Alan Clark

Alan Clark     (author, politician, deep state functionary?)
Born	Alan Kenneth Mackenzie Clark 13 April 1928 London
Died	1999-09-05 (Age 71) Saltwood Castle, Kent
Cause of death	brain tumour
Nationality	UK
Alma mater	Christ Church (Oxford)
Religion	Anglican
Children	2
Spouse	Jane
Member of	Bullingdon Club, Le Cercle
Party	Conservative
Bullingdon Club, Le Cercle, Minister for Defence Procurement...  Minister for Defence Procurement In office 25 July 1989 - 14 April 1992 Preceded by David Trefgarne Succeeded by Jonathan Aitken  UK/Minister of State for Trade In office 24 January 1986 - 24 July 1989  UK/Member of Parliament for Kensington and Chelsea In office 1 May 1997 - 5 September 1999 Preceded by Michael Bates, Alexander Carlile, Lord Carlile, Paul Channon, Winston Churchill II, Tristan Garel-Jones, Charles Hendry, Alan Howarth, David Howell, Douglas Hurd, Greville Janner, Peter Luff, Nicholas Lyell, Liz Lynne, Michael Portillo, Nicholas Soames, David Steel  UK/Member of Parliament for Plymouth Sutton In office 28 February 1974 - 9 April 1992

Alan Kenneth Mackenzie Clark was a UK author and politician who was a junior minister in Margaret Thatcher's governments at the Departments of Employment, Trade and Defence, and became a privy counsellor in 1991. His successor as Minister for Defence Procurement also attended Le Cercle.

Connections

Alan Clark attended Le Cercle.

Career

Alan Clark was Minister for Defence Procurement from 25 July 1989 to 14 April 1992, succeeded in that position by fellow Cercle Member (and later chairman), Jonathan Aitken.

Arms-to-Iraq

Full article: Arms-to-Iraq

Clark was implicated in the Arms-to-Iraq weapons deal, together with fellow Cercle members Jonathan Aitken and Paul Channon‎. During the 1992 Matrix Churchill trial, Clark stated that "the interests of the West were best served by Iran and Iraq fighting each other, and the longer the better." The trial collapsed soon after Clark admitted being "economical with the actualite" regarding what he knew about arms exports to Iraq.

When Alan Clark was questioned at the Old Bailey by Geoffrey Robertson at the 1992 Matrix Churchill trial, Clark accounted for the discrepancies between his testimony and statements he had made previously. His response became notorious:

• Clark: it's our old friend "economical"
• Robertson: with the truth?
• Clark: With the actualité. There was nothing misleading or dishonest to make a formal or introductory comment that the Iraqis would be using the current orders for general engineering purposes. All I didn't say was 'and for making munitions'.

Death

Alan Clark died of a brain tumour, which Peter Eyre compares to the assassinations of Gerald Bull and David Kelly.

Publications

• The Donkeys: A History of the British Expeditionary Force in 1915 (1961).
• The Fall of Crete (1963).
• Barbarossa: The Russian-German Conflict, 1941–1945 (1965).
• The Lion Heart: A Tale of the War in Vietnam (1969).
• Suicide of the Empires (1971).
• Aces High: The War in the Air over the Western Front 1914–1918 (1973).
• Diaries (three volumes, 1972–1999):
• Volume 1 Diaries: In Power 1983–1992 (1993).
• Volume 2 Diaries: Into Politics 1972–1982 (2000).
• Volume 3 Diaries: The Last Diaries 1993–1999 (2002).
• The Tories: Conservatives and the Nation State 1922–1997 (1998).
• Backfire: A Passion for Cars and Motoring (2001).

 

Event Participated in

Event	Start	End	Location(s)	Description
Le Cercle/1990 (Oman)	30 November 1990	30 November 1990	Oman Al Bustan Hotel & Al-Baraka Palace Muscat	Start/End dates uncertain

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