Harold Soref
Encyclopedia
Harold Benjamin Soref (18 December 1916 – 14 March 1993) was twice a Conservative
parliamentary candidate before being elected Member of Parliament
(MP) in the United Kingdom
for Ormskirk
, Lancashire
, in the 1970 General Election
. He subsequently lost that seat to Labour in February 1974
. He was a leading member of the Conservative Monday Club
.
in London. Harold was educated at Hall School, Hampstead, and St.Paul's School, Hammersmith
, before going up to Queen's College, Oxford. In World War II
, he served with the Royal Scots regiment and with the Intelligence Corps, 1940-1946.
, in Southern Rhodesia
, held with the intention of forming the Africa Defence Federation. He was a founder member of the Conservative Commonwealth Council, and a member of the governing council of the Anglo-Rhodesian Society, and the Anglo-Zanzibar Society. He was a member and the Standard Bearer of the BUF
at the Olympia meeting.
In 1951, he was the Conservative Party
's prospective parliamentary candidate at Dudley
, and, again in 1955, at Rugby
, being unsuccessful on both occasions. He was elected Conservative MP, for Ormskirk, in 1970, but, being a marginal constituency and following boundary changes, he lost it, in 1974, to Labour's candidate Robert Kilroy-Silk
.
, served a term as National Vice-Chairman, and was for some considerable time a very active Chairman of their Africa and Rhodesia
study groups and policy committees. He was several times a member of the Club's Executive Council, including 1970-1975.
In July 1972, Soref had discussions, on behalf of the Monday Club, with the Home Office, on the 1500 Trotskyist
s camping in Essex
, which included groups from North America. They were, he said, being given instruction in urban guerilla warfare. Mr. Soref and Patrick Wall
, MP, also raised the issue of 'educational kits' being distributed to secondary schools, which were said to contain information on guerilla warfare tactics in Southern Africa. They described the kits as "subversive Communist propaganda".
He attacked Idi Amin
's decision to expel Ugandan Asians with British passports as "discriminatory racialism". He was a leading speaker at the Monday Club's "Halt Immigration Now" rally in Westminster Central Hall
the same year, when a resolution was passed calling on the government to halt all immigration, repeal the Race Relations Act
(1968), and start a full repatriation scheme.
On 30 September 1972, the Daily Telegraph remarked that "Mr. Harold Soref is nothing if not consistent", commenting that when an all-party delegation began a tour of Red China, he left defiantly for Taiwan
.
In October 1972, Harold Soref claimed that the Irish Republican Army
(IRA) were planning a direct assault in England, and that the IRA were receiving weapons from Libya
, as well as detailing their contacts with other terrorist movements.
In August 1973, in the House of Commons
, he told the Minister of Agriculture that it was "preposterous" that British housewives should have to pay high prices for beef when there were plentiful supplies available in Rhodesia
. In September, he protested to Sir Alec Douglas-Home
that Herbert Chitepo
, whom Soref described as a "terrorist", had received a British passport 'in error', and said that London was being turned into an 'open house' for about 50 revolutionary movements.
In 1973, Harold Soref successfully fought against the Home Office deportation order against New Zealander Peter Wildermoth, and his intercessions, in December 1973, secured the freedom of Gerald Hawksworth, who was imprisoned in Tanzania
after being kidnapped by the Zimbabwe African National Union
. He subsequently gave a Monday Club dinner at Westminster Palace to celebrate Mr.Hawksworth's release.
In 1974, he was appointed the Club's Vice-Chairman, and spoke at Oxford University in May that year. He had a police escort into the building, but gangs of left-wing students with masked faces howling "Death to Soref" forced their way into the hall; Soref was forced to escape violence down a back staircase and over a six-foot wall, with his pursuers close behind, jumping onto the back of his car as it drew away. Later that night, the Chairman of the Oxford University Monday Club, Andrew Bell, son of Ronald Bell
, QC, MP, had his bedroom window smashed by hand-thrown missiles.
Harold Soref, as Chairman of the Club's Africa
Group, often had letters in the press attacking Mr. James Callaghan
's "biased attitudes on Rhodesia
where communist-supported guerillas were in action". He had also said that "the Secretary of State during his recent safari displayed his dedication to 'Black Power'". Another of his protests was to Lord Ayleston of the Independent Broadcasting Authority
over the Weekend World
programme on Rhodesia
which, he said, "gave more support to terrorists than to their victims."
Harold Soref was an outspoken critic of the IRA, and issued a Press Statement on behalf of the Monday Club, in November 1974, calling for Capital Punishment
"for traitors and those engaged in civil war". The previous month gunmen shot at a London businessman's chauffeur-driven car close to Soref's residence, and Scotland Yard
were convinced that it was mistaken identity and the work of the IRA, because of the striking resemblance between the victim, who later died, and Harold Soref. The shooting had taken place at the time Soref normally arrived home, but he had been delayed that night. Both victim and Soref had similar cars. Later, Soref received an anonymous telephone call saying the shots were meant for him.
On 26 January 1981, Harold Soref presided at the Club's Africa Group Dinner at St Stephen's Club, Westminster, when Nicholas Winterton
, MP, was the Guest-of-Honour.
Conservative Party (UK)
The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
parliamentary candidate before being elected Member of Parliament
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
(MP) in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
for Ormskirk
Ormskirk (UK Parliament constituency)
Ormskirk was a county constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elected one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election. It was created by the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885 as a division of the parliamentary county of...
, Lancashire
Lancashire
Lancashire is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in the North West of England. It takes its name from the city of Lancaster, and is sometimes known as the County of Lancaster. Although Lancaster is still considered to be the county town, Lancashire County Council is based in Preston...
, in the 1970 General Election
United Kingdom general election, 1970
The United Kingdom general election of 1970 was held on 18 June 1970, and resulted in a surprise victory for the Conservative Party under leader Edward Heath, who defeated the Labour Party under Harold Wilson. The election also saw the Liberal Party and its new leader Jeremy Thorpe lose half their...
. He subsequently lost that seat to Labour in February 1974
United Kingdom general election, February 1974
The United Kingdom's general election of February 1974 was held on the 28th of that month. It was the first of two United Kingdom general elections held that year, and the first election since the Second World War not to produce an overall majority in the House of Commons for the winning party,...
. He was a leading member of the Conservative Monday Club
Conservative Monday Club
The Conservative Monday Club is a British pressure group "on the right-wing" of the Conservative Party.-Overview:...
.
Early life
Harold Soref was the son of Paul Soref, a Romanian-born merchant shipper, and his wife Zelma (née Goodman), who lived at HampsteadHampstead
Hampstead is an area of London, England, north-west of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Camden in Inner London, it is known for its intellectual, liberal, artistic, musical and literary associations and for Hampstead Heath, a large, hilly expanse of parkland...
in London. Harold was educated at Hall School, Hampstead, and St.Paul's School, Hammersmith
Hammersmith
Hammersmith is an urban centre in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham in west London, England, in the United Kingdom, approximately five miles west of Charing Cross on the north bank of the River Thames...
, before going up to Queen's College, Oxford. In World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, he served with the Royal Scots regiment and with the Intelligence Corps, 1940-1946.
Political career
Harold Soref had an early interest in colonial affairs, and was an elected delegate, in 1937, to the first All-British Africa Conference at BulawayoBulawayo
Bulawayo is the second largest city in Zimbabwe after the capital Harare, with an estimated population in 2010 of 2,000,000. It is located in Matabeleland, 439 km southwest of Harare, and is now treated as a separate provincial area from Matabeleland...
, in Southern Rhodesia
Rhodesia
Rhodesia , officially the Republic of Rhodesia from 1970, was an unrecognised state located in southern Africa that existed between 1965 and 1979 following its Unilateral Declaration of Independence from the United Kingdom on 11 November 1965...
, held with the intention of forming the Africa Defence Federation. He was a founder member of the Conservative Commonwealth Council, and a member of the governing council of the Anglo-Rhodesian Society, and the Anglo-Zanzibar Society. He was a member and the Standard Bearer of the BUF
British Union of Fascists
The British Union was a political party in the United Kingdom formed in 1932 by Sir Oswald Mosley as the British Union of Fascists, in 1936 it changed its name to the British Union of Fascists and National Socialists and then in 1937 to simply the British Union...
at the Olympia meeting.
In 1951, he was the Conservative Party
Conservative Party (UK)
The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
's prospective parliamentary candidate at Dudley
Dudley
Dudley is a large town in the West Midlands county of England. At the 2001 census , the Dudley Urban Sub Area had a population of 194,919, making it the 26th largest settlement in England, the second largest town in the United Kingdom behind Reading, and the largest settlement in the UK without...
, and, again in 1955, at Rugby
Rugby, Warwickshire
Rugby is a market town in Warwickshire, England, located on the River Avon. The town has a population of 61,988 making it the second largest town in the county...
, being unsuccessful on both occasions. He was elected Conservative MP, for Ormskirk, in 1970, but, being a marginal constituency and following boundary changes, he lost it, in 1974, to Labour's candidate Robert Kilroy-Silk
Robert Kilroy-Silk
Robert Michael Kilroy-Silk is an English former politician, former independent Member of the European Parliament, and former television presenter, best known for his daytime talk show Kilroy. He has been a university lecturer and Labour Party Member of Parliament...
.
Monday Club
Soref was an early member (1963) of the Conservative Monday ClubConservative Monday Club
The Conservative Monday Club is a British pressure group "on the right-wing" of the Conservative Party.-Overview:...
, served a term as National Vice-Chairman, and was for some considerable time a very active Chairman of their Africa and Rhodesia
Rhodesia
Rhodesia , officially the Republic of Rhodesia from 1970, was an unrecognised state located in southern Africa that existed between 1965 and 1979 following its Unilateral Declaration of Independence from the United Kingdom on 11 November 1965...
study groups and policy committees. He was several times a member of the Club's Executive Council, including 1970-1975.
In July 1972, Soref had discussions, on behalf of the Monday Club, with the Home Office, on the 1500 Trotskyist
Trotskyism
Trotskyism is the theory of Marxism as advocated by Leon Trotsky. Trotsky considered himself an orthodox Marxist and Bolshevik-Leninist, arguing for the establishment of a vanguard party of the working-class...
s camping in Essex
Essex
Essex is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East region of England, and one of the home counties. It is located to the northeast of Greater London. It borders with Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent to the South and London to the south west...
, which included groups from North America. They were, he said, being given instruction in urban guerilla warfare. Mr. Soref and Patrick Wall
Patrick Wall
Major Sir Patrick Henry Bligh Wall KBE , MC, VRD was a British senior commando in the Royal Marines during World War II and later a Conservative politician. He was Member of Parliament for Haltemprice, East Yorkshire and subsequently for Beverley...
, MP, also raised the issue of 'educational kits' being distributed to secondary schools, which were said to contain information on guerilla warfare tactics in Southern Africa. They described the kits as "subversive Communist propaganda".
He attacked Idi Amin
Idi Amin
Idi Amin Dada was a military leader and President of Uganda from 1971 to 1979. Amin joined the British colonial regiment, the King's African Rifles in 1946. Eventually he held the rank of Major General in the post-colonial Ugandan Army and became its Commander before seizing power in the military...
's decision to expel Ugandan Asians with British passports as "discriminatory racialism". He was a leading speaker at the Monday Club's "Halt Immigration Now" rally in Westminster Central Hall
Westminster Central Hall
The Westminster Central Hall or Methodist Central Hall is a Methodist church in the City of Westminster. It occupies the corner of Tothill Street and Storeys Gate just off Victoria Street in London, near the junction with The Sanctuary next to the Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre and facing...
the same year, when a resolution was passed calling on the government to halt all immigration, repeal the Race Relations Act
Race Relations Act 1968
The Race Relations Act 1968 was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom making it illegal to refuse housing, employment, or public services to a person on the grounds of colour, race, ethnic or national origins. It also created the Community Relations Commission to promote 'harmonious...
(1968), and start a full repatriation scheme.
On 30 September 1972, the Daily Telegraph remarked that "Mr. Harold Soref is nothing if not consistent", commenting that when an all-party delegation began a tour of Red China, he left defiantly for Taiwan
Taiwan
Taiwan , also known, especially in the past, as Formosa , is the largest island of the same-named island group of East Asia in the western Pacific Ocean and located off the southeastern coast of mainland China. The island forms over 99% of the current territory of the Republic of China following...
.
In October 1972, Harold Soref claimed that the Irish Republican Army
Irish Republican Army
The Irish Republican Army was an Irish republican revolutionary military organisation. It was descended from the Irish Volunteers, an organisation established on 25 November 1913 that staged the Easter Rising in April 1916...
(IRA) were planning a direct assault in England, and that the IRA were receiving weapons from Libya
Libya
Libya is an African country in the Maghreb region of North Africa bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to the east, Sudan to the southeast, Chad and Niger to the south, and Algeria and Tunisia to the west....
, as well as detailing their contacts with other terrorist movements.
In August 1973, in the House of Commons
British House of Commons
The House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, which also comprises the Sovereign and the House of Lords . Both Commons and Lords meet in the Palace of Westminster. The Commons is a democratically elected body, consisting of 650 members , who are known as Members...
, he told the Minister of Agriculture that it was "preposterous" that British housewives should have to pay high prices for beef when there were plentiful supplies available in Rhodesia
Rhodesia
Rhodesia , officially the Republic of Rhodesia from 1970, was an unrecognised state located in southern Africa that existed between 1965 and 1979 following its Unilateral Declaration of Independence from the United Kingdom on 11 November 1965...
. In September, he protested to Sir Alec Douglas-Home
Alec Douglas-Home
Alexander Frederick Douglas-Home, Baron Home of the Hirsel, KT, PC , known as The Earl of Home from 1951 to 1963 and as Sir Alec Douglas-Home from 1963 to 1974, was a British Conservative politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from October 1963 to October 1964.He is the last...
that Herbert Chitepo
Herbert Chitepo
Herbert Wiltshire Chitepo led the Zimbabwe African National Union until he was assassinated on March 1975. Although his murderer remains unidentified, the Rhodesian author Peter Stiff says that a former British SAS soldier, Hugh Hind was responsible.Chitepo became the first black citizen of...
, whom Soref described as a "terrorist", had received a British passport 'in error', and said that London was being turned into an 'open house' for about 50 revolutionary movements.
In 1973, Harold Soref successfully fought against the Home Office deportation order against New Zealander Peter Wildermoth, and his intercessions, in December 1973, secured the freedom of Gerald Hawksworth, who was imprisoned in Tanzania
Tanzania
The United Republic of Tanzania is a country in East Africa bordered by Kenya and Uganda to the north, Rwanda, Burundi, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the west, and Zambia, Malawi, and Mozambique to the south. The country's eastern borders lie on the Indian Ocean.Tanzania is a state...
after being kidnapped by the Zimbabwe African National Union
Zimbabwe African National Union
The Zimbabwe African National Union was a militant organization that fought against the standing government in Rhodesia, formed as a split from the Zimbabwe African People's Union...
. He subsequently gave a Monday Club dinner at Westminster Palace to celebrate Mr.Hawksworth's release.
In 1974, he was appointed the Club's Vice-Chairman, and spoke at Oxford University in May that year. He had a police escort into the building, but gangs of left-wing students with masked faces howling "Death to Soref" forced their way into the hall; Soref was forced to escape violence down a back staircase and over a six-foot wall, with his pursuers close behind, jumping onto the back of his car as it drew away. Later that night, the Chairman of the Oxford University Monday Club, Andrew Bell, son of Ronald Bell
Ronald Bell (UK politician)
Sir Ronald McMillan Bell, , QC , Knight Bachelor , was a Conservative Party Member of Parliament in the United Kingdom representing South Buckinghamshire from 1950 to 1974 and Beaconsfield from 1974 to 1982.-Family and education:The younger son of John Bell, Ronald was educated at Cardiff High...
, QC, MP, had his bedroom window smashed by hand-thrown missiles.
Harold Soref, as Chairman of the Club's Africa
Africa
Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...
Group, often had letters in the press attacking Mr. James Callaghan
James Callaghan
Leonard James Callaghan, Baron Callaghan of Cardiff, KG, PC , was a British Labour politician, who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1976 to 1979 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1976 to 1980...
's "biased attitudes on Rhodesia
Rhodesia
Rhodesia , officially the Republic of Rhodesia from 1970, was an unrecognised state located in southern Africa that existed between 1965 and 1979 following its Unilateral Declaration of Independence from the United Kingdom on 11 November 1965...
where communist-supported guerillas were in action". He had also said that "the Secretary of State during his recent safari displayed his dedication to 'Black Power'". Another of his protests was to Lord Ayleston of the Independent Broadcasting Authority
Independent Broadcasting Authority
The Independent Broadcasting Authority was the regulatory body in the United Kingdom for commercial television - and commercial/independent radio broadcasts...
over the Weekend World
Weekend World
Weekend World is a British television political series, made by London Weekend Television and broadcast from 1972 to 1988.Created by John Birt not long after he moved to LWT, the series was broadcast on the ITV network at lunchtimes on Sundays...
programme on Rhodesia
Rhodesia
Rhodesia , officially the Republic of Rhodesia from 1970, was an unrecognised state located in southern Africa that existed between 1965 and 1979 following its Unilateral Declaration of Independence from the United Kingdom on 11 November 1965...
which, he said, "gave more support to terrorists than to their victims."
Harold Soref was an outspoken critic of the IRA, and issued a Press Statement on behalf of the Monday Club, in November 1974, calling for Capital Punishment
Capital punishment
Capital punishment, the death penalty, or execution is the sentence of death upon a person by the state as a punishment for an offence. Crimes that can result in a death penalty are known as capital crimes or capital offences. The term capital originates from the Latin capitalis, literally...
"for traitors and those engaged in civil war". The previous month gunmen shot at a London businessman's chauffeur-driven car close to Soref's residence, and Scotland Yard
Scotland Yard
Scotland Yard is a metonym for the headquarters of the Metropolitan Police Service of London, UK. It derives from the location of the original Metropolitan Police headquarters at 4 Whitehall Place, which had a rear entrance on a street called Great Scotland Yard. The Scotland Yard entrance became...
were convinced that it was mistaken identity and the work of the IRA, because of the striking resemblance between the victim, who later died, and Harold Soref. The shooting had taken place at the time Soref normally arrived home, but he had been delayed that night. Both victim and Soref had similar cars. Later, Soref received an anonymous telephone call saying the shots were meant for him.
On 26 January 1981, Harold Soref presided at the Club's Africa Group Dinner at St Stephen's Club, Westminster, when Nicholas Winterton
Nicholas Winterton
Sir Nicholas Raymond Winterton is a retired British Conservative Party politician. He was the Member of Parliament for Macclesfield from 1971 until he retired from the House of Commons at the 2010 general election....
, MP, was the Guest-of-Honour.