At 2.54am on October 12, 1984, 25lb of gelignite exploded beneath the bath in room 629 of the Grand Hotel, Brighton. A substantial part of the building collapsed, killing or fatally injuring five people, wrecking the lives of others including Norman Tebbit and his wife, who was paralysed from the chest down.
The blast struck the epicentre of the Conservative Party conference, bringing Margaret Thatcher closer to violent death than any other British prime minister in modern times. She and her husband, Denis, emerged from the wreckage shocked but courageous. Thatcher insisted on addressing the conference that morning. Her aide, Michael Alison, said: “Thank God you’re all right, Margaret.” She responded fervently: “I do.”
The IRA England Department’s Brighton operation reflected its leaders’ belief that,
