Hugh Gaitskell

Hugh Gaitskell
Born	Hugh Todd Naylor Gaitskell 1906-04-09 Kensington, London, England
Died	18 January 1963 (Age 56) Middlesex Hospital, London
Cause of death	"heart condition, pleurisy, kidney failure, virus, lupus erythematosus"
Nationality	British
Alma mater	New College (Oxford)
Spouse	Anna Dora Frost
Member of	Bilderberg/Steering committee, Königswinter/Speakers
Victim of	premature death
Party	Labour
A UK Labour politician who reportedly died of a rae illness in hospital.  Leader of the Opposition  In office 14 December 1955 - 18 January 1963  Leader of the Labour Party In office 14 December 1955 - 18 January 1963 Deputy Aneurin Bevan, George Brown  Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer  In office 26 October 1951 - 14 December 1955 Succeeded by Harold Wilson  Chancellor of the Exchequer  In office 19 October 1950 - 26 October 1951  Minister of Fuel and Power In office 24 October 1947 - 15 February 1950  Member of Parliament for Leeds South In office 5 July 1945 - 18 January 1963 Preceded by Randolph Churchill, Herbert Morrison, Duncan Sandys, Peter Thorneycroft  Member of Parliamentfor Leeds South In office 5 July 1945 - 18 January 1963

Hugh Gaitskell was a UK politician who lead the labour party. He was one of a dozen men whom Józef Retinger consulted when setting up the Bilderberg group.

Death

Hugh Gaitskell died at the Middlesex Hospital, London, reportedly of the rare disease lupus erythematosus, on 18th January 1963.

Official narrative

The BBC reported that a short statement was issued to journalists after his death that "Mr Gaitskell's heart condition deteriorated suddenly and he died peacefully".

"Mr Gaitskell became ill with flu in mid-December. A medical check-up showed he was fit to travel to the USSR on 1 January for talks with Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev and he appeared well over Christmas.

But immediately after the holiday he became ill with another virus and was admitted to hospital on 4 January.

Two days ago his condition deteriorated suddenly and it became clear his kidneys had been affected.

The night before his death, doctors attempted to treat Mr Gaitskell using a kidney dialysis machine.

A total of nine doctors and 40 other medical staff were involved in the operation to link up his body to the machine.

Although initial results suggested there was some improvement in his condition, it was later felt the machine was putting too much strain on his already-weakened heart and he had to be taken off it again.

The Guardian reported that he "had been in hospital since January 4 with a virus infection".

Concerns

Virginia Allkins (sister of Gyles Brandreth MP) reported that "he didn’t die of pleurisy, as they said. It was kidney failure. I had to tell Harold Wilson and George Brown, the main contenders for the Labour leadership, that he was dead. They didn’t talk to one another. They walked away to start plotting."

Anatoli Golitsyn stated that Gaitskell had been poisoned by the KGB. A senior figure in MI5, Peter Wright, explained in his biography Spycatcher

“I knew [Gaitskell] personally and admired him greatly. I had met him and his family at the Blackwater Sailing Club, and I recall about a month before he died he told me that he was going to Russia. After he died his doctor got in touch with MI5 and asked to see somebody from the Service. Arthur Martin, as the head of Russian Counterespionage, went to see him. The doctor explained that he was disturbed by the manner of Gaitskell's death. He said that Gaitskell had died of a disease called lupus disseminata, which attacks the body's organs. He said that it was rare in temperate climates and that there was no evidence that Gaitskell had been anywhere recently where he could have contracted the disease.”
Peter Wright,  Paul Greengrass

A "Dr. Ladell", Porton Down disease specialist, later secretly reviewed Gaitskell’s death and concluded that he was indeed probably murdered.

Lupus erythematosus is rare in UK (affects < 0.01% of UK white males).

Gaitskell's rival Harold Wilson, who became Labour leader after his death, attended the May 1962 Bilderberg meeting.

 

Events Participated in

Event	Start	End	Location(s)	Description
Bilderberg/1954	29 May 1954	31 May 1954	Netherlands Hotel Bilderberg Oosterbeek	The first Bilderberg meeting, attended by 68 men from Europe and the US, including 20 businessmen, 25 politicians, 5 financiers & 4 academics.
Bilderberg/1956	11 May 1956	13 May 1956	Denmark Fredensborg	The 4th Bilderberg meeting, with 147 guests, in contrast to the generally smaller meetings of the 1950s. Has two Bilderberg meetings in the years before and after
Bilderberg/1958	13 September 1958	15 September 1958	United Kingdom Buxton UK	The 7th Bilderberg and the first one in the UK. 72 guests

 

Related Document

Title	Type	Publication date	Author(s)	Description
Document:How CIA Money Took the Teeth Out of Socialism	book extract	May 1988	Richard Fletcher (Author)

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