Psychopaths to run the country after Armageddon
An incredible document suggesting the UK lets psychopaths run the country after a nuclear attack has been released by the National Archives office
One document suggested that psychopaths were put in charge in the worst hit areasPhoto: Alamy
By Nicola Harley
12:01AM GMT 31 Oct 2014
Secret documents proposed to let psychopaths run the country in the aftermath of an Armageddon.
Documents released by the National Archives office reveal how the Home Office had planned for the rebuilding of the country in the aftermath of a nuclear strike in Exercise Regenerate.
The 1982 operation trained staff for a spoof nuclear attack and issued wartime guidance for regional councils on how to govern post-strike.
One document by Jane Hogg, a scientific officer in the Home Office, suggested that psychopaths were put in charge in the worst hit areas.
She wrote: "These are people who could be expected to show no psychological effects in the communities which have suffered the severest losses. They are very good in crises, as they have no feelings for others, no moral code, and tend to be very intelligent and logical.
"Pre-strike the only solution for these people is to contain them; post-strike, in the immediate aftermath, the formal authorities may well find it advantageous to recruit these people into their organisations as they could prove an exceptionally valuable resource."
She also suggested bringing back the death penalty in the aftermath for offenders.
Her boss did not agree with using psychopaths, claiming they would have "bad judgement" and lack "humanity".
A note scribbled next to her ideas read: "I am not at all sure you convince me. I will regard them as dangerous whether or not recruited into post attack organisations."
A spokeswoman for the National Archive Office said: "It is unbelievable they suggested using psychopaths after an Armageddon. We were very surprised to see this."
The operation focused on the five counties of Derbyshire, Leicestershire, Lincolnshire, Nottinghamshire and South Yorkshire and plotted the first six months of the aftermath.
The scientific advisers estimated 50 per cent of the country would be untouched - though survivors could be affected by radiation fallout, according to the BBC News Magazine.
It intended to place 12 regional commissioners with their staff in bunkers and envisaged "unimaginable" damage at the point of impact and "broken panes" and "debris in the streets" in the outer lying areas.
It held war games to prepare for it using civil servants and members of the emergency services giving them different scenarios to chose from, including the destruction of of HQs across the country and the threat of vigilante groups trying to seize power.
Some officials who attempted to act out the scenarios at the Easingwold training centre in Yorkshire criticised the proposals for not focusing enough attention on the aftermath.
Despite going back to the drawing board the plan was never finished.
Lord Hennessy, author of The Secret State, said using psychopaths was an "extraordinary" and "bizarre" suggestion.
He told the BBC: "They always take my breath away.
"The sense of civil servants having to look into the abyss, imagine the unimaginable."
He said it was rumoured the Queen and Prince Philip would be taken to a secret hideaway on board the Royal Yacht and would be using a Scottish loch to shelter in for safety from a strike.
The plot is said to mirror that of the 1984 drama Threads, which saw two families in Yorkshire before and after the nuclear strike being effected by vigilante groups, challenges to the authorities and poor morale.
The producer of Threads, Mike Jackson had requested to see the secret documents but was refused access.
An incredible document suggesting the UK lets psychopaths run the country after a nuclear attack has been released by the National Archives office
One document suggested that psychopaths were put in charge in the worst hit areasPhoto: Alamy
By Nicola Harley
12:01AM GMT 31 Oct 2014
Secret documents proposed to let psychopaths run the country in the aftermath of an Armageddon.
Documents released by the National Archives office reveal how the Home Office had planned for the rebuilding of the country in the aftermath of a nuclear strike in Exercise Regenerate.
The 1982 operation trained staff for a spoof nuclear attack and issued wartime guidance for regional councils on how to govern post-strike.
One document by Jane Hogg, a scientific officer in the Home Office, suggested that psychopaths were put in charge in the worst hit areas.
She wrote: "These are people who could be expected to show no psychological effects in the communities which have suffered the severest losses. They are very good in crises, as they have no feelings for others, no moral code, and tend to be very intelligent and logical.
"Pre-strike the only solution for these people is to contain them; post-strike, in the immediate aftermath, the formal authorities may well find it advantageous to recruit these people into their organisations as they could prove an exceptionally valuable resource."
She also suggested bringing back the death penalty in the aftermath for offenders.
Her boss did not agree with using psychopaths, claiming they would have "bad judgement" and lack "humanity".
A note scribbled next to her ideas read: "I am not at all sure you convince me. I will regard them as dangerous whether or not recruited into post attack organisations."
A spokeswoman for the National Archive Office said: "It is unbelievable they suggested using psychopaths after an Armageddon. We were very surprised to see this."
The operation focused on the five counties of Derbyshire, Leicestershire, Lincolnshire, Nottinghamshire and South Yorkshire and plotted the first six months of the aftermath.
The scientific advisers estimated 50 per cent of the country would be untouched - though survivors could be affected by radiation fallout, according to the BBC News Magazine.
It intended to place 12 regional commissioners with their staff in bunkers and envisaged "unimaginable" damage at the point of impact and "broken panes" and "debris in the streets" in the outer lying areas.
It held war games to prepare for it using civil servants and members of the emergency services giving them different scenarios to chose from, including the destruction of of HQs across the country and the threat of vigilante groups trying to seize power.
Some officials who attempted to act out the scenarios at the Easingwold training centre in Yorkshire criticised the proposals for not focusing enough attention on the aftermath.
Despite going back to the drawing board the plan was never finished.
Lord Hennessy, author of The Secret State, said using psychopaths was an "extraordinary" and "bizarre" suggestion.
He told the BBC: "They always take my breath away.
"The sense of civil servants having to look into the abyss, imagine the unimaginable."
He said it was rumoured the Queen and Prince Philip would be taken to a secret hideaway on board the Royal Yacht and would be using a Scottish loch to shelter in for safety from a strike.
The plot is said to mirror that of the 1984 drama Threads, which saw two families in Yorkshire before and after the nuclear strike being effected by vigilante groups, challenges to the authorities and poor morale.
The producer of Threads, Mike Jackson had requested to see the secret documents but was refused access.
