Intelligence

Sir James Waddell

Planning reforms of the police service and new powers in response to the threat from terrorism

TERRORISM as a serious modern problem goes back to the 1970s, when Sir James Waddell was among those in the Home Office who wrestled with the civic dilemmas that it posed. The threat was felt first internationally, and then in Britain itself with the beginning of the IRA campaign on the mainland, notably the Birmingham pub bombing in 1974.

A strong but carefully judged response from the Government was clearly needed, and the Prevention of Terrorism (Temporary Procedures) Act followed later in the year, enabling Special Branch officers to make on-the-spot checks on travellers between Ireland and mainland Britain. In addition, intelligence gathering by the security services was stepped up, but Waddell remained conscious of the need to preserve traditional liberties if the terrorists were not to gain a victory by default.

Waddell, who was Deputy Under- Secretary of State at the Home Office, also took the interdepartmental lead in response to national and civic emergencies more generally. His calm and balanced forward thinking were called upon especially at the time of the Torrey Canyon disaster (the first big “supertanker” incident), the Grosvenor Square and Red Lion Square demonstrations in Central London against the Vietnam War, and the National Front disturbances in Southall.

As well as developing an interdepartmental response to terrorism and other national alerts, Waddell handled Home Office liaisons with MI5. During the course of his career he also made important contributions to the modernisation of the police, and to the planning of the new towns.

Although he was always a stickler, his upright stature and stern expression hid a crisp, dry wit. With junior staff he took a kindly, almost schoolmasterly approach, and many found in him an inspiring model.

James Henderson Waddell was born in Edinburgh in 1914 and educated at George Heriot’s School and Edinburgh University. In 1936 he took the Civil Service entrance examination and was appointed to the Assistance Board, and in 1940 he was transferred to the Ministry of Information.

Dedicated to ideals of Christian service and deeply troubled by the loss of life in 1914-18, he was disturbed by the increasing pace of preparation for a further war, such as widespread evacuations and distribution of gas masks. For the first few months of war he held to his pacifist principles but they were soon undermined by the bombing of London. Further, he did not feel justified in claiming to know better than the elected Government.

Accordingly, when the call-up reached his age group he enlisted in the General Service Corps and found himself at the beginning of 1944 in 61 Reconnaissance Regiment. After landing in France eight days after D-Day he was wounded in the leg, brought to safety tied to the top of an armoured car, and repatriated. After leaving hospital he was released from the Army and returned to the Civil Service.

From 1946 to 1966 he was at the Ministry of Housing and Local Government, with an interlude in the Cabinet Office from 1961 to 1963, after which he was promoted to the rank of deputy secretary. At a time of urgent nationwide reconstruction, and with Macmillan pledging to build 300,000 houses, Waddell was concerned, inter alia, with the planning and establishment of the new towns: Harlow, Stevenage, Welwyn, Milton Keynes and Telford.

In 1966 he was transferred to the Home Office and given special responsibility for the Police Department. This meant that over the next nine years, until his retirement, he supervised many changes in the organisation of the British police on its continuing march from amateurish local constabularies to modern and increasingly centralised force.

The Police Act of 1964, based on a royal commission report, started a programme of fundamental reforms to the structure of police forces throughout the country. The 120 or so small police forces were consolidated into some 50 larger ones, which formed the foundation for today’s forces.

At the same time, a new constitutional balance, known as the tripartite system, was introduced. This made chief constables accountable to new police authorities while maintaining their operational independence under the Home Secretary. Thanks to Waddell’s tact, judgment and integrity, these changes were smoothly introduced, and the new system both improved police effectiveness and increased public confidence in the service.

This was especially important after a Times exposé alleged wideranging corruption in the Metropolitan Police, and Waddell worked hard with the new Commissioner, Robert Mark, to regain public support. In particular, arrangements for handling complaints were developed which were both acceptable to the police and credible to the public. It therefore came as no surprise, after his retirement from the Home Office, when Waddell was appointed one of the deputy chairmen of the Police Complaints Board, where he remained until 1981.

Waddell was a keen sportsman, playing tennis and hockey, and learning to sail in the 1950s. In private life, as in public, he was modest, generous and unfailingly loyal and supportive. He was appointed CB in 1960 and knighted in 1974.

His wife, Dorothy, whom he married in 1940, died in 2001. He is survived by their son and daughter.

January 14, 2004 at 12:11 AM in Special Branch | Permalink | Top of page | Blog Home