labour Party song sheet
Copies of minutes for meetings of Parliamentary Committee sub-groups; also copies of memoranda/reports sent to members of the committee. (Include minutes of the Energy Group of which David Owen was a member)
Copies of minutes for meetings of the Association of Scientific Technical and Managerial Staffs Parliamentary Committee; includes some correspondence concerning arrangements for meetings, nomination of David Owen as Vice President of the Birmingham branch, expulsion of David Owen on leaving the Labour Party.
The papers in group D 709 2/16 includes collected news cuttings of general relevance to David Owen's career as Labour Party MP, and a small group of pamphlets, reports and other publications produced by the Labour Party or associated groups during David Owen's time as Labour MP, dating from c. 1967 -- 1981.
For further news cuttings relating to David Owen's career as an SDP MP see also D 709 3/24
The papers in group D 709 2/16 are arranged into the following groups:
The papers in group D 709 2/16/1 includes groups of collected news cuttings of general relevance to David Owen's career as Labour Party MP, often with other papers including memoranda, notes, speech transcripts, some correspondence etc, dating from 1967 -- 1981.
The files in D 709 2/16/1 are arranged in roughly chronological order
File labelled `The Politician' containing miscellaneous material relating to David Owen's career as Labour Party MP, including:
Unlabelled file containing miscellaneous material relating to David Owen's career as Labour Party MP, including:
Miscellaneous loose news cuttings relating to David Owen's career as Labour Party MP, on subjects including: Plymouth constituency issues; Labour Party internal dispute, 1980 -- 81,and attacks of Shirley Williams and David Owen on the Labour Party `Far Left'; birth of Lucy Owen, Feb 1979; problems in Southern Africa; nuclear deterrents. Also includes transcript of speech by [David Owen] on industrial relations and occupational health; election campaign leaflets for Roy Jenkins, Stechford, and John Goss, Conservative candidate, Plymouth.
Group D 709 2/16/2 includes a small collection of publications including pamphlets, reports, and leaflets produced by the Labour Party or organisations associated to the Labour Party, dating from c.1975 -- 1980
The publications in D 709 2/16/2 are arranged where possible in chronological order
Based on a lecture give at the invitation of the Socialist International by Anthony Crosland to a seminar of members of the Costa Rican Government, San Jose, Costa Rica, Oct 1975.
A statement by the National Executive Committee of the Labour Party
Includes notice of lecture by David Owen in group of lectures on `A socialist philosophy for the eighties'
Includes notice of lecture by David Owen in group of lectures on `A socialist philosophy for the eighties'
Report of Labour government achievements of 1979, set against manifesto commitments.
Collection of Labour Party membership recruitment campaign leaflets on various policy issues
The papers in group D 709 2/17 include drafts of statements, correspondence, speech transcripts, news cuttings and other material relating to events leading to David Owen's decision to leave the Labour Party; dating from c.1977 --- Mar 1981.
Following Labour's election defeat in 1979 the Party suffered an increasingly bitter internal struggle between its Left-wing and Right-wing members. Richard Kelly terms the period 1979 -- 1983 as `the Bennite ascendancy' (Kelly, Richard in Britain's Changing Party System, p.27) with Tony Benn and the Labour Party Left achieving increasing influence within the party, alienating many of the more `right-wing' members, of whom David Owen was a prominent representative.
Tony Benn argued that too much of the Party's authority rested with the parliamentary leadership, not enough with the Labour Party activists, and drew up proposals ('Benn-Heffer proposals') for constitutional reform which would reduce the independence of the Parliamentary Labour Party (PLP). A Labour Party Commission of Enquiry was accordingly set up to look into these proposals. David Owen, firmly opposed to the suggested reforms, began to increase his support for the Campaign for Labour Victory, a `grass roots organisation' established in Feb 1977 to try and combat the influence of the extreme left and Militant Tendency, which issued a statement to counter the proposals. However, subsequent Labour conferences reflected the increasing strength of the Party Left. At the Sep 1979 conference a proposal of mandatory reselection of MPs by their constituency parties was carried, and although proposals for an `electoral college' to replace the PLP's right to elect the Party leadership were rejected, Owen recollects the conference as an ominous forewarning for the moderates: 'Few of us had any doubt that Tony Benn was masterminding a fundamental change in the balance of the Party, an historic shift from elected representatives to non-elected party caucuses' (Owen, Time to Declare, p.424). The Special Conference held at Wembley the following year was also dominated by Left-wing sentiment, notably hostility to British membership of the European Community, and support for unilateral nuclear disarmament.
On 6 Jun 1980 David Owen met with two other `moderate' Labour politicians, Shirley Williams and Bill Rodgers, to draft a statement in support of European membership. The group, who became known as the `Gang of Three', resolved to meet again to draft a wider-reaching statement to cover further issues of policy.
On 14 -- 15 Jun 1980 at the conference of the Labour Party Commission of Enquiry to finalize its report, held at Bishop's Stortford, proposals for mandatory reselection and an electoral college system for the election of the Party leader were passed; finally endorsed, to the frustration of Owen, by James Callaghan. At the annual Labour Party conference in October, the Left-wing realised further significant victories, carrying votes to introduce unilateral nuclear disarmament, to establish mandatory reselection of MPs and to widen the franchise for election of the Party leader and deputy leader, by a method to be decided by a Special Conference. The conference emphasized the bitter divisions within the Labour Party, and on 15th Oct Callaghan resigned as Party leader. David Owen continued to campaign against the influence of the Left, speaking out in opposition to the idea of an `electoral college' and proposing a system of `one member, one vote' . On 10 Nov 1980 the election of Michael Foot as Party Leader, defeating Denis Healey, was a further indication of the Left's ascendancy, and moved David Owen to the decision to resign from the Shadow Cabinet.
On 18 Jan the `Gang of Four' met for the first time, a group comprising the original `Gang of Three' and Roy Jenkins, to prepare a statement for release after the Labour Party Special Conference at Wembley in anticipation of the proposals for an electoral college being accepted. On 24 Jan the conference voted for an electoral college by a majority of 94%, with only 6% supporting Owen's idea of a postal ballot for all party members. Further, the composition of the electoral college was determined to allow 40% of votes to the trade unions, 30% each to the PLP and constituency parties: a result reflective, as Richard Kelly notes, of 'the fact that this special conference, like all Labour conferences, was dominated by the unions' block votes' (R. Kelly, Britain's Changing Party System p.28)
On the following day the `Gang of Four' met at David Owen's residence in Limehouse for the final redrafting of the document to become known as the `Limehouse Declaration' which announced the establishment of the Council for Social Democracy to 'rally all those who are committed to the values, principles and policies of social democracy' and address the need for a 'realignment of British politics'. On the following day nine further Labour MPs pledged their support for the Council. David Owen's work Face the Future, a comprehensive statement of personal policy which he had begun in the spring of 1980 'in order to confront the ideology of the centralized Left and the mistaken path of state socialism' (Owen Time to Declare p. whatever ); was published on the 29 Jan and work began on preparations for the creation and launch of a new social democratic party. (SEE D709 3/1 SDP Papers: Launch of the SDP; D 709 3/19/1 SDP Papers: David Owen Publications. Face the Future).
The papers in group D 709 2/17 are arranged into the following groups:
The papers in group D 709 2/17/1 include collections of memoranda, draft papers, speech transcripts, correspondence, leaflets and other material relating to the work of the Campaign for Labour Victory and the issues surrounding the growing disunity in the Labour Party, dating from c.1977 -- 1981.
The papers in group D 709 2/17/1 are arranged as far as possible in chronological order
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