Sir John Nott, Conservative Secretary of Defense during the Falklands War, has died at the age of 92.
After Argentina’s invasion of the South Atlantic Islands, Sir John twice tendered his resignation.
Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher at the time refused to accept and remained in office until the end of the war, after which she resigned to focus on her business interests.
During a political career spanning almost 20 years, he worked at the Treasury and the Department for Trade, as well as representing the Cornwall constituency of St Ives.
But he became well known for abruptly leaving television interviews, with broadcaster Sir Robin Day pressuring him to cut defense spending and calling him “here today, gone tomorrow”. He called him a “politician who will do anything”.
He removed his microphone and left the studio, muttering, “Sorry, I’m tired of this interview. It’s ridiculous.”
Recalling the 2002 interview, Sir Robin told the BBC: “Like the interviewer, I was just trying to cause trouble.”
“I was thinking about my farm and the harvest and green fields of England, but half of my mind was thinking, ‘Why do I have to sit here and ask this stupid question?’ .
“I got tired of it and left.”
He maintained a sense of humor about the incident and later titled his memoirs “Here Today, Gone Tomorrow.”
Born in 1932, he attended Kings Mead School, Stefford, Bradfield College and Trinity College, Cambridge.
He also served as a lieutenant in the Gurkha Rifles and fought in the Malayan Emergency, a communist-inspired rebellion against British colonial authorities.
In the 1966 election, he was elected to St Ives for the National Liberal Party, which merged with the Conservative Party two years later.
He slowly climbed the parliamentary ladder, and in 1981 Margaret Thatcher appointed him Secretary of Defense.
A year after his arrival, he, along with other members of the British government, was greatly surprised when the Falkland Islands were attacked by Argentina, which claimed it as its own territory.
Sir John faced severe criticism in the House of Commons for failing to foresee the attack and exposing the islands to invasion.
Already bruised by the controversy over defense cuts the previous year, he begged Thatcher to allow him to resign.
She accepted the resignation of Lord Carrington, then Foreign Secretary, but refused to release Lord John, saying it was “absolutely unacceptable” while British task forces were carrying out an operation to retake the islands.
Although Sir John was initially skeptical that Britain would be able to regain territory, his doubts were quickly dispelled and he later praised the deployment as a “remarkable achievement”.
Speaking to the BBC in 2002, he refused to criticize the infamous sinking of the Argentine ship Belgrano, which killed 323 sailors.
“We didn’t start the war. There were large forces trying to somehow blame the war on us. (But) we were negotiating peacefully with the Argentines,” he said. Ta.
“It was a terrible tragedy. I was shocked when all the Argentine soldiers died. It was really terrible.”
But he said the Argentine Navy did not set sail after the incident, adding: “It would have been very difficult if we had had to fight not only very brave Argentine pilots, but also the Argentine Navy.” .
After Britain’s victory in June 1982, Sir John again asked for permission to resign, which he finally accepted in 1983.
Getty ImagesHe returned to banking, a career he had pursued before becoming a member of Congress, and became chairman of Lazard Brothers.
He continued to be involved in politics, and in 1999 was appointed by then Conservative Party leader William Hague to head the committee opposing Britain’s introduction of the euro.
He left the Conservative Party during the 2016 Brexit referendum in protest at what he called a “storm of terror” from then Prime Minister David Cameron.
In later years, he took up a writing career and published two more books on “The Adventures of a Pensioner in Old Age” as well as a political autobiography.
Mr Wonderful Takes a Cruise and its sequel Mr Wonderful Seeks Immortality detail his trips to Bromley, Balham and the Spearmint Rhino nightclub, among others.
Speaking to the Daily Mail in 2014, he said he had “huge concerns” that he had “let down his family” by writing the book, which included descriptions of his sexual fantasies and visits to lap dancing clubs. .
However, he said he is 82 years old and “what’s the point of what I say? No one’s going to pay blind attention anyway.”
He leaves behind a wife and three children, including Sasha Swire, author of the memoir “Diary of a Congressman’s Wife.”
Ms Swire paid tribute to her father in a social media post, saying: “Rest in peace my beloved father John Knott, protector, politician and farmer.”
Dame Priti Patel, the shadow foreign secretary, said: ‘John Nott was an inspiring defense secretary and politician who stood up against invasion alongside Margaret Thatcher.
“His unwavering commitment to freeing Britain’s sovereign territories from tyranny is as relevant today as it was during the Falklands War.”
