THE British government was keen not to appear callous or in considering its response to the report of the official inquiry into the Aberfan disaster, according to documents released by the Public Record Office yesterday.
Ministerial and Cabinet memos discussing the implications of the inquiry passed around Whitehall for 11 months. But two weeks before the inquiry was due to report to the House of Commons, civil servants were advising the British government to say as little as possible" when it was published.
A coal pit's waste heap collapsed on the village of Aberfan, in south Wales, on October 22nd, 1966 An entire generation of the towns children were killed, 116 in total and 28 adults.
The documents from 1966 and others released from 1967 shed a little light on the government's reluctance to comment on the inquiry. The then Labour prime minister, Mr Harold Wilson, noted on July 19th, 1967: "I hope ministers will have agreed on something to say before publication. We must not look callous or complacent or in any way passing by on the other side. It is important to decide whether we `accept' the report."
After seeing the report, Mr Wilson added a note at the bottom of the page saying: "I have now looked at the report. It is devastating."
Mr Wilson also suggested that the then secretary of state for Wales, Mr Cledwyn Hughes should make a statement in the Commons, before the publication of the report, saying the British government accepted its recommendations.
He wrote: "Then say the tribunal makes a number of recommendations for future action, including legislation. While it is exceptional to make a statement before publication, the fact that the House is adjourning - combined with the public concern and the devastating nature of the report - makes this desirable."
From the Cabinet papers it now appears Mr Wilson stood firm against a move by a number of Labour ministers to make the chairman of the National Coal Board, Lord Robens, resign following the disaster at Aberfan.
The ministers told Mr Wilson they believed Lord Robens would become "the centre of speculation" once the inquiry had made its report, although they said they did not hold him personally accountable for the disaster.
Mr Wilson added a personal note in the margin of the ministers' report which said: "I do not see the need for this. It may be better to press Robens to hold an immediate meeting of the board to consider the report."
Within weeks of winning the general election in 1966, the Labour government was faced with a serious industrial strike by the seamen's union. The cabinet papers show that Mr Wilson's suspicions about the infiltration of labour disputes by communist members were confirmed by MI5 agents.