Apocalypse then: How Harold Wilson feared civil war in Troubles
HAROLD Wilson warned that an independence struggle by paramilitaries in Northern Ireland would unleash an "apocalyptic" bloodbath, plunging the UK into civil war.
The Labour prime minister made the dramatic prediction in previously secret documents released under the 30-year rule.
But other Whitehall files showed that, despite Mr Wilson's fears, the British government considered creating an independent Northern Ireland anyway.
In 1976, both the Irish and British governments feared loyalists would attempt to make a unilateral declaration of independence (UDI), sparking a bloodbath.
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The Labour prime minister made the dramatic prediction in previously secret documents released under the 30-year rule.
But other Whitehall files showed that, despite Mr Wilson's fears, the British government considered creating an independent Northern Ireland anyway.
In 1976, both the Irish and British governments feared loyalists would attempt to make a unilateral declaration of independence (UDI), sparking a bloodbath.