Series
Firing Line with William F. Buckley Jr.
Episode Number
S0126
Episode
The British Crisis
Producing Organization
Southern Educational Communications Association
South Carolina Educational Television Network
Contributing Organization
Hoover Institution Library & Archives, Stanford University (Stanford, California)
AAPB ID
cpb-aacip/514-086348h43k
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Description
Episode Description
The "crisis" of the title refers to the Heath Government's confrontation with the coal miners' union, which was demanding a 33 per cent pay increase. Mr. Heath had called an election--an election that he would lose, setting the stage for Margaret Thatcher's ascendancy. This show offers a spirited and wide-ranging discussion, exploring the differences between American and British law on strikes in essential industries, the differences in the two countries' electoral systems, and the causes of inflation. WFB: "[What about] the rather unexpected move of Enoch Powell. How do you interpret his decision not to run again?" (See #S127, below.) BL: "I think Tony ought to speak first on that one because he's an old--" WFB: "Powell watcher?" BL: "...Powellite from top to bottom, and I'm not." AL: "I'm not a Powellite from top to bottom." BL: "From side to side, then." AL: "I'm a Powellite from side to side, yes. Two things only I'd say about it. One, I think that Powell could not have run on a Heath election platform. It would have been totally inconsistent with everything he's said, and since intellectual honesty is his main banner--Bernard may not believe it, but it is his main banner--it would have been quite illogical for him to run on this platform."
Series Description
The television series Firing Line with William F. Buckley Jr. was a venue for debate and discussion on political, social, and philosophical issues with experts of the day. Firing Line broadcasts from 1966 through March 1971 were produced and syndicated by WOR-TV, a commercial station in New York, but some of them were also broadcast on noncommercial television stations. Starting in April 1971, Firing Line broadcasts were produced by the Southern Educational Communications Association, an arm of South Carolina Educational Television. Hoover Institution Library & Archives' Firing Line collection guide can be found at: https://www.hoover.org/library-archives/collections/firing-line.
Date
1974-02-12
Asset type
Episode
Genres
Talk Show
Topics
Public Affairs
Subjects
Economic conditions; Great Britain; Strikes and lockouts; coal mining
Rights
Copyright held by Stanford University. This copy is provided for educational and research purposes only. No publication, further reproduction, or reuse of copies, beyond fair use, may be made without the express written permission of the Hoover Institution Library & Archives on behalf of Stanford University.
Media type
Moving Image
Embed Code
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Credits
Guest: Lejeune, Anthony
Guest: Levin, Bernard
Host: Buckley, William F., Jr.
Producing Organization: Southern Educational Communications Association
Producing Organization: South Carolina Educational Television Network
AAPB Contributor Holdings
Stanford University
Identifier: 80040.371 (Hoover Institution)
Generation: Proxy
Duration: 1:00:00
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Citations
Chicago: “Firing Line with William F. Buckley Jr.; S0126; The British Crisis,” 1974-02-12, Hoover Institution Library & Archives, Stanford University, American Archive of Public Broadcasting (GBH and the Library of Congress), Boston, MA and Washington, DC, accessed July 8, 2025, http://americanarchive.org/catalog/cpb-aacip-514-086348h43k.
MLA: “Firing Line with William F. Buckley Jr.; S0126; The British Crisis.” 1974-02-12. Hoover Institution Library & Archives, Stanford University, American Archive of Public Broadcasting (GBH and the Library of Congress), Boston, MA and Washington, DC. Web. July 8, 2025. <http://americanarchive.org/catalog/cpb-aacip-514-086348h43k>.
APA: Firing Line with William F. Buckley Jr.; S0126; The British Crisis. Boston, MA: Hoover Institution Library & Archives, Stanford University, American Archive of Public Broadcasting (GBH and the Library of Congress), Boston, MA and Washington, DC. Retrieved from http://americanarchive.org/catalog/cpb-aacip-514-086348h43k