Version: Backgrounder First Appears On: N/A, 2004
Written By: N/A Performed By: N/A

[...]

The water is heavy
So is my head
I don't live in Chernobyl
lnstead I live in Sellafield [2]

[...]

[Maggie Thatcher:] Who is to answer the child crying for help?

Mrs. Thatcher's Closing Conference - Blackpool, 1985
"Government apart, the strength of a civilized nation depends on the neatural authourity of the family, the school, the church and our great institutions. Who is to answer the child crying for help? Who is to protect the elderly couple? Who can win back the youngster hooked on drugs? Police, social workers, the voluntary organizations all must do respond. But that is not enough. We are the neighbours of that child, of that elderly couple, of that youngster. Upholding the law can't be left to the police and the courts alone. We are all involved. We can not pass by on the other side."

[British Newscaster:] The F-111 is a programmable, supersonic, nuclear bomber designed
To quickly hit and disarm advanced systems and hit possible places as a rapid deterrant

The Possibility of Electromagnetic Interference
"Thompson, "Mixed Signals," and "Radio-Wave Blizzard Probed." The problems encountered by US aircraft in Libya had earlier been reported in the press, though the phrase "electromagnetic interference" had not been used. Five Air Force F111s and two Navy A-6 attack jets had aborted their mission after suffering problems with navigation equipment and bomb-dispensing mechanisms (The New York Times, April l7, 1986, p. 22, Los Angeles Times, April 17, 1986, p. 1, and April 23, 1986, p. 12; The Washington Post, April 20, 1986, p. A1). The eight affected planes -- seven disabled and one that crashed -- represented one fourth of the attack group of thirty-two planes (Facts on File, April 18, 1986, p. 257). The F111 that crashed was seen by Navy pilots as it "exploded" in "a fireball" or "a fiery ball" that then disappeared into the ocean a few miles from shore (The Washington Post, April 16, 1986, p. A1, and April 20, 1986, p. A1; Chicago Tribune, April 16, 1986, p. C5; Time, April 29, 1986, p. 28). The fact that electromagnetic interference has now been judged a possible cause of the plane's fall means that there is nothing incompatible between interference and explosions, a fact relevant to the TWA 800 inquiry."

[US warplanes were launched from UK bases (bottom of article) during the action which explains the British accent on the TV soundbyte.]

[Neil Kinnock:] Can't play politics with people's jobs and with people's services

Neil Kinnock; speech (unscripted) to Labour Party annual conference - Autumn 1985
"I'll tell you what happens with impossible promises: you start with far-fetched resolutions; they are then pickled into a rigid dogma cold. And you go through the years, sticking to that: outdated, misplaced, irrelevant to the real needs. And you end in the grotesque chaos of a Labour council - a Labour council - hiring taxis to scuttle round a city, handing out redundancy notices to its own workers. I'm telling you now: no matter how entertaining, how fulfilling to short-term egos - I'll tell you and you'll listen - I'm telling you, I'm telling you - you can't play politics with people's jobs and people's services."

[Neil was criticising councillors on the Liverpool City Council who had sacked several thousand workers when the council was in debt.]

SPECIAL NOTE: Thanks to Sean Harrow, UK for starting my research and providing vital information!