Editing Harold Wilson (section)

===Northern Ireland===
Wilson's earlier government had witnessed the outbreak of [[The Troubles]] in Northern Ireland. In response to a request from the [[Government of Northern Ireland (1921–1972)|Government of Northern Ireland]], Wilson agreed to [[Operation Banner|deploy the British Army]] in August 1969 to restore the peace.

While out of office in late 1971, Wilson had formulated a 16-point, 15-year programme that was designed to pave the way for the unification of Ireland. The proposal was not adopted by the then Heath government.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/issues/72may/donoghue.htm |title=May 1972 &#124; Ireland: The View from Dublin |last=Donoghue |first=Denis |work=The Atlantic |date=31 October 2001 |access-date=20 April 2010 |quote=Edward Heath thanked him without adopting his suggestions. |archive-date=16 May 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080516010227/http://www.theatlantic.com/issues/72may/donoghue.htm |url-status=live }}</ref>

In May 1974, when back in office as leader of a minority government, Wilson condemned the [[Unionists (Ireland)|Unionist]]-controlled [[Ulster Workers Council strike]] as a "[[sectarian]] strike". He refused to pressure a reluctant [[British Army]] to face down the [[Ulster loyalist]] paramilitaries who were intimidating utility workers. In a televised speech later, he referred to the loyalist strikers and their supporters as "spongers" who expected Britain to pay for their lifestyles. The strike was eventually successful in breaking the power-sharing Northern Ireland executive.

On 11 September 2008, [[BBC Radio 4]]'s ''Document'' programme claimed to have unearthed a secret plan—codenamed ''Doomsday''—which proposed to cut all of the United Kingdom's constitutional ties with Northern Ireland and transform the province into an independent [[dominion]]. ''Document'' went on to claim that the Doomsday plan was devised mainly by Wilson and was kept a closely guarded secret. The plan then allegedly lost momentum, due in part, it was claimed, to warnings made by the Foreign Secretary, James Callaghan, and the Irish Minister for Foreign Affairs [[Garret FitzGerald]] who admitted the 12,000-strong [[Irish Army]] would be unable to deal with a civil war.<ref>{{cite news |title=Wilson had NI 'doomsday' plan |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/7610750.stm |work=[[BBC News]] |date=11 September 2008 |access-date=11 September 2008 |archive-date=9 August 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170809002945/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/7610750.stm |url-status=live}}</ref> Later, Callaghan spoke and wrote despondently about the prospect for a British-derived solution to the Northern Ireland issue, supporting a similar plan to push Northern Ireland towards independent status.<ref>Callaghan, James, ''Time & Chance'' (Collins/Fontana, 1987), p. 520.</ref>

In 1975, Wilson secretly offered Libya's dictator [[Muammar Gaddafi]] £14 million to stop arming the [[Provisional Irish Republican Army]], but Gaddafi demanded a far greater sum of money.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/britain-offered-gaddafi-16314m-to-stop-supporting-the-ira-1797754.html |title=Britain offered Gaddafi £14m to stop supporting the IRA |date=5 October 2009 |access-date=13 February 2012 |newspaper=[[The Independent]]|first=Robert|last=Verkaik |location=London |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171015193521/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/britain-offered-gaddafi-16314m-to-stop-supporting-the-ira-1797754.html |archive-date=15 October 2017}}</ref> This offer did not become publicly known until 2009.<ref>{{cite news |title=Libya offered £14m over IRA ties |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/northern_ireland/8290209.stm |work=[[BBC News]] |date=5 October 2009 |access-date=26 September 2011 |archive-date=9 August 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170809002456/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/northern_ireland/8290209.stm |url-status=live}}</ref>