IntroductionIntroductionHaving recently retired from the Royal Western Counties Regiment (RWCR) following injuries sustained whilst on active service in Western Africa, I decided, while convalescing, to write an account of the extraordinary upheavals which shook Westminster and Whitehall two decades ago.
It would be appropriate to start with my reply to a letter I received from an old friend, my solicitor Thomas Brown:
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Messrs. Brown, Turner and Smith, Solicitors and Estate Agents, 15 Simonsdale Court, BOURNEMOUTH Dorset FAO Thos. Brown, Esq. |
'Halcyon', 12 Forbes Avenue, Coldean, BOURNEMOUTH Dorset 31st August 2030 |
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Dear Thomas, I acknowledge receipt of your letter dated 29th August 2030, and am writing to confirm my appointment with you on 7th September at 1000 hrs. I understand that the meeting is in connection with my late father, Sir Jonothan Doggett KVO, MC, whose affairs you managed with such exemplitude at the time of his tragic death ten years ago. I look forward to seeing you at Simonsdale Court next week. Yours sincerely, (signed) Lt. Col.(Retd) Paul Vincent Doggett, OBE, MC, RWCR
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At our brief session Thomas presented me with a sealed foolscap-size manila envelope. My father had given him strict instructions that the package was to be handed over to me in person precisely ten years after his death.
Sir Jonothan Doggett, being one of the most powerful and influential civil servants in the entire history of Whitehall was, until his fall from grace in 2010, Permanent Under-Secretary to Sir Hugh Catering, Foreigh Secretary between 1997 and 2007.
The following narrative is derived partly from my father's document; partly from various verbatim accounts; and from published information which was gradually released from 2009 onwards. It describes the events leading to Sir Jonothan's resignation from the Foreign Office.
